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Postdoctoral fellow position: Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles
by Gulati, Tanuj 03 Apr '20

03 Apr '20

Postdoctoral Position – Electrophysiology | Motor Learning | Sleep Motor Systems Neuroscience and Neural Engineering Laboratory We have a NIH-funded postdoctoral position available in the Motor Systems Neuroscience and Neural Engineering Laboratory<https://www.gulatilab.org/> at Cedars-Sinai’s newly formed Center for Neural Science<https://www.cedars-sinai.org/research/areas/neural-science.html> in Los Angeles. Our lab is utilizing a combination of systems neuroscience & neural engineering methods, along with causal manipulation of networks to understand the process of motor skill consolidation in the brain. A specific focus is on sleep’s role in motor learning (Gulati et al, Nat Neurosci 2014; Gulati et al, Nat Neurosci 2017; Kim, Gulati & Ganguly, Cell 2019). We are also utilizing this knowledge to develop novel neurotechnology that promotes motor recovery in motor injuries such as stroke (Gulati et al, J Neurosci 2015; Ramanathan*, Guo*, Gulati* et al, Nat Med 2018). While this published work has looked at motor cortex, our next goal is to record simultaneously from motor cortex and cerebellum in rodents and study the emergence of shared variance as the motor skill consolidates. Postdoctoral fellow will be involved in multi-site recordings as well as data analyses and preparing manuscripts. He/she will also have an opportunity to mentor junior trainees (interns/ graduate students). Salary will follow new California labor laws (current minimum is $54,080) and is negotiable. The position also offers excellent Cedars-Sinai employee benefits. Requirements Applicants are expected to have a PhD in Biomedical Engineering/ Neuroscience or a related discipline. Experience in one or more of the following is needed: data analyses and programming (Matlab/ python)/ animal training/ experimental neurophysiology. Candidates with strong experience in computational analyses but limited experimental experience will also be considered. Application Instructions Interested applicants should contact me with their CV, a letter stating their interests & experiences, and contact information for 2-3 references. Email: tanuj.gulati(a)csmc.edu<mailto:tanuj.gulati@csmc.edu> IMPORTANT WARNING: This message is intended for the use of the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged and confidential, the disclosure of which is governed by applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this information is strictly prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation.

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Research assistant position
by Luczak 02 Apr '20

02 Apr '20

Research assistant at the University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada Our lab seeks highly motivated individuals with strong computational backgrounds to work at the interface of neuroscience and machine learning. We are especially interested in application of deep neural networks to improve our understanding of neuronal data, and application of recent neuroscience findings to improve performance of deep neural networks. In our lab we also record activity of hundreds of neurons in normal and epileptic animals, and successful candidate is welcome to participate in those projects. Preferred candidate should have strong background in modeling neurons and networks, and should be very familiar with models of synaptic plasticity (e.g. BCM). Our lab at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience in Lethbridge is located in the sunniest area of Canada and next to scenic Rocky Mountains. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Duties and responsibilities: - Compile research results and assist in the analyses. - Analyze data using machine learning methods. - Develops analytical methods for biologically plausible artificial neural networks. - Conduct research and literature reviews. - Participate in scientific discussion groups and seminars. Skills & Qualifications: - 3 years of research work experience. - Having strong background in modeling neurons and networks, and should be very familiar with models of synaptic plasticity. - Familiarity with epilepsy is a plus. - Highly experience in programing with Python and Matlab. - Ability to work with data, applying machine learning methods and deep learning. - Working with computer clusters and cloud computing. - Excellent communication and team work skills. Hours of Work: Full-time, 30 hours per week. Salary: $21.63 /hour Duration: one year Language requirements: English Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Artur Luczak (Luczak(a)uleth.ca) with a copy of their CV and a cover letter. For more information please visit our website at http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/artur_luczak

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FY21 US Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP)
by GREENWALD, HAL S DR-04 USAF AFMC AFOSR/RTA 02 Apr '20

02 Apr '20

The Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) is an excellent way for new principal investigators to accelerate their careers in basic research with three years of funding at up to $150,000 per year. Each year, every AFOSR program can nominate one YIP recipient. AFOSR's Cognitive & Computational Neuroscience program is in its second year and funds basic research in neuroscience and at the intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Unlike with most of AFOSR's research grants that are open to researchers worldwide, YIP applicants must be US persons (citizens, nationals, or permanent residents) with full-time, permanent positions at US institutions (by Oct. 1, 2020) who received their doctorates no earlier than April 1, 2013. White papers are due May 14, 2020, and the proposal submission deadline is July 14, 2020. Please see the funding opportunity announcement at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=325614 for complete details and requirements. Program Description: The Air Force YIP supports scientists and engineers who have received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees within the last seven years and show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research. The objectives of this program are: 1. to foster creative basic research in science and engineering; 2. enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators; 3. and increase opportunities for the young investigator to recognize the Air Force mission and related challenges in science and engineering. Eligibility: Individual awards are made to U.S. institutions of higher education, industrial laboratories, for-profit businesses, or non-profit research organizations where the principal investigator (PI) is employed on a full-time basis and holds a regular position. Researchers working at a Federally Funded Research and Development Center or DoD Laboratory are not eligible for this competition. Research proposals must address Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, FA9550-19-S-0003, found at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=314753 (see Amendment 003). Most YIP awards are funded up to $150,000 per year for three years, for a total of $450,000. Exceptional proposals will be considered individually for higher funding levels and/or longer durations. Questions about YIP may be sent to afosryip(a)us.af.mil <mailto:afosryip@us.af.mil> . Pre-solicitation questions are due April 14, 2020. Sincerely, Hal Greenwald Hal S. Greenwald, Ph.D. Program Officer, Cognitive & Computational Neuroscience Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR/RTA) 875 N. Randolph St. Arlington, VA 22203-1768 (703) 588-8441

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JOBS - Early Stage Researchers (ERS) Positions, Conversational Brains EU project
by Rosario Tomasello 02 Apr '20

