- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

New journal: Neuropsychiatric Electrophysiology

by Martijn Arns

Dear colleagues, I wanted to point your attention to this new open access journal that was just started with Nash Boutros as Editor in Chief: Neuropsychiatric Electrophysiology: http://www.npepjournal.com<http://www.npepjournal.com/> (NPEP) is an open access journal for researchers and clinicians interested in the applications of electrophysiological techniques for probing basic electrophysiological aberrations in neuropsychiatric disorders. The journal will span basic neuroscience theory, technology and methodology, as well as clinical research and practice, with a focus on moving electrophysiology laboratory findings from the bench to bedside. NPEP welcomes research utilizing various diagnostic and therapeutic techniques as they apply to neuropsychiatric conditions, as well as studies bridging the gap between electrophysiology and neuroimaging, genetics and pharmacology. Kind regards, Martijn Arns, PhD Director / Researcher Twitter: @Brainclinics Research Institute Brainclinics Brainclinics Treatment Bijleveldsingel 34 6524 AD Nijmegen The Netherlands Tel: +31(0)24-7503505 GSM: +31 (0)6-48177919 Fax: +31(0)24-8901447 E-mail: martijn(a)brainclinics.com<mailto:martijn@brainclinics.com> URL: www.brainclinics.com<http://www.brainclinics.com>

July 4, 2014

[publication and call for dialog] IEEE CIS Newsletter on Autonomous Mental Development 10th anniversary !

by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer

Dear colleagues, It is my pleasure to announce the release of the latest issue of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Autonomous Mental Development, which is now celebrating its 10th anniversary ! This is the biannual newsletter of the computational developmental sciences and developmental robotics community, studying mechanisms of lifelong learning and development in machines and humans. It has progressively become a place of lively and inspiring scientific dialogues spanning an incredible network of topics over the years, with the contributions of many key actors of computational developmental sciences. It is available at: http://www.cse.msu.edu/amdtc/amdnl/AMDNL-V11-N1.pdf Highlights of this issue: === Dialog initiated by Katarina Pastra, with responses from Rick Dale, Katharina Rohlfing et al., Gary Lupyan, Catriona Silvey, Kerstin Fischer and Emmanuel Dupoux. === "How are Grammatical Constructions Linked to Embodied Meaning Representations?" This dialog explores various facets of the interaction between the formation of linguistic and conceptual/sensorimotor structures, and in particular the hypothesis that language as a communication system may have evolved as a byproduct of language as a tool for organising conceptual structures. === New dialog initiated by Katharina Rohlfing, Britta Wrede and Gerhard Sagerer === “Trained on everything" In the years to come, one very important challenge in developmental sciences is education. Taking an integrated and interdisciplinary approach requires to handle with dexterity concepts and methods from diverse scientific fields ranging from psychology, neuroscience, biology, robotics, computer science or mathematics. How can we grow a community of young researchers mastering the latest advances? How can we teach them to establish cross-disciplinary collaboration and impact? These are the questions raised in the new dialogue initiation. Those of you interested in reacting to this dialog initiation are welcome to submit a response (contact pierre-yves.oudeyer(a)inria.fr) by Septembet 15th, 2014. The length of each response must be between 600 and 800 words (including references). Let me remind you that previous issues of the newsletter are all open-access and available at: http://www.cse.msu.edu/amdtc/amdnl/ I wish you a stimulating reading! Best regards, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Editor of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Autonomous Mental Development Research director, Inria Head of Flower project-team Inria and Ensta ParisTech, France http://www.pyoudeyer.com https://flowers.inria.fr http://www.poppy-project.org

July 3, 2014

CFP: DATA STREAMS TRACK - ACM SAC 2015

by Carlos Ferreira

================================================== ACM Symposium on Applied Computing 2015 The 30th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing in Salamanca, Spain, April 13 – 17, 2015. http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2015/ Data Streams Track http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~abifet/SAC2015/ =================================================== CALL FOR PAPERS The rapid development in information science and technology in general and in growth complexity and volume of data in particular has introduced new challenges for the research community. Many sources produce data continuously. Examples include sensor networks, wireless networks, radio frequency identification, health- care devices and information systems, customer click streams, telephone records, multimedia data, scientific data, sets of retail chain transactions, etc. These sources are called data streams. A data stream is an ordered sequence of instances that can be read only once or a small number of times using limited computing and storage capabilities. These sources of data are characterized by being open-ended, flowing at high-speed, and generated by non stationary distributions. TOPICS OF INTEREST We are looking for original, unpublished work related to algorithms, methods and applications on data streams. Topics include (but are not restricted) to: * Data Stream Models * Languages for Stream Query * Continuous Queries * Clustering from Data Streams * Decision Trees from Data Streams * Association Rules from Data Streams * Decision Rules from Data Streams * Bayesian networks from Data Streams * Feature Selection from Data Streams * Visualization Techniques for Data Streams * Incremental on-line Learning Algorithms * Single-Pass Algorithms * Temporal, spatial, and spatio-temporal data mining * Scalable Algorithms * Real-Time and Real-World Applications using Stream data * Distributed and Social Stream Mining IMPORTANT DATES (strict) 1. Paper Submission: September 12, 2014 2. Author Notification: November 17, 2014 3. Camera‐ready copies: December 8, 2014 PAPER SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Papers should be submitted in PDF using the SAC 2015 conference management system: http://www.softconf.com/f/sac2015/. Authors are invited to submit original papers in all topics related to data streams. All papers should be submitted in ACM 2-column camera ready format for publication in the symposium proceedings. ACM SAC follows a double blind review process. Consequently, the author(s) name(s) and address(s) must NOT appear in the body of the submitted paper, and self-references should be in the third person. This is to facilitate double blind review required by ACM. All submitted papers must include the paper identification number provided by the eCMS system when the paper is first registered. The number must appear on the front page, above the title of the paper. Each submitted paper will be fully refereed and undergo a blind review process by at least three referees. The conference proceedings will be published by ACM. The maximum number of pages allowed for the final papers is 6 pages. There is a set of templates to support the required paper format for a number of document preparation systems at: http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html For accepted papers, registration for the conference is required and allows the paper to be printed in the conference proceedings. An author or a proxy attending SAC MUST present the paper. This is a requirement for the paper to be included in the ACM/IEEE digital library. No-show of scheduled papers will result in excluding the papers from the ACM/IEEE digital library. STUDENT RESEARCH COMPETITION Graduate students seeking feedback from the scientific community on their research ideas are invited to submit original abstracts of their research work in areas of experimental computing and application development related to SAC 2015 Tracks. The SRC program is designed to provide graduate students the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with researcher and practitioners in their areas of interest. All research abstract submissions will be reviewed by researchers and practitioners with expertise in the track focus area to which they are submitted. Authors of selected abstracts will have the opportunity to give poster and oral presentations of their work and compete for three top wining places. The SRC committee will evaluate and select First, Second, and Third place winners. The winners will receive cash awards and SIGAPP recognition certificates during the conference banquet dinner. Authors of selected abstracts are eligible to apply to the SIGAPP Student Travel Award program for support. Graduate students are invited to submit research abstracts (minimum of two pages; maximum of four pages) following the instructions published at SAC 2015 website. Submission of the same abstract to multiple tracks is not allowed. Submissions must address original and unpublished research work related to a SAC track, with emphasis on the innovation behind the research idea. The submission should address the research problem being investigated, the proposed approach and research methodology, and sample preliminary results of the work. In addition, the abstract should reflect on the originality of the work, innovation of the approach, and applicability of the results to real-world problems. All abstracts must be submitted thought the START Submission system. If you encounter any problems with your submission, please contact the Program Coordinator.

July 3, 2014

PhD Studentship in Peripheral Nerve Decoding Algorithms

by Simon Schultz

Dear all, The following 4-year PhD studentship (for start October 2014) is open. Note that the studentship is open to EU students. Cheers, Simon Peripheral nerve decoding algorithms for bioelectronic medicines Supervisors: Simon Schultz (Bioengineering), Nick Jones (Mathematics), Hannah Tipney (GSK) This project is one of 12 studentships for 2014/15 in the new EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Neurotechnology for Life and Health (see http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/neurotechnology/cdt) Bioelectronic medicine, in which devices connected to groups of individual nerve fibres are used to control the patterns of electrical signals to restore health to organs and biological functions, has been suggested to have the potential to make major advances in the treatment of conditions resistant to drugs, including diabetes, obesity, hypertension and pulmonary diseases (Famm et al, Nature 496:159-61, 2013). The development of bioelectronic medicines, however, is contingent upon the existence of suitable technology for monitoring and perturbing activity in peripheral nerve fibres; in particular, being able to "read out" and interpret signals carried by a peripheral nerve fibre is an essential milestone. In this project, we will develop decoding algorithms capable of reading out both continuous physiological signals, and discrete "events", from peripheral nervous system (PNS) electrical signals. These algorithms will be applied to a variety of datasets collected by members of a research network in Bioelectronic Medicines that has been established by GlaxoSmithKline, plc. The project will involve two phases. The first year will comprise an MRes Project, in which the student will gain a deep understanding of the different approaches that can be taken to decoding physiological signals, testing algorithms on simulated data, which will be generated in the course of the project; we expect this computational model of a peripheral nerve to be a major output of the MRes year. In the following years, and exploiting and advancing a new signal processing architecture, the student will develop refined decoding algorithms optimised for use with peripheral nerve signals at several spatial scales, and will work with research groups across the GSK network to apply these algorithms to real PNS datasets. Contact Dr Simon Schultz, s.schultz(a)imperial.ac.uk for more information on the project. Who should apply? The CDT programme is not a standard PhD programme. Throughout the 4 years, there is considerable emphasis upon multidisciplinary and transferrable skills, through centre activities beyond the individual research project. Applicants should be seeking to undertake a multidisciplinary 4-year research training programme at the interface between neuroscience and engineering. Applicants should have or expect to obtain a first or upper second class degree in an engineering or physical sciences discipline. Students with a biological or medical sciences background will be considered in exceptional circumstances, provided they can demonstrate substantial quantitative skills. Funding The studentship will cover tuition fees and a tax free stipend of approximately £16,000 per year. A generous annual allowance will be provided for research consumables and for conference attendance. How to apply Please visit: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/registry/admissions/howtoapplypg to make your application via the Imperial College online "Embark" system. Once in the application form, candidates should select the option: "MSc, MRes - to be followed by Research (I have 4 years funding)" from the preliminary questions section and then choose Programme Title: "Neurotechnology [1plus3] (MRes 1YFT)|H6NT|SK|FT|CN". Please contact Kate Hobson (k.hobson(a)imperial.ac.uk) if you have questions about the application process. Deadline for applications: 31st July 2014

July 3, 2014

New book "Understanding Vision: theory, models, and data"

by Zhaoping Li

This book "Understanding Vision: theory, models, and data" is published by Oxford University Press in May 2014 and, by now, it is available from various online sites and shops worldwide. For more information, go to http://www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/zhaoping.li/VisionBook.html The book's Table of Contents can be viewed at http://www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/zhaoping.li/prints/TableOfContents.pdf Teaching and learning support for the book (e.g., ppt files for the figures in the book) is also available and will be updated at http://www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/zhaoping.li/VisionBook.html . Readership: Computational neuroscientists, visual psychologists/cognitive scientists, Visual neuroscientists/physiologists/anatomists, Researchers in machine vision or computer vision or robot vision The book is written in such a way that vision scientists, unfamiliar with mathematical details, should be able to conceptually follow the theoretical principles and their relationship with physiological, anatomical, and psychological observations, without going through the more mathematical pages. For those with a physical science background, especially those from machine vision, this book serves as an analytical introduction to biological vision. It can be used as a textbook or a reference book in a vision course, or a computational neuroscience course for graduate students or advanced undergraduate students. It is also suitable for self-learning by motivated readers. In addition, for those with a focused interest in just one of the topics in the book, it is feasible to read just the chapter on this topic without having read or fully comprehended the other chapters. In particular, Chapter 2 presents a brief overview of experimental observations on biological vision; Chapter 3 is on encoding of visual inputs, Chapter 5 is on visual attentional selection driven by sensory inputs, and Chapter 6 is on visual perception or decoding. Please let me know if you need more information. best wishes, Li Zhaoping

