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PhD at CerCo, Toulouse, France
by Timothée Masquelier June 20, 2017

June 20, 2017

Beating Roger Federer: *Modeling visual learning and expertise through a bioinspired neural network embedded in an electronic device* *Goal: *PhD grant. *When:* starting from September 2017 (date may be flexible to some extent) *Topic:* How do expert tennis players, like Roger Federer for example, predict if a ball will bounce in or out the field to decide if it should be played or not? After thousands of trajectory presentations, best champions have developed extraordinary skills in such a task, but little is known on how the visual system turns selective to spatiotemporal properties of the visual stimulus (e.g., 3D position, velocity and acceleration) and learns how to make an efficient use of it. The goal of the project is to build an embedded system – based on FPGA circuits and ARM processor – an artificial neural networkwhich would replicate – and perhaps beat – the visual and anticipatory performances of these expert players. To achieve this goal successfully, we will develop a bio-inspired neural network, based on some of the key properties of human vision: the Smart NeuroCam (GST company) will be used to reproduce the retina functioning. It triggers its message under the form of spikes, in an asynchronous way (without any concept of frame per second), responding to spatial or temporal changes in the pattern of illumination. Several kinds of pre-processing filters can be implemented in VHDL language directly in the FPGA circuits, and the output is then sent to a neural network. The artificial network will learn to use this message, applying a simple learning rule, the Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP). This rule allows each neuron to become selective to a particular property of the stimulus, completely autonomously and with no supervision. Several layers will be built to allow perceiving more and more complex properties of the visual scene. Once the network will be established, its performances will be assessed in different conditions of learning and compared to those of the best tennis players. *The project is funded by a French National Research Agency (ANR)*, involving two sites and several researchers: - Robin Baurès, Benoit Cottereau, Timothée Masquelier and Simon Thorpe, CerCo, Toulouse. - Michel Paindavoine, GST, Dijon. *Where: *The candidate will be based at CerCo, Toulouse (France), and will make the interface with the two sites, with regular trips. The computational neuroscience part will be done at Toulouse, and electronic part at Dijon. *Tasks:* - Matlab (or Python) based simulations of numerical filters. These filters will be applied to the image processing from which spikes are generated and then sent to feed the neural network and STDP learning mechanism. - VHDL coding to implement these numerical filters into the FPGA circuits of the cameras - C/C++ coding of the neural network and STDP mechanism that should work on an embedded ARM processor system - Experimental tests that will allow evaluating the performance of the whole system, from spikes generation to visual properties learning of the embedded system, to predict tennis ball’s trajectories *Required skills:* - Strong knowledge on electronic, and openness to computational neurosciences - Knowledge in signal-image processing, and artificial neural network - Interest for multidisciplinary research - Ability to turn smoothly autonomous, once the road has been set - Ability to be at the interface of two scientific fields and two working areas - Programming with Matlab and/or Python for simulating the neural network - Programming in VHDL language for FPGA circuits - Programming in C/C++ language for porting the algorithms on ARM microprocessors - French is not a requirement if fluent in English, but willingness to learn would be beneficial *Citizenship Eligibility:* We discourage Iranian students to apply, since most likely the CNRS will not accept them for security/defense reasons, unfortunately. *Relevant publications for the project:* - Masquelier, T., Guyonneau, R. & Thorpe S.J. (2009). Competitive STDP-Based Spike Pattern Learning. Neural Comput, 21(5),1259-1276. - Masquelier, T. & Thorpe, S.J. (2007). Unsupervised learning of visual features through spike timing dependent plasticity. PLoS Comput Biol, 3(2):e31. - Cottereau, B.R., McKee, S.P. & Norcia, A.M. (2014). Dynamics and cortical distribution of neural responses to 2D and 3D motion in human. Journal of Neurophysiology 111(3), 533-543. - SmartNeuroCam by GST : https://gsensing.eu/fr/ category/sections/products *Contact:* *Robin Baurès, PhD* Associate Professor CerCo, Université Toulouse 3, CNRS CHU Purpan, Pavillon Baudot 31059 Toulouse Cedex 9 – France Office phone: 0033 (0)5 62 74 62 15 <05%2062%2074%2062%2015> Email : robin.baures(a)cnrs.fr *Pr Michel Paindavoine* GlobalSensing Technologies 14, rue Pierre de Coubertin 21000 Dijon email : michel.paindavoine(a)gsensing.eu -- Timothée Masquelier - timothee.masquelier(a)cnrs.fr - http://cerco.ups-tlse.fr/~masquelier/

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PhD student candidate, “Multi-scale epileptic networks”
by Paolo Bonifazi June 15, 2017

June 15, 2017

Thank you for your attention - I apologize for possible multiple posting. At the Biocruces Health Research Institute (Bilbao, Spain) we are looking for a PhD student to develop and carry on a project entitled “Multi-scale epileptic networks”, financed by the Spanish Ministry (MINECO) and leaded by Dr. Paolo Bonifazi (Ikerbasque Tenure Track Researcher at Biocruces, member of the Computational Neuroimaging laboratory leaded by Prof. J. Cortes; http://www.jesuscortes.info) in collaboration with the Cruces University Hospital (Bilbao, Spain), the Ruber International Hospital (Madrid, Spain) and the University of Bari (Italy; Dr. S. Stramaglia). The project, aimed at studying longitudinally the multi-scale topology of human epileptic networks, combines electrophysiological data recorded through deep electrodes (implanted in epileptic patients undergoing surgery), with functional and diffusion MRI (acquired before the electrodes implant and post surgery after about six and twelve months). Depending on the interest of the candidates, the project might also involve epileptic animal model studies (using optogenetics, in-vivo electrophysiology and/or high field MRI, in collaboration with other local research institutions). The motivated Spanish or International candidates, possibly with a background in either Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science or Engineering, should contact as soon as possible (best if within Wednesday the 20th of June) Dr. Paolo Bonifazi (paol.bonifazi(a)gmail.com or paolo.bonifazi(a)osakidetza.eus) for detailed information. The PhD fellowship (for a maximum of 4 years) is funded by the Basque Government and the Ikerbasque Foundation (http://www.ikerbasque.net/) Deadline for the PhD fellowship application is 2nd of July. ==================== Paolo Bonifazi, PhD Ikerbasque Tenure Track Researcher Computational Neuroimaging Laboratory Biocruces Health Research Institute Hospital Universitario Cruces Plaza de Cruces, s/n E-48903. Barakaldo, Spain Tel +34 94 600 6000 (ext. 5298) Email: paol.bonifazi(a)gmail.com; paolo.bonifazi(a)osakidetza.eus http://www.ikerbasque.net/paolo-bonifazi

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Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 2017
by Zrinka Gattin June 14, 2017

June 14, 2017

*Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 201**7* * **New deadline for abstract submission:* June 28, 2017 for abstracts aimed as contributed talks and posters July 31, 2017 abstracts aimed as posters only ************************************************************** Satellite Workshops September 12-13, 2017 Main Conference September 13-15, 2017 PhD Symposium September 12 & 15, 2017 ************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference started out as the annual meeting of the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience and has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience conference in Europe with more than 500 international participants in recent years. This year the conference is organized by the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Göttingen. The main conference (Sep 13-15, 2017) will be accompanied by satellite workshops (Sep 12-13, 2017) and a PhD symposium (Sep 12 & 15, 2017). An important part of the main conference will be the two poster sessions. We are now inviting the submission of abstracts from all relevant areas. Authors of most accepted abstracts will get the chance for a poster presentation, a small number of abstracts will be selected for contributed talks during the main conference. Please note the earlier submission deadline for authors applying for a talk. All accepted abstracts will be published online and will be citable via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). *DETAILS FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:* Please note that the submission of an abstract does not replace the conference registration (www.bernstein-conference.de/registration <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/registration>). Poster space is limited and early submission is encouraged. For abstract submission visit: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/abstracts <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/abstracts> *ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINES:* Posters to be considered as contributed talks: June 28, 2017 Other posters: July 31, 2017 *TRAVEL GRANTS* To support the participation of young researchers at the Bernstein Conference, the Bernstein Coordination Site offers 10 Travel Grants, each endowed with 500 €. Please find further information under www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/travel-grant <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/travel-grant> *CONFERENCE DETAILS:* Conference registration is *OPEN* Early registration deadline: July 09, 2017 *ACCOMMODATION AND HOTEL RESERVATION:* *We strongly recommend early room booking!* *The number of available accommodation is limited due to several concurrent events. And many Hotels in Göttingen are already booked out for that week!* We arranged for room contingents in a variety of hotels that you may book by yourself by email or phone. Please follow the instructions at our Accommodations Website (http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/venue/accommodation) We would like to emphasize that these room contingents will be held open up to different expiration dates depending on the hotel (or until they are filled). Many expiration dates are already mid of June 2017. We strongly encourage participants to share rooms and to book rooms as a group. *We emphasize that it will be very difficult to book accommodation beyond the expiration dates. * Please find a list of the hotels at our Accommodations Website. VENUE Satellite Workshops, Main Conference and PhD Symposium: The Central Lecture Hall (ZHG), Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany VENUE Public Lecture: Alte Mensa, Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, September 13, 2017, 8 pm For more information on the conference, please visit the websitehttp://www.bernstein-conference.de We are looking forward to welcoming you in Göttingen! Program chair: Fred Wolf Koordinator: Zrinka Gattin Co-Organizers: Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Alexandra Stein, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder -- Dr Zrinka Gattin Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Goettingen Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology (BFNT) Goettingen PhD Program in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Am Fassberg 17 D-37077 Goettingen Phone: +49 (0)551 5176 418 Fax: +49 (0)551 5176 14418 E-Mail:zrinka@nld.ds.mpg.de

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Chair and Director in Neural Computation Research Group - University of Nottingham
by Stephen Coombes June 14, 2017

June 14, 2017

Dear all, The University of Nottingham is looking to appoint an outstanding individual as Chair and Director to lead the development of a new Neural Computation Research Group. This will be a joint appointment between the Schools of Mathematical Sciences and Psychology. For further information please follow the link below to the full job advert: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/currentvacancies/ref/PROF176717 The closing date is Friday, 7th July 2017. Best regards, Steve ------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Coombes Professor of Applied Mathematics School of Mathematical Sciences Nottingham, UK Tel: 0115 846 7836 http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/~sc/ ------------------------------------------------------- This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.