02 Apr '20

*NEW APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15 APRIL 2020* A Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network funded by the European Union https://www.cobra-network.eu/ *The COBRA Project* *The purpose of the COBRA network is to train the next generation of researchers to accurately characterize and model the linguistic, cognitive and brain mechanisms that allow conversation to unfold in both human-human and human-machine interactions. * The network includes world-level academic research centers on language, cognition and the human brain as well as 4 non-academic partners that include fast-developing SMEs and one world-level company. The partners’ both unique combined expertise and high complementarity will allow COBRA to offer early-stage researchers (ESRs) an excellent training programme as well as very strong exposure to the non-academic sector. *A new research paradigm* There is a longstanding tradition of research on the relationships between language, cognition and the human brain. However, work in this domain has long been limited to studying language production or comprehension in talkers individually exposed to highly-controlled linguistic material. Recently, major advances have been simultaneously accomplished in language sciences, cognitive sciences and neurosciences, which have brought us on the verge of a new research paradigm. Language sciences have entered a new phase as they move away from individually-administered protocols towards the characterization of how spoken language is jointly used by two or more talkers as a shared set of resources for interacting with each other. This has occurred in conjunction with the advent of increasingly large databases on conversational spoken language, together with that of powerful large-scale spoken-language processing tools and techniques. Cognitive sciences and neurosciences have also undergone a paradigm shift, which has made them pass from a single-brain to a *multi-brain frame of reference*(Hasson et al. 2012; Schilbach et al. 2013) as a new challenge has arisen that consists in understanding how the brains of two people speaking with each other are temporarily coupled. These advances make it possible to explore language and the brain in the context in which they both primarily develop, i.e. social interactions. Our network will aim to train 15 Europe-based PhD students in this emerging highly interdisciplinary research field: conversational brains. *Focusing on interactive alignment and prediction* Research and training activities will focus on two major mechanisms employed by speakers in a conversational interaction, namely *interactive alignment*, and *prediction*. *Interactive alignment*refers to the process by which people align their representations at different linguistic levels at the same time, by making use of each others’ choices of sounds, words, grammatical forms, and meanings (Garrod & Pickering 2004). Alignment contributes to making conversation *easy*by setting a common ground between speakers, for these speakers to have a better joint understanding of what they are talking about. *Prediction*refers to the process by which one speaker predicts what the other speaker is likely to say next, as well as how and when it will be said (Pickering & Garrod 2013). It is a major factor in what makes conversation *fluent*, and in the dynamics of turn-taking, those key moments in the interaction where one speaker hands over the conversational floor to her/his interlocutor. New metrics will be devised for the quantitative assessment of inter-speaker alignment and prediction and the speakers’ underlying cognitive and brain activities. ESRs will be trained to explore these mechanisms across a large variety of languages and communicational settings, and will address two main challenges. The first challenge will be to determine how alignment and prediction may both rely on and contribute to setting up *brain-to-brain coupling relationships*. The second challenge will relate to the development of computational models of alignment and prediction for *more effective and socially-acceptable text-to-speech synthesizers, human-machine dialogue systems, and social robots*. This will open the way towards using neurobehavioral measures for both the on-line monitoring of artificial agents, and the offline evaluation of quality of communication in human-machine interactions. Within the consortium, *eight European languages*(English, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Slovak, Swedish) as well as *Mandarin Chinese*will be represented that will allow the ESRs to confront a wide set of linguistic phenomena spread across the European territory and Asia. *Technological and societal implications * *Transfer-of-technology activities*will include innovative experimental set-ups for the joint monitoring of brain and physiological activities in two or more people engaged in a spoken-language interactions, as well as the development of spoken-dialogue systems and social robots with high-level conversational skills. The training programme will also have major societal implications as it will address issues that relate to communication in people’s native and non-native languages. The focus on the dynamics of conversational exchanges between people and on the mechanisms employed for the establishment of a conversational common ground will make it possible to significantly further our understanding of what makes spoken language communication efficient and successful in a large variety of languages and interaction situations. *Proposed PhD projects* *Fifteen early-stage researchers (ESRs) will be recruited as PhD students in the framework of COBRA.* The call for applications is open. Deadline for submission: *15 April 2020*. Each selected ESR will be offered a three-year contract starting from September/October 2020. Further information about the 15 proposed projects is available below: ESR1 : Categorization of speech sounds as a collective decision process ESR2 : Brain markers of between-speaker convergence in conversational speech ESR3 : Does prediction drive neural alignment in conversation? *ESR4 : Brain indexes of semantic and pragmatic prediction* ESR5 : Communicative alignment at the physiological level ESR6 : Lexical alignment in human-machine spoken interaction ESR7 : Contribution of discourse markers to alignment in conversation ESR8 : Discourse units and discourse alignment ESR9 : Acoustic-phonetic alignment in synthetic speech ESR10 : Phonetic alignment in a non-native language ESR11 : Conversation coordination and mind-reading ESR12 : The influence of alignment ESR13 : Parametric dialogue synthesis: from separate speakers to conversational interaction ESR14 : Gender and vocal alignment in speakers and robots ESR15 : Endowing robots with high-level conversational skills ESR4 : Brain indexes of semantic and pragmatic predictionPhD fellowship at the Freie Universität BerlinObjectives: Although the role of prediction in language and communication processing is widely acknowledged, there exist few brain indexes that directly map the neurophysiological correlates of prediction as these emerge in real time. Most studies use event-related activity elicited *after*the predicted (or not predicted) linguistic forms, e.g., the N400 to semantically expected or unexpected words, and more recently, speech acts. ESR4 will use the readiness potential to directly map the emergence of prediction correlates in the course of communications between two people. Participants will engage in different interactive language games while predictive brain responses will be measured with EEG or fMRI and, eventually, MEG. TMS will be applied to find out whether local stimulation can specifically interfere with communicative predictions. ESR4 will also examine the role of sentence context, where semantic predictions in affirmative and negated sentences will be contrasted. We expect ESR4 to find new brain indexes of semantic and pragmatic predictions, which will be used to directly assess current theories of alignment between communication partners in different types of conversations. For more information regarding ESR4, please contact Prof Friedemann Pulvermüller f.p(a)fu-berlin.deor Dr Rosario Tomasello tomasello.r(a)fu-berlin.de Benefits The ESR will be contractually employed for 36 months by the main institution, and will be covered under the social security scheme of the enrolling country. She/he will monthly receive a Living Allowance, a Mobility Allowance and a Family Allowance (if applicable) compliant with the applicable EC Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-ITN general conditions. The net salary for ESR4 will be about*€2.300-2.700 *according to her/his situation. Eligibility criteria: Experience eligibility requirement: Eligible applicants must be in the first 4 years of their research careers (full-time equivalent research experience) at the signature of the contract (measured from the time the Master’s degree has been obtained). Eligible applicants must not hold a Doctoral Degree yet. Mobility eligibility requirement The fellow must not have resided in the main institution’s country for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date, and not have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in that country. How to apply Applications should be submitted via the website of the targeted ESR, see https://www.cobra-network.eu/the-project/topics You can apply for several of the 15 ESRs, but should indicate your preference for 2 of them. Deadline for the submission of applications: *15 April**2020* The complete application should be provided in the form of one single pdf file, named as follows: lastname-firstname.pdf For more information regarding the application, see https://www.cobra-network.eu/ https://www.cobra-network.eu/contact-us/frequently-asked-questions/

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29th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks ICANN 2020 - extended deadline
by Paolo Masulli ENNS 01 Apr '20