July 3, 2014

[meetings] Living Machines III: Final call for Participation in Conference, Demos and Workshops

by Nathan F Lepora

_____________________________________________________________ Final Call for Participation in Conference, Demos and Workshops Living Machines: The 3rd International Conference on Biomimetic Robotics and Biohybrid Systems. A Convergent Science Network Event 29th July to 1st August 2014 Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Leonardo Da Vinci Milano http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2014 *** Deadine for early registration extended to July 15th 2014 *** ______________________________________________________________ News & Highlights * Deadline for early registration extended to July 15th, 2014. * Book on time accommodation for good value and availability. see LM2014 for suggestions http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2014/accommodation * Main conference programme now online, 6 plenary talks, 1 invited talk, 18 single-track oral presentations, 10 poster spotlights, 40 posters. * 4 satellite workshops also available for registration as separate events, topics include autonomous locomotion systems, the robot self, emergent social behavior, and biomimetics in design. * Bring a demo, be it a robot or an installation, for an exhibition on biomimetic robots, biohybrid computer art, live robot performance or videos. * If you wish to bring a demo please contact us. info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu * If you need help with transporting your demo to Milano contact us at info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu * You can book the social dinner as a separate event. Contact info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu for all enquiries. ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2014 The 3rd International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid systems comprises 4 days of events including 3 days of single-track oral presentations with 6 plenary speakers; a 1-day with five satellite workshops on themes ranging from autonomous robots to robot “selves” to biomimetics in design and social impacts of living machines. On Wednesday there will be a reception offered by the Tailor & Francis group http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/ and, on Thursday there will be the LM2014 banquet. We hope you will join us for this exciting programme! The conference registration site is open. Please register soon to take advantage of early registration—deadline July 15th ***From every accepted paper at least 1 author must be registered and present at the Conference*** CONFERENCE PROGRAMME **Program now available online** http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2014/programme The main conference will take the form of a single-track oral presentation programme, 30th July to midday 1st August 2014 that will include 6 plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems. Agreed speakers are: Mandyam Srinivasan Queensland Brain Institute, Australia Insect-inspired cognition and vision Andrew Schwartz University of Minnesota, Pittsburgh, USA Neural control of prosthetics Sarah Bergbreiter University of Maryland, USA Microrobotics Darwin Caldwell Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy Legged Locomotion Ricard Sole Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Evolution of complex networks Minoru Asada Osaka University, Japan. Cognitive and Affective Developmental Robotics There will also be 18 regular talks of 30 min, 1 invited talk on Thursday at midday on Biomimetics in Design by Franco Lodato, 10 Poster Spotlights of 5 min and 2 poster sessions of 90 mins each (midday of July 30st and August 1st) featuring 40 posters. Particular themes include: Soft Robotics Neuromechanics Social Robotics Locomotion Biohybrid Brain-based Active Sensing WORKSHOPS In addition to the main conference there is one further day of workshops, each with their own full program that will be available soon on the Living Machines website. Monday 29th July Embodied Interaction and Internal Models: Key Features of Autonomous Locomotion Systems - Organisers: Volker Dürr, Biological Cybernetics, Bielefeld University, Germany, Paolo Arena, Electrical Engineering, University of Catania, Italy The Robot Self - Organizers: Tony Prescott, University of Sheffield, UK; Paul Verschure Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, CSNII Emergent social behaviours in bio-hybrid systems - Organizers: José Halloy: Universite Paris Diderot. Thomas Schmickl: Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Stuart Wilson, University of Sheffield Rotational Geometry and the Creation of Bionic Models. - Organizers: Pino Trogu, San Francisco State University, USA, Franco Lodato, Creative Director VSN Mobil with Istituto Europeo di Design, Milano Neuro-chip interfaces and Neuroprostheses - Organizers: Stefano Vassanelli, University of Padova, Italy Attendance at workshops will attract a small fee intended to cover the costs of the meeting. We have reserved meeting rooms at the Italian Institute of Technology in Milan each with capacity for up to 40 people. Please book early. Separate registration for satellite events is possible. ABOUT THE VENUE The organisers are delighted to have secured the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Leonardo Da Vinci Milano as the main venue for our conference. The museum is a centre dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci a symbol of the connection between artistic and scientific-technological cultures, two complementary expressions of human creativity. KEY DATES June 30th 2014 Deadline for early registration July 30th - August 1st 2014 Conference We are looking forwards to seeing you in Milano. ORGANISING COMMITTEE Tony Prescott (co-chair) Paul Verschure (co-chair) Armin Duff (programme chair) Roberto Cingolani (local organizer) Barbara Mazzolai (workshops) Nathan Lepora (communications) Anna Mura (communications and web-site) Contact and Conference Secretariat: Info.csnetwork(a)upf.edu living-machines(a)sheffield.ac.uk

July 3, 2014

NEURAL COMPUTATION - August 1, 2014

by Terry Sejnowski

Neural Computation - Contents -- Volume 26, Number 8 - August 1, 2014 Available online for download now: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/neco/26/8 ----- Articles Bayesian Active Learning of Neural Firing Rate Maps With Transformed Gaussian Process Priors Mijung Park, J. Patrick Weller, Gregory D. Horwitz, and Jonathan Pillow How to Compress Sequential Memory Patterns Into Periodic Oscillations: General Reduction Rules Kechen Zhang Letters The Competing Benefits of Noise and Heterogeneity in Neural Coding Eric G Hunsberger, Matthew Scott, and Chris Eliasmith Anatomical Constraints on Lateral Competition in Columnar Cortical Architectures Dylan Richard Muir, Matthew Cook ROC-Based Estimates of Neural-Behavioral Covariations Using Matched Filters Kamal Farah, Jackson Smith, and Erik Cook Tonically Balancing Intracortical Excitation and Inhibition by GABAergic Gliotransmission Meihong Zheng, Takami Matsuo, Ai Miyamoto, and Osamu Hoshino Information-theoretic Semi-supervised Metric Learning via Entropy Regularization Gang Niu, Bo Dai, Makoto Yamada, and Masashi Sugiyama Incremental Learning by Message Passing in Hierarchical Temporal Memory Erik Mikael Rehn, Davide Maltoni ------------ ON-LINE -- http://www.mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2014 - VOLUME 26 - 12 ISSUES USA Others Electronic Only Student/Retired $70 $193 $65 Individual $124 $187 $115 Institution $1,035 $1,098 $926 Canada: Add 5% GST MIT Press Journals, 238 Main Street, Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-9902 Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-orders(a)mit.edu ------------

July 3, 2014

CFP: BICT 2014

by Jun Suzuki

CFP: 8th International Conference on Bio-inspired Information and Communications Technologies (BICT 2014, formerly BIONETICS) http://www.bionetics.org/ December 1 (Mon) - December 3, 2014 (Wed) Boston, MA, USA In-corporation with ACM BICT 2014 aims to provide a world-leading and multidisciplinary venue for researchers and practitioners in diverse disciplines that seek the understanding of key principles, processes and mechanisms in biological systems and leverage those understandings to develop novel information and communications technologies (ICT). BICT 2014 targets two thrusts: THRUST 1: Indirect/Weak Bioinspiration (ICT designed after biological principles, processes and mechanisms). Examples include evolutionary computation, artificial gene regulatory networks, neural computation, swarm intelligence, cellular automata, artificial immune systems, artificial life, artificial chemistry, reaction-diffusion computing, simulated annealing, self-organization and network science. THRUST 2: Direct/Strong Bioinspiration (ICT utilizing biological materials and systems). Examples include cellular computing, molecular computing/communication, membrane computing, DNA computing and memory, bacterial computing, Physarum computing and quantum computing. Expected, but not exclusive, topics are: * Signal/information processing and communication for bio-inspired ICT * Algorithms and their applications for bio-inspired ICT * Formal models and methods for bio-inspired ICT * Bio-inspired software and hardware systems * Modeling, simulations and empirical experiments of bio-inspired ICT * Self-* and stability properties in bio-inspired ICT * Security, robustness and resilience in bio-inspired ICT * Design, configuration and management issues in bio-inspired ICT * Software engineering and performance engineering in bio-inspired ICT * Tools, testbeds and deployment aspects in bio-inspired ICT * Applications, experiences and standardization of bio-inspired ICT * Socially-aware, game theoretic and other metaphor-assisted interdisciplinary research Application domains include, but not limited to, autonomic computing, bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, computer networks, computer vision, data mining, e-health, green computing and networking, grid/cloud computing, intelligent agents, mechanical engineering, molecular communication, nano-scale computing and networking, optimization, pervasive computing, robotics, security, social networks, software engineering and systems engineering. IMPORTANT DATES: Regular paper submission due: August 4 Short and poster/demo paper submission due: September 22 Notification for regular papers: September 15 Notification for short and poster/demo papers: October 6 Camera ready due: October 13 SPECIAL TRACKS: In addition to the regular track that covers general/mainstream topics, BICT 2014 features the following special tracks that focus on specific, emerging or underrepresented topics. * Artificial, Biological and Bio-Inspired Intelligence (ABBII) * Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering (AISE) * Body Area Soft Computing (BASC) * Biologically-Inspired Process Calculi (BIPC) * Bio-Inspired Machine Vision (BIMV) * Bio-inspired/Biomimetic Microsystems & Microdevices (BMM) * Bio-inspired Wireless Network Security (BWNS) * Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) * Engineering Applications from Molecular and Gene Regulatory Networks (EMNET) * Molecular Communication and Networking (MCN) * Morphogenetic Collective Systems (MCS) * Modularization for Practical Software Engineering (MPSE) * Resilient Networks (RN) * Swarm and Modular Robotics (SAMR) * Smart Body Area Networks (SBAN) * Security and Privacy in Bio-inspired Networks (SPBN) PAPER SUBMISSION: Authors are invited to submit regular papers (up to 8 pages each), short papers (up to 4 pages each) or poster/demo papers (up to 2 pages each) in ACM's paper template. Up to two extra pages are allowed for each paper with extra page charges. See http://bionetics.org/2014/show/initial-submission for more details. PUBLICATION: All accepted paper will be published through ACM Digital Library and submitted for indexing by SI, EI Compendex, Scopus, ACM Library, Google Scholar and many more. Selected papers will be considered for publication in leading journals including: * ACM/Springer Mobile Networks and Applications * Elsevier Information Sciences * Elsevier Nano Communication Networks Journal * Int'l Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering * Cloud-integrated Cyber-Physical Systems (Springer book) KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: * Andrew Adamatzky, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK * Gabriel Ciobanu, Romanian Academy, ICS, Iasi, Romania * Andrew Eckford, York University, Canada * Valeriy Perminov, BioTeckFarm, Ltd., Russia * Hiroki Sayama, SUNY Binghamton, USA * Theresa Schubert, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany * Jon Timmis, University of York, UK * Honggang Wang, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, USA * Justin Werfel, Harvard University, USA GENERAL CHAIR: Jun Suzuki, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA PC CHAIR: Tadashi Nakano, Osaka University, Japan PC VICE CHAIRS: Andrew Adamatzky, University of the West of England, UK Gabriel Ciobanu, Romanian Academy, Institute of Computer Science, Romania Douglas Dow, Wentworth Institute of Technology, USA Hiroaki Fukuda, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan Tyler Garaas, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, USA Preetam Ghosh, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA Isao Hayashi, Kansai University, Japan Yu-Hsiang Hsu, National Taiwan University, Taiwan Saori Iwanaga, Japan Coast Guard Academy, Japan Masao Kubo, National Defense Academy, Japan Paul Leger, Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile Shih-Hsi "Alex" Liu, California State University, Fresno, USA Michael L. Mayo, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, USA Parisa Memarmoshrefi, University of Goettingen, Germany Marjan Mernik, University of Maribor, Slovenia Alan Millard, University of York, UK Michael Moore, Marc Pomplun, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA Florian Raudies, Boston University, USA Hiroshi Sato, National Defense Academy, Japan Hiroki Sayama, SUNY Binghamton, USA Tomohiro Shirakawa, National Defense Academy of Japan, Japan Jon Timmis, University of York, UK Athanasios Vasilakos, University of Western Macedonia, Greece Honggang Wang, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, USA Jun Zhou, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China -- Jun Suzuki Associate Professor of Computer Science University of Massachusetts, Boston jxs(a)cs.umb.edu http://www.cs.umb.edu/~jxs/ http://dssg.cs.umb.edu/ @JunSuzukiBoston

July 2, 2014

The Philosophy and Science of Self-Control project Sub-grant and Prize Competition

by pssc

Call for Letters of Intent Dr. Alfred Mele of the Florida State University Department of Philosophy is directing The Philosophy and Science of Self-Control project, a new grant project funded by the John Templeton Foundation. Philosophers and scientists are invited to compete for sub-grants and prizes to support research along two dimensions: the philosophy of self-control and the integrated science and philosophy of self-control. The first phase in the process of selecting the winners of these awards is to review letters of intent from applicants. Letters of intent for projects focusing on integrated science and the philosophy of self-control are due by August 1st, 2014, and letters of intent for the philosophy of self-control research projects are due by September 1st, 2014. For more information about The Philosophy and Science of Self-Control project and for instructions to submit letters of intent, please visitwww.philosophyandscienceofself-control.com.

July 2, 2014

Last CFP:: ICIEIS2014- Poland

by The Third International Conference on Informatics Engineering and Information Science (ICIEIS2014)

The Third International Conference on Informatics Engineering and Information Science (ICIEIS2014) Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland September 22-24, 2014. http://goo.gl/PY6O4x ======================================================================== The proposed conference on the above theme will be held at Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland From September 22-24, 2014 which aims to enable researchers build connections between different digital applications. The conference welcomes papers on the following (but not limited to) research topics: - Information Ethics - Information Content Security - Data Compression - E-Technology - E-Government - E-Learning - Cloud Computing - Grid Computing - Green Computing - Access Controls Researchers are encouraged to submit their work electronically. All papers will be fully refereed by a minimum of two specialized referees. Before final acceptance, all referees comments must be considered. Important Dates ============== Submission Date : Open from now until August 20, 2014 Notification of acceptance: 2-3 weeks from the submission date Camera Ready submission : Sept. 12, 2014 Registration : Sept. 12, 2014 Conference dates : Sept. 22-24, 2014