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Postdoctoral position on the Inventive Use of Mathematics
by Christian Lebiere June 12, 2017

June 12, 2017

A post doctoral position is available on a NSF project studying how mathematical knowledge is learned and then used in inventive ways. Candidates with a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, computer science, or related fields are encouraged to apply. The project has taken many approaches to this question including behavioral studies, neural imaging, and computational modeling. The involvement of the post doc in this position will depend on their strengths, interests, and what they want to lean. The position has funding for at least 2 years. Interested candidates should send inquiries and applications (CV, research interests, references) to John Anderson (ja(a)cmu.edu)

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[INNS-BigData 2018] Call for Papers
by Teng Teck Hou June 11, 2017

June 11, 2017

[Apologies for cross-postings] ########################################################### CALL FOR PAPERS The 3rd INNS Conference on Big Data 2018 April 17-19, 2018, Bali, Indonesia Homepage: http://www.innsbigdata2018.org #######################Description:###################### The International Neural Network Society (INNS) is the premiere organization for individuals interested in a theoretical and computational understanding of the brain and applying that knowledge to develop new and more effective forms of machine intelligence. INNS was formed in 1987 by the leading scientists in the neural network field. Researchers and colleagues who work in the area of big data and machine learning, we are happy to announce "The 3 rd INNS Conference on Big Data and Deep Learning 2018 (INNS BDDL 2018) will be held on April 18 19, 2018 in Sanur Bali, Indonesia. The aim of this conference is to create a valuable and important forum for scientists and engineers throughout the world to present the latest research findings and idea at the forefront of Big Data and Deep Learning. Accepted papers will be published by Elsevier, Scopus indexed. Several papers will be selected for possible publication in top journals. The conference will feature a comprehensive technical program with technical tracks on: Track 1: Big Data Track 2: Big Data Algorithms Track 3: Deep Learning Track 4: Application Areas Important Dates ################################################################### * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Submission) 15 September 2017 * Tutorial and workshop proposals (Decision) 30 September 2017 * Paper submission 2 November 2017 * Decision notification 31 December 2017 * Conference 17 - 19 April 2018 ################################################################### Previous INNS Conference: INNS 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece INNS 2015 in San Francisco, USA #################### Organizing committees ############### General chairs Seiichi Ozawa, Kobe University, Japan Ah-Hwee Tan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Program Chairs Plamen P. Angelov, Lancaster University, UK Asim Roy, Arizona State University, USA Mahardhika Pratama, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Local Committee Chairs Dieky Adzkiya, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Advisory Board Yew-Soon Ong, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Robert Kozma, University of Memphis, USA Sankar K. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, India Haibo He, University of Rhode Island, USA Witold Pedrycz, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada Leszek Rutkowski, Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Fernando Gomide, University of Campinas, Brazil Marley Vellasco, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Yoonsuck Choe, Texas A&M University Minho Lee, Kyungpook National University, South Korea Bao-Liang Lu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Irwin King, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong kong Mohammad Nuh, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Joni Hermana, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Heru Setyawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Tutorials/Workshop Chairs Igor Skrjanc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Sundaram Suresh, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Poster Sessions Chairs Eko Setiadji, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Agus Salim, La Trobe University, Australia Special Sessions Chairs Justin Wang, La Trobe University, Australia Yongping Pan, National University of Singapore, Singapore Panel Chairs Sreenatha Anavatti, University of New South Wales, Australia Mukesh Prasad, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Achmad Affandi, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Awards Chairs Tapabrata Ray, University of New South Wales, Australia Dejan Dovzan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Richard J. Oentaryo, McLaren Applied Technologies, Singapore Publication Chairs Edwin Lughofer, Johannes Kepler University, Austria Jose Antonio Iglesias, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain Moamar Sayed?Mouchaweh, Institute Mines Telecom Lille Douai, France Publicity Chair Simone Scardapane, Sapienza University, Italy Teng Teck Hou, Singapore Management University, Singapore Hendro Nurhadi, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia International Liaison Chairs Yun Sing Koh, University of Auckland, New Zealand Deepak Puthal, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Wirawan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Webmaster Mohamad Abdul Hady, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Andri Ashfahani, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia Choiru Zain, La Trobe University, Australia ###### Topics and Areas include, but not limited to the following###### >>BIG DATA Autonomous, online, incremental learning in big data High dimensional data, feature selection, feature transformation for big data Scalable algorithms for big data Big data analytics Data stream analytics Parallel & distributed computing for big data analytics (cloud, map-reduce, etc.) Online learning Online multimedia/stream/text analytics Link and graph mining Big data and cloud computing, large scale stream processing on the cloud Big data and collective intelligence/collaborative learning Big data and hybrid systems Big data and self-aware systems Big data and infrastructure Big data visualization >>Big Data Algorithm Neuromorphic hardware for scalable machine learning Evolving systems for big data analytics Evolutionary systems and big data Fuzzy systems and big data Cognitive modelling and big data Probabilistic approach for big data Concept drift detection for big data Granular computing for big data Transfer learning for big data >>Deep Learning Deep belief network Convolutional neural network Long short term memory Deep network architecture Deep autoencoder Deep stacked network Deep learning for natural language processing Deep learning for machine vision Evolving deep network Transfer learning in deep learning Online deep learning >>Application Areas Banking and Securities Communications, Media and Entertainment Healthcare Providers Education Manufacturing & Natural Resources Government Insurances Retail & Wholesale Trade Transportation Energy & Utilities, Etc.

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Postdoctoral position and lab/manager position available in the Zacks lab
by Jeff Zacks June 8, 2017

June 8, 2017

Dear Colleagues, We have two positions available in the lab; one for a postdoctoral fellow, one for a lab manager/research assistant. Please pass these along to any graduating seniors or nearly-done PhD students you think would be appropriate. Thanks! Jeff Zacks Jeffrey M. Zacks, Ph.D. Associate Chair, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences Professor of Radiology Washington University in Saint Louis 1 Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 314-935-8454 314-935-7588 (fax) jzacks(a)wustl.edu <mailto:jzacks@wustl.edu> http://dcl.wustl.edu/~jzacks 1) Postdoctoral position in the computational cognitive neuroscience of event cognition Dynamic Cognition Lab, Washington University The Dynamic Cognition Lab, headed by Jeff Zacks, seeks a postdoctoral researcher to work on an ONR-funded project examining comprehension and memory of complex, naturalistic events. This effort will involve computational modeling, behavioral experiments, and pattern-based fMRI. It will engage collaborators at Wash U, and also at UC Davis, Princeton, Harvard, and NYU. The position is funded for three years with potential for extended funding. Ideally, candidates will be available to start in Fall 2017. Potential applicants may want to have a look at the lab web site (dcl.wustl.edu <http://dcl.wustl.edu/>) for information on current related research. (See also psychweb.wustl.edu, and neuroscience.wustl.edu for information on related resources.) A PhD in Psychology or Neuroscience is required for this position. Desirable additional qualifications include: * Previous experience with neuroimaging, especially MVPA * An interest in event cognition and memory * A promising publication record To apply, please send a statement of research interests and CV, and have two letters of evaluation sent by faculty familiar with your work. Email submission is fine; please send application materials or questions about the position to jzacks(a)wustl.edu. If you prefer paper mail the address is: Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences Washington University Saint Louis, MO 63130 2) Lab manager/research assistant Washington University in St. Louis, Psychology Department Seeking a motivated associate to assist with behavioral and functional MRI experiments, starting summer 2017. An ideal candidate would be a newly-graduated undergraduate who has a strong curiosity about cognitive and computational neuroscience, and has relevant coursework and laboratory experience in this area. Duties will include interacting with human participants, data collection and analysis, and also managerial functions such as scheduling facilities and coordinating with other research team members. Required qualification: * Undergraduate degree in psychology, neuroscience, or a related field. Desirable qualifications: * Programming skills * Research experience with human subjects * Experience with functional MRI * Experience with film production This full-time, federally funded position provides a great opportunity to gain experience before going on to an advanced degree. St. Louis is a vibrant, affordable city, and Washington University has a rich community of cognitive scientists and neuroscientists. Two-year commitment required. Health benefits provided. To apply, see the PDF application at the Dynamic Cognition Laboratory website, http://dcl.wustl.edu. Jeffrey M. Zacks, Ph.D. Washington University Department of Psychology Campus Box 1125 St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 314.935.8454 jzacks(a)wustl.edu

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Fully-funded PhD studentship in "Data-driven null models for big data networks"
by Mark Humphries June 8, 2017

June 8, 2017

We seek PhD candidates for the project "Data-driven null models for big data networks", supervised by Dr Mark Humphries at the University of Manchester. We are developing network theory approaches to analysing data in systems neuroscience (Humphries, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1101/115485 ). The aim of this PhD project is to develop an analysis framework for separating signal from noise in data-driven networks. We will develop new, flexible data-driven null models for network structure - models that will predict noise. Using these models, we will create powerful ways of extracting the signal network from observed data. With these signal networks, we will then explore how they change the conclusions we can draw from our observed data, what large-scale structures they uncover in the networks, and how they can track changes to networks over time. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible. This studentship is MRC-funded, so only open to UK and EU students. More information, and how to apply: https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=78216&LID=1020 Questions: mark.humphries(a)manchester.ac.uk<mailto:mark.humphries@manchester.ac.uk> Our lab: http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.manchester.ac.uk/ _____________________________________________________________________________ Dr Mark Humphries | MRC Senior non-Clinical Research Fellow | Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.manchester.ac.uk/ [0da17e2a-9ed5-496a-b161-9fd4491ce5c7]@markdhumphries <https://twitter.com/markdhumphries> Public blog: https://medium.com/the-spike

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Registration Open - EPFL Online Course: Simulation Neuroscience I
by Eilif Muller June 7, 2017

June 7, 2017

Dear Colleagues, I would like to bring to your attention this upcoming new course on Simulation Neuroscience we are offering online, leveraging the HBP Brain Simulation Platform. It is the first of 3 planned courses through which we will teach students to construct and simulate data-driven microcircuits, like the Blue Brain cortical model. More details are below. Many thanks for forwarding to students who may be potentially interested. Best regards, Eilif ===== ANNOUNCEMENT ===== The Center for Digital Education of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland in cooperation with the Blue Brian Project is welcoming students to participate in a new online course entitled: Simulation Neuroscience I - Reconstruction of a single neuron Faculty: Prof. Henry Markram, Prof. Idan Segev, Prof. Sean Hill, Prof. Felix Schuermann, Samuel Kerrian, Lida Kanari, Werner Van Geit, Dr. Srikanth Ramaswamy, Dr. Eilif Muller Abstract: Simulation Neuroscience is an emerging approach to integrate the knowledge dispersed throughout the field of neuroscience. The aim is to build a unified empirical picture of the brain, to study the biological mechanisms of brain function, behaviour and disease. This is achieved by integrating diverse data sources across the various scales of experimental neuroscience, from molecular to clinical, into computer simulations. In a series of three courses, you will learn to use the state-of-the-art modelling tools of the Human Brain Project Brain Simulation Platform to simulate neurons, build neural networks, and perform your own simulation experiments. This is the first course of the series that will teach you how to digitally reconstruct a single neuron. We invite you to join us and share in our passion to reconstruct, simulate and understand the brain! The course is targeted at senior bachelor, master or PhD students in science or engineering fields looking for an introduction to Simulation Neuroscience. It is a 6 week course, with an estimated course load of 5-7 hours per week. The registration deadline is June 13, 2017 The start date of the course is June 15, 2017 Registration is limited due to available compute resources, on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information: https://actu.epfl.ch/news/mooc-simulation-neuroscience-reconstruction-of-a-… ------------- Dr. Eilif Muller Section Manager - In Silico Neuroscience - Experimentation EPFL - Blue Brain Project QIJ 3ème étage CH-1015 Lausanne Switzerland Tel: ++41 21 693 0698 Fax: ++41 21 693 5350 www: http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/page-77926-en.html www: http://neuralensemble.org/people/eilifmuller

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Permanent academic positions in computational neuroscience/ machine learning at assistant and associate professor level
by Eleni Vasilaki June 6, 2017

June 6, 2017

There are two permanent academic openings in the Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, in the area of Computational Neuroscience within the Machine Learning group. Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Machine Learning and Computational Neuroscience. Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Machine Learning and Robotics. Lecturer is roughly equivalent to Assistant professor and Senior Lecturer/Reader to Associate Professor in the US system. Since it was established in 1982, the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield has attained an international reputation for its research and teaching. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise, we were ranked 5th out of 89 departments in the UK for computer science research. For more information please see: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/dcs/jobs/index Prof. Eleni Vasilaki, DPhil CEng MIET Computer Science, University of Sheffield, www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~eleni