01 Apr '20

29th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks ICANN 2020 https://e-nns.org/icann2020 *Bratislava, Slovakia** **15 - 18 September 2020* ============================================================ *Submission Deadline Extended: 30 April* * * Dear colleagues, As ICANN organizing committee and ENNS, the safety and health of all our participants is a top priority. We are monitoring closely the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. *We will carefully evaluate the situation in the few next weeks and will work on solutions; we are aware of the current situation and remain flexible*. No one can predict what will happen in the next weeks or months exactly, but we we will monitor closely and react accordingly and will communicate any backup plan options in due course on the website if and once necessary. *However, for now we hope and assume that ICANN will take place in September and that you will submit and attend it*. If you were planning to submit your contribution to ICANN 2020, we advise you to continue preparing your manuscript and submit it as planned on the conference website <https://e-nns.org/icann2020/submission/>. We understand that the current situation is impacting the working conditions of many of us, and therefore we have decided to *extend the submission deadline to April 30*, *2020*. We will keep you informed and announce any relevant changes on the conference website. In the meanwhile, we wish you and your dear ones to stay healthy and safe in this difficult time. Best regards, The ICANN 2020 Organizing Committee

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Reminder: Call for Papers for Journal of Neuroscience Methods Special Issue: Multiscale Modelling and Analysis in Neuroscience
by Wong-Lin, Kongfatt 30 Mar '20

30 Mar '20

This is a reminder regarding a Special Issue on Multiscale Modelling and Analysis in Neuroscience, in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods, which I am co-editing. This Special Issue is focused on state-of-the-art: (i) computational modelling techniques; (ii) theoretical, mathematical or numerical methods; (iii) analysis of data; (iv) curation of data; or (v) combinations of the above. For more information, please see: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-neuroscience-methods/call-for-…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.journ…> Example of a published paper in this Special Issue can be found at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165027020300947?via%3Di… Both original research and insightful reviews are welcomed. Please contact me or any of the other co-editors if you are interested or have queries. The deadline for submissions is 30th April, 2020. Manuscripts will undergo the normal peer review process as soon as they are submitted. Best, KongFatt Wong-Lin -------------------------- E-mail: k.wong-lin(a)ulster.ac.uk https://www.ulster.ac.uk/staff/k-wong-lin This email and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information which is covered by legal, professional or other privilege. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager at postmaster(a)ulster.ac.uk and delete this email immediately. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ulster University. The University's computer systems may be monitored and communications carried out on them may be recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes. Ulster University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of a separate attachment, the text of email is not intended to form a binding contract. Correspondence to and from the University may be subject to requests for disclosure by 3rd parties under relevant legislation. The Ulster University was founded by Royal Charter in 1984 and is registered with company number RC000726 and VAT registered number GB672390524.The primary contact address for Ulster University in Northern Ireland is Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry BT52 1SA

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Hiring postdoc at Georgia Tech
by Christopher Rozell 25 Mar '20

25 Mar '20

A postdoctoral position at the intersection of computational neuroscience and closed-loop optogenetic stimulation is available in the lab of Christopher Rozell at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA). This BRAIN Initiative research project seeks to advance the field of closed-loop computational neuroscience by using real-time feedback stimulation during experiments to decouple recurrently connected circuit elements and make stronger causal inferences about circuit interactions. This position will have a broad opportunity to develop models and algorithms that are implemented in novel experiments using closed-loop optogenetic stimulation. We aim to provide both new scientific insight about computational in neural circuits (especially sensory coding in the thalamo-cortical circuit) as well as new approaches and algorithmic tools for the community to use in novel electrophysiology experiments. This position will work as part of a team and in close collaboration with the experimental lab of Garrett Stanley (also at Georgia Tech), and it is expected that the computational and algorithmic approaches will be implemented experimentally through close partnership with experimentalists in the Stanley Laboratory. Applicants should hold a PhD in a related discipline with a strong record of research impact, quantitative thinking and collaborative work. Experience in computational neuroscience, machine learning, feedback control, and causal inference is all advantageous. The lab is committed to the professional development of the members, making it valuable preparation for people who are interested in academic, industrial or entrepreneurial careers. The position has no mandatory teaching or administrative duties. Excellent (written and oral) communication skills in English are also required. This particular project is part of the Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience program (CRCNS), providing access to a community of researchers across the country who are focused on similar types of collaborations between computational and experimental labs. Georgia Tech's campus in the heart of midtown Atlanta, which has a thriving and collaborative neuroscience community that has a particular emphasis on computational and systems neuroscience. Atlanta is also one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States, boasting a wide range of opportunities for recreation and culture. Georgia Tech has competitive benefits (including comprehensive medical insurance) and is an equal opportunity employer. The ideal start would be during summer 2020, but dates beyond that may be considered depending on the fit of the candidate. The position is initially for 12 months with the possibility and expectation of renewal. Compensation will be commensurate with relevant experience. Candidates should send a CV, a statement of research experience and interests, expected date of availability, and the contact information for three references to crozell(a)gatech.edu with the subject line "CRCNS postdoc". Application review will proceed until the position is filled and should be received by April 27 for full consideration. If the current COVID19 situation will delay the ability to apply by this deadline, please send a short note indicating that you intend to apply.

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Bernstein Conference 2020 - extended deadline for Workshop Proposals
by a.dorrn＠fz-juelich.de 24 Mar '20

24 Mar '20

Please note that the deadline for Workshop Proposals for the Bernstein Conference 2020 has been extended until April 30. Further information can be found here: https://www.bernstein-network.de/en/bernstein-conference/2020/satellite-wor… The Bernstein Conference has established itself as the largest annual Computational Neuroscience conference in Europe attracting an international audience from across the world. The Satellite Workshops provide a stage to discuss topical research questions, novel scientific approaches and challenges in Computational Neuroscience and related fields. www.bernstein-conference.de<http://www.bernstein-conference.de> As organizers of the Bernstein Conference, we take the current situation regarding COVID-19 seriously and monitor the developments thoroughly. We are aware of the vast impact this crisis has on regular lab life, scientific collaborations and also private lives. In order to keep scientific exchange alive and fruitful we are exploring possibilities on how to make the Bernstein Conference happen in case travel and contact restrictions remain until late summer. Please be assured that we will keep you updated. -- Dr. Anja Dorrn Scientific Coordinator Bernstein Netzwerk Computational Neuroscience | Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Branch Office of the Forschungszentrum Juelich at the Univerity of Freiburg Hansastr. 9A | 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: (+49) 0761 203 9589 email: a.dorrn(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:a.dorrn@fz-juelich.de> web: www.bernstein-network.de<http://www.bernstein-network.de> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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announcing neuromatch online unconference, 30-31st March
by Dan Goodman 23 Mar '20