July 2, 2014

Open position: Graduate researcher (f/m)

by Dr. Markus Butz-Ostendorf

Open position: Graduate researcher (f/m) Advertising institute: JSC - Jülich Supercomputing Centre Reference number: 2014-120 URL: http://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Stellenangebote/_common/dna/2014-120-EN… http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN/Expertise/SimLab/slns/_node.html JARA, the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, is an innovative model of collaboration between RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich. The alliance brings together an internationally renowned technical university with a leading European research centre (www.jara.org<http://www.jara.org>). The scientists of the section JARA-HPC combine know-how in High Performance Computing (HPC) with domain-specific research competence. Through the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) they have access to supercomputers of the worldwide highest performance class. On the basis of own scientific research, several "Simulation Labs" at the JSC provide community-oriented support in the area of complex simulations on supercomputers and the relevant methods. We are looking to recruit a Graduate researcher (f/m) Your Job: The successful candidate will be member of the Simulation Lab Neuroscience, which is funded by JARA-HPC and by the Helmholtz Association in the framework of the Helmholtz Portfolio Theme "Supercomputing and Modeling for the Human Brain". As the "Bernstein Facility for Simulation and Database Technology" the new lab contributes its expertise in simulation and database technology to the National Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience (www.nncn.de<http://www.nncn.de>). Your work will be dedicated to the solution of fundamental questions in neuroscience through the use of the most advanced high performance computers, and will include one or more of the following activities: * Developing models of neural plasticity in the healthy and diseased brain * Developing self-organizing, large-scale neuronal network models of the human brain * Application of these models in high performance computing simulations of lesions in the visual and motor system * Models of multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease * Interdisciplinary work at the interface of Computer Science, Biology and Medicine. Your Profile: * Diploma or Master degree in Computational Neuroscience, Theoretical Biology, Physics or Informatics with a specialization in Biology * Ideally, profound background in modelling neuronal networks as well as good programming skills in Python, Matlab or C++ * Experience in modelling with NEST would be a plus * Ability to work independently in a team of researchers with heterogeneous backgrounds * Strong communication skills in English are a necessity Our Offer: * A diverse range of activities in an interdisciplinary, international research group and a friendly work Environment * Excellent research and computing infrastructure of an internationally recognised technical university and one of the largest research centres in Europe * Possibility of working towards a doctorate * Employment initially limited to 2 years but with possible longer-term perspective * Salary and social benefits in conformity with the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Civil Service (TVöD). Forschungszentrum Jülich aims to employ more women in this area and therefore particulary welcomes applications from women. We also welcome applications from disabled persons. We look forward to receiving your application, preferably online<https://www.hrecruiting.de/obf2/bewerbermanagement.php?kunden_nr=t5ChjatkIf…> via our online recruitment system (https://www.hrecruiting.de/obf2/bewerbermanagement.php?kunden_nr=t5ChjatkIf…) quoting the above-mentioned reference number. Contact P-E Henning Eggert Tel.:02461 61-9700 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 2, 2014

BCF/NWG course "Analysis and Models in Neurophysiology" - Deadline Extension to July 14

by Birgit Ahrens

The application deadline for the BCF/NWG course is extended to *Monday, July 14, 2014*. Please find more information on the course and the application process below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BCF/NWG-Course "Analysis and Models in Neurophysiology" /Sunday, October 5 - Friday, October 10, 2014 / /Bernstein Center Freiburg, Hansastraße 9a, 79104 Freiburg, Germany/ *Aim of the course:* The course is intended to provide advanced Diploma/Masters and PhD students, as well as young researchers from the neurosciences with approaches for the analysis of electrophysiological data and the theoretical concepts behind them. *The course includes various topics such as*: * Neuron Models and Point Processes (Prof. Stefan Rotter) * Local field potentials (Prof. Ulrich Egert) * Neural Coding (Dr. Robert Schmidt) * Neural Decoding (Prof. Carsten Mehring) The course will consist of lectures in the morning and and matching exercises using Matlab, Mathematica and Python in the afternoon. Experience with these software packages will be helpful but is not required for registration. The participants should have a basic understanding of scientific programming. This course is designated especially for advanced diploma/master-students and PhD-students (preferentially in their first year). *Application:* Please apply by sending one pdf document containing your CV and a meaningful letter of motivation to nwg-course(a)bcf.uni-freiburg.de. The letter of motivation should refer to the following points: * Reasons for wanting to take this course * Background in mathematics * Experience in using Matlab/Python/Mathematica * Background in neuroscience The course is limited to 20 participants. *Course fees:* NWG members - 50EUR, others - 125EUR *Application deadline: *July 14, 2014 *More information: *http://www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de/events/conferences-workshops/20141005-nwgcourse *-- Dr. Birgit Ahrens --* Teaching & Training Coordinator Bernstein Center Freiburg University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9a D - 79104 Freiburg Germany Phone: +49 (0) 761 203-9575 Fax: +49 (0) 761 203-9559

July 2, 2014

Final Deadline July 15: IEEE CICARE 2014, Orlando, Florida, USA

by Mufti Mahmud

Dear All, Apologies for cross-posting of this cfp. This extended final deadline is July 15, 2014 (Midnight GMT). Please contribute to the symposium by submitting your research results and by sharing the cfp to the interested people. We appreciate your contribution in making CICARE 2014 a successful event. Many thanks and regards, Mufti 2014 IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence in healthcare and e-health (IEEE CICARE 2014) IEEE CICARE 2014 is the first Symposium of its kind, and will bring together leading research and clinical scientists, engineers, practitioners, technology and solution providers in healthcare and e-health from around the world to discuss latest advances in the field of computational intelligence applied to solving the growing scale and complexity of problems in these inter-disciplinary domains. This symposium will provide a forum for the presentation of recent results in the theory and practice of computational intelligence in healthcare and e-health systems and services, and there will also be Panel discussions to outline future research directions and challenges. IEEE CICARE 2014 is being held as part of the IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI’2014), Florida, 09-12 December 2014. IEEE SSCI 2014 is one of the two flagship biennial international events sponsored by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (IEEE CIS) promoting all aspects of the theory and applications of computational intelligence. The IEEE SSCI co-locates several technical meetings at one location. This event attracts top researchers, professionals, and students from around the world. More details on: http://www.ieee-ssci.org/index.html Call for Papers can be found here: http://www.ieee-ssci.org/data/IEEESSCI_2014_CFP.pdf IEEE is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global community through IEEE's highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities. Call for Papers: IEEE CICARE 2014 Special Sessions in 2014 IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence in healthcare and e-health Special Session 1: Computationally Intelligent Methods for CNS Research & Its Disorders (Organizers: Mufti Mahmud, Pawel Raif, Amir Hussain) Special Session 2: Computational Intelligence in Health Assessment and Monitoring (Organizers: Erik Cambria, Amir Hussain, Newton Howard) Special Session 3: Prospects and Applications of Computational Intelligence in e-Health (Organizers: Pawel Raif, Mufti Mahmud, Henrique Martins) Special session 4: Big Data Analytic Technology for Bioinformatics and Health Informatics (Organizers: Xin Deng, Donghui Wu) IEEE CICARE2014 Topics: IEEE CICARE 2014 related topics include but are not limited to: · Ontology Driven Knowledge Management · Decision Support Systems · Telemedicine · Medical research using Grids · Interoperability · Medical and Nursing Informatics · Confidentiality and Data Security · Wearable Health Informatics · Semantic Interoperability · Therapeutic Systems and Technologies · Cognitive Informatics · Affective Computing · Human-Machine Interfaces · ICT, Ageing and Disability · Design and development methodologies for Healthcare IT · Mobile technologies for Healthcare applications (m-Health) · Evaluation and use of Healthcare IT · Health Knowledge Management · Healthcare Management and Information Systems · Electronic Health Records and Standards · Software Systems in Medicine · Pervasive Health Systems and Services · Clinical problems and applications · Data Mining and Visualization · Consumer Health Informatics · Virtual Healthcare Teams · Pattern recognition and Machine Learning · Practice-based Research Methods for Healthcare Informatics/IT · e-Health for Public Health · Integrating genetics with e-health Symposium Chairs: Chair: Professor Amir Hussain, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Scotland, E-mail: ahu(a)cs.stir.ac.uk Co-Chair: Professor Calum MacRae, Harvard Medical School, Boston Co-Chair: Professor Jonathan Wu, University of Windsor, Canada Honorary Chair: Professor Warner Slack, Clinical Informatics Division, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA Symposium Organiser: Kamran Farooq, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK International Programme Committee: · Adnan Masood Siddiqui, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Cancer Centre. · Aman Shams, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, UK · Amir Atiya, Cairo University, Egypt · Amir Shah, University Hospital Crosshouse, Kilmarnock, Scotland · Aneel Zaheer, Kings College London Hospital, UK · Anna Esposito, Second University of Naples and IIASS - Vietri sul Mare (SA), Italy · Aziz Sheikh, Centre of Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh · Azzam Taktak, The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, UK · Campbell Grant, Sitekit Solutions Ltd. · Chris Eckl, Sitekit Solutions Ltd. · Eric Chang, Microsoft Asia, Beijing · Erik Cambria, NUS, Singapore · Fabio Augusto Gonzalez Osorio, National University of Colombia · Frances Mair, University of Glasgow · Hicham Attasi, Brno University of Technology, Czech Repulibic · Hollis Kowaloff, Beth Israel Clinical Informatics, USA · Igor Aleksander, Imperial College, London, UK · Irfan Faridoon, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh · Jozsef Farkas, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK · Junichi Tsujii, Microsoft Asia, Beijing · Kaizhu Huang, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China · Kang Li, Queen’s University, Belfast · Keshav Dahal, University of Bradford, UK · M.A. Rajak, Ucare Foundation, Glasgow · Marcos Faundez-Zanuy, Escola University-Politecnic Mataro, Spain · Maria Aftab, Sir Syed Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan · Marjorie Skubic, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA · Matthew Bailey, BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh · Mohamed Chetouani, University of Pierre Marie-Curie, France · Muaz Niazi, Bahria University, Pakistan · Mufti Mahmud, University of Antwerp, Belgium · Ricardo Imbert, University of Madrid, Spain · Sophia Ananiadou University of Manchester, UK · Stefano Squartini, Ancona University, Italy · Stephen Leslie, Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, Scotland · Tingwen Huang, Texas A&M University at Qatar · Usman Bashir, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh · Vassilis Cutsuridis, King's College, London, UK · Vladimir Bajic, KAUST, Saudi Arabia · Wajeeha Aneel, University of Bedfordshire, UK · William Buchanan, Napier University · Zdenek Smekal, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic · Zubair Khan, Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University Hospitals NHS Lothian (Edinburgh) Important Dates Paper submission: 15 July 2014, Midnight GMT Decision: 05 Sept 2014 Final submission: 05 Oct 2014 Early Registration: 05 Oct 2014 Paper Submission: Please submit your paper via the IEEE SSCI 2014 on-line submission link accessed from: http://www.ieee-ssci.org/submission.html

July 2, 2014

IEEE SSCI 2014 Doctoral Consortium (deadline July 15, 2014) - Call for Applications

by Stephen G Matthews

IEEE SSCI 2014 Doctoral Consortium - Call for Applications The IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI) 2014 will be running a Doctoral Consortium alongside the symposium. The objective of this Doctoral Consortium is to provide an opportunity for Ph.D. students to discuss their dissertation research topics, research plans, and research methodologies in a supportive environment with peers in the community. The feedback, advice, and guidance will be invaluable to Ph.D. students in supporting their current and future research in computational intelligence and their future careers. There are dedicated financial support for selected Ph.D. students to attend this Doctoral Consortium as well as student travel grants for SSCI. Applications In order to submit to the Doctoral Consortium, students are required to submit the following items through the same portal as papers for SSCI. 1. Cover sheet that includes: - Full name - Affiliation and email address - Expected graduation date - Thesis advisor’s full name, title, affiliation and email address - Title of research - List of up to 5 keywords to help select reviewers for the application 2. A 2-page summary of Ph.D. research that includes: - Title of research - Name, affiliation, and email address - Research question and significance - Important literature - Proposed research methodology - Preliminary results - Future research plan - Reference list (maximum one page, not included in 2-page limit) 3. CV 4. Letter of support from Ph.D. supervisor or other faculty member 5. Confirmation letter of Ph.D. student status Key dates are the same as for the SSCI Submission July 15, 2014 Notification September 5, 2014 Final Submission October 5, 2014 Full details of the Doctoral Consortium are available from http://ieee-ssci .org/consortium.html Co-Chairs Stephen G. Matthews, University of Bristol, UK Xiaorong Zhang, San Francisco State University, USA Demetrios G. Eliades, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

July 1, 2014

Neuroimaging and Modelling Research Associate Posts at the University of Ulster

by Wong-Lin, Kongfatt

The School of Computing and Intelligent Systems at the University of Ulster has two available 2-year fixed term research associate posts. One of the posts will involve research in the general area of neuroimaging using magnetoencephalography (MEG), particularly in mild cognitive impairment. The other post will involve research in the general area of computational modelling of neuromodulatory effects on MEG signals. Interested applicants are welcomed to apply at: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AIZ051/research-associate-in-computational-modell… http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AIZ056/research-associate-in-neuroimaging-using-m… Note that the closing date is on 18 July 2014. Successful applicants will be based primarily at the Functional Brain Mapping facility at the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) with opportunities to interact with other related research teams at the ISRC (e.g. Brain-Computer Interface and Assistive Technologies, Computational Neuroscience, Bio-Inspired and Neuro-Engineering, and Cognitive Robotics), and research groups such as in the (5* research rating) Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, the recently developed Centre for Stratified Medicine, and the Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing. ------ Dr. KongFatt Wong-Lin Computational Neuroscience Research Team Intelligent Systems Research Centre School of Computing and Intelligent Systems University of Ulster ________________________________ 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 the University of Ulster. 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. The University of Ulster 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 University of Ulster was founded by Royal Charter in 1984 and is registered with company number RC000726 and VAT registered number GB672390524.The primary contact address for the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland is,Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry BT52 1SA

July 1, 2014

Neural plasticity for rich and uncertain robotic information streams. Call for participation to our upcoming Frontiers research topic.