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Call for participation and posters: IMOL2017 – Third International Workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning
by Gianluca Baldassarre <gianluca.baldassarre＠istc.cnr.it> June 5, 2017

June 5, 2017

*** Apologies for cross-posting *** Dear colleagues, this mail is to invite you to "IMOL2017 – Third International Workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning" that will be held in Rome, October 4th-5th-6h, 2017. IMOL 2017 is the third international workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning. Following previous editions, IMOL 2017 aims to further explore the promise of intrinsically motivated open-ended lifelong learning in robots and artificial systems. *We are opening the call for participation and posters (more details on the website and below) with deadline July 16th, 2017*. More info available at imol-conf.org and below. Best wishes, the organizers: Gianluca Baldassarre, Vieri Giuliano Santucci, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Andrew Barto ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- *IMOL2017 – Third International Workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning* Organizers: Gianluca Baldassarre, Vieri Giuliano Santucci, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Andrew Barto We are pleased to announce the “Third International Workshop on Intrinsically-Motivated Open-ended Development (IMOL2017)”, which will be held in Rome, Italy, on 4-5-6 October 2017 in a beautiful central location. <http://www.residenzadiripetta.com/it/> All information regarding the workshop, including an extended description of the its scope, can be found in the website imol-conf.org Following two previous workshops, the highly focused “Third International Workshop on Intrinsically-Motivated Open-ended Development (IMOL2017)” aims to further explore the promise of intrinsically motivated open-ended lifelong learning. The workshop aims to be a highly interactive event. To this purpose, it will feature high profile keynote presentations and the participation of an audience of about 60 people. It will foster close interaction among the participants by enabling intense peer-to-peer discussions, poster sessions, and collective round tables directed toward specific objectives. It will take place at a lovely venue in the center of Rome fostering interactions, with evenings devoted to autonomous exploration of the city. It will be followed by a call for papers to be published in an open journal special issue (e.g. a Frontiers in Neurorobotics Research Topic). *Aims of the Workshop* The Workshop will occur over three whole days, with the last session of each day dedicated to a plenary discussion targeting three important topics: (1) The identification of the most important open challenges in the field of autonomous open-ended lifelong learning, with the aim of compiling a list of high-impact goals identified as important next-steps. (2) The definition of one or more benchmarks for evaluating models and architectures for autonomous open-ended learning (at a later date, an open competition will be held based on the benchmark). (3) The identification of the most promising approaches and techniques to tackle the open challenges identified under point (1). *Topics of interest* - Autonomous robots lifelong learning - Multi-task reinforcement learning - Deep reinforcement learning - Intrinsic motivations - Curriculum learning - Goal self-generation - Multiple task solution and parameterized skills - Neural/probabilistic representations and abstractions Architectures for open-ended learning - Goal-based skill learning - Knowledge transfer and avoidance of catastrophic forgetting - Compositionality and chunking - Hierarchies of goals and skills - Mitigating risks of real-world deployment of open-ended learning systems *Current list of invited speakers* - Baldassarre, Gianluca - Barto, Andrew - Bellemare, Marc - Calinon, Sylvain - Cangelosi, Angelo - Konidaris, George - Merrick, Kathryn - Natale, Lorenzo - O’Regan, Kevin - Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves - Peters, Jan - Polani, Daniel - Reinhart, Felix - Rolf, Matthias - Ruecker, Elmar - Santucci, Vieri Giuliano - Stulp, Freek - Triesch, Jochen - Uchibe, Eiji *Call for Application* Participation in the workshop is free of charge and includes the lunches for the three days. However, the workshop is limited to a restricted number of people given the capacity of the venue and the aim of the event. Prospective attendees should express their interest in participating by submitting the form downloadable from the link below, and their willingness (or not) to contribute a poster. In this case, people is also invited to submit a short/extended abstract (max 2 pages), possibly including figures. The submissions will be selected on the basis of the quality and of how well they fit the workshop’s aims. Both senior and young researchers, including Ph.D. students, are encouraged to submit to ensure a full representation of the community. Moreover, applicants are also requested to indicate in the form their willingness to participate in a special issue in Frontiers in Neurorobotics. This request aims to investigate the overall interest for the initiative, which will be followed by a standard Frontiers call after the workshop. Application deadline: July 16th, 2017 Notification of acceptance: July 27th, 2017 Please submit the form downloadable here <http://www.imol-conf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMOL2017_ApplicationFor…> and the optional abstract (subject: “IMOL2017 submission: name, last name”) to: *imol.conf(a)gmail.com <imol.conf(a)gmail.com>* ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- -- .|.CS...|.......|...............|..|......US.|||.|||||.||.||||..|...|....... Gianluca Baldassarre, Ph.D., Laboratory of Computational Embodied Neuroscience, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (LOCEN-ISTC-CNR), Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, I-00185 Roma, Italy E-mail: gianluca.baldassarre(a)istc.cnr.it Web: http://www.istc.cnr.it/people/gianluca-baldassarre Tel: +39 06 44 595 231 Fax: +39 06 44 595 243 Motto: 'Learn from the past, live in(tensely) the present, dream for the future' Life mission statement: 'Serve humanity through core knowledge' ...CS.|||.||.|||.||..|.......|........|...US.|.|....||..|..|......|.........

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We're hiring! New open position at LANVIE - University of Geneva
by Margherita Mauri May 31, 2017

May 31, 2017

Dear All, We are recruiting a research assistant/postdoc for a full time position at the LANVIE https://www.unige.ch/medecine/psyat/en/research-groups/935frisoni/ Please find the job description below: * Field: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cognitive disorders 1. Study of AD biomarkers 2. Study of the biological basis of cognitive impairment due to Suspected Non-Alzheimer Pathology (SNAP) and of the interplay between amyloidosis and tau-related Neurodegeneration * Projects: 1. Epinettes database - A clinical database for diagnosis and prognosis of patients consulting at the Memory Clinics of the HUG 2. SNAP - Study of the biological basis of cognitive impairment due to Suspected Non- Alzheimer Pathology 3. Human Brain Project (HBP) - Medical Informatics Platform * Tasks: 1. Image analysis: Analysis of MRI and PET images of the brain finalised to the extraction and study of AD imaging biomarkers and cognitive pathologies (Freesurfer, FSL, Matlab, SPM) 2. Didactics: didactic activities management; MSc student supervision 3. Project management: Clinical ethical submissions; Work and data management; Communication and team management 4. Research tasks: Identification of new research opportunities and submission of project funding applications; presentation of research results according to need, participation in international and local conferences and publication in scientific journals; Identification, development and maintenance of collaborative relationships with current and future KOLs, scientific experts, scientific groups and study sites; Participation in working groups, boards, commission representing a project or the Team ; 5. To be customized basing on CV. Should you are interested in this position, please send your CV, cover letter and list of publication to margherita.mauri(a)unige.ch. Best regards, Margherita Margherita MAURI Assistante de Recherche Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève et Université de Genève LANVIE - Laboratoire de Neuroimagerie du Vieillissement, Chemin du Petit Bel-Air 2 (Bâtiment Voirons) CH 1225 - Chêne Bourg

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Call for Abstracts: Information Processing in Complex Systems
by Eckehard Olbrich May 31, 2017

May 31, 2017

Call for Abstracts The Information Processing in Complex Systems (IPCS'17 https://ipcs.computationalscience.nl/) satellite meeting is organized during the Conference on Complex Systems. Our objective is to provide a forum for researchers who follow an information-theoretic approach to complex systems. Here they can present recent achievements and discuss promising hypotheses and further research directions. It will be a one-day event in September 20, 2017, as part of the Conference on Complex Systems (CCS'17 <http://ccs17.unam.mx/>). This conference is the official annual conference of the Complex Systems Society and is scheduled to convene in September 17-22, 2017. Background All systems in nature can be considered from the perspective that they process information. Information is registered in the state of a system and its elements, implicitly and invisibly. As elements interact, information is transferred. Indeed, bits of information about the state of one element will travel – imperfectly – to the state of the other element, forming its new state. This storage and transfer of information, possibly between levels of a multi level system, is imperfect due to randomness or noise. From this viewpoint, a system can be formalized as a collection of bits that is organized according to its rules of dynamics and its topology of interactions. Mapping out exactly how these bits of information percolate through the system reveals fundamental insights in how the parts orchestrate to produce the properties of the system. A theory of information processing would be capable of defining a set of universal properties of dynamical multi level complex systems, which describe and compare the dynamics of diverse complex systems ranging from social interaction to brain networks, from financial markets to biomedicine. Each possible combination of rules of dynamics and topology of interactions, with disparate semantics could be translated into the language of information processing which in turn will provide a lingua franca for complex systems. Based on the success of the previous year, IPCS’17 will again combine classical and quantum information approaches. If you would like to attend this scientific discourse then you only need to register for CCS’17. Note that the deadline for early registration is June 15. Abstract Submission We invite abstracts for oral presentations of work where information theory is used to tackle a complex systems problem. Our submission page (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ipcs17) is open until June 30, 2017. Please keep the word count for the abstract to max. 300. There is the possibility to upload an extended anstract (single page pdf, one figure). Organizing committee Rick Quax (University of Amsterdam) Eckehard Olbrich (MPI Leipzig) Mile Gu (Nanyang Institute of Technology) Manlio de Domenico (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) For further informations or questions please contact ipcs17(a)easychair.org -- Dr. Eckehard Olbrich Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences Inselstrasse 22 D-04103 Leipzig Germany Tel.: +49 341 9959 568 Fax: +49 341 9959 658 E-mail: olbrich(a)mis.mpg.de

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PhD Studentships in Computational Neuroscience
by Steuber, Volker May 31, 2017

May 31, 2017

PhD Positions in Computational Neuroscience Biocomputation Research Group Centre for Computer Science and Informatics Research University of Hertfordshire UK Applications are invited for PhD positions in the Biocomputation Research Group at the University of Hertfordshire. Projects involve the development and simulation of models of neurons and neuronal networks to study information processing in the cerebellum or olfactory system and /or the application of machine learning techniques for the analysis of neural data. A description of our research interests and a list of publications can be found on our webpage (http://biocomputation.herts.ac.uk/).? Applicants should have excellent computational and numerical skills and a very good first degree in computer science, biology, maths, physics, neuroscience, or a related discipline. Successful candidates are eligible for a research studentship award from the University (GBP 14,553 per annum bursary plus payment of the student fees). Applicants from outside the UK or EU are eligible. Research in Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire has been recognised as excellent in the latest Research Excellence Framework Assessment, with 50% of the research submitted rated as internationally excellent or world leading. The Centre for Computer Science and Informatics Research provides a very stimulating environment, offering a large number of specialised and interdisciplinary seminars as well as general training and researcher development opportunities. The University is situated in Hatfield, in the green belt just north of London.? Please contact Dr Volker Steuber for informal enquiries. Application forms are available under http://www.herts.ac.uk/apply/schools-of-study/computer-science/our-research… and should be returned to Mrs Lorraine Nicholls, Research Student Administrator, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB, Tel: 01707 286083. The short-listing process will begin on 16 June 2017.