23 Mar '20

Hi everyone, Conference cancelled due to coronavirus? Don't worry! Next week we are running neuromatch: a free, online (computational-ish) neuroscience unconference. Register now at: https://www.neuromatch.io/ March 30-31 will feature invited speakers including: - Yoshua Bengio (Mila) - Kate Jeffery (UCL) - Russ Poldrack (Stanford) - Maria Geffen (UPenn) - Tim Behrens (Oxford) - Nicole Rust (UPenn) - Danielle Bassett (UPenn) There will also be contributed talks / virtual posters. Please send your title and abstract (< 200 words) to "neuromatchconf(a)gmail.com" by March 25th. We welcome student and postdoc contributions in particular. We know that many people have severe time constraints these days, so we're doing our best to be as flexible as possible about presentation times, and you can present any time in your own time zone or others. The rest of the week, and the week after (Mar 29 - Apr 10) we will be running an extended mind matching session to replace the all important conference coffee breaks. This is an online version of the mind matching sessions run at the last two CCN conferences. You submit a sample of a few abstracts that represent the work you're interested in when you register, and we automatically match you with 6 other scientists with similar interests for 15-20m chats (excluding people you already know). For those who haven't tried it, it's amazingly effective. At CCN I met two people I'd never met before working on extremely similar projects to me. Also, we're hoping this format will catch on not only during the coronavirus crisis but afterwards as well to help reduce the climate impact of academic conferences. Please do get in touch if you'd like to adopt the platform for your own conference (everything is or will be open sourced). All the best, Dan Goodman - http://neural-reckoning.org/ Konrad Kording - http://kordinglab.com/ Brad Wyble - http://wyblelab.com/

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Deadline extension: Vision Research special issue on "Calibrating the visual system"
by Ruben Coen-Cagli 23 Mar '20

23 Mar '20

The deadline for papers for the special issue (previously circulated call below) has been extended to 31st July. Calibrating the visual system Vision Research seeks contributions for a special issue entitled ‘Calibrating the visual system’. Visual systems evolved according to consistent characteristics of the environment and task demands of the species, but also to be malleable in order to adapt to specific perturbations in the stimulus and the observer. The special issue aims to integrate work on the calibration of visual processes in relation to the stable properties of natural scenes or to variations in the sensory stimulus or the individual’s sensory apparatus, in different visual domains and over different time scales. Of particular interest are processes of short, medium and long-term adaptation, and processes to maintain perceptual constancy, as well as processes that occur during visual development. We are also seeking papers concerned with the benefits, costs, and limitations of these adaptations for optimal encoding of visual information, and for learning and representing relevant stimuli in the environment. We are seeking both original research articles and reviews on this subject, covering diverse methods including psychophysics, physiology, neuroimaging, and computational modelling Guest Editors: Jenny Bosten, University of Sussex Ruben Coen Cagli, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Anna Franklin, University of Sussex Samuel Solomon, UCL Michael Webster, University of Nevada, Reno Submission Deadline: 31st July 2020 Manuscripts are submitted through the Special Issue portal of the submission system and go through peer review as usual. Each article in the special issue is assigned a unique identifier and once the article is accepted will be published in a regular journal issue as soon as available. The unique identifier allows us to simultaneously add the article to the special issue on ScienceDirect which is gradually built up as individual articles are published online. We do provide Shared Link of the final published version to the corresponding authors with 50 days free access so that they can share it. Submission Instructions https://ees.elsevier.com/vr/<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fees.elsev…> Authors to select “VSI: Calibrating vision” as article type when submitting their special issue paper in EES. Guide for Authors for more details is https://www.elsevier.com/journals/vision-research/0042-6989/guide-for-autho…<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elsev…> **please note my new address: ruben.coen-cagli(a)einsteinmed.org<mailto:ruben.coen-cagli@einsteinmed.org**> ** Ruben Coen Cagli, PhD Department of Systems and Computational Biology, and Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave. Price 353B Bronx, 10461. NY office: +1.718.678.1150 web: https://sites.google.com/site/rubencoencagli/<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.goo…>

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Post Doc in Computational Neuroscience and EEG neurofeedback
by Dimitris Pinotsis 23 Mar '20

23 Mar '20

The Computational Neuroscience and Psychiatry Lab (www.pinotsislab.com) at University of London—City is looking for a Post Doc with a strong background in computational neuroscience and EEG neurofeedback. The Lab focuses on developing new algorithms for the analysis of human and animal brain imaging data. These are based on computational models of neural dynamics and state of the art machine learning techniques. Particular emphasis is put on applications in Computational Psychiatry and developing models of brain pathology. Also, the Lab develops brain theories that can explain brain pathology, using theoretical tools from deep neural networks and Bayesian brain theories. The lab also performs EEG recordings and plans to start experiments with EEG neurofeedback. The Post Doc shall conduct research in one or more of these areas. He/she will have the opportunity to shape the details of their project based on their specific interests. The successful candidate should have a PhD in computational neuroscience, computer science, engineering, physics or related discipline. Expertise in one or more modern scientific computingprogramming language (Python, Matlab or R) is essential. The candidate shouldalso have familiarity with one or both of: i) the analysis of human and/or animal brain imaging data, and ii) EEG experiments, in particular EEG neurofeedback. For informal inquiries, please email Dr. Dimitris Pinotsis at pinotsis(a)mit.edu Dimitris Pinotsis, PhD (Cambridge) www.pinotsislab.com @dimitrispp Associate Professor Centre for Mathematical Neuroscience and Psychology Department of Psychology University of London — City Research Affiliate The Picower Institute for Learning and MemoryDepartment of Brain and Cognitive SciencesMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) [e] pinotsis(a)mit.edu[e] pinotsis(a)city.ac.uk

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postdoc position at NIMH Mood, Brain, and Development Unit
by Francisco Pereira 21 Mar '20

21 Mar '20

The NIMH Mood, Brain, and Development Unit is recruiting for multiple post-doc positions, with the possibility of co-mentoring by the NIMH Machine Learning Team. The MBDU studies mood and its effects with longitudinal neuroimaging, Bayesian generative models, and mood modifying cognitive tasks (described here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/815944v1) More details can be found on the full job posting https://github.com/nimh-mbdu/post_doc_job_ad/blob/master/README.md If you are interested, please email your resume, a short cover letter and, optionally, a link to your github repository and/or google scholar profile to: Argyris.Stringaris(a)mail.nih.gov thank you for your interest!