by Andrea Soltoggio

Dear all, I would like to inform you that the research topic “Neural plasticity for rich and uncertain information streams”, hosted by Frontiers in Neurorobotics, has now opened for submission. Description: Models of adaptation and neural plasticity are often demonstrated in robotic scenarios with heavily pre-processed and regulated information streams to provide learning algorithms with appropriate, well timed, and meaningful data to match the assumptions of learning rules. On the contrary, natural scenarios are often rich of raw, asynchronous, overlapping and uncertain inputs and outputs whose relationships and meaning are progressively acquired, disambiguated, and used for further learning. Therefore, recent research efforts focus on neural embodied systems that rely less on well timed and pre-processed inputs, but rather extract autonomously relationships and features in time and space. In particular, realistic and more complete models of plasticity must account for delayed rewards, noisy and ambiguous data, emerging and novel input features during online learning. Such approaches model the progressive acquisition of knowledge into neural systems through experience in environments that may be affected by ambiguities, uncertain signals, delays, or novel features. This research topic promises to unveil fundamental properties and dynamics of neural learning system that are naturally immersed in a rich information flow. We invite papers describing advances in robotic neural learning systems that model adaptation or plasticity with a rich and realistic stream of information. Abstract Submission Deadline: Aug 11, 2014, Article Submission Deadline: Jan 12, 2015 Topic Editor(s): Andrea Soltoggio, Fran van der Velde Frontiers, a Swiss open-access publisher, recently partnered with Nature Publishing Group to expand its researcher-driven Open Science platform. Frontiers articles are rigorously peer-reviewed, can be disseminated freely and are widely read by your colleagues and by the broader scientific and medical research communities. The idea behind a research topic is to create an organized, comprehensive collection of several contributions, as well as a forum for discussion and debate. Contributions can be articles describing original research, methods, hypothesis & theory, opinions, etc. We have created a homepage on the Frontiers website (Frontiers in Neurorobotics) where all articles will appear after peer-review and where participants in the topic will be able to hold relevant discussions: http://www.frontiersin.org/Neurorobotics/researchtopics/Neural_plasticity_f… . Frontiers will also compile an e-book, as soon as all contributing articles are published, that can be used in classes, be sent to foundations that fund your research, to journalists and press agencies, or to any number of other organizations. As such, a manuscript accepted for publication incurs a publishing fee, which varies depending on the article type. Research Topic manuscripts receive a significant discount on publishing fees. Please take a look at this fee table: http://www.frontiersin.org/about/PublishingFees. Once published, your articles will remain free to access for all readers, and will be indexed in PubMed and other academic archives. As an author in Frontiers, you retain the copyright to your own papers and figures. Should you choose to participate, please confirm by sending me a quick email and then your abstract no later than Aug 11, 2014 using the following link: http://www.frontiersin.org/Neurorobotics/researchtopics/Neural_plasticity_f… With best regards, Andrea Soltoggio Guest Associate Editor, Frontiers in Neurorobotics www.frontiersin.org Lecturer in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Haslegrave Building, N.2.03 Loughborough University LE11 3TU UK

July 1, 2014

A multiscale perspective of the BRAIN Initiative

by Chi-Sang Poon

An upcoming paper titled "Multiscale fingerprinting of neuronal functional connectivity" in the journal Brain Structure and Function (in press) is available in MIT's open access collection: https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/88126 SUMMARY. Current cellular-based connectomics approaches aim to delineate the functional or structural organizations of mammalian brain circuits through neuronal activity mapping and/or axonal tracing. To discern possible connectivity between functionally identified neurons in widely distributed brain circuits, reliable and efficient network-based approaches of cross-registering or cross-correlating such functional-structural data are essential. Here, a novel cross-correlation approach that exploits multiple timing-specific, response-specific and cell-specific neuronal characteristics as coincident fingerprint markers at the systems, network and cellular levels is proposed. Application of this multiscale temporal-cellular coincident fingerprinting assay to the respiratory central pattern generator network in rats revealed a descending excitatory pathway with characteristic activity pattern and projecting from a distinct neuronal population in pons to its counterparts in medulla that control the post-inspiratory phase of the respiratory rhythm important for normal breathing, airway protection and respiratory-vocalization coordination. This enabling neurotracing approach may prove valuable for functional connectivity mapping of other brain circuits.

July 1, 2014

Reminder Announcement Special Session Neurotechnix 2014

by Martin Bogdan

Dear colleagues, it's my pleasure to announce in behalf of my co-chairs a special session at Neurotechnix 2014, 25- 26 October, 2014 - Rome, Italy (http://www.neurotechnix.org/BrainRehab.aspx) Brain-computer Interfaces and Brain Stimulation for Neurorehabilitation Important Dates Paper Submission: July 17, 2014 Authors Notification: July 31, 2014 Camera Ready and Registration: August 8, 2014 Scope Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and brain stimulation are unique methods for neurorehabilitation because they allow a direct interaction with the patient's brain. BCIs enable biofeedback approaches for paralyzed patients, while brain stimulation techniques modulate the activity of neuronal circuits to support brain reorganization. However, towards their application as reliable treatment options, important challenges such as a deeper understanding of neural (re-)organization, the design of suitable feedback and stimulation paradigms, the adaptation to individual patients and the transfer from the laboratory to clinical settings need to be faced. We invite neuroscientists, engineers and clinicians to submit papers discussing recent developments and future trends in the fields of neurostimulation and BCIs with a focus on their application towards the rehabilitation of patients. Topics: - Brain-computer interfaces - Decoding of brain activity - Neurofeedback - Brain stimulation - Closed-loop stimulation systems - Chronic pain - Stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases Paper Submission Prospective authors are invited to submit papers in any of the topics listed above. Instructions for preparing the manuscript (in Word and Latex formats) are available at: http://www.neurotechnix.org/GuidelinesTemplates.aspx#paper_templates Please also check the Guidelines and Templates. Papers should be submitted electronically via the web-based submission system at: http://www.insticc.org/Primoris Publication Both complete papers and extended abstracts can be submitted. All accepted extended abstracts will be published on CD-ROM without an ISBN, accepted papers will be published on CD-ROM support and in a special section of the congress proceedings book, under an ISBN reference. The proceedings are submitted for indexation by Thomson Reuters Conference Proceedings Citation Index (ISI), INSPEC, DBLP and EI (Elsevier Index). All papers and extended abstracts presented at the congress venue will also be made available at the SCITEPRESS DIGITAL LIBRARY. SCITEPRESS is member of CrossRef. -- ************************************************************************** Prof. Dr. Martin Bogdan Institut für Informatik Technische Informatik Universität Leipzig Augustusplatz 10 D-04109 Leipzig Germany Postadresse: PF 100920 D-04009 Leipzig Tel: (++49) 341 97 32208 Fax: (++49) 341 97 32252 E-mail: bogdan(a)informatik.uni-leipzig.de www.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/ti/ ************************************************************************** 'Nihil est ab omni parte beatum' (Horaz) **************************************************************************

July 1, 2014

PhD position, University of Genoa, Italy - 3D shape visual descriptors

by Silvio P. Sabatini

Applications are invited for one full-time PhD studentship (with scholarship) for a period of 3 years, starting Nov 2014, at “The Physical Structure of Perception and Computation” lab of the Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and System Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genoa, Italy. The proposed PhD research project will be focused on “Learning compositional visual representation of 3D shapes in vergent geometry”. The goal is to derive a deep architecture for abstracting the statistically relevant information present in the disparity patterns obtained by binocular fixations. Starting from a neuromorphic early representation of 2D binocular disparity, the resulting 3D visual descriptors should be characterized by generalized perceptual constancy. The project will provide the opportunity to work on neural modeling, visual psychophysics, computer vision, or a combination of them. Experimental, modeling, and theoretical approaches might be pursued with a different accent according to personal attitude. Ongoing cooperation, at international level, with research groups of different disciplines, will ensure a highly interdisciplinary and stimulating environment. Successful applicants will have at their disposal state-of-the-art sw and hw, 3D VR-AR experimental set-ups, a high precision 3D laser scanner, a large-scale CPU/GPU-based neuromorphic architecture for joint stereo and motion cortical representation, and an iCub 6dof binocular robot head. Successful applicants would have a good honors degree in bioengineering, computer science, physics or related disciplines, strong interest in computational neuroscience, and an open mind for interdisciplinary research. On-line application will be soon opening (deadline: August 30th, 2014 at 12:00 noon (Italian time/CET)) Prospective students, please contact: Silvio Sabatini (silvio.sabatini(a)unige.it) DIBRIS is a unique inter-school department of the University of Genoa, bridging together researchers from the former Science and Engineering Faculties. It offers an excellent multidisciplinary, interactive and collaborative research environment combining expertise in computer vision, computational neuroscience, neuromorphic computing, robotics and mechatronics. PSPC-Lab (www.pspc.unige.it) has a long-standing expertise in visual coding and multidimensional signal representation, robot perception and computer vision. In the last five years, the lab’s research activity focused on the analysis of the structural mechanisms of visuo-spatial cognition, responsible for orienting and interacting in the 3D space. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Silvio P. SABATINI, PhD [PSPC Research Group] Professor of Bioengineering DIBRIS - University of Genova | e_mail:silvio.sabatini@unige.it Via Opera Pia, 11A | phone: +39 010 3532092/3532794 I-16145 Genova (ITALY) | fax: +39 010 3532289/3536533 URL:http://pspc.unige.it --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Imagination is more important than knowledge..." [Albert Einstein]

July 1, 2014

PhD position, University of Genoa, Italy – Multidimensional peripersonal space sensing

by Silvio P. Sabatini

Applications are invited for one full-time PhD studentship (with scholarship) for a period of 3 years, starting Nov 2014, at “The Physical Structure of Perception and Computation” (PSPC) lab of the Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and System Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genoa, Italy. The proposed PhD research project will be focused on “Representing peripersonal space through sensorimotor likelihoods”. On the ground of the research framework developed in the PSPC lab at DIBRIS (see www.eyeshots.it, [1]), the activity will focus on the design of theoretical models by converting computational approaches from engineering into cortical-like models of implicit representations of the peripersonal space. Such implicit representations, besides advancing experimental predictions about neuronal activity, are expected to drive learning of meaningful interactions with the environment thus achieving fluid multi-dimensional motor control in the presence of multiple sensory channels, and with minimal a priori knowledge. [1] Antonelli M., Gibaldi A., Beuth F., Duran A.J., Canessa A., Chessa M., Solari F., del Pobil A.P., Hamker F., Chinellato E. and Sabatini S.P. (in press) A hierarchical system for a distributed representation of the peripersonal space of a humanoid robot. IEEE Trans. on Autonomous Mental Development. The project will provide the opportunity to work on neural modeling, visual psychophysics, robotics, or a combination of them. Experimental, modeling, and theoretical approaches might be pursued with a different accent according to personal attitude. Ongoing cooperation, at international level, with research groups of different disciplines, will ensure a highly interdisciplinary and stimulating environment. Full details on the call and the application procedure are available at: http://phd.dibris.unige.it/biorob/index.php/how-to-apply Successful applicants would have a good honors degree in bioengineering, computer science, physics or related disciplines, strong interest in computational neuroscience, and an open mind for interdisciplinary research. On-line application will be soon opening (deadline: August 30th, 2014 at 12:00 noon (Italian time/CET)) Prospective students, please contact: Silvio Sabatini (silvio.sabatini(a)unige.it) DIBRIS is a unique inter-school department of the University of Genoa, bridging together researchers from the former Science and Engineering Faculties. It offers an excellent multidisciplinary, interactive and collaborative research environment combining expertise in computer vision, computational neuroscience, neuromorphic computing, robotics and mechatronics. PSPC-Lab (www.pspc.unige.it) has a long-standing expertise in visual coding and multidimensional signal representation, robot perception and computer vision. In the last five years, the lab’s research activity focused on the analysis of the structural mechanisms of visuo-spatial cognition, responsible for orienting and interacting in the 3D space. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Silvio P. SABATINI, PhD [PSPC Research Group] Professor of Bioengineering DIBRIS - University of Genova | e_mail:silvio.sabatini@unige.it Via Opera Pia, 11A | phone: +39 010 3532092/3532794 I-16145 Genova (ITALY) | fax: +39 010 3532289/3536533 URL:http://pspc.unige.it --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Imagination is more important than knowledge..." [Albert Einstein]

July 1, 2014

Postdoc position in computational neuroscience (University of Leicester, UK)

by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.)

apologies for multiple postings... Postdoc in computational neuroscience (University of Leicester, UK) Description: Spike sorting is the classification of single neurons from extra-cellular recordings based on their spike shapes. The main focus of your research will be the study and implementation of optimal spike detection and sorting techniques. For this you will study different techniques to improve the spike detection and sorting results and will then implement these advances in a graphic user interface and in batch codes to run in Matlab. Group: Centre for Systems Neuroscience (http://www.le.ac.uk/csn) Visit the University of Leicester job site for more details, input the job reference (SEN00493) and click search. http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/jobs/opportunities/jobsearch Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Sue Atkinson, Research Centre Manager, sam45(a)le.ac.uk<mailto:sam45@le.ac.uk> or 0116 252 3249. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga Centre for Systems Neuroscience University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk/csn

June 30, 2014

Postdoctoral position at MIT/Janelia Farm

by Sam Gershman

The labs of Alla Karpova (HHMI/Janelia Farm), Josh Tenenbaum (MIT) and Sam Gershman (MIT/Harvard) are seeking a postdoctoral fellow to work on a collaborative project studying neural implementation of internal models of the environment in rat medial prefrontal cortex. The goal is to understand the role of prefrontal cortex in inferring the general structure of tasks in hierarchically structured, dynamically changing environments, and the process by which this inference is used to optimize behavior. The fellow will be closely involved in the design of experiments and data analysis, including the development of new behavioral and neural analysis techniques. This position will give the successful candidate an opportunity to develop broad expertise in computational neuroscience, ranging from models of probabilistic inference at behavioral level to decoding behaviorally-relevant parameters from circuit dynamics. The fellow will be based at MIT, but will also spend time at Janelia Farm. Funding is available for 3 years, beginning immediately. We are looking for candidates with a strong mathematical and computational background, ideally with experience in both theoretical neuroscience and probabilistic modeling. Candidates with experimental training in neurophysiology who are interested in developing their computational skills are also encouraged to apply. For more information, please contact Sam Gershman (sjgershm(a)mit.edu) along with a CV and brief cover letter.

June 29, 2014

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE

by Santamaria, Cookie

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE The BioCircuits Institute (BCI) and Departments of Physics, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Bioengineering, and Psychology and Neurobiology at the University of California, San Diego invite applications for a postdoctoral position in systems neuroscience, for experiments leading to the neuromorphic engineering of cognitive abilities. The ideal candidate will have experience with in vivo electrophysiology, in awake behaving animals, and desire to apply biologically inspired algorithms to VLSI circuits and systems. Close interaction with other project researchers in computational and theoretical neuroscience, nonlinear dynamical systems, and neuromorphic engineering is involved. We will accept applications immediately and will begin making selections on 1 September 2014, until the position is filled. Appointments are for two years (in one-year increments) with the possibility of a third. Send your statement of qualifications and interest with curriculum vitae, your two most significant publications and three letters of reference to Tim Gentner, Henry Abarbanel, Gert Cauwenberghs, Katja Lindenberg, Mikhail Rabinovich, and Terrence Sejnowski via email to: postdoc.muri[at]gmail.com. A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree is required prior to the appointment. UCSD is an EO/AA employer.