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Extended Deadline: Coupling & Causality in Complex Systems, Sep 25-27, Cologne, Germany
by Michael von Papen May 30, 2017

May 30, 2017

============================================================== CALL FOR PAPERS (*Extended Deadline June 15*, 2017) http://c3s.uni-koeln.de ============================================================== INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: *Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems* September 25-27, 2017, Cologne, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- The interdisciplinary conference Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems (C3S) is hosted by the Competence Area 3: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems of the University of Cologne (UoC), Germany. It is organized by the Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology, UoC, the Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf and the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Research Center Juelich. -------------------------------------------------- *Invited Speakers* Jörg Breitung - Macroeconomic Policy Institute, University of Cologne, Germany David Gross - Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Germany Philip Holmes - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering / Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA Ankit Khambhati - Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, USA Laura Marzetti - Department of Neuroscience, Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti - Pescara Arkady Pikovsky - Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University Potsdam, Germany Michael Rosenblum - Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University Potsdam, Germany Jakob Runge - The Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London -------------------------------------------------- *Preliminary Session Program* We will have different sessions with differing topics and each session will be opened by one of the invited speakers. Here is a preliminary version of our program: Session 1 Synchronization I Arkady Pikovsky Session 2 Synchronization II Silvia Daun Session 3 Coupled oscillators I Phil Holmes Session 4 Coupled oscillators II Michael Rosenblum Session 5 Phase coupling Laura Marzetti Session 6 Network structures Ankit Khambati Session 7 Bayesian networks David Gross Session 8 Granger causality I Jörg Breitung Session 9 Granger causality II Esther Florin Session 10 Causal network measures Jakob Runge Further topics of interest for the conference include, amongst others, research and methods development on: functional connectivity, (partial directed) coherence, network topology, graph-theoretic measures, directed graphs, nonlinear dynamics of complex systems, complex spatio-temporal systems, mutual information and transfer entropy. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Scientific Organizing Committee* Silvia Daun - Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Germany Esther Florin - Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychology, Düsseldorf, Germany Joachim Gross - Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Glasgow, UK Michael von Papen - Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology, Cologne, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- *Abstract* Complex systems such as the human brain, Earth’s climate and economy are characterized by a multitude of coupled processes on different spatial and temporal scales. In order to better understand the dynamics of the system at hand each scientific area has developed specific tools to identify, model and quantify these processes. The conference Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems (C3S) will present a collection of these approaches with the aim to provide scientists with new analysis strategies for their field. The conference focuses on how to characterize a complex system and on the methods for estimating and modeling of statistical coupling (e.g. network coherence, creation and modulation of small networks and local or long-range synchronization by cross frequency phase-phase and phase-amplitude coupling) and causality (e.g. Granger causality, transfer entropy). Therefore, data analysts from different study fields including neuroscience, mathematics, physics, biology, and economy will present their approaches with a particular focus on the methods they use. The aim of this conference is to foster discussions and the transdisciplinary exchange of advanced techniques, methods, and algorithms, thereby stimulating potential future collaborations. -------------------------------------------------------------- *PAPER SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION* Authors are invited to submit conference abstracts with up to 400 words. Authors of exceptional abstracts will be given the opportunity to present their research in a talk. However, poster sessions will be provided with ample time for discussions. For your submission, please use the conference website c3s.uni-koeln.de. To register, please send an email with the subject "registration" to c3s-conference(a)uni-koeln.de. Please be sure to include your full name, your affiliation and whether you qualify as student (also PhD candidates) or not. The registration fee will cover snacks and refreshments during coffee breaks, lunch and a dinner with all participants. Early-bird registration is available until July 10 with a reduced fee of 100 EUR (50 EUR for students), after July 10 the registration fee will be 200 EUR (100 EUR for students). -------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT DATES Paper Submission deadline: June 15, 2017 Author Notification: end June, 2017 Early-bird registration: July 10, 2017 Conference: September 25-27, 2017 ============================================================== Please find the call for papers and more information at the conference website: http://c3s.uni-koeln.de. For questions regarding the conference feel free to contact us via c3s-conference(a)uni-koeln.de. -- ------------------------------------------ UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology Coordinator of Competence Area III: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems Dr. Michael von Papen Email: m.papen(a)uni-koeln.de http://www.uni-koeln.de/~vpapenm http://complexsystems.uni-koeln.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.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Call for Abstracts: Workshop on Social Learning and Cultural Evolution (SlaCE 2017)
by Julien Hubert May 28, 2017

May 28, 2017

Dear Colleagues, This is a call for abstracts for the Second International Workshop on “Social Learning and Cultural Evolution (SlaCE)”, which will be held at ECAL 2017 in Lyon, France. Organizers: Julien Hubert, j.g.hubert(a)vu.nl <mailto:j.g.hubert@vu.nl> Jacqueline Heinerman, j.v.heinerman(a)vu.nl <mailto:j.v.heinerman@vu.nl> Evert Haasdijk, e.haasdijk(a)vu.nl <mailto:e.haasdijk@vu.nl> Chris Marriott, dr.chris.marriott(a)gmail.com <mailto:dr.chris.marriott@gmail.com> James Borg, j.borg(a)keele.ac.uk <mailto:j.borg@keele.ac.uk> Peter Andras, p.andras(a)keele.ac.uk <mailto:p.andras@keele.ac.uk> Submission deadline: June 27, 2017 Notification of acceptance: July 27, 2017 Submission website: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=slace2017 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=slace2017> Workshop website: http://www.climbinggiants.com/slace/2/index.html <http://www.climbinggiants.com/slace/2/index.html> Contact e-mail: j.g.hubert(a)vu.nl <mailto:j.g.hubert@vu.nl> ********* DESCRIPTION ******** In social species, learning from others, i.e. social learning, is one of the cornerstones of cognitive development. Social learning has been shown to increase the learning speed of individuals, but also enables them to reach a higher performance in comparison with learning individually. Social learning also enables local populations to develop a culture that can evolve over time. Realising social learning in artificial systems faces many challenges requiring inputs from machine learning, robotics and evolutionary biology. The aim of this workshop is to promote discussions on social learning and cultural evolution with a special emphasis on the future of of the field. Social learning has been actively studied in psychology but is still in its infancy in artificial systems. Many open questions remain, such as when is social learning advantageous, or what kind of information should be transferred. These questions have been studied but a consensus has yet to be reached, mainly because of the difficulty to compare results in social learning due to the absence of a common research framework. This workshop is devoted to discuss and establish such a framework that will push the research forward. The core of the workshop will consist of short presentations from contributors on their work in the field (current or historical), collective research goals and milestones in social learning and cultural evolution or new concepts, modelling techniques or research questions. Presenters are encouraged to address any of the following topics (though this list is not exhaustive): - Social Learning Mechanisms - Social Information Transfer - Transfer learning - The interaction between social and non social learning - The interaction between learning and evolution - Environmental Variability, Environmental Complexity, and Social Learning - Social Learning Strategies - Social Learning and Life History Evolution - Models of Learning in Nature - The Evolution of Culture - Communication - Social Networks and Social Contagion on networks - Group structure and learning bias - Social Robotics - Grounded (Animat) models of Social Learning - Do our definitions match those used in other related fields (i.e Imitation, Culture, ...) - Human Cultural Evolution (Cumulative Culture) - Co-operation - Gene-Culture Co-Evolution/ Dual Inheritance Theory - Philosophy of Culture - Memetics The workshop will conclude with a fishbowl discussion on the future of Social Learning and Cultural Evolution research in ALife. We ask potential contributors to submit an extended abstract (1 page). We are open to presenters who are contributing during the main ECAL conference to also talk about their work during the workshop in order to have additional discussions. PhD students and young career academics who are new to the field are encouraged to submit to this workshop. SLACE-2017 will be held on September 4th 2017, at ECAL 2017 Kind Regards, Julien, James, Jacqueline, Evert, Chris and Peter — Julien Hubert, PhD Computational Intelligence Group Computer Science Department Faculty of Sciences - VU University Amsterdam

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Open position: PhD in signal processing / computational & clinical neuroscience
by Alan May 26, 2017

May 26, 2017

Dear all, Please find an open position for a PhD in signal processing / computational & clinical neuroscience *Project title: ** *NeuroCog – Parkinson action (https://neurocog.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr) Funding body: UGA Contract duration: 3 years Starting date: From September 2017 on. *Job description:* The successful candidate will develop new TMS/EEG methods (acquisition and processing) for early Parkinson’s disease diagnosis that will quantify the impairment of cortical excitability. *Requested expertise: ** *Computer science / Signal processing / Parkinson’s disease / Neuroimaging / Brain stimulation *Project scientific summary:* Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder. Unfortunately, there is no cure for PD and no neuroprotective treatment and about 95% of patients will become demented within 25 years after the diagnosis. The presentation and evolution of PD is highly heterogeneous between patients and some PD phenotypes are more at risk of having a more severe and progressive course of the disease. In particular, although cognitive deficits are very frequent in old patients, in younger patients it is difficult to predict whether they will develop early cognitive disturbances. For this PhD project, we assume that in PD patients with a subtype characterized by prevalent cognitive issues, the impairment of cortical excitability in the fronto-parietal networks would be a new biomarker detectable at an early disease stage. We will thus study the cortical excitability using innovative methodologies that will be first developed in healthy subjects (Harquel et al, 2016; in press) and then longitudinally tested in a cohort of de novo PD patients. Overall, this project investigates PD phenotypes under a neurophysiological perspective that is highly innovative. *Host research groups:* The main goal of the primary host research group (Brain Stimulation & Systems Neuroscience, PI: Olivier David) is to study large-scale brain networks in order to develop new applications of brain stimulation in the field of psychiatry, movement disorders and epilepsy using a translational approach based on clinical and preclinical research. The secondary host lab (Laboratory of Psychology and Neurocognition, PhD co-director: Dr A. Chauvin) is a Cognitive Science Research Unit affiliated to the CNRS (National Institute of Biological Sciences, section 26) and to two universities (University Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble and University of Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambery). Members of the LPNC who compose the TMS group have an interdisciplinary approach which encompasses engineering, experimental psychology; computational and mathematical modelling; neuropsychology; cognitive psychiatry; and neuroimaging. In addition, the PhD fellow will be in constant interaction with the Movement Disorder Unit of CHUGA (PI: Pr E Moro) and other research groups within the NeuroCog project working on the same cohort of PD patients. Very close interactions between experimentalists, methodologists and clinicians, will offer an optimal environment to develop skills of young scientists. Contacts: Dr Olivier David, Research Director, Inserm, Olivier.David(a)inserm.fr. Dr Alan Chauvin, Assistant Professor, UGA, Alan.Chauvin(a)univ-grenoble-alpes.fr. *Please send application including CV, statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details of at least two referees.** * References: Harquel, S., Bacle, T., Beynel, L., Marendaz, C., Chauvin, A., & David, O. (2016). Mapping dynamical properties of cortical microcircuits using robotized TMS and EEG: Towards functional cytoarchitectonics. NeuroImage, 135, 115–124. Harquel, S., Diard, J., Raffin, E., Passera, B., DallIgna, G., Marendaz, C., et al. (In press). Automatized set-up procedure for transcranial magnetic stimulation protocols. NeuroImage -- New E-mail : Alan.Chauvin(a)univ-grenoble-alpes.fr -- Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition LPNC CNRS UMR 5105 Université Grenoble Alpes(UGA) Batiment Science de l'Homme et Math (BSHM) 38041 Grenoble Cedex 09 Alan.Chauvin(a)univ-grenoble-alpes.fr 33 (0) 476 825 926