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IMRF 2020 postponed to 16.-19. Oct. 2020
by Marc Ernst 21 Mar '20

21 Mar '20

****** IMRF 2020 postponed to 16.-19. Oct. 2020 ******* Unfortunately the COVID-19 situation is getting worse quickly these days and it is unlikely that the situation will have fully recovered by June so that it is safe for our colleagues to travel around the world. We therefore decided to postpone the International Multisensory Research Forum - IMRF 2020 - from June to October 16-19, 2020 and we truly hope things will be back to normal by then. We are of course aware that this can potentially pose problems for some who may already have different plans for October. Also your research may develop in the coming months despite the presently tense situation. We therefore open the abstract submission portal again, so you can adapt your abstracts or you may also submit new abstracts. If you cannot make it for the October date, you can of course also withdraw your abstract or make one of your coauthors the presenter of the research. The new abstract submission deadline is August 14, 2020. You can submit or alter your abstracts at any moment until this date. Reviewing of all abstracts, including the ones already submitted, will follow this date. The same date applies for adapting the symposium proposals. Registration will stay open and the dates for early registration will be moved to September 10, 2020. Payed registrations will remain valid. Of course we will reimburse you in case you payed already but you cannot make it for the October dates. Please let us know by April 20 if this is the case. If you have not payed your registration yet, you can do so at any moment from now on: Early registration until registration Sept. 10, late registration until Oct. 10 or on-site registration. I hope to see you in Ulm in October. Be safe and stay healthy!!!! Best, Marc Ernst on behalf of the IMRF organizing team. --------------------------------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Marc Ernst Appl. Cognitive Psychology Faculty for Computer Science, Engineering, and Psychology Ulm University Albert-Einstein-Allee 43 89081 Ulm room: 43.3.103 phone: +49-731-50 320 50 sekr: +49-731-50 320 51 fax: +49-731-50 320 59 mobile: +49-152-22 543 156 marc.ernst(a)uni-ulm.de <mailto:marc.ernst@uni-ulm.de>

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PROFESSOR - Research Chair in eng. & neuromorphic computing for Artificial Intelligence (AI), Univ. Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
by Jean Rouat 20 Mar '20

20 Mar '20

PROFESSOR - Research Chair in the field of engineering and neuromorphic computing for Artificial Intelligence (AI) As part of the call for proposals for a MEI / UdeS Research Chair, the Faculty of Engineering of Université de Sherbrooke is seeking candidates to fill a professorship in the field of engineering and neuromorphic computation for artificial intelligence (AI). This is a regular full-time position. The recruited person will be attached to the department that best matches the candidate’s profile. EXPERTISE The expertise of the candidates must be related to the field of engineering and neuromorphic computation by neural networks with spikes (SNN) for the development of applications in artificial intelligence (AI) in fields such as cognition or the emulation of neural structures, allowing AI to manage conflicting situations, uncertainty and ambiguity. The main challenge is to integrate into algorithms and systems, the flexibility and ability of living beings to learn unstructured stimuli with equivalent energy efficiency from the brain. Applicants must propose a promising and innovative research program of the highest quality allowing the transfer of knowledge while demonstrating interest and competency in teaching. REGARDING THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING For several years, the Faculty of Engineering of Université de Sherbrooke and its Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering occupy an enviable position in the fields of training and applied research by providing a friendly and collaborative environment, where discovery and initiative are strongly favored. In addition, the Faculty favors a rigorous and complete training of its students and it is recognized for its work-study coop program. The Faculty of Engineering distinguishes itself from other Canadian universities in terms of technology transfer and its impact on society. It is relying on many interdisciplinary initiatives and emerging fields of research to further its long-term growth. QUALIFICATIONS - Hold a Ph.D. in science or engineering with a professional experience of at least 5 years; - Have experience in interdisciplinary research as well as knowledge transfer; - Have a strong interest in university teaching and pedagogy as well as in research, development and innovation; - Demonstrate good teaching skills and a good ability to supervise graduate students. - Have a record of publications in peer-reviewed journals of international level and technology transfer attesting to the excellence of the research activities. - Demonstrate skills in establishing and maintaining good interpersonal relationships, a sense of collaboration and teamwork skills. - Demonstrate outstanding leadership, initiative and excellent communication skills. - Demonstrate the ability to interact effectively and harmoniously with a variety of internal and external partners. - Capacity to teach in French or to reach this capacity in a short amount of time. - Be a member of the OIQ (Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec) or have the required qualifications and commit to become member as soon as possible. DATES and link Anticipated start date: September 1, 2020. The deadline for submitting applications is 5 p.m. on Monday, June 1, 2020. More details at https://www.usherbrooke.ca/emplois/offre/no/04059 Jean Rouat, Prof. NECOTIS, Computer and Electrical Eng. Dept., Univ. de Sherbrooke jean.rouat(a)usherbrooke.ca<mailto:jean.rouat@usherbrooke.ca> [cid:18101754-3CB6-40F8-AF66-AB73E348BA38]

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PhD School of Life Sciences, University of Geneva is now opened for applications
by Jolivet, Renaud 20 Mar '20

20 Mar '20

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce the next call for applications to the PhD School of Life Sciences at the Faculties of Medicine and Science - University of Geneva. The application deadline is Apr 15th, 2020. We would be very grateful if you could advertise this call in your Institute and among Master students. PhD positions will be available in six innovative programmes: * Biomedical Sciences * Ecology and Evolution * Genomics and Digital Health * Molecular Biosciences * Pharmaceutical Sciences * Physics of Biology For further information please visit: https://lifesciencesphd.unige.ch Renaud Jolivet

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[Journal]March 2020 CFP:International Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications (IJESA)
by Fredrick Johnson 19 Mar '20

19 Mar '20

International Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications (IJESA) ISSN: 1839-5171 http://wireilla.com/ijesa/index.html Scope & Topics International Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications (IJESA) is a quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of the Embedded Systems and applications. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on understanding Embedded Systems and establishing new collaborations in these areas.Authors are solicited to contribute to the journal by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the areas of Embedded Systems & applications. Topics of interest * Application-specific processors and devices * Business Applications * Component and binding models * Embedded computing education * Embedded hardware support * Embedded system architecture * Hardware and software co-design * Integration with SOA * Middleware * Programming abstractions * Real-time systems * Service-Oriented Architectures * Testing techniques Paper Submission Authors are invited to submit papers for this journal through ijesa(a)wireilla.com Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication while being evaluated for this Journal. Important Dates * Submission Deadline : March 21, 2020 * Notification : April 21, 2020 * Final Manuscript Due : April 29, 2020 * Publication Date : Determined by the Editor-in-Chief Contact Us Here's where you can reach us: ijesa(a)wireilla.com

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Fully-funded PhD position at the Vision Institute, Sorbonne University, Paris, France
by angelo.arleo＠inserm.fr 18 Mar '20