June 27, 2014

New Postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience at IIT - Laboratory of Neural Computation, Rovereto, Italy

by Stefano Panzeri

Dear all I have the opportunity to open a new postdoctoral position in my laboratory (The “Neural Computation” laboratory) at the Centre for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems in Trento (Italy). The postdoc will work to develop a set of novel information theoretic algorithms for the analysis of simultaneous recordings from large populations of retinal ganglion cells under dynamic natural visual stimulation. The project will be carried out in collaboration with the laboratory of Prof Tim Gollisch (University of Gottingen). Interested applicants should contact Stefano Panzeri ( stefano.panzeri @iit.it ) by email, emailing their CV with the inquiry. The position can be opened very rapidly. Therefore interested candidates are warmly suggested to inquire as soon as possible. For recent reviews about the work carried out by the laboratory of Neural Computation, prospective applicants are invited to consult the following articles: G.T. Einevoll, C. Kayser, N.K. Logothetis and S. Panzeri (2013) Modelling and analysis of local field potential for studying the function of cortical circuits. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14:770-785; Panzeri S, Brunel N, Logothetis NK, Kayser C (2010) Neural codes at multiple temporal scales in sensory cortex.Trends in Neuroscience 33: 111-120 Quian Quiroga R, Panzeri S (2009) Extracting information from neuronal populations: information theory and decoding approaches. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10: 173-185. Regards Stefano Panzeri

June 27, 2014

Bernstein Conference 2014 - Early registration ends July 7

by Kerstin Mosch

*BERNSTEIN CONFERENCE 2014 in Göttingen* Reminder: Early registration deadline: *July 7, 2014* Please register here <http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2014/registration>. We encourage timely booking of accommodation. A list of hotels can be found here <http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2014/venue/accommodation>. **************************************************************************** Satellite Workshops <http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2014/workshops> September 02-03, 2014 Main Conference <http://www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2014/program-1> September 03-05, 2014 **************************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience Conference in Europe and now regularly attracts more than 500 international participants. This year, the Conference is organized by the Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology Goettingen and will take place September 03-05, 2014. In addition, there will be a series of pre-conference satellite workshops on September 02-03, 2014. The Bernstein Conference is a single-track conference, covering all aspects of Computational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, and sessions for poster presentations are an integral part of the conference. The Bernstein conference will also feature a series of satellite workshops on September 02-03, 2014. The goal is to provide an informal forum for the discussion of timely research questions and challenges. For more information on the conference, please visit: http://www.bernstein-conference.de CONFERENCE DATE AND VENUE: Satellite Workshops September 02-03, 2014 Main Conference September 03-05, 2014 Venue: Central Lecture Hall (ZHG), Platz der Goettinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany PUBLIC PHD STUDENT EVENT: September 02, 2014 PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Ilka Diester, Daniel Durstewitz, Thomas Euler, Alexander Gail, Matthias Kaschube, Jason Kerr, Roland Schaette, Fred Wolf, Florentin Wörgötter, ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Florentin Wörgötter, Kerstin Mosch, Yvonne Reimann Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Andrea Huber Broesamle, Mareike Kardinal, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder We look forward to seeing you in Goettingen in September! -- Dr. Kerstin Mosch Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Goettingen Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology (BFNT) Goettingen Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Am Fassberg 17 D-37077 Goettingen Germany T: +49 (0) 551 5176 - 425 E:kerstin@nld.ds.mpg.de I:www.bccn-goettingen.de I:www.bfnt-goettingen.de

June 27, 2014

Postdoc Position in Marseille. Neural ensemble computation in the basal ganglia and motor learning

by David Robbe

A 3yearspostdoctoral position is available starting 1st of September 2014in the group of David Robbeat the Institut de Neurobiologie de la Mediterrannée(INMED) in Marseille, France. The Robbe Lab studies how cell assemblies in the basal ganglia and related cortical structures contribute to motor learning and motor control. For this, we perform large-scale electrophysiological recordings (with silicon probes and large tetrode arrays) combined with optogenetics while rodents are engaged in original motor tasks. Our high-dimensional behavioral and neural data required advanced statistical methods to test hypotheses on the computation performed by the basal ganglia during motor learning and on the respective role of the motor cortex and basal ganglia.The position would suit ahighly motivated candidatewith strong quantitative background.Agood knowledge in motor controlwould be a plus but is not required.While the work will be mainly quantitative, applicants desiring to acquire experimental skills are encouraged to apply. INMED is composed of several internationally renowned groups working on the development, function and pathology of neuronal circuits. The scientific excellence of INMED and its outstanding location at the entrance of the National Park des Calanques provide a rich and stimulating working/living environment The position is part of a 5 years ERC-funded project that will start 1st of September 2014. Applications (short cover, CV, email address of 2 referees) should be sent to david.robbe(a)inserm.fr and will be considered until the position is filled. -- ------------------------------------------------------ David Robbe Neuronal dynamics and functions of the basal ganglia INMED INSERM UMR901 163, avenue de Luminy. BP13 13273 Marseille Cedex 9 France http://www.inmed.univ-mrs.fr/ Tel: +33 4 91 82 81 99 Fax: +33 4 91 82 81 05 -----------------------------------------------------

June 26, 2014

Postdoctoral Positions in BCI for enabling shared human-machine autonomy

by Paul Sajda

The Laboratory for Intelligent Imaging and Neural Computing (LIINC) at Columbia University has immediate openings for two Postdoctoral Research Scientists interested in investigating the use of brain computer interfaces (BCI) for enabling shared human-machine autonomy. This research effort is a joint project with the Army Research Lab (ARL) and will focus specifically on measuring cognitive state of individuals engaged in an image search task in cooperation with a semi-autonomous computer vision system. Successful applicants will have a background in machine learning, exemplar based computer vision systems and brain computer interfaces. An interest and/or background in building mobile systems, Android programming and experimenting with Google Glass is also a plus. A Ph.D. in Engineering, Computer Science or Neuroscience is preferred. One position will be full time at Columbia University and the other will be a shared position which will be half time at Columbia and half time at ARL/Aberdeen MD. The shared postdoctoral position requires US Citizenship. LIINC (liinc.bme.columbia.edu) is in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University and interacts closely with other departments at Columbia, including Electrical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Computer Science and Neuroscience. We are also a member lab of the newly formed Center for Neural Engineering and Computation (CNEC) at Columbia University (cnec.columbia.edu) as well as the Institute for Data Sciences and Engineering (idse.columbia.edu) Additionally, we are a member of the Cognition and Neuroergonomics Collaborative Technology Alliance (CaN CTA) which a collaborative research effort between the Army Research Labs, Academia and Industry. Postdoctoral Research Scientists will thus have the opportunity to broadly collaborate will other scientists in academia, industry and government, being part of one of the largest collaborative programs in real-world neuroimaging and brain computer interfaces. Interested candidates should send via email their CV, three representative papers, the names of three references, and cover letter to Prof. Paul Sajda (psajda(a)columbia.edu) Applications will be considered until the positions are filled. The position is for one year, with the option to renew for 2-3 years, given satisfactory performance and available funding. Paul Sajda, Ph.D. Professor Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Radiology Columbia University 351 Engineering Terrace Building, Mail Code 8904 1210 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10027 tel: (212) 854-5279 fax: (212) 854-8725 email: ps629(a)columbia.edu http://liinc.bme.columbia.edu Editor-in-Chief IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering email: editortnsre(a)gmail.com http://tnsre.bme.columbia.edu

June 26, 2014

[meetings] [ECCV2014] CfP: Second Workshop on Affordances: Visual Perception of Affordances and Functional Visual Primitives for Scene Analysis (in conjunction with ECCV 2014)

by Karthik Mahesh Varadarajan

========================================================================== *Call for Papers- Second Workshop on Affordances: Visual Perception of Affordances and Functional Visual Primitives for Scene Analysis* (in conjunction with ECCV 2014), September 7, 2014, Zurich, Switzerland http://affordances.info/workshops/ECCV.html ========================================================================== The workshop seeks to address key challenges in computer vision and applications such as robotics with regard to functional form descriptions, which are termed as "affordances". Based on the Gibsonian principle of defining objects by their function, "affordances" have been studied extensively by psychologists and visual perception researchers, resulting in the creation of numerous cognitive models. These models are being increasingly revisited and adapted by computer vision researchers to build visual perception and behavioral algorithms in recent years. This workshop attempts to explore this nascent, yet rapidly emerging field of affordance based cognitive vision (recognition of objects, activities, scenes etc.) while integrating the efforts and language of affordance communities not just in computer vision, but also psychophysics and neurobiology by creating an open affordance research forum, feature framework and ontology called AfNet (theaffordances.net) In particular, the workshop will focus on emerging trends in affordances and other human-centered function/action features that can be used to build computer vision algorithms leading to various intelligent applications. The workshop will also feature contributions from researchers involved in traditional theories to affordances, especially from the point of view of psychophysics and neuro-biology. Avenues to aiding research in these fields using techniques from computer vision and cognitive robotics will also be explored. Primary topics addressed by the workshop include the following among others - Affordances in visual perception models - Affordances as visual primitives, common coding features and symbolic cognitive systems - Affordances for object recognition, search, attention modulation, functional scene understanding and classification - Object functionality analysis - Affordances from appearance and touch based cues - Haptic adjectives - Functional-visual categories for transfer learning - Actions and functions in object perception - Human-object interactions and modeling - Motion-capture data analysis for object categorization - Affordances in human and robot grasping - Affordance learning - Affordance ontologies - Knowledge bases for affordances and affordance modeling Understanding various challenges in the field of affordances and building a common language and framework for communication across the varied affordance communities are the key goals of the proposed workshop. Through the course of the workshop, we also envisage the establishment of a working group for AfNet. *Paper Submissions* Paper contributions to the workshop are solicited in four different formats. This departure from the regular format is intended to promote greater contribution and cater to the needs of affordance communities from various disciplines such as Knowledge Representation, Psychology, Psychophysics, Neuroscience, Kinematics, Ontologies besides traditional audience such as from Cognitive/ Computer Vision and Robotics. - *Conceptual papers* (2 pages): Authors are invited to submit original ideas on approaches to address specific problems in the targeted areas of the workshop. While a clear presentation of the proposed approach and the expected results are essential, specifics of implementation and evaluations are outside the scope of this format. This format is intended at exchange and evaluation of ideas prior to implementation/ experimental work as well as to open up collaboration avenues. - *Design papers* (6 pages): Authors submitting design papers are required to address key issues regarding the problem considered with detailed algorithms and preliminary or proof-of-concept results. Detailed evaluations and analyses are outside the scope of this format. This format is intended at addressing late-breaking and work in progress results as well as fostering collaboration between research and engineering groups. - *Experimental papers* (6 pages): Experimental papers are required to present results of experiments and evaluation of previously published algorithms or design frameworks. Details of implementation and exhaustive test case analyses are key to this format. These papers are geared at benchmarking and standardizing previously known approaches. - *Full papers* (14 pages): Full papers must be self-inclusive contributions with a detailed treatment of the problem statement, related work, design methodology, algorithm, test-bed, evaluation, comparative analysis, results and future scope of work. Submission of original and unpublished work is highly encouraged. Since the goal of this workshop is to bring together the various affordance communities, extended versions/ summary reports of recent research published elsewhere, as adapted to the goals of the workshop, will also be accepted. These papers are required to clearly state the relevance to the workshop and the necessary adaptation. The program will be composed of oral as well as Pecha-Kucha style presentations. Each contribution will be reviewed by three reviewers through a single-blind review process. The paper formatting should follow the ECCV formatting guidelines (Templates: LaTeX <http://eccv2014.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/eccv2014kit.zip>). All contributions are to be submitted via Microsoft Conference Management Tool <https://cmt.research.microsoft.com/A22014/Default.aspx> in PDF. Please adhere to the following strict deadlines. In addition to direct acceptance, early submissions may be conditionally accepted, in which case submission of a revised version of the paper based on reviewer comments, prior to the late submission deadline is necessary. The final decision on acceptance of such conditionally accepted papers will be announced along with the decisions for the late submissions. Hence, while early submissions will have a better chance of acceptance than late submissions, submission to either (or both) rounds is equally encouraged. Also, note that the paper ID to be incorporated into the submission manuscript is available after performing an initial submission. If you still have issues finding your paper ID, it can be left blank for initial submissions, though it will be necessary to use the ID for the final ECCV version, OpenRsrch version, Springer version and ECCV attendance registration. *Important Dates* - Initial submissions (Late): 23:59:59 PDT July 07, 2014 - Notification of acceptance (Late submissions): July 17, 2014 - Submission of publication-ready version: July 24, 2014 - Workshop date: September 7, 2014 *Organizers* Karthik Mahesh Varadarajan <http://www.karthikmahesh.com> (varadarajan(at) acin.tuwien.ac.at), TU Wien Alireza Fathi <http://ai.stanford.edu/~alireza/> (alireza(at)cs.stanford.edu) Stanford Juergen Gall <http://www.vision.ee.ethz.ch/~gallju/> (gall(at) iai.uni-bonn.de), Univ. Bonn Markus Vincze <http://www.acin.tuwien.ac.at/index.php?id=231&L=1> (vincze(at)tuwien.ac.at), TU Wien *Speakers and Participants* (To be updated) Fei-Fei Li (Affordances in Computer Vision), Stanford University, USA Abhinav Gupta (Affordances in Computer Vision), Carnegie Mellon University, USA Derek Hoiem (Affordance Semantics), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Ashutosh Saxena (Affordances in Cognitive Robotics), Cornell University, USA Aaron Bobick (Affordances in Robotics), GeorgiaTech, USA *Program Committee* Irving Biederman (USC) Aude Oliva (MIT) Martha Teghtsoonian (Smith College) Barbara Caputo (Univ. of Rome, IDIAP) Song-Chun Zhu (UCLA) Antonis Argyros (FORTH) Tamim Asfour (KIT) Trevor Darrell (UC. Berkeley) Michael Beetz (TUM) Norbert Krueger (Univ. of Southern Denmark) Sven Dickinson (Univ. of Toronto) Erhan Oztop (Ozegin Univ.) Diane Pecher (Erasmus Univ. Rotterdam) Jason Corso (UB New York) Juan Carlos Niebles (Universidad del Norte) Tamara Berg (UNC Chapel Hill) Moritz Tenorth (Univ. Bremen) Dejan Pangercic (Robert Bosch) Roozbeh Mottaghi (Stanford) Xiaofeng Ren (Amazon) David Fouhey (CMU) Tucker Hermans (Georgia Tech) Tian Lan (Stanford) Amir Roshan Zamir (UCF) Hamed Pirsiavash (MIT) Walterio Mayol-Cuevas (Univ. of Bristol)