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Two Research Associate/Assistant Positions in Interpersonal Neural Connectivity at Cambridge University
by Dr V Leong May 25, 2017

May 25, 2017

--- TWO RESEARCH ASSOCIATE/ASSISTANT POSITIONS IN INTERPERSONAL NEURAL CONNECTIVITY AVAILABLE --- The Baby-LINC Lab at Cambridge University is seeking two highly-skilled and motivated post-doctoral researchers to join our multidisciplinary data analysis team! We have recently completed an ESRC-funded large-scale EEG hyperscanning study on mother-infant neural coupling in relation to early learning. We are interested in understanding the interpersonal neural oscillatory dynamics that underpin different mother-infant social interactional states (such as joint attention versus inattention). We are also interested in characterizing the topology of coupled neural networks during successful learning and information transfer within mother-infant dyads. Candidates should be able to demonstrate strong technical expertise in one or more of the following areas : 1) Neural connectivity analysis 2) Signal processing (artifact identification and denoising) 3) Information theoretic analysis 4) Machine learning (including Bayesian learning) Applicants should have already obtained (or be about to complete) a PhD in a relevant subject, which may include (but is not limited to) the fields of computational neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, biomedical physics, and engineering. Excellent programming skills are essential as the post-holder(s) will be expected to contribute to the lab’s in-house library of custom-built analysis scripts. Experience with EEG/MEG analysis is desirable. Excellent organisational and communication skills are essential, as the candidate must work well as part of a larger research team which includes international collaborators. This is an exciting opportunity to join pioneering research in the field of interpersonal neuroscience, at a time when there is growing interest and momentum. Two posts are available. One post, appointed through the University of Cambridge, is available at the level of Research Associate (post-doctoral) or Research Assistant (PhD to be awarded), on a 50% part-time basis. A second full-time (100%) post is available at the level of Research Associate only. This second post will be appointed through Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), but the post-holder will be entirely based in Cambridge. All suitable applicants will automatically be considered for both posts, unless the candidate indicates otherwise. We would like both successful candidates to begin as soon as possible, and no later than 1st August 2017, but flexible working arrangements can be considered. Informal enquiries are welcome, and can be made to Dr Victoria Leong by email (vvec2(a)cam.ac.uk) or telephone (+ 44 1223 333567). For further information, and to apply : http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/13871/ -- Victoria Leong, PhD Assistant Professor of Psychology Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) Affiliated Lecturer Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge (UK)

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Postdoc in Connectomics at UPenn
by Ragini Verma May 24, 2017

May 24, 2017

Postdoctoral positions in diffusion imaging are available immediately at the Section of Biomedical Image Analysis (SBIA), Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Candidates must have a background in Electrical or Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Math or MR Physics, with experience in diffusion imaging. Knowledge of maine learning techniques is a plus. Current projects involve work on connectomics, multi-compartment models, edema-invariant tractography and joint structural-functional connectivity analysis and their application to brain tumors, traumatic brain injury and autism. Good programming skills is a must. All projects have a strong emphasis on method development (for technical publications) but require subsequent clinical application of the same. The positions call for interaction with clinical collaborators. Please contact the head of the diffusion group, Ragini Verma (Associate Professor of Radiology) at Ragini.Verma(a)gmail.com and Ragini.Verma(a)uphs.upenn.edu <https://mail.uphs.upenn.edu/owa/redir.aspx?SURL=y44JoDKtWxPkUtTXoC_Nf05OEJx…> .

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2017 Cell Modeling Workshop
by Greg Hood May 24, 2017

May 24, 2017

Dear Colleague, We would like to make you aware of the following workshop to be held at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center: CELL MODELING WORKSHOP Workshop Dates: June 26 - 28, 2017 Application Deadline: June 2, 2017 For more details, or to apply visit: http://mmbios.org/cmw2017 This workshop will cover theory and practice for the design and simulation of cell models focused on diffusion-reaction systems such as neurotransmission, signaling cascades, and other forms of biochemical networks. During the workshop, participants will learn how to use the tools developed by MMBioS to create, run, and analyze models of cellular microphysiology and apply them to their own research questions. This workshop lasts three full days, and attendees are strongly encouraged to bring ideas/data for their own simulation projects. The daily schedule includes theoretical and practical lectures, instructor-guided hands-on tutorials, and opportunities for one-on-one interaction with the instructors on individual project development.

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PhD Position in Computational Neuroscience of perceptual decision-making at UPF (Barcelona)
by Alexandre Hyafil May 24, 2017

May 24, 2017

One fully funded PhD position is available under the supervision of Alexandre Hyafil in the group of Theoretical and Cognitive Neuroscience of Rubén Moreno Bote. The group is part of the *Center for Brain and Cognition* at the University Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain ( https://www.upf.edu/web/ruben-moreno-bote) The candidate will study theoretical models of perception in complex environments and design and analysis human experiments to directly test these models. He/she could also be involved in the design and analysis of animal behavioral and multielectrode neural data. Candidates should have *Physics*, *Mathematics* or *Machine Learning* background, ideally with knowledge of *Neuroscience* or *Computational Neuroscience*, and interested in theory and applications. We will also consider candidates with *Psychology* background interested in computational modeling. The candidate will benefit from the stimulating environment of Barcelona area in Theoretical and Systems Neuroscience. Our lab forms part of a larger network of neuroscience labs in Barcelona (http://www. barcelonaneuroscience.com) Candidates, please send a full CV and an extract of grades for degree and master studies should be sent to alexandre.hyafil(a)upf.edu. Deadline: until the position is filled. Starting date: any time between October 2017 and January 2018.

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Post-doctoral Position in Computational Neuroscience
by sujith vijayan May 22, 2017

May 22, 2017

The Neural Dynamics and Neural Engineering Lab at Virginia Tech has an opening for a post-doctoral position in computational neuroscience. This position is for three years and is being funded by the Army Research Office (ARO). The research project will involve employing biophysically based computational models to examine the role of rhythmic activity in the expression of emotional memories during behavior and their consolidation during sleep. An additional aim is to employ the models developed to gain insights into the pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Candidates should have a Ph.D. in applied mathematics, computer science, engineering, computational neuroscience, or a related field. Strong programming skills and/or prior experience in modeling would be an asset. Interested candidates should send a CV, a statement of research interests, and the contact information for three references to svijayan9(a)gmail.com. Arrangements can be made to meet with candidates at the Sleep conference in Boston (June 3-7) or at the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) conference in Pittsburgh (July 10-14). Best, Sujith

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Postdoctoral Position in Primate Circuits/Systems Neuroscience, Hoffman Lab
by Hoffman, Kari May 19, 2017

May 19, 2017

Postdoctoral Research Position in Neural Circuits of Learning and Memory in Non-human Primates Vanderbilt University, Dr. Kari Hoffman The Perception and Plasticity lab (PI: Kari Hoffman) at Vanderbilt University is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to investigate the neural circuit dynamics underlying memory formation and flexible learning in macaques. Approaches include 1) multi-site electrode array recordings and closed-loop stimulation during visual exploration and 2) high-density wireless recordings during freely-moving tasks and in sleep to identify neural correlates of learning. See http://wp.me/P5TndN-m. Successful candidates will have a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., Neuroscience, Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Psychology) and be able to work both independently and as part of a team. Applicants should have experience with macaque behavior or neural ensemble analysis, proficiency in programming/scripting and statistical modeling, and a record of published work related to the areas of interest. The candidate will join a vibrant research community of systems and integrative neuroscience and vision science at Vanderbilt University, including the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center. Vanderbilt University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. The start date is flexible. Funding is available for at least three years. The initial appointment will be for one year, with the opportunity for renewal. Applicants should email kari.hoffman(a)vanderbilt.edu<mailto:kari.hoffman@vanderbilt.edu> with a research statement summarizing area of interest, previous accomplishments, and long-term research goals; a CV; and contact information for three references.

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BBP- Postdoctoral Position in Neuro-Glia-Vasculature Modeling
by Daniel Keller May 19, 2017

May 19, 2017

BBP- Postdoctoral Position in Neuro-Glia-Vasculature Modeling A postdoctoral position in modeling of neuro-glia-vasculature is available at the Blue Brain Project at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland (www.epfl.ch) The Blue Brain Project, based in Geneva, Switzerland, performs large-scale simulations of the brain. The neuro-glia-vasculature project will extend the model of astrocytes and vasculature to include better prediction of blood flow and energy usage.The position entails development of methods and systems to perform multi-scale modeling and integrate knowledge of the signaling pathways involved in glial messaging. The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience or related field. Experience in modeling of metabolism, blood flow, and/or biochemical signaling cascades is desired. Strong biology and mathematical background, as well as coding competence in Python, C++, and NEURON would also be useful for the position. We are looking for highly motivated individuals to be part of a highly multidisciplinary group working at the interface of neuroscience, physics and computer science. Candidates should possess good writing, collaboration, and communication skills. Selected candidates will join a prestigious project that is pioneering simulation neuroscience research, composed of a young, dynamic, interdisciplinary, and international team. We offer a state-of-the-art working environment based at the Biotech Campus in Geneva ( http://www.campusbiotech.ch/en/ ) with access to cutting edge simulation, informatics and computing facilities. Post-doctoral contracts are generally for one year, renewable for up to two years.Salaries are quite competitive as well, even after taking into account differences in the cost of living. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and a detailed CV in PDF format only, with file name “Surname_position _Cover Letter” and “Surname_positon _CV” electronically to jobs.bbp(a)epfl.ch Please use the reference of the position title in the “object” field.

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PhD position in computational cognitive neuroscience at University of Groningen
by Marieke van Vugt RUG May 18, 2017

May 18, 2017

Dear colleagues, We have a new PhD position in computational cognitive neuroscience as part of a larger COFUND grant to the Data Science and Systems Complexity centre of the University of Groningen. You will work in an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Cognitive Modeling and Control Engineering (including myself and Prof. Ming Cao), on a project that you will be able to help design. The link to the 18 projects (including the computational cognitive neuroscience project in collaboration with Cardiff University) is http://www.rug.nl/research/fse/themes/dssc/cofund/training/ <http://www.rug.nl/research/fse/themes/dssc/cofund/training/> The DSSC Research Training Programme is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND action developed at the University of Groningen that will train 10 PhD students for 4 years to be part of the next generation of interdisciplinary data and complexity experts. Brief description of the COFUND project: Today’s world is a highly complex system that is producing massive amounts of data daily. We can only progress towards urgent global priorities such as sustainable energy, personalized healthcare, safety or the creation of the data- driven economy if we can predict and control the dynamic nature of such systems. This challenge calls for an integrated approach that uses data to understand the behaviour of complex systems and for experts who can handle data and complexity problems for society at large. For more details, DSSC COFUND website is www.rug.nl/dssc-cofund <http://www.rug.nl/dssc-cofund>. Applications should be submitted online <http://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=…> by July 15th. The PhD could start anywhere between October 2017 and March 2018. Kind regards, Marieke van Vugt -------------------------------------------------------------------- Marieke van Vugt, PhD Assistant Professor, Cognitive Modelling Group University of Groningen Bernoulliborg, room 326 Nijenborgh 9 9747 AG Groningen The Netherlands phone: +31-6-5195-4984 (cell) +31-50-363-9487 (office) http://www.ai.rug.nl/~mkvanvugt <http://www.ai.rug.nl/~mkvanvugt> twitter: @mvugt m.k.van.vugt(a)rug.nl <mailto:m.k.van.vugt@rug.nl> / mkvanvugt(a)gmail.com