18 Mar '20

Fully-funded PhD position at the Vision Institute, Sorbonne University, Paris, France Job description Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD position to develop clinical endpoints of daily-life activity for low vision patients in order to assess visual restoration. The therapeutic benefits of vision restoration are usually evaluated in clinical studies using conventional functional measures such as visual field and contrast sensitivity. However, these tests are not sufficient to characterize the impact of a visual pathology on patients’ quality of life and autonomy. This project will set forth a set of benchmark measures to evaluate a range of daily life functions (locomotion, spatial orientation, posture, balance, reading) in real or virtual conditions. The main goal is to identify behavioral biomarkers of the benefit of vision restoration solutions (namely optogenetic therapy and retinal implants) in visually impaired patients. The PhD candidate will work hand-in-hand with clinicians of the National Hospital Center for Ophthalmology of the Quinze-Vingts and with researchers of the Vision Institute as well as the Streetlab company. The project will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Colas Authié and Dr. Angelo Arleo. Requirements & eligibility criteria Applicants should have a quantitative background (engineering, computer science, physics, applied mathematics), and a keen interest in behavioral neuroscience. The ideal candidate should have expertise in virtual reality, motor control, and biometric data analysis. Experience in low-vision or knowledge on machine learning and programming languages (Matlab, C or Python) are a plus. Knowledge of French is important (but not mandatory). Proficiency in oral and written English is required. Successful candidates are expected to work in an interdisciplinary environment with engineers, neuroscientists, and clinicians. Applicants must be in the first four years of their research career and they must not have lived in France more than 12 months during the last 3 years. Benefits The position is funded by the Marie Curie ITN project ENTRAIN-VISION and it will start in September 2020. It corresponds to a full PhD appointment (36 months) with competitive salary and working conditions, monthly mobility allowance, and family allowance (if family obligations). It also provides continuing education, secondments in the private sector, training modules, and transferable skills courses. Working environment The Vision Institute is one of the top international centers for integrated research on vision and eye diseases. It is located at the heart of Paris, on the campus of the National Hospital Center for Ophthalmology of the Quinze-Vingts. The Vision Institute includes multidisciplinary research laboratories, which share state-of-the-art platforms for human and animal experimentation. It also harbors a Clinical Investigation Center, which fosters translational research. The Streetlab provides a panel of unique platforms (reproducing virtual and real immersive environments) and standardized evaluation solutions to measure autonomy, mobility, and quality of life of visually impaired people. How to apply Applicants should apply to the ENTRAIN-VISION consortium (www.entrain-vision.eu <http://www.entrain-vision.eu/>) by April 13th, 2020. For further inquiries, please contact Angelo Arleo (angelo.arleo(a)inserm.fr <mailto:angelo.arleo@inserm.fr>) and Colas Authié (colas.authie(a)streetlab-vision.com <mailto:colas.authie@streetlab-vision.com>). *************************************** Angelo ARLEO FONTAINE, PhD Director of Research CNRS Head of the Aging in Vision and Action Lab, Director of the Chair Silversight, Institute of Vision, CNRS - INSERM - Sorbonne University, 17, rue Moreau F-75012 Paris, France Phone: +33 (0)1 53 46 26 52 Mobile: +33 (0)6 46 84 09 56 Email: angelo.arleo(a)inserm.fr Website: www.aging-vision-action.fr

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Postdoctoral position in brain network modelling
by Adeel Razi 17 Mar '20

17 Mar '20

Are you interested in brains, networks, models, Bayes, dynamical systems, and neuroimaging (or some combination of these) and looking for a postdoctoral position? We have a Research Fellow position available in Melbourne at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health. This position is funded for two years, in the first instance, to work with a team of collaborators at Monash University (Adeel Razi, Lead), University of Melbourne (Andrew Zalesky) and University College London (Karl Friston). You will be situated within the Computational and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory: www.adeelrazi.org. For further details see below. For position description and applying online go here: https://tinyurl.com/srpnuk5 For any informal inquiries please get in touch at adeel.razi(a)moansh.edu. Best wishes, Adeel +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *The Opportunity* This exciting new Research Fellow position will generate research relevant to the development of brain connectivity analysis methods, with a focus on Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM), which is a framework for modelling neural circuitry (i.e. effective connectivity). You will be part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers who develop and apply novel analysis methodology for inferring brain connectivity using multimodal neuroimaging. The appointee will coordinate development efforts as part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project awarded to Monash University (Dr Adeel Razi, Lead Investigator), University of Melbourne (Associate Professor Andrew Zalesky) and University College London (Professor Karl Friston). Ideally we are seeking someone with an honours degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Psychology and a doctoral qualification (or close to completion) in Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering or closely related field relevant to functional MRI. If you have a programming ability in either MATLAB, Python or R, strong quantitative background and good knowledge of multimodal neuroimaging, we look forward to receiving your application. This role is a full-time position; however, flexible working arrangements may be negotiated. At Monash University, we are committed to being a Child Safe organisation. Some positions at the University will require the incumbent to hold a valid Working with Children Check. Your application must address the selection criteria. Please refer to "How to apply for Monash Jobs <https://www.monash.edu/jobs/how-to-apply/applying-for-the-job>". *Apply here:* https://tinyurl.com/srpnuk5 *Enquiries* Dr Adeel Razi, Senior Research Fellow, +61 3 9905 0109 -- *Adeel Razi, PhD * Director, Computational & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory Senior Lecturer & ARC DECRA Fellow adeelrazi.org <http://www.adeelrazi.org/> Deputy Program Lead - Brain Mapping and Modelling *Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health* monash.edu/turner-institute *Monash Biomedical Imaging* Monash University https://www.monash.edu/researchinfrastructure/mbi Honorary Senior Research Fellow *Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging* University College London, United Kingdom https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/ *E*: adeel.razi(a)monash.edu | *P*: +61 (03) 99050109 | *T*: @adeelrazi <https://twitter.com/adeelrazi> | *A*: Room 116, 770 Blackburn Road, Clayton campus, VIC 3800, Australia

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Final call for the Modellers Workshop for the Brain Dynamics Toolbox
by Stewart Heitmann 16 Mar '20

16 Mar '20

Modellers Workshop for the Brain Dynamics Toolbox. Online Course. Enrolments close Friday 20th March. The Modeller’s Workshop is an on-line course is for those who wish to use the Brain Dynamics Toolbox toolbox to build custom dynamical models in neuroscience. Participants learn the art of programming differential equations in Matlab and how to use the toolbox to solve those equations interactively. Topics include programming Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations, Delay Differential Equations, Stochastic Differential Equations, Auxiliary Plot Functions and command-line tools. Example code is provided in all cases. Course Website https://bdtoolbox.org/p/modellers-workshop/ <https://bdtoolbox.org/p/modellers-workshop/> Important Dates Enrolments close Friday 20th March, 2020. Stewart Heitmann

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CNS*2020 Melbourne: Meeting Updates and Deadline Extensions
by Martin Zapotocky 13 Mar '20