June 26, 2014

Research Fellow (Postdoc) Position on Multiagent Systems

by Jay Zhang

Research Fellow (Postdoc) position is available at the School of Computer Engineering (http://www.ntu.edu.sg/SCE) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, starting January 2015. You will be conducting research and development in the area of multiagent systems, agent modeling, and multiagent simulation. Specifically, it is an industry funded project and you will be working closely together with the team in NTU and a world-wide reputable company. You will be researching, designing and developing agent models and multiagent simulations to support decision making for complex business systems. The salary is highly competitive. The School of Computer Engineering is fast growing, so is the company. Singapore is also establishing two new universities. Thus, a plenty of opportunities for future long-term career are available. *Required Qualifications* (1) PhD degree in CS or a related discipline; (2) Sufficient research and development experience in multiagent systems, agent modeling, and multiagent simulation; (3) Excellent programming skills; (4) Excellent English writing and speaking skills. *How to apply* Interested applicants please attach your full CV and all relevant academic certificates to Jie Zhang <zhangj(a)ntu.edu.sg> <zhangj(a)ntu.edu.sg> Note: Position is open until filled, and only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

June 25, 2014

Postdoc position at NYU

by Weiji Ma

*Postdoc position: decision-making and learning in combinatorial games* Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position in my laboratory in the Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology at New York University (www.cns.nyu.edu/malab) The position is for two years, with the possibility of extension. The long-range goal of the lab is to understand decision-making under uncertainty. The specific project is an NSF-funded one on how humans think ahead, decide, and learn in two-player, full-information games (such as chess, go, or tic-tac-toe). We will use human behavioral experiments, machine learning, eye tracking, and potentially fMRI to dissect the roles of heuristics, pruning strategy, and cognitive constraints in human play in a simplified, tractable game environment. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in machine learning, artificial intelligence, game theory, computational neuroscience, or mathematical, perceptual, or cognitive psychology, and be familiar with at least one other of these fields. Experience with probabilistic models is required. To apply, please send your CV, a description of why you are interested, and the contact information of two references to me at weijima(a)nyu.edu. Do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions about. Consideration of applications will begin immediately and will end when the position is filled. Salary will be competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications. -- Wei Ji Ma, Ph.D. Associate Professor Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology New York University http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab

June 25, 2014

postdoctoral position at Boston University on rule-based decisions

by Nancy Kopell

A 3-year postdoctoral position is available to work with Nancy Kopell on computational models of rule-based decisions. The models will be detailed biophysical models, focusing on the pre-frontal area and striatum, incorporating new data about rhythms in those areas; the work will be in collaboration with various experimentalists. We are looking for candidates having some experience working with large-scale biophysical models. The successful candidate will have opportunities for interaction with a large community of experimental and computational neuroscientists via the Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative, a highly networked group of over two dozen labs, mostly in the Boston area, interested in brain dynamics. The CRC contains members with expertise in areas that include probe design, in vivo and in vitro physiology, data analysis, dynamical systems modeling, mesoscale network modeling, cognitive diseases, anesthesia and neurosurgery. Candidates should email a short letter of research interest including their skills and experience, CV and the names of three references to Nancy Kopell (nk(a)bu.edu) as soon as possible.

June 24, 2014

Workshop Announcement: Statistical Challenges in Neuroscience (Warwick, UK, Sept. 3-5 2014)

by Simon Barthelme

Statistical Challenges in Neuroscience - call for Poster Presentations ---------- We are pleased to announce that a workshop on "Statistical Challenges in Neuroscience" will take place Sept. 3 to 5, 2014 in Warwick, UK, and will be hosted by the Center for Statistical Methodology (CRiSM). The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers from statistics and (computational) neuroscience, to hopefully create greater awareness within the statistical community of the kind of challenges that arise in neuroscience, and to introduce some recent developments in statistics to neuroscientists with an interest in methods. The list of speakers, preliminary program, and abstracts can be viewed on the workshop's website: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/statistics/crism/workshops/neuroscience/ Topics include the analysis of imaging data (from fMRI to calcium imaging), connectome analysis and likelihood-free techniques. The workshop will include a poster session, and we would like to invite anyone interested, particularly students and junior researchers, to submit abstracts. The deadline for both registration and poster abstract submission is Monday 19th August. However, the number of participants is limited and spots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Poster abstract submissions can be made via the website: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/statistics/crism/workshops/neuroscience/s… Limited travel support will be available for "young researchers", see http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/statistics/crism/workshops/neuroscience/b… Looking forward to seeing you in Warwick, The Organisation Committee: Adam Johansen (University of Warwick), Nicolas Chopin (CREST-ENSAE), Simon Barthelme (University of Geneva)

June 24, 2014

Job opening in Juelich, Germany: Coordinator Scientific Computing

by Martina Reske

The Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) investigates the structure and function of the human brain on different spatial and temporal scales within the research program "Decoding the Human Brain". The brain's high complexity and plasticity over the lifespan of an individual, as well as changes during neuropsychiatric disorders, requires the use of innovative imaging methods and supercomputing technology. Basic neuroscience research heavily relies on modeling and simulation, which are necessary to approach the brain's immense complexity, manage the huge amount of resulting data ("Big Data"), and develop reliable control techniques. Acquired knowledge allows for the translation of basic findings into clinical applications to better understand neurological and psychiatric disorders, to refine diagnostic processes, and to develop therapy strategies - crucial tasks we have to face in ageing societies. The department INM-6, Computational and Systems Neuroscience (see www.csn.fz-juelich.de<http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de>), develops mathematical models of neuronal dynamics and function. Model-driven analyses of brain activity and structure as well as simulation of biologically realistic models are core foci of our work. We develop corresponding simulation technologies and analysis tools. We are looking to recruit a Coordinator Scientific Computing (f/m) Your Job: * Planning, purchasing, set-up and management of Linux and Windows systems, communication systems and software * Support of institute's databases and online tools; user management * Direct support of scientists * Involvement in development of simulation software for neural systems * Involvement in development of software for the analysis of (massively parallel) neural data * Participation in working group leaders' meeting Your Profile: * Completed study of informatics, mathematics or physics * Substantial expertise in C, C++ and Python * Substantial knowledge of Linux and Windows * Experience with administration of HPC clusters, file, web and print servers as well as with parallel computing (ideally in neuroscience) * Beneficial: Basic knowledge of neuroscience concepts * Ability and willingness to work independently and proactively * Confident appearance and ability to work cooperatively in an interdisciplinary environment * Good interpersonal and communication skills * Structured and systematic working style * Fluent in English (spoken and written) Our Offer: * A creative and varied working environment * limited for 2 years * Salary and social benefits in conformity with the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Civil Service (TVöD). Forschungszentrum Jülich aims to employ more women in this area and therefore particulary welcomes applications from women. We also welcome applications from disabled persons. We look forward to receiving your application via our online recruitment system, quoting the reference number 2014-109. Please see here for the official job announcement and the link to our application tool: http://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Stellenangebote/_common/dna/2014-109-EN… Kind regards, Martina -- Dr. Martina Reske Scientific Coordinator Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Theoretical Neuroscience Jülich Research Centre and JARA Jülich, Germany Work +49.2461.611916 Work Cell +49.151.26156918 Fax +49.2461.619460 www.csn.fz-juelich.de<http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 24, 2014

Fwd: 7 days left for abstract submission IPEG 2014

by Martijn Arns

Dear colleagues, see below, only 7 days left for abstract submission for IPEG 2014. There are also some further updates to the program and speakers. Main topics of the conference are Pharmaco-EEG, Personalized Medicine (Research Domain Criteria, RDoC), Neuromodulation etc. Martijn Arns Begin doorgestuurd bericht: Van: IPEG society <sebastian.olbrich(a)medizin.uni-leipzig.de<mailto:sebastian.olbrich@medizin.uni-leipzig.de>> Onderwerp: 7 days left for abstract submission IPEG 2014 Datum: 24 juni 2014 00:49:21 CEST Aan: <martijn(a)brainclinics.com<mailto:martijn@brainclinics.com>> Antwoord aan: IPEG society <sebastian.olbrich(a)medizin.uni-leipzig.de<mailto:sebastian.olbrich@medizin.uni-leipzig.de>> Last call for abstracts IPEG-Meeting View this email in your browser<http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca14644c8b&id=f39894f09f…> [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6c19f6fe4835a13ca14644c8b/images/IPEG_LOGO.JPG]<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> IPEG-Meeting 2014 from 25th-28th September in Leipzig, Germany Only 7 days left for abstract submission <http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> and for early bird registration!<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> Abstract Submission<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> Confirmed Speakers:<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> Scott Makeig (USA): EEG and measures of arousal Hartmuth Schulz (Germany): Sleep EEG Christoph Mulert (Germany): From maps to mechanisms: Multimodal Imaging with EEG, fMRI and DTI in Psychiatry Leslie S. Prichep (USA): qEEG in neuropsychiaric disorders Clifford B. Saper (USA): Neurophysiology of sleep-wake regulation Martijn Arns (Brainclinics/Utrecht University, the Netherlands): EEG alpha asymmetry as a gender specific predictor of outcome to acute treatment with different antidepressant medications in the iSPOT-D study Ulrich Hegerl (University Leipzig, Germany): EEG-vigilance regulation in neuropsychiatric disorders Sebastian Olbrich (University Leipzig, Germany): EEG-vigilance and activity of the autonomous nervous system in the prediction of antidepressant medication Gerard Bruder (Columbia University, NY, USA): EMBARC study on biological biomarkers in major depression Natalia Jaworska (McGill University, Montreal) Jürgen Gallinat (University Berlin, Germany) Special Symposium: TMS-EEG - a novel technique to study brain excitability and connectivity (chair Ulf Ziemann, Tübingen, Germany) Prof. Hegerl, Scientific Head of the Conference and Director of the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry and PSychotherapy, University Leipzig IPEG Board and Conference-Organization Group Abstract Submission<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca146…> [Twitter]<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> Twitter<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> [Website]<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> Website<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca146…> [http://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block/color-twitter-128.png]<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca146…> Tweet<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> [http://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block/color-forwardtofriend-12…]<http://us8.forward-to-friend1.com/forward?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca14644c8b&id=f3…> Forward<http://us8.forward-to-friend1.com/forward?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca14644c8b&id=f3…> [http://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block/color-googleplus-128.png]<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca146…> +1<http://ipeg-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c19f6fe4835a13ca1464…> [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6c19f6fe4835a13ca14644c8b/images/LOGO_Uni.jpg]

June 24, 2014

On behalf of neurocourses.com: Brain anatomy courses - July + Aug 2014, King's College London

by Reinoud Maex

Hi.. I don't want to subscribe to this list, but thought I would be able to post an item of (potential) interest to subscribers and had expected that it would be moderated. If a member can forward the info about my course then that would be great -- otherwise, not to worry. Best wishes Paul Johns > > Functional neuro-anatomy course(s) - July + Aug 2014, King's College London > > Summer 2014: > Neuroanatomy course announcement -- please see details below. > > *** Reduced rate accommodation available at King's College: £40 / night. > > ---------------- > > > ------------------------------------ > > HUMAN BRAIN ANATOMY COURSE (3 days) > > Comprehensive introduction to functional neuroanatomy > > Assumes minimal prior knowledge > > Emphasises functional, clinical and MRI brain anatomy > > Mean delegate feedback score: 4.9 / 5 > > > > When: 23rd - 25th July 2014 > > Where: Guy's Campus, King's College London* > > Price: £395 (includes colour handbook) > > > > Register online at www.neurocourses.com > > > > LIMBIC BRAIN ANATOMY COURSE (2 days) > > Neuroanatomy for psychiatry, neurology and neuroscience > > More advanced course focusing on key limbic brain areas > > (e.g. limbic lobe, hippocampus, amygdala, ventral striatum) > > > Mean delegate feedback score: 4.9 / 5 > > > > When: 21st - 22nd August 2014 > > Where: Guy's Campus, King's College London* > > Price: £295 (includes colour handbook) > > > > Register online at www.neurocourses.com > > > > Course Director > > Dr Paul Johns, BSc BM MSc FRCPath > (Consultant neuropathologist / senior lecturer in neuroanatomy) > > Author of > > Clinical Neuroscience: An Illustrated Colour Text > > > > See course photos and delegate reviews on Facebook: > > https://www.facebook.com/Neurocourses > > > > *Please note that Neurocourses UK is not affiliated to King's College London.