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SCiNDU conference call for abstracts
by Geoffrey Goodhill May 18, 2017

May 18, 2017

SYSTEMS AND COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE DOWNUNDER (SCiNDU) Joint meeting with the 2017 QBI Plasticity Workshop and the 10th Australasian Workshop on Neuro-Engineering and Computational Neuroscience Dec 13-15th 2017 Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/scindu Confirmed speakers: Polina Anikeeva (MIT) Bernard Balleine (UNSW) Daphne Bavelier (U Geneva) John Bekkers (ANU) Kwabena Boahen (Stanford) Tobias Bonhoeffer (Max Planck Martinsried) Rosa Cossart (INMED Marseille) Kenji Doya (Okinawa) Adrienne Fairhall (U Washington) Marta Garrido (U Queensland) Alex Pouget (U Geneva) Pankaj Sah (U Queensland) Andre van Schaik (Western Sydney) Rafael Yuste (Columbia) Abstract submissions for poster presentation are welcome, deadline Oct 1st. Some submissions will be selected for oral presentation. See http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/scindu for more details. Professor Geoffrey J Goodhill Queensland Brain Institute and School of Mathematics & Physics University of Queensland St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia Email: g.goodhill(a)uq.edu.au http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/professor-geoffrey-goodhill

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POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE, TRUCCOLO LAB, BROWN UNIVERSITY
by Wilson Truccolo May 17, 2017

May 17, 2017

Applications for post-doctoral positions are invited for the Laboratory of Dr. Wilson Truccolo in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. The positions are for the development of data-driven stochastic models of multiscale neural dynamics. Neural data consist of recordings of ensembles of single-neurons and high-density local field potentials obtained via multiple intracortical microelectrode arrays implanted in human and non-human primates. Current research projects include: (1) Role of neuronal network intrinsic dynamics in encoding and decoding of sensorimotor information. (2) Multiscale neocortical dynamics in human focal epilepsy: seizure transition, propagation and termination. (3) Precursor signatures of focal seizure transitions, prediction and control. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in computational/theoretical neuroscience and modeling of stochastic neural dynamics. Related publications can be found on the Truccolo lab website ( http://www.truccololab.com/ <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983891/Truccolo_home.htm>). Inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Truccolo (wilson_truccolo(a)brown.edu) Applications including a CV, statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details of three referees should be sent to wilson_truccolo(a)brown.edu. -- Wilson Truccolo, Ph.D. Pablo J. Salame '88 Goldman Sachs Assistant Professor of Computational Neuroscience Department of Neuroscience & Institute for Brain Science, Brown University Lab website: http://www.truccololab.com/

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CFP: Latin American Workshop on Computational Neuroscience 2017
by Christian Brackmann May 17, 2017

May 17, 2017

------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------- CALL FOR PAPERS Paper Submission Deadline: June 30, 2017 LATIN AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE 2017 November 22-24, 2017 Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. http://www.inf.ufrgs.br/lawcn/ Contact: lawcn2017(a)easychair.org ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------- Computational neuroscience is the study of brain function regarding the information processing properties of the structures that make up the nervous system. It is an interdisciplinary science that links the diverse fields of neuroscience, as cognitive science, medicine, psychology, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics and even philosophy. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), located in Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil, has promoted a more restricted version of this Workshop in November 2012. Since then, participants and investigators in the interdisciplinary fields related to Computational Neuroscience are claiming to resume the realization of this event. In this sense, with a broader scope aiming to encourage young researchers and graduate master and doctorate students in all Latin America, this edition will have three main topics: a) neuroscience, b) neuroengineering and c) artificial intelligence and related techniques. The Workshop will consist mainly of the following activities: 1. presentation of up to 8 key renowned international and national researchers; 2. presentation of up to 50 oral presentations; 3. presentation of poster presentations; 4. presentation of practical applications in neuroscience, both from University and from companies active in the field; and 5. practical demonstration of the A2200 Enigma machine, which belongs to the Informatics Institute, as a special tribute to the 105th Birthday Anniversary of Alan Turing, considered one of the founding fathers of Computer Science. All participants who investigate and contribute to the understanding of the properties of the brain, such as Medicine, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology, Philosophy and others are welcomed. Issues related to the support of Communication and Information Technology and High-Performance Computing in Neuroscience will receive particular attention. UFRGS is happy to welcome LATIN AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE (LAWCN) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. GENERAL INFORMATION IMPORTANT DATES * June 30, 2017: Submission deadline for papers * August 20, 2017: Notification of acceptance * September 10, 2017: Camera-ready papers and copyrights signatures * November 13, 2017: Digital Posters due, which will be digitally presented * November 22-24, 2017: Workshop, UFRGS - Porto Alegre, Brazil. SCOPE LAWCN 2017 covers all aspects of Computational Neuroscience. Although the interdisciplinary nature of the Conference and the stimulus to work at intersections and the frontiers of different disciplines, for the sake of clarifying the scope of the Workshop, topics will be presented on the three main axes. The interest topics include (but are not limited to): a) Neuroscience: * Sensory processing * Network dynamics * Reinforcement learning * Motivation and decision making * Statistical approaches in neuroscience * Systems Neuroscience * Learning and memory Attention * Arousal of Sensory-Motor Integration Learning in networks * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Neuroscience * Educational issues b) Neuroengineering: * Large-scale recordings * Neural signal processing * Neuromodulation * Neuroprosthetics * Robotics * Biomedical devices development * Humanoid robots * Robots for Elderly People * Sensing in Robotics * Fusion of Sensors * Hardware implementations in Neuroscience * Software implementations in Neuroscience * Brain-Computer Interfaces: design and applications * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Neuroengineering * Educational issues c) Artificial Intelligence and related techniques: * Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Neuroscience * Bioinformatics * Clustering and Applications * Computer Vision, Cognitive and Humanoid Vision * Databases, Data Mining, Intelligent Data Analysis, Knowledge-based Systems and Linguistic Tools * Data Visualization and Applications * Deep Learning * Statistical Pattern Recognition/Document Processing and Recognition * Fuzzy and Hybrid Techniques * Geometric Algebra Application in Perception-Action * High-Performance Computing for Pattern Recognition * Image Coding, Processing, and Analysis * Kernel Machines * Mathematical Theory of Computational Neuroscience * Neural Networks * Parallel and Distributed Applications for Computational Neuroscience * Robotics and Humanoids * Shape and Texture Analysis * Signal Processing and Analysis * Spatio-temporal Analysis * Ethical and philosophical issues related to Artificial Intelligence * Educational issues KEYNOTE SPEAKERS LAWCN Organizing Committee is proud to announce the confirmation of the following invited talks: Dr. Francisco Sotres Bayón, Professor of Neurosciences at the National Autonomous University of México(UNAM), México Title of the talk: Understanding the Brain mechanisms of learned and innate motivational conflicts Dr. Laurence Devillers, Professor of Computer Science at Paris-Sorbonne University, Paris, France Title of the talk: Affective and Social Robotics: engagement, evaluation, and ethics Dr. Sen Cheng, Professor of Computational Neuroscience at the Ruhr University Bochum(RUB), Bochum, Germany Title of the talk: Intrinsic Sequences in the hippocampus for spatial navigation and memory storage Dr. Vinicius Rosa Cota, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), São João del-Rei, Brazil Title of the talk: Toward a neural prosthesis to the epileptic brain by tackling neural hyper synchronism The confirmation of other invited speakers will be done soon. REGISTRATION FEES - Until 30/06/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 100,00 Graduate Student: R$ 150,00 Professionals: R$ 200,00 - Until 13/10/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 125,00 Graduate Student: R$ 175,00 Professionals: R$ 225,00 - After 14/10/2017 Undergraduate Student: R$ 150,00 Graduate Student: R$ 200,00 Professionals: R$ 250,00 Registrations can be done at http://www2.fundacaomedica. hcpa.ufrgs.br/siafnet/hinscricoesemcursosv3.aspx? 1598,I+LAWCN+-+LATIN+AMERICAN+WORKSHOP+ON+COM PAPER SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATIONS - Papers should be submitted exclusively through EasyChair website: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=lawcn2017 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=lawcn2017> - Papers will be evaluated based on their originality, quality, and significance of the theoretical and practical contribution to Computational Neuroscience; - Only papers presented at the conference will be included in the proceedings; - All papers (Short and Full) and Digital Posters must be in PDF format and include abstract, figures, tables and references in the minimum/maximum amount of pages (according to the category desired); - Papers can be submitted in four categories (see image bellow): - Short paper not related directly to Computer Science: - Length: between 3 and 8 pages - Languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese - Short paper related to Computer Science: - Length: between 6 and 8 pages - Language: English - Full paper not related directly to Computer Science: - Length: between 10 and 15 pages - Languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese - Full paper related to Computer Science: - Length: between 10 and 15 pages - Language: English - Papers that are not related directly to Computer Science will be published in the Latin-American Workshop on Computational Neuroscience Proceedings and can be submitted in English, Portuguese or Spanish. Papers that are related to Computer Science will be published in Springer-Verlag Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS) Proceedings (ISSN 1865-0929), and the best papers will be indicated to be published in Education, Technology and Culture (ISSN 1808-0588) or IEEE-RITA (ISSN 1932-8540). - Papers (Short and Full) can be selected by the Program Committee for Oral or Poster presentations, regardless its length and category. - At least one author of each accepted paper for oral or poster presentation must register at the conference. If more than one paper per author is accepted, there is an extra registration fee; - Since LAWCN has goals to foster and encourage investigation careers of young and talented researchers, the Program Committee will select the best papers to be published in indexed journals. Contacts with editors have already been made and will continue until the realization of the Workshop to stimulate Science divulgation. - One of the authors must sign and attach a disclosure form if the paper is accepted; - More details about the papers submission process can be found on the Congress web page. LAWCN AWARDS The Program Committee will select the three best oral presentations (one for each main topic of the event) during the workshop. One of the authors of these papers will be entitled to a prize that will consist of amounts up to USD 300 for registration in scientific events in areas related to the Workshop and which occur in 2018, as well as free registration for the next edition of LAWCN. These awards will depend on the amount obtained by the registrations. ORGANIZERS General Chair: Prof. Dr. Dante Augusto Couto Barone, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Deputy General Chair: Prof. Dr. Marino Bianchin, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Organizing Committee: Christian Puhlmann Brackmann IFFAR, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil Dante Augusto Couto Barone UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Eduardo Oliveira Teles IFBA, Camaçari, BA, Brazil Heron Pereira UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Jaime Andres Riascos Salas UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Marino Muxfeldt Bianchin UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Paulo Rogério de Almeida Ribeiro UFMA, São Luís, MA, Brazil Pedro Schestatsky UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Rodrigo Alejandro Sierra UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Program Committee: Alexandre César Muniz de Oliveira, Informatics Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Antônio Carlos Roque, Physics and Mathematics Department, São Paulo University (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil Areolino de Almeida Neto, Informatics Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Christian Haag Kristensen, Psychology Faculty, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Dante Augusto Couto Barone, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Diana Adamatti, Center of Computational Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Rio Grande, Brazil Edson Prestes e Silva Junior, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Eduardo López-Larraz, Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Eduardo Vicentini de Medeiros, Experimental Philosophy and Cognitive Studies Laboratory, Vale do Rio dos Sinos University (UNISINOS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Fabrício Lima Brasil, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Felipe Meneguzzi, Informatics Faculty, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Francisco Sotres Bayón, Celular Physiology Institute, National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), México Frederico Augusto Casarsa de Azevedo, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany Gustavo Gauer, Psychology Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Hougelle Simplício Gomes Pereira, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Jés de Jesus Fiais Cerqueira, Electrical Engineer Department, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil Jim Tørresen, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo (UiO), Oslo, Norway Juan Verdejo-Román, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain Luciana Porcher Nedel, Informatics Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Luis Fernando Cardenas Parra, Psychology Department, Los Andes University, Bogotá, Colombia Marco Rocha Curado, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany Marcos Yuzuru de Oliveira Camada, Electrical Engineering Graduate Course, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil Marino Muxfeldt Bianchin, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Miguel Perez Garcia, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain Olavo Amaral, Biochemical Medicine Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Patricio Donnelly Kehoe, Scientific and Technological Center of Rosario, National University of Rosario (UNR),Rosario, Argentina Paulo Rogério de Almeida Ribeiro, Computer Engineering Department, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, Brazil Pedro Schestatsky, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Reinhold Scherer, Institute of Neural Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria Renan Cipriano Moioli, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, Santos Dumont Institute (ELS IINN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Risto Ilmoniemi, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering,Aalto University, Helsinki,Finland Rodrigo Alejandro Sierra, Biosciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil Rukiye Uzun, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering,Bulent Ecevit University (BEU), Zonguldak, Turkey Sen Cheng, Computational Neuroscience Institute, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Bochum, Germany Silvio Cesar Cazella, Department of Exact and Applied Social Sciences,Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Victor Christian Paredes Cauna, Texas A&M University, Bryan/College Station, USA Vinicius Rosa Cota, Electrical Engineering Department, Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), São João del-Rei, Brazil