13 Mar '20

Organization for Computational Neurosciences 2885 Sanford Ave SW #15359 Grandville, MI 49418 USA* Meeting Update* *29th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2020)* Melbourne, Australia July 18--22, 2020 https://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2020-quick In response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation in many countries, the previously announced deadlines are extended as follows: *Deadline for submission of abstracts*, in case *oral presentation or travel award* is requested: *April 29* *Deadline for submission of abstracts*, in case *poster presentation* is requested: *May 6* *Deadline for travel award applications* (main meeting): *April 29* Expected date of notification of abstract acceptance: May 13 Expected date of notification of oral presentation: May 27 Expected date of notification of travel award: May 27 *An update on the expected size of the meeting*: As of March 12, we have received 170 registrations for CNS*2020. This indicates a meeting with approximately *300 participants*, going by the registration patterns from previous years. We consider it likely that the final number of participants will exceed this estimate, provided the current travel uncertainties resolve. We understand that this is a fluid situation and will continue to update the membership. In case travel bans are not lifted in time for the meeting or in time for visas to be approved, OCNS will provide full registration refunds to affected members. For presenters unable to attend CNS*2020 due to a COVID-19 travel ban, we will make every effort to facilitate your remote participation in the meeting. For up-to-date information, please followhttps://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2020-covid-19-updates <http://clicks.memberclicks-mail.net/ls/click?upn=0q9n39ErOfD80mnaMiQultun8I… 0axtRVdJqvUZGkgRQOBLX2BnhPmSeOG6C7q4-2BV0Mjvqat1L2zEbHqL2bQCkFVeV8R-2BWfPxLV6-2Fi4ZVunUcxz7GFm73nAkl48kyQEYvF18hp2xor0LzSUwCE3W2JBhT5vnEpN-2FFnB9oK7KB6QZOkzQPlNq1uBvFBrKzkpizS4rrCCOqSGTWaIJ4-3D> -- Martin Zapotocky, Ph.D. Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences Videnska 1083 14220 Prague 4, Czech Republic URL:www.biomed.cas.cz/~zapotocky Tel: +420-241-062-708 Email:zapotocky@biomed.cas.cz Upozorneni: Neni-li v teto zprave vyslovne uvedeno jinak, ma tato E-mailova zprava nebo jeji prilohy pouze informativni charakter. Tato zprava ani jeji prilohy v zadnem ohledu ustavy AV CR, v.v.i. k nicemu nezavazuji. Text teto zpravy nebo jejich priloh neni navrhem na uzavreni smlouvy, ani prijetim pripadneho navrhu na uzavreni smlouvy, ani jinym pravnim jednanim smerujicim k uzavreni jakekoliv smlouvy a nezaklada predsmluvni odpovednost ustavu AV CR, v.v.i. Disclaimer: If not expressly stated otherwise, this e-mail message (including any attached files) is intended purely for informational purposes and does not represent a binding agreement on the part of Institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The text of this message and its attachments cannot be considered as a proposal to conclude a contract, neither the acceptance of a proposal to conclude a contract, nor any other legal act leading to concluding any contract; nor does it create any pre-contractual liability on the part of Institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

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Nomination and Application due 1 June for MDPI Computers Travel Award 2020
by Blink Yu 12 Mar '20

12 Mar '20

*** 2020 MDPI Computers Travel Award *** We are pleased to announce that the application period is now open for the Computers Travel Award 2020. The applications will be assessed by an Evaluation Committee chaired by the Editor-in-Chief of Computers. This prize provides financial support for the winner to attend an international conference in the field of computer science & engineering to be held in 2020 in order to hold a presentation, present a poster, or both. Requirements: • Applicants must be postdoctoral fellows or PhD students involved in computer science, broadly defined as any discipline covered within Computers. Required application documents: • Outline of current and future research; • CV, including a complete list of publications; • Details of the conference to be attended (conference name and website) and an abstract of the work that will be presented; • Letter of recommendation from the supervisor, research director, or department head that confirms the applicant’s status as a postdoctoral fellow/Ph.D. student. The award will be 800 CHF for each winner, with two winners in total. Please apply by clicking the link below before 1 June, 2020. The winners will be announced on 30 June, 2020. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/computers/awards/submit/876 Kind regards, Computers Editorial Office -- Mr. Blink Yu Managing Editor E-Mail: blink.yu(a)mdpi.com Skype: live:c91693ac8277e1f0 -- MDPI Wuhan Office No.6 Jingan Road, 430064 Wuhan, China MDPI Postfach, CH-4020 Basel, Switzerland http://www.mdpi.com -- Disclaimer: MDPI recognizes the importance of data privacy and protection. We treat personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and with what the community expects of us. The information contained in this message is confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this message in error, please notify me and delete this message from your system. You may not copy this message in its entirety or in part, or disclose its contents to anyone.

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DEADLINE 18th March, CfP - Special session - Hybrid Life III, ALife 2020
by Manuel Baltieri 12 Mar '20

12 Mar '20

[Apologies for cross-posting] ********** Call for Papers - Deadline 18th March ********** Special session - Hybrid Life III: Approaches to integrate biological, artificial and cognitive systems https://sites.google.com/view/hybrid-life-iii/ <https://sites.google.com/view/hybrid-life-iii/> 2020 Artificial Life conference (ALife) Montreal, Canada, 13-18th July 2020 - http://2020.alife.org/ <http://2020.alife.org/> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DESCRIPTION: The main focus of ALife research is the study of natural and artificial systems with the goal of understanding what life is. More concretely, ALife defines ways to investigate processes that contribute to the formation and proliferation of living organisms. In this session we focus on three common approaches to tackle this investigation, proposing ways to integrate, extend and possibly improve them. More specifically we refer to: 1) the formalisation of the necessary properties for the definition of life, 2) the implementation of artificial agents, and 3) the study of the relation between life and cognition. For this special session we propose to start from these well-established Alife methodologies, and extend them through: a unified formal language for the description and modelling of living, as well as artificial and cognitive systems, e.g. control theory, Bayesian inference, dynamical systems theory, etc., the exploration of biological creatures enhanced by artificial systems (or artificial systems augmented with organic parts) in order to investigate the boundaries between living and nonliving organisms, and the evaluation of coupled biological-artificial systems that could shed light on the importance of interactions among systems for the study of living and cognitive organisms. This special sessions aims to invite contributions from the fields of psychology, computational neuroscience, HCI, theoretical biology, artificial intelligence, robotics and cognitive science to discuss current research on the formalisation, combination and interaction of artificial/living/cognitive systems from theoretical, modelling and implementational perspectives. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: Formalisation of life and cognition (e.g. dynamical systems theory, stochastic optimal control, Bayesian inference, etc.) Cognitive robotics Autopoiesis Life-mind continuity thesis Systems biology Origins-of-life theories with relationships to artificial and cognitive systems Animal-robot interaction Bio-inspired robotics Bio-integrated robotics Human-machine interaction Augmented cognition Sensory substitution Interactive evolutionary computation Artificial perception Important Dates 18th March 2020 – Paper submission deadline 17th April 2020 – Paper acceptance notification 17th May 2020 – Camera-ready version 13th-18th 2020 – Artificial Life conference (ALife), Montreal, Canada Paper Submission Papers and abstracts submitted to this special sessions will be reviewed by a selected group of experts from the ALife community as well as from other areas key to our proposal, specifically chosen for this review process. If you are submitting to a special session you will be given the opportunity to select it during the submission process. Submissions to special sessions follow the same format, instructions and deadlines of regular ALife papers. Organizers Manuel Baltieri, RIKEN Centre for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan Keisuke Suzuki, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK Hiroyuki IIzuka, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan Olaf Witkowski, Cross Labs, Tokyo, Japan Lana Sinapayen, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Tokyo, Japan Contacts For questions, enquiries and more information please check our website https://sites.google.com/view/hybrid-life-iii/ <https://sites.google.com/view/hybrid-life-iii/> or get in touch with manuel.baltieri [at] riken.jp <http://riken.jp/>. All the best, -- Manuel Baltieri Postdoctoral Research Fellow Lab. for Neural Computation and Adaptation RIKEN CBS, Saitama, Japan www.manuelbaltieri.com <https://manuelbaltieri.com/> Twitter: @manuelbaltieri