June 24, 2014

positions available at Martinez-Conde lab in SUNY, New York City

by Susana Martinez-Conde

Dear Colleagues, The Martinez-Conde lab (http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com <http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com/> ) is moving this summer to SUNY's Downstate Medical Center (http://www.downstate.edu <http://www.downstate.edu/> ) in Brooklyn, New York City, under SUNY's Empire Innovator Program (https://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/communication/publicationsre portsdata/FacultyExcellence.pdf). The laboratory will be in the Department of Ophthalmology (http://www.downstate.edu/ophthalmology) at SUNY Downstate (a 25-minute subway ride to Times Square) and part of the SUNY Eye Institute (http://www.sunyeye.org <http://www.sunyeye.org/> ). Predoctoral and postdoctoral positions are available. Interested candidates should email their CVs to smart at neuralcorrelate.com. <http://visionscience.com/mailman/listinfo/visionlist> Experience in psychophysical and/or neurophysiological techniques is required. The preferred candidates will have a strong background in programming (Matlab, C++, Python) and quantitative methods as evidenced by first-author publications. The Martinez-Conde lab's research program is at the interface of visual, oculomotor and cognitive neuroscience. Representative publications can be downloaded from http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com/publications. The State University of New York is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Thank you for your interest, ---------------------------------------------------------------- Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD Director, Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience Division of Neurobiology Barrow Neurological Institute 350 W. Thomas Rd Phoenix AZ 85013, USA Phone: +1 (602) 406-3484 Fax: +1 (602) 406-4172 Email: smart(a)neuralcorrelate.com http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com

June 23, 2014

PhD and Postdoc in Cognitive Control, Communication and Perception

by Alex Ossadtchi

The Faculty of Psychology, Higher School of Economics (HSE, Moscow) is pleased to announce a number of post-doctoral and PhD student positions at the new research group for Cognitive Control, Communication and Perception, which is currently being established at HSE, Center for Neuroeconomics and Cognitive Studies. This new international group will operate in collaboration with the Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience at Aarhus University (Denmark), Psychology Department at Northumbria University Newcastle (UK), and other international collaborators. Our key international coordinators are Professor Yury Shtyrov (Aarhus) and Dr Andriy Myachykov (Northumbria). The postholders will have an advantage of being able to further define and expand the newly established research program. Potential topics include (but are not limited to): neural dynamics of language comprehension, automaticity and top-down control in communication, sensory-motor integration in cognitive functions, embodied cognition, interactions between domain-specific and domain-general cognitive systems, neurocognitive bases of language acquisition, studies of communication deficits (e.g. aphasia) etc. Research facilities include multi-channel EEG, navigated TMS-EEG and eye- tracking equipment, all recently installed at the Faculty, as well as local access to MEG, fMRI and a range of neurological populations. The HSE is a young, dynamic, fast-growing Russian research university providing unique research opportunities ( http://hse.ru/en,http://psy.hse.ru/en/) The Faculty of Psychology is committed to developing various areas of modern experimental psychology and, most crucially, Cognitive Neuroscience. Working conditions: - Access to multimodal neuroimaging facilities (brain-navigated TMS, multichanel EGG, MEG, eye-tracking, etc. http://psy.hse.ru/en/res-center ) - Internationally competitive salary, 13% flat income tax rate and other benefits - Generous travel support and research grants provided by the University’s Centre for Advanced Studies (www.cas.hse.ru) - Low teaching load, minimal administrative service required - Heavy emphasis on high quality research Requirements for the PostDoc position: position - Ph.D. in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, language sciences or related fields - Fluent English (knowledge of Russian is not required) - Demonstrated ability and high motivation to conduct high-quality research publishable in quality international peer-reviewed journals Requirements for the PhD student position: - MS degree in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, language sciences or related fields - Fluent English (knowledge of Russian is not required) - Demonstrated ability and high motivation to conduct high-quality research publishable in quality international peer-reviewed journals Generally appointments will be made for an initial 2,5-year period and upon successful completion of an interim review, contracts would normally be extended for a further three years until the tenure review. Please provide a CV, at least 2 letters of reference forwarded directly, a statement of research interest and a recent research paper. All materials should be addressed to Dr. Viсtoria Moiseeva, no later than June 20. If you have any further questions, please contact Dr. Viсtoria Moiseeva vmoiseeva(a)hse.ru

June 21, 2014

PhD/MSc Position in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Canada

by Tatsuno, Masami

One PhD/MSc position is available immediately in the lab of Prof. Masami Tatsuno at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Canada ( http://www.uleth.ca ). We investigate memory processes of the awake/sleeping brain experimentally and computationally with the goal of understanding how spontaneous reactivation of memory sequences facilitates performance improvement. We have been performing multi-electrode recordings in freely behaving animals as well as neural data analysis by statistical methods such as information geometry. The successful candidate will work on one or a combination of projects aimed at developing a novel analysis method for neural signals, analyzing neural data, and modeling memory function. The successful candidate will also have an opportunity to participate in electrophysiological recordings. A high degree of interaction with the experimental team in my lab as well as the Brain Dynamics group ( http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com ) will be also expected. Applicants should have a strong programming (e.g., MATLAB) and quantitative background (e.g., BSc/MSc degree in physics, math or computer science etc.). Experience with neuronal modeling is a plus. Candidates should email a short letter of research interest including their skills and experience, CV and the names of three references to Masami Tatsuno ( tatsuno(a)uleth.ca ) as soon as possible. Please do not have reference letters sent unless requested. Applicants should put "CompNeuro PhD/MSc recruitment" in the subject of their email. Funding is available through our departmental NSERC CREATE grant in Biological Information Processing. Lethbridge is located two hours from Calgary, 90 minutes from the Canadian Rockies and is a safe, family friendly environment. ********************************************* Masami Tatsuno, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Neuroscience The University of Lethbridge Email: tatsuno(a)uleth.ca http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/masami_tatsuno *********************************************

June 20, 2014

International Neural Network Society (INNS) announces new Section on Big Data Analytics

by Asim Roy

I am pleased to announce that the International Neural Network Society (INNS) has formed a new Section on Big Data Analytics (BDA). Please visit the webpage http://www.inns.org/big-data-section for further information. Neural networks have certain distinct advantages over other forms of learning. They include: (1) well-developed methods for online incremental learning that involve simple computations, (2) no scalability issues, (3) they can learn from all of the data instead of samples of data, (4) being able to use massively parallel computations unlike other learning methods, (5) availability of neuromorphic hardware for implementation of neural network learning, and (6) hardware-based real-time learning. Of course some challenges remain, including automation of learning that would avoid human intervention and tweaking of algorithms for every application and high-dimensional data. But we are making progress on these remaining challenges. Neural network based real-time learning should open the door to wider deployment of big data analytics. Fast and efficient learning, using massively parallel computations, is important to the Industrial Internet and streaming big data. So please join us in this exciting adventure by becoming a member of INNS and its Big Data Analytics Section. Visit http://www.inns.org/ for further information about the organization and its membership. We are also looking for industrial sponsors of this Section to do mini-workshops and other activities. We plan to have our first Big Data Analytics Section social gathering and organizational meeting at WCCI 2014 in Beijing. It will be on Monday (July 7) evening in the Peony room at the Continental Grand Hotel (2nd floor) from 6 pm to 10 pm. If you are planning to attend WCCI in Beijing, I invite you to join us at this first meeting. If you are interested in taking a leading role in this Section, please let me know (Asim.Roy(a)asu.edu<mailto:Asim.Roy@asu.edu>). Asim Roy Arizona State University Chair – Big Data Analytics Section www.lifeboat.com/ex/bios.asim.roy<http://www.lifeboat.com/ex/bios.asim.roy>

June 20, 2014

[PhD] An integrated experimental and modeling approach to gaze orientation and learning

by Laurent Perrinet

An opening is available for a PhD project focusing on an integrated experimental and modeling approach to gaze orientation and learning. Please note that candidates should apply before July 15th, 2014. Cheers, Laurent Call for candidates for one PhD fellowship at the Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone CNRS & Aix-Marseille University (AMU) Gaze orientation and learning: an integrated experimental and modeling approach PhD supervisors: Anna Montagnini and Laurent Perrinet (InViBe team) How do we maintain the accuracy of our movements despite changes occurring in our environment or within the organism? Our research project is to shed a new light on this question within a unified theoretical framework centred on reinforcement learning. We will study visually driven, voluntary eye movements as a model for motor learning. Indeed, these provide an ideal experimental preparation to probe sensorimotor decisions across different time-scales, processing levels (from sensory encoding to the final categorical choice) and movement repertoire (e.g. smooth pursuit vs saccades). In addition, a remarkable flexibility of simple oculomotor behaviors has been highlighted, by manipulating the expectancy for sensory features or the outcome associated to particular motor responses. Behavioral experiments on human eye movements will be designed, implemented and used to benchmark new theoretical models based on the probabilistic framework. The main focus will be on the modulation of oculomotor behavior (latency and metric properties, such as amplitude or speed) that is observed in a changing environment, especially in relation to a dynamic reinforcement schedule. The proposed PhD is part of a project (Reinforcement and Eye Movements – REM, see http://invibe.net/LaurentPerrinet/TagAnrRem) funded by the French National Research Agency ANR, and it will be conducted in close collaborations with researchers at INT in Marseille (A. Montagnini, L. Perrinet and F. Danion) and at the University of Lille (L. Madelain and J. Jozefowiez). The Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (see http://www.int.univ-amu.fr/?lang=en) brings together a large, young and dynamic community of scientists interested in frontline aspects of the integrative neurosciences. The net salary will be around 1430 euros per month. Applicants should have a keen interest in cognitive science and hold a Master or equivalent degree in a relevant field (computational or cognitive neuroscience, computer science, psychology, engineering, physics, or mathematics). The selection process will strongly favor candidates with excellent programming skills and/or experience with eye tracking and visual psychophysics. Knowledge of French is not mandatory, although willing to learn it will facilitate enjoying life in Marseille and its beautiful surroundings. Applications are now being accepted and until July 15th, 2014. Interested candidates should send a CV, brief summary of research accomplishments and interest, and the contact information for two to three referees familiar with the candidates’ backgrounds. Position needs to be filled by September, 1st, 2014. Please, send applications (in a single PDF file) to Anna.montagnini(a)univ-amu.fr and Laurent.perrinet(a)univ-amu.fr. Relevant publications Bogadhi A, Montagnini A, Perrinet LU, Mamassian P & Masson GS (2011) Pursuing motion illusions: a realistic oculomotor framework for Bayesian inference. Vision Research 51, 867-880 Khoei MA, Masson GS, Perrinet LU (2013). Motion-based prediction explains the role of tracking in motion extrapolation. Journal of Physiology-Paris, 107(5):409—420 Bogadhi A, Montagnini A & Masson GS (2013) Dynamical interaction between retinal and extra-retinal signals in motion integration for smooth pursuit. Journal of Vision 13(13) : 1-25 Servant M, Montagnini A & Burle B (2014) Conflict tasks and the diffusion framework: Insight in model constraints based on psychological laws Cognitive Psychology, 72(2014):162-195 Simoncini C, Perrinet LU, Montagnini A, Pascal Mamassian, Guillaume S. Masson (2012). More is not always better: dissociation between perception and action explained by adaptive gain control. Nature Neuroscience 15(11):1596-603 Sanz-Leon P, Vanzetta I, Masson GS, Perrinet LU (2012) Motion Clouds: Model-based stimulus synthesis of natural-like random textures for the study of motion perception. Journal of Neurophysiology, 107(11):3217--3226, Montagnini A., Mamassian P., Perrinet L., Castet E. and Masson G. (2007). Bayesian modeling of dynamic motion integration. Journal of Physiology-Paris, Vol 101(1-3):64-77 Perrinet LU, Adams R, Friston K (2014) Active Inference, eye movements and oculomotor delays. Submitted. Adams RA, Perrinet LU, Friston K (2012) Smooth Pursuit and Visual Occlusion: Active Inference and Oculomotor Control in Schizophrenia. PLoS ONE, 7(10):e47502 Spering M, and Montagnini A (2011) Do we track what we see? Common versus independent processing for motion perception and smooth pursuit eye movements: A review. Vision Research 51: 836–852 Montagnini A and Chelazzi L (2005) The urgency to look: Prompt saccades for the benefit of perception. Vision Research, 45 (27): p. 3391-3401. Madelain, L., Herman, J. P., & Harwood, M. R. (2013) Saccade adaptation goes for the goal. Journal of Vision, 13(4). Madelain, L., Paeye, C., & Wallman, J. (2011) Modification of saccadic gain by reinforcement. Journal Neurophysiology, 106(1), 219-232.

June 20, 2014

Postdoc position in computational neuroscience (University of Leicester, UK)

by Joaquín Navajas

Postdoc in computational neuroscience (University of Leicester, UK) Description: Spike sorting is the classification of single neurons from extra-cellular recordings based on their spike shapes. The main focus of your research will be the study and implementation of optimal spike detection and sorting techniques. For this you will study different techniques to improve the spike detection and sorting results and will then implement these advances in a graphic user interface and in batch codes to run in Matlab. Group: Centre for Systems Neuroscience (http://www.le.ac.uk/csn) Visit the University of Leicester job site for more details, input the job reference (SEN00493) and click search. http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/jobs/opportunities/jobsearch Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Sue Atkinson, Research Centre Manager, sam45(a)le.ac.uk or 0116 252 3249.