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Information theory workshop at CNS*2017 -- call for contributed talks
by Joseph Lizier May 17, 2017

May 17, 2017

Dear all, We are pleased to announce the Workshop on Methods of Information Theory in Computational Neuroscience, at CNS*2017, Antwerp, Belgium. The workshop will be held over the final two days of the main conference, July 19 and 20. Our confirmed invited speakers include the following (schedule available soon): * Selin Aviyente, Michigan State University -- "Directed Information: Application to EEG during cognitive control" * Lionel Barnett, University of Sussex -- "Information Transfer in Continuous and Discrete Time" * Karl Friston, University College London -- "Active inference and artificial curiosity" * Renaud Jolivet, University of Geneva -- "Energy-efficient information transfer at synapses" * Lubomir Kostal, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic -- "Reference frame independence as a constraint on the mutual information decomposition" * Joseph T. Lizier, The University of Sydney -- "Estimating information transfer between spike trains" * Daniele Marinazzo, University of Ghent -- "Synergetic and redundant information flow detected by unnormalized Granger causality: application to resting state fMRI" * Jil Meier, Delft University of Technology -- "The epidemic spreading model and the direction of information flow in brain networks" * Viola Priesemann, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization, Goettingen -- TBA * Adrià Tauste, Universitat Pompeu Fabra -- TBA * Tatjana Tchumatchenko, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt -- TBA * Taro Toyoizumi, RIKEN Brain Science Institute -- "A Local Learning Rule for Independent Component Analysis" * Raul Vicente, University of Tartu -- TBA Also, we would like to call for contributions of talks (25 min + 5 min Q&A). If you are interested in contributing such a talk, please send a title and abstract to Joseph Lizier (joseph.lizier(a)sydney.edu.au) by Friday June 2, 2017. Please see our website http://bit.ly/cns2017itw for more details. We hope you will join us there! Organising Committee: Joseph Lizier Viola Priesemann Justin Dauwels Taro Toyoizumi Alexander Dimitrov Lubomir Kostal Michael Wibral

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Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 2017
by Zrinka Gattin May 17, 2017

May 17, 2017

*Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 201**7* *** **Deadline for abstract submission:* June 14, 2017 for abstracts aimed as contributed talks and posters July 31, 2017 abstracts aimed as posters only ************************************************************** Satellite Workshops September 12-13, 2017 Main Conference September 13-15, 2017 PhD Symposium September 12 & 15, 2017 ************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference started out as the annual meeting of the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience and has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience conference in Europe with more than 500 international participants in recent years. This year the conference is organized by the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Göttingen. The main conference (Sep 13-15, 2017) will be accompanied by satellite workshops (Sep 12-13, 2017) and a PhD symposium (Sep 12 & 15, 2017). An important part of the main conference will be the two poster sessions. We are now inviting the submission of abstracts from all relevant areas. Authors of most accepted abstracts will get the chance for a poster presentation, a small number of abstracts will be selected for contributed talks during the main conference. Please note the earlier submission deadline for authors applying for a talk. All accepted abstracts will be published online and will be citable via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). *DETAILS FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:* Please note that the submission of an abstract does not replace the conference registration (www.bernstein-conference.de/registration <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/registration>). Poster space is limited and early submission is encouraged. For abstract submission visit: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/abstracts <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/abstracts> *ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINES:* Posters to be considered as contributed talks: June 14, 2017 Other posters: July 31, 2017 *TRAVEL GRANTS* To support the participation of young researchers at the Bernstein Conference, the Bernstein Coordination Site offers 10 Travel Grants, each endowed with 500 €. Please find further information under www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/travel-grant <http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/travel-grant> This year for the first time, the Bernstein Association offers Travel Grants for participation in the Bernstein Conference. Each of the 10 Travel Grants is endowed with 500 €. Please find further information under the link:www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2017/travel-grant *CONFERENCE DETAILS:* Conference registration is *OPEN* Early registration deadline: July 09, 2017 *ACCOMMODATION AND HOTEL RESERVATION:* *We strongly recommend early room booking!* *The number of available accommodation is limited due to several concurrent events. And many Hotels in Göttingen are already booked out for that week!* We arranged for room contingents in a variety of hotels that you may book by yourself by email or phone. Please follow the instructions at our Accommodations Website (http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2017/venue/accommodation) We would like to emphasize that these room contingents will be held open up to different expiration dates depending on the hotel (or until they are filled). Many expiration dates are already mid of June 2017. We strongly encourage participants to share rooms and to book rooms as a group. *We emphasize that it will be very difficult to book accommodation beyond the expiration dates. * Please find a list of the hotels at our Accommodations Website. VENUE Satellite Workshops, Main Conference and PhD Symposium: The Central Lecture Hall (ZHG), Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany VENUE Public Lecture: Alte Mensa, Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, September 13, 2017, 8 pm For more information on the conference, please visit the websitehttp://www.bernstein-conference.de We are looking forward to welcoming you in Göttingen! Program chair: Fred Wolf Koordinator: Zrinka Gattin Co-Organizers: Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Alexandra Stein, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder -- Dr Zrinka Gattin Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Goettingen Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology (BFNT) Goettingen PhD Program in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Am Fassberg 17 D-37077 Goettingen Phone: +49 (0)551 5176 418 Fax: +49 (0)551 5176 14418 E-Mail:zrinka@nld.ds.mpg.de

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Abstract submission and registration open for Integrated Systems Neuroscience 2017 meeting (September 7-8, Manchester, UK)
by Mark Humphries May 16, 2017

May 16, 2017

We are excited to announce that registration and abstract submission is open for the second Integrated Systems Neuroscience meeting (7-8th September 2017, Manchester, UK) For registration and abstract submission information, please visit: https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/conferences-meetings/isn2017/ Deadlines: Abstract submission: June 30th 2017 (Decision: July 28th) Registration: August 11th Meeting information: The goal of this meeting is to present the state-of-the-art in integrated systems and computational approaches to key neural circuits. A poster session with wine reception will be held on the first evening. Confirmed speakers: Rune Berg (Copenhagen University) Tiago Branco (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits) Neil Burgess (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL) Megan Carey (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Claudia Clopath (Imperial College, London) Kate Jeffery (UCL) Christian Machens (Champalimaud Institute, Lisbon) Jonathan Pillow (Princeton) Simon Peron (New York University) Manuel Zimmer (IMP, Austria) Organisers: Mark Humphries & Rasmus Petersen (University of Manchester) Sponsors: we gratefully acknowledge the support of the Medical Research Council _____________________________________________________________________________ Dr Mark Humphries | MRC Senior non-Clinical Research Fellow | Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.manchester.ac.uk/

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One PhD Position in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Bremen, Germany
by David Rotermund May 16, 2017

May 16, 2017

The Computational Neuroscience lab at the University of Bremen headed by Dr. Udo Ernst offers a PhD position in the field of Neural Network Modelling and Data Analysis. Successful candidates will join an international research group dealing with Neural Dynamics, Criticality in Neural Systems, Information Processing and Feature Integration in the Visual System (www.bernstein.uni-bremen.de) The project in the SPP 1665 "Resolving and manipulating neuronal networks in the mammalian brain - from correlative to causal analysis" funded by the DFG is entitled: "Interareal phase coherence as a mechanism for attention-dependent neuronal signal routing" The visual system selectively processes information in dependence on the current behavioral task. However, the neural mechanisms underlying flexible computation in the brain are presently not known. In our troica project, engineers, neurobiologists and theoreticians collaborate to investigate this important topic for understanding brain function. Your task will be to build and to simulate selective information processing in neural models of the visual system, and to compare your results to data from electrophysiological recordings and intracortical microstimulation performed in rats and macaque monkeys. You will work in a highly interdisciplinary, exciting research environment which is embedded into the "Schwerpunktsprogramm 1665" funding twelve similar projects throughout Germany (http://www.spp1665.de) The position is funded with a salary comparable to a 65 % TVL13 position and comes with support for 3 years and direct supervision by the principal investigator. Ideal candidates have a MSc in Neuroscience, Physics, or Computer Sciences. They must have a strong background in physics and/or computational neuroscience and solid programming experience, ideally in Matlab or Python. Above all, they must have a strong motivation, a sense for responsibility, interest for detailed analysis, and a distinct desire to learn. Fluency in English is required (both written and spoken). If you are interested, please send your complete application at your earliest convenience by e-mail (see detailed instructions below) to ajanssen(a)neuro.uni-bremen.de. Severely disabled applicants and women with essentially identical and personal suitability will be preferentially selected. === Detailed instructions for applicants === Your application must comprise: == Motivation letter == Your 1-2 page essay should reply the following questions: * What is your background? In which fields have you worked before and how do you think this can be useful for the present job? * What attracts you to the field of neuroscience? * Which problem(s) in neuroscience are you most interested in? * Which kind of person are you (e.g. creative, analytic, communicative, pragmatic, etc.) and how do you approach a research problem? * What are your plans for your future career? == Curriculum Vitae == Send a classical tabular CV with your contact details, your date-of-birth, a current photograph, and all stages of education and employment. == List of skills, awards, publications == List your skills, especially proficiency in languages (including the level of proficiency), that you think might be useful for the job. Also list awards you might have got and peer-reviewed papers, in case there are some. == Contact details of two academic references == One of the references should be your MSc advisor. Please contact the references prior to listing their names so that they are not surprised if they get contacted. Your application can be in English or German, whatever language you are more familiar with. Please send your application to ajanssen(a)neuro.uni-bremen.de! All documents must be in PDF format and must not be compressed. Combine all documents to a single PDF file or at least name the separate files appropriately. If we find your application interesting, we will let you know within three to four weeks and potentially ask for more documents.