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US CCDC Army Research Lab: Post-doc & Research Coordinator positions available
by Kristen Flaherty 11 Mar '20

11 Mar '20

To professional or aspiring researchers, A *postdoctoral scholar *and *full-time research coordinator* position are available to work on an DoD-funded study using multimodal neuroimaging to examine the neurobehavioral dynamics of decision making in teams. The successful applicant will be actively involved in study design, neuroimaging protocol design and calibration, behavioral neuroimaging data collection and data analysis, and writing up manuscripts and publishing. Any questions or requests for more information regarding either of these positions can be directed to Dr. Lauharatanahirun at nina.lauharatanahirun.civ(a)mail.mil. *Interested individuals should submit applications via this link: * https://www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/ARL-R-HRED-300047. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the positions have been filled. Thank you, Nina Lauharatanahirun, PhD *U.S. Army Research Laboratory*, HRED, Future Soldier Technologies Division, Integrated Capability Enhancement Branch Email: nina.lauharatanahirun.civ(a)mail.mil

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CFP Deadline Extension - 10th IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL), Valparaiso Chile
by Nicolás Navarro-Guerrero 10 Mar '20

10 Mar '20

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has directly or indirectly affected countries how typically are well represented at the conference, we are extending the deadline submission. The health and safety of our conference participants is our top priority. Therefore, we are closely monitoring any travel advisories and governmental recommendations. Please check our website where we will post any relevant information as quickly as possible. CALL FOR PAPERS DEADLINE EXTENDED: 10th IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) An IEEE Computational Society-sponsored conference (This is the follow-up of the previous ICDL-EpiRob conference series) 7th-10th September 2020, Valparaiso, Chile https://cdstc.gitlab.io/icdl-2020/ ==== Important Dates ==== Submission deadline: 15th March 2020 -> New deadline: 12th April 2020 Author notification: 15th May 2020 -> moved to 31st of May 2020 Camera ready due: 1st July 2020 Conference: 7th-10th September 2020 ==== Overview ==== The IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL), previously referred to as ICDL-EpiRob, is the premier gathering of professionals dedicated to the advancement of cognitive and developmental learning. As such, ICDL is a unique conference gathering researchers from computer science, robotics, psychology and developmental studies. ICDL is a highly selective annual international conference that aims to showcase and share the very best interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research on how humans and animals develop sensing, reasoning and actions. ICDL community focusses on the understanding of how biological agents take advantage of interaction with social and physical environments to develop their cognitive capabilities. Moreover, how this knowledge can be used to improve future computing and robotic systems. We invite submissions for the conference to explore, extend, and consolidate the interdisciplinary boundaries of this exciting research field. ==== Scope and Topics ==== The primary list of topics of interest includes, but not limited to: - principles and theories of development and learning; - development of skills in biological systems and robots; - nature vs nurture, developmental stages; - models on the contributions of interaction to learning; - verbal, non-verbal and multi-modal interaction; - models on active learning; - architectures for lifelong learning; - emergence of body and affordance perception; - analysis and modelling of human motion and state; - models for prediction, planning and problem solving; - models of human-human and human-robot interaction; - emergence of verbal and non-verbal communication; - epistemological foundations and philosophical issues; - robot prototyping of human and animal skills; - ethics and trust in computational intelligence and robotics; - social learning in humans, animals, and robots. ==== Submissions ==== Authors are invited to submit original and unpublished papers of six pages with the possibility of two-extra pages at a fee. Submissions are in the IEEE conference template. Submission will be selected for either oral or poster presentation based on the reviews. Accepted and presented regular six-page paper submissions will be included in the conference proceedings published by IEEE Xplore after the conference. For more information about submissions, travel grants, social events, etc. visit the conference webpage under https://cdstc.gitlab.io/icdl-2020/ ==== Organizing committee ==== General Chairs: Giulio Sandini, and Javier Ruiz-del-Solar Program and Finance Chairs: Nicolás Navarro-Guerrero, and María-José Escobar Bridge Chairs: Minoru Asada, Frédéric Alexandre, and Linda Smith Publicity Chairs: Carmelo Bastos, Maya Cakmak, Angelo Cangelosi, Yukie Nagai, and Emre Ugur Publication Chairs: Pablo Barros, and Haian Wu Tutorials and Workshops Chair: Miguel Solis Travel and Registration Awards Chair: Francisco Cruz Local chairs: Mauricio Araya Webpage Chairs: Cristóbal Nettle, and Patricio Castillo Graphics: Camila Angel Alfaro Kind regards on behalf of the Organizing Committee, -- Nicolás Navarro-Guerrero Assistant Professor Department of Engineering, and School of Culture and Society Aarhus University, Denmark E-mail: nng(a)eng.au.dk https://au.dk/en/nng@eng.au.dk https://nicolas-navarro-guerrero.github.io/ Aarhus University Finlandsgade 22, building 5125 8200 Aarhus N Denmark Tel.: +45 8715 0000 eng(a)au.dk www.eng.au.dk/en/ -- Best regards, Nicolás -- Nicolás Navarro-Guerrero https://nicolas-navarro-guerrero.github.io/

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Research scientist or postdoctoral fellow in Montpellier (France)
by Anne Beuter 10 Mar '20

10 Mar '20

Application is now open for a research scientist or postdoctoral fellow in Montpellier (France) A new company is seeking a research scientist or postdoctoral fellow to work on (1) EEG data collection and analysis and (2) noninvasive brain stimulation in human subjects. CorStim SAS, a startup created in 2019 and located in Montpellier is developing a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of poststroke chronic aphasia. The candidate must have a PhD in neuroscience, neuropsychology, biomedical engineering, or in a relevant field, with experience in data collection, analysis and brain stimulation in human subjects. The position is for 1 year, renewable, with a possibility of a permanent position. The salary will be based on experience. The position is open until filled. The candidate will work in close collaboration with members from the academic, medical and private sectors. Fluent technical English is a must and speaking French is a plus. Expertise in Matlab preferred. To apply send a letter of motivation, a CV, and arrange for two letters of reference to be sent to Prof Anne Beuter : anne.beuter(a)wanadoo.fr <mailto:anne.beuter@wanadoo.fr>.

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