June 20, 2014

Call for Participation: The 2014 IEEE CIS / REGIM-Lab. Summer School on Computational Intelligence – Theory and Applications

by Stephen G Matthews

** Please accept our apologies if you have received multiple copies. ** ====================================================== 2014 IEEE CIS/REGIM-Lab Summer School on Computational Intelligence – Theory and Applications (SS-CITA 2014) http://cita.regim.org/ 11-14, August 2014, Ramada Plaza Tunis Hotel, Tunisia ====================================================== Sponsors: IEEE Computational Intelligence Society and REGIM-Lab. Registration: http://cita.regim.org/registration/ The main goal of the summer school is to provide undergraduate students, M.Sc. or PhD students, academics, and engineers from industry with hands-on knowledge on sophisticated Computational Intelligence (CI) algorithms and methods, most recent advances and developments in CI research, and substantial examples of successful CI applications to solving complex real-world problems. The school includes theoretical and practical sessions. The choice of such topic is based on the growing attention paid towards intelligent systems. The school aims also to discuss the challenges and to strengthen the connection between academia and industry in the area of Computational Intelligence. The program of the school includes theoretical and practical talks during four days from 11 to 14 August 2014. It also includes poster session. All students have to present their ideas / works in a poster. A best poster award will be announced in the closing session. Seven well-known speakers: http://cita.regim.org/speakers/ - Cesare Alippi, IEEE Fellow, Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Topic: Supervised Learning: from the Basics to Learning in non-stationary Environments - Farouk Cherif, University Sousse, Tunisia. Topic: Basics on Recurrent Neural Network - Robert John, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. Topic: Type-2 Fuzzy Logic: Theory and Applications - Fakhri Karray, University of Waterloo, Canada. Topic: SVM , Fundamentals and Advanced Topics - Okyay Kaynak (IEEE CIS Distinguished Lecturer) IEEE Fellow, Bogazici University, Turkey & Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China. Topic: Intelligent Systems: An Assesment of the Past and the Prospects for the Future - Volker Märgner, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany. Topic: Historical Document Processing – An Application of Computational Intelligence - Ahmed Rubaai, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA - IEEE-IAS Publications Department chair. Topic: Computational Intelligence Techniques for Industrial Systems For further information, please don't hesitate to contact the Organizing Committee: http://cita.regim.org/organizing-committee/ ================================= Local information contact: Habib M. Kammoun IEEE CIS Tunisia Chapter E-mail: habib.kammoun(a)ieee.org

June 19, 2014

Open PhD Position: Computational Modeling and Eye Tracking in Infancy Research

by Jochen Triesch

An opening is available for an interdisciplinary PhD project in the group of Jochen Triesch at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS, http://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/de/) focusing on computational modeling and gaze-contingent eye tracking in infancy research. Gaze-contingent eye tracking techniques, which allow young infants to exert control over the course of the experiment, are currently opening up new ways of studying infant's cognitive development [1], training their cognitive abilities [2], and hold promise for diagnosing and treating developmental disorders. We are seeking an outstanding and highly motivated PhD candidate for an exciting project in collaboration with the developmental psychology group of Prof. Monika Knopf at Goethe University Frankfurt. Additional collaborators of our lab include leading developmental psychology and cognitive science labs in Italy (Prof. Gianluca Baldassarre, Rome), and the US (Prof. Chen Yu, Indiana University, Prof. Gedeon Deák, UC San Diego). Applicants should have a keen interest in cognitive development and hold a Master or equivalent degree in a relevant field such as cognitive science, computer science, psychology, engineering, physics, or mathematics. The candidate should have excellent programming skills (e.g. Matlab, Python, C/C++) and good analytic skills. Experience with eye tracking and knowledge in machine learning (e.g., reinforcement learning, neural networks, Bayesian models), computational neuroscience (attention and reward systems), and data analysis (time series analysis, hypothesis testing) are a plus. The Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies is a research institution dedicated to fundamental theoretical research in various areas of science. It is embedded into Frankfurt's recently established natural science research campus. Frankfurt is the center of one of the most vibrant metropolitan areas in Europe. Apart from being an economic and financial hub, it boasts rich cultural assets and repeatedly earns top rankings in worldwide surveys of quality of living. Applications should include a 1-2 page statement of research experience and interests, CV including publications, awards, and relevant course work, academic transcripts, and contact information for two to three references. All documents should be sent in pdf format. Send applications to application(a)fias.uni-frankfurt.de. We aim to fill the position during Fall 2014. [1] Wang Q, Bolhuis J, Rothkopf CA, Kolling T, Knopf M & Triesch J. (2012) Infants in Control: Rapid Anticipation of Action Outcomes in a Gaze-Contingent Paradigm. PLoS ONE 7(2): e30884. http:dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030884 [2] Wass SV, Porayska-Pomsta K & Johnson MH (2011). Training attentional control in infancy. Current Biology 21 (18), 1543-1547. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.08.004 -- Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch Johanna Quandt Research Professor Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies http://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/~triesch/ Tel: +49 (0)69 798-47531 Fax: +49 (0)69 798-47611

June 18, 2014

CFP - SSD 2015 - Tunisia

by nabil derbel

Dear Colleagues, This is a friendly reminder of the 12th International Multi-Conference on Systems, Signals & Devices to be held in Sfax-Tunisia, from 16th - 19th of March 2015. Find at <http://www.ssd-conf.org/> www.ssd-conf.org/ssd15 the last news on the conference. Check there if a special sessions fits your interests. Students participation is strongly encouraged; they would participate to best paper student award. Paper submission must be via EDAS the Conference Manager : <http://edas.info/N17187> http://edas.info/N17187 The SSD15 Conference SSD is organized in five parallel tracks, available to all participants: SAC – Systems, Analysis and Automatic Control, which covers topics related to system design, modern control theory, robotics and human-machine interaction systems. PES – Power Electrical Systems, oriented to power systems and applications, from generation, management, control, monitoring and smart grids. CSP – Communications and Signal Processing, dealing with communication systems (radio, TV, antennas), digital and analog signal and image processing... SCI – Sensor, Circuits and Instrumentation Systems, covering all types of sensors and applications, interface circuits, sensors operability, instrumentation and micro and nanoelectronics. CIT – Computers and Information Technology, covering all types of Computer Technology; Embedded Systems; Cloud Computing; Distributed Systems; Real Time Systems. Key Dates Special session proposal: September 15, 2014 Regular paper submission: September 30, 2014 Acceptance notification: January 15, 2015 Final paper submission: January 30, 2015 Call for papers Papers should be up to 4 pages length, written in English (templates available at the website). Paper submission should be done electronically to <http://edas.info/N14687> http://edas.info/N14687. Papers will be reviewed by at least 2 or 3 reviewers. Final accepted papers will be published in the SSD’15 Proceedings which will be submitted for publication in IEEE Xplorer® after the conference. We are looking forward to welcoming you in Sfax, Tunisia. Kind regards, Jawhar Ghommam and Faouzi Derbel General Chairs ==============================================================

June 18, 2014

Call for papers

by Cong Christine Guo

Dear neuroimaging researchers, We are running a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development on "Multimodal Modeling and Analysis Informed by Brain Imaging". This special issue is dedicated to explore the interplay between cognitive neuroscience and multimedia content analysis. If your work concerns about using multimedia, such as films and music, as stimuli to understand the brain, or using brain imaging data to guide multimedia content analysis, this special issue could be a potential avenue for sharing your work. More details can be found at http://caid.cs.uga.edu/?name=article_info&xid=2480391402423658454. Please note all submissions are subject to normal reviews. Look forward to your contributions.

June 17, 2014

Computational neuroscience at NI2014 in Leiden, Netherlands on August 25-27

by Malin Sandström

Want to learn more about new and exciting tools for neuroscience research, find new collaborators and discuss your latest results with a cross-disciplinary scientific audience? Then join us at NI2014 in Leiden, Netherlands, August 25-27! Our program includes keynote presentations by leading computational neuroscientists and workshops on describing synaptic dynamics, building cortical circuits, and modelling in open source collaborative projects. Keynotes: - Margarita Behrens: The epigenome and brain circuit changes during postnatal development - Mitya Chklovskii: Can connectomics help us understand neural computation? Insights from the fly visual system - Daniel Choquet: A nanoscale view into the dynamic of AMPA receptor organization in synapses - Viktor Jirsa: The Virtual Brain: a simulator of large-scale brain network dynamics - Michael Milham: Emerging models for biomarker identification - Felix Schürmann: In silico neuroscience – an integrative approach Workshops: - The Neuroinformatics of neuroanatomy. Chair: Maryann Martone. Speakers: Trygve Leergard, Jacopo Annese, Douglas Bowden, Mike Hawrylycz - Building the brain. Chair: Paul Tiesinga. Speakers: Geoff Goodhill, Tomomi Shigomori, Rodney Douglas, Nenad Sestan - Synaptic computation workshop. Chair: L. Niels Cornelisse. Speakers: Erik De Schutter, Bert Kappen, Alexander Walter, Michele Giugliano - Open collaboration in computational neuroscience. Chair: Angus Silver. Speakers: Stephen Larson, Padraig Gleeson, Rick Gerkin and Shreejoy Tripathy, Aurel A. Lazar Also including: - Special session on big data. Chair: Sean Hill. Speakers: Yike Guo, Asla Pitkanen. - Symposium on population-based neuroimaging (hosted by the INCF Netherlands Node) - Open community hackathon. See the full program here: http://neuroinformatics2014.org/program The abstracts are now available at http://www.frontiersin.org/events/Neuroinformatics_2014/2231 Early bird registration ends on July 25 (midnight, CET) Register at http://www.neuroinformatics2014.org/registration Watch the NI2014 promo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEudq3SOwK0 We're looking forward to seeing you in August! -- Malin Sandström, PhD Community Engagement Officer malin.sandstrom(a)incf.org International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility Karolinska Institutet Nobels väg 15 A SE-171 77 Stockholm Sweden http://www.incf.org

June 16, 2014

A new mechanism for linking some pieces of the cognitive brain puzzle

by Herbert Jaeger

Recipients of this mailing list may be interested to learn about a newly discovered neuro-computational mechanism. This mechanism, which I named "conceptors", suggests a common computational principle underneath phenomena as diverse as - incremental learning of dynamical patterns, - attentional focussing, - neural noise suppression, - morphing and modulating motor patterns, - learning pattern classes from a few prototype examples, - top-down bias control in hierarchical architectures, - Boolean combination of evidence in pattern classification. Conceptor-based algorithms are simple, cheap, and robust against noise and parameter variation. A number of fundamental neuro-computational problems become efficiently solved: - conceptors make it possible in the first place to govern a diversity of processing modes in a single recurrent neural network, - they enable incremental learning of temporal patterns with an option to quantify and monitor claimed neural memory capacity (coping with the catastrophic interference problem), - they lead to an auto-associative memory for dynamical patterns (a generalization of Hopfield networks to temporal patterns), - Boolean concept combinations and conceptual abstraction can be rigorously interpreted and implemented by the dynamics of recurrent neural networks (a robust solution for core parts of the neuro-symbolic integration problem). More information: 1. A video of a complex human motion sequence governed by a single RNN whose modes are governed by conceptors: http://youtu.be/DkS_Yw1ldD4 2. An informal introduction with many pictures (11 pages): http://arxiv.org/abs/1406.2671 3. A comprehensive technical report, including a link to Matlab code (195 pages): http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.3369 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Herbert Jaeger Professor for Computational Science Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH Campus Ring 28759 Bremen, Germany Phone (+49) 421 200 3215 Fax (+49) 421 200 49 3215 email h.jaeger(a)jacobs-university.de http://minds.jacobs-university.de ------------------------------------------------------------------

June 14, 2014

*Save the Date* The Many Faces of Computation July 14 & 15

by Santamaria, Cookie

THE MANY FACES OF COMPUTATION July 14-15, 2014 Urey Room 2102, Urey Hall Building UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA Organizers: Christian Van den Broeck and Katja Lindenberg MONDAY, JULY 14th 9-10 a.m. Welcome and light snacks 10-11 a.m. Christian Van den Broeck "A short introduction to large deviations" 11 a.m.-12 noon Raul Toral "Efficient sampling of phase space" 12 noon-2 p.m. Lunch break and discussion time 2-3 p.m. Alberto Imparato "Efficiency at maximum power in molecular motors" 3-4 p.m. Ilkay Altintas "Workflow-driven science" 4-5 p.m. Discussion time TUESDAY, JULY 15th 9-10 a.m. Welcome and light snacks 10-11 a.m. Emre Neftci "From VLSI spiking neurons to practical applications and cognition" 11 a.m.-12 noon Michael Gilson "Plumbing the depths of entropy and enthalphy in molecular recognition" 12 noon-2 p.m. Lunch break and discussion time 2-3 p.m. Daniel Escaff "Down from systems of infinite to finite numbers of elements: Computational aspects of the analysis of resultant fluctuations" 3-4 p.m. Tristan Webb "Utilizing purely functional parallel strategies for spiking neural network simulations" 4-5 p.m. Discussion time

June 13, 2014

Open postdoctoral position to study human episodic memories

by gabriel kreiman

We are seeking an exceptional postdoctoral researcher in Computational Neuroscience. The candidate will work on neurophysiological, cognitive, machine learning and computational approaches to understanding human episodic memories. The project will be part of a multidisciplinary effort with application to brain-machine interfaces working with Prof. Suthana, Prof. Mehta, Prof. Kreiman and Prof. Fried. Interested candidates should submit a CV and arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent to gabriel.kreiman(a)tch.harvard.edu Position will be open until filled; send applications sooner rather than later if interested. For relevant work and publications, see http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~mayank/ http://klab.tch.harvard.edu/ http://www.cnl.ucla.edu/index.htm Gabriel Kreiman gabriel.kreiman(a)tch.harvard.edu klab.tch.harvard.edu -------------------------------------- Use code 9265358979 anywhere in the message to navigate through my anti-spam filters

June 13, 2014

PhD scholarship at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

by Jay Zhang

PhD scholarships are available at the School of Computer Engineering ( http://www.ntu.edu.sg/SCE) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, starting in August 2015. Areas of interest including but not limited to: Multi-Agents; Modeling & Simulation; Data Mining and Analytics; CAS Optimization; Computer Graphics, Machine Learning, and any other areas related to future factories. Required Qualifications: (1) Bachelor or Master’s degree in CS or a related discipline; (2) Excellent programming skills is an asset; (3) Excellent English writing and speaking skills. How to apply: Interested applicants please attach your full CV and transcripts to zhangj(a)ntu.edu.sg

June 12, 2014