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Postdoctoral position (Cogn Neuro) in Milwaukee, WI
by Adam S Greenberg May 15, 2017

May 15, 2017

Please email me If you'd like to meet face-to-face to discuss this position during the 2017 Vision Sciences Society Meeting in Florida. Postdoctoral Research Position in Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee The Sensory Neuroscience, Attention, & Perception Laboratory (SNAP Lab) of Dr. Adam Greenberg is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to begin late Summer/early Fall 2017 (flexible start date). We study the neural mechanisms of attention and perception in humans using a large range of cognitive neuroscience tools including neuroimaging (fMRI, diffusion imaging), TMS, computational modeling, and neuropsychological methods. Please find additional laboratory details at http://snaplaboratory.com. This fully funded position was created to coincide with multiple grant-funded studies of visual/auditory attention in both normal volunteers and cancer patients. Thus, a wide range of specific projects are possible along with the possibility of writing manuscripts on existing data. New project development is also strongly encouraged. Successful candidates will have a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, etc.), should be highly motivated, and able to work both independently and as part of a team. Experience with TMS is especially desirable, as is a strong background in attention and perception. Experience with other techniques used in the lab are welcome but not required. Proficiency in programming/scripting (e.g., MATLAB, Linux shells) is necessary. Initial appointment will be full-time for one year, with renewal contingent upon productivity. UW-Milwaukee is an R1 (Carnegie Classification) public, urban research university. Neuroscience faculty in the department cover a large range of research including the neurobiology of learning & memory, aging, addiction, sleep, emotion, and of course attention and perception. The program has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, particularly in cognitive neuroscience, and is an integral part of a large neuroscience community in the Milwaukee area. Milwaukee is a vibrant, affordable city on the shores of Lake Michigan (90 miles from Chicago) with a high quality of life and a thriving urban culture, food, arts, & music scene. An award-winning network of parks and biking/hiking trails allow for plentiful outdoor activities during all seasons. Applications should be addressed to Adam Greenberg (by email to SNAPLab-Postdoc(a)uwm.edu<mailto:snaplab-postdoc@uwm.edu>) including (1) a statement of research interests that discusses your fit with the lab, (2) a current CV, and (3) the names/emails of three references. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. ___________________________ Adam Greenberg, Ph.D. Assistant Professor University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Psychology P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 email: agreenb(a)uwm.edu<mailto:agreenb@uwm.edu> Tel. (414) 229-1106 Fax (414) 229-5219 http://www.snaplaboratory.com/ Twitter: @SNAPLabUWM ___________________________

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Fully funded PhD position on computational methods for brain connectivity analysis
by Diego Sona May 11, 2017

May 11, 2017

We are seeking candidates for a PhD position entitled “Computational Methods for Brain Connectivity Analysis” which mainly concerns with the development of novel approaches (based on pattern recognition and machine learning methodologies) for the brain connectivity analysis of neuroimaging data (fMRI, rsMRI, DTI, MEG, EEG, etc.). The PhD grant is jointly supported by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). The research activity will take place at the Neuroinformatics Laboratory (NILab, https://nilab.fbk.eu/ <https://nilab.fbk.eu/>) and the Pattern Analysis and Computer Vision Department (PAVIS, http://pavis.iit.it/ <http://pavis.iit.it/>). NILab is an interdisciplinary laboratory raised as joint initiative between the Centre for Information Technology of FBK and the Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences of University of Trento (CIMeC, http://www.cimec.unitn.it <http://cimec.unitn.it/>). The applicant should have a strong background in machine learning and pattern recognition methodologies with a keen interest in neuroscience. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary environment. Interested candidates are invited to contact Paolo Avesani (avesani(a)fbk.eu <mailto:avesani@fbk.eu>) and Diego Sona (diego.sona(a)iit.it <mailto:diego.sona@iit.it>) by emailing their CV and a short statement of interest in this position. The candidates must in any case formally apply for the PhD grant following the instructions in the call published by Università degli studi di Trento (see the application webpage http://ict.unitn.it/application/ict_doctoral_school <http://ict.unitn.it/application/ict_doctoral_school>) referring to position A3. Deadline for formal application is May 31, 2017, hrs. 04.00 PM (Italian time, GMT +2) For further information on the position and the application process refers to the following links http://ict.unitn.it <http://ict.unitn.it/application/ict_doctoral_school> http://ict.unitn.it/application/project_specific_grants <http://ict.unitn.it/application/project_specific_grants>

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Deadline extended to 21st May: Joint OCCAM / socSMC Workshop on "Mechanisms and models of social interaction"
by Peter König May 11, 2017

May 11, 2017

Deadline for abstract submission and registration extended to 21st May! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OCCAM / socSMC Workshop on "Mechanisms and models of social interaction" in Osnabrück from the 6th to 8th July 2017 (http://www.occam-os.de/occam.html) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tamil Asfour*, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Verena Hafner*, Humboldt-Universität of Berlin Ivan Herreros*, UPF Barcelona Concetta Morrone*, University of Pisa Bernhard Hommel*, Leiden University Ivana Konvalinka*,Technical University of Denmark Simone Schütz-Bosbach*, LMU Munich Markus Siegel*, University Tübingen Luciano Fadiga*, University of Ferrara Tobias Heed*, University of Bielefeld Basil Wahn*, Osnabrück University Ophelia Deroy*, University of London Susan Brennan, Stony Brooks University Thomas Metzinger*, University Mainz Merle Faihurst*, University of London Hauke Heekeren*, Free University Berlin The OCCAM (Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting) is organized by Gordon Pipa, Frank Jäkel and myself and brings together well established outstanding researchers as well as young promising scientists. This year, the 6th workshop of the series, jointly with the socSMCs project and coordinates with Andreas Engel (http://socsmcs.eu/) we focus on social interactions. The topic comprises theoretical, computational, physiological and robotics approaches. The program includes full length talks (see above), student presentations, a poster session, guided poster tours and a public talk to the general audience. We go to great length to actively involve all participants. Furthermore, there will also be time for informal discussions. Osnabrück is a charming town with a long history many places worth visiting (https://www.osnabrueck.de/english.html) It is conveniently located at the intersection of major train routes and has a local airport with good connections to major hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, London-City Airport) as well as a selection of further direct connections. More detailed travel information can be at http://www.occam-os.de/travel-info.html. We'd be happy if this meeting is of interest to you or your students and hope to welcome you in Osnabrück in summer 2017. Best, Peter, Gordon, Frank & Andreas -- Prof. Dr. Peter König Institute of Cognitive Science University Osnabrück Wachsbleiche 27 49090 Osnabrück +49 541 969 2399 http://cogsci.uni-osnabrueck.de/~NBP/

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Call for Extended Abstracts: ICML2017 Workshop on Computational Biology
by Sandhya Prabhakaran May 10, 2017

May 10, 2017

Dear all, We invite submissions to the Workshop on Computational Biology (https://sites.google.com/ view/compbioworkshopicml2017) to be held in conjunction with ICML 2017 (https://2017.icml.cc/) conference in Sydney, Australia (Aug 6th - 11th, 2017). In Computational Biology, there have been credible developments in many high-throughput technologies that enable data generation from many interesting biological systems. The gamut of novel algorithms in Machine Learning makes it very attractive to apply these methods to the challenging biological questions. It therefore only seems befitting to bring together researchers engaged in applying ML in Computational Biology to discuss recent advances in this interdisciplinary field and ongoing developments. We have invited several distinguished speakers from the Computational Biology community to discuss and present their current research. We invite extended abstracts dealing with interesting applications of ML methods or bioinformatics approaches to biological and biomedical data arising from, but not limited to NGS technologies (ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq, Hi-C etc), CyToF, single-cell sequencing, electronic health records, and imaging technologies. In terms of methods, supervised and unsupervised ML, deep learning, multi-task learning, kernel methods, probabilistic graphical models would all be appropriate for the workshop. Important Dates --------------- Deadline for submissions : June 5th 2017 Notification of acceptance : June 16th, 2017 Workshop date : Aug 10th or 11th, 2017 Submission ---------- All novel Computational Biology approaches are of interest to the workshop. We welcome original extended abstracts that present recently published work as well as preliminary ideas. Extended abstracts should not exceed 4 pages in length (plus 1 optional page for references) and should be in pdf format (one column, font size 12). The submission need not be anonymized. If the abstract concerns previously published work, please cite the original paper in the workshop submission. All accepted contributions shall be presented at the poster session. There will be Travel Awards for Contributed Talks and Awards for Best Poster Presentations. Accepted abstracts will have the option of being published on the workshop website. For authors who do not wish their abstracts to be posted online or become citable, please mention this in the workshop submission. Submissions should be made through the EasyChair system: https://easychair.org/ conferences/?conf=wcb2017 Invited Speakers ---------------- Anshul Kundaje (https://profiles.stanford. edu/anshul-kundaje), Stanford University Suchi Saria (http://www.suchisaria.com/) Johns Hopkins University Cheng Soon Ong (http://www.ong-home.my/) Data61, Canberra Registration ------------ All participants must register for the ICML 2017 workshop (https://2017.icml.cc/ Register2). Contact ------- For workshop-related queries please contact: wcbicml(a)gmail.com We are looking forward to your submissions! Organizing Committee: Dana Pe'er (https://www.mskcc.org/ research-areas/labs/dana-pe-er ), MSKCC Christina Leslie (https://www.mskcc.org/ research-areas/labs/christina- leslie), MSKCC Barbara Engelhardt (https://www.cs.princeton.edu/ ~bee/), Princeton University Elham Azizi (http://elhamazizi.info/) MSKCC Sandhya Prabhakaran (http://sandhyaprabhakaran. com/), MSKCC Meghana Kshirsagar (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ mkshirsa/), MSKCC Ambrose Carr (http://ambrosejcarr.com/) MSKCC (MSKCC: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NYC)

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Vanderbilt University - Multimodal Imaging Data Analyst Position
by Vago, David R May 10, 2017

May 10, 2017

Job description Vanderbilt University – Osher Center for Integrative Medicine – Data Analyst The Contemplative Neuroscience and Integrative Medicine lab (CNIM)<http://davidvago.bwh.harvard.edu/contemplative-neuroscience-and-integrative…> at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center<https://www.vanderbilthealth.com/osher/> invites applications for a data analyst position. The appointment is for 1-3 years with the possibility to establish an independent program and a faculty appointment at VUMC The mission of The Osher center's new CNIM research laboratory is to alleviate suffering and improve well-being through rigorous investigation of the mind. Under the direction of David Vago, PhD<https://faculty.mc.vanderbilt.edu/Faculty/Details/41416>, the CNIM utilizes a translational approach to identify and characterize neurobiological substrates mediating psychopathology, to better predict outcomes and clarify potential biologically-based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for those suffering with mental illness and chronic pain. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute your technical expertise and creativity to innovative research projects in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary environment and to gain experience in patient-centered research using psychological, first-person phenomenological, cognitive-behavioral, genomic, neuroendocrine, physiological (e.g., EEG, EMG, ECG, HR, BP, pupillary, skin conductance) and multimodal (e.g., fMRI, MRI, DTI, MRS, EEG-fMRI) brain imaging techniques. The successful candidate will have access to state-of-the-art brain imaging and computational facilities at the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS)<http://www.vuiis.vanderbilt.edu/>, the VU Brain Institute<https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/brain-institute/>, the largest DNA databank (BioVU) in the world, and Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) in order to carry out high-impact multi-disciplinary research and development of innovative mental health applications. Access to de-identified medical record information and data associated with participation in integrative medicine therapies is also available from Bravenet<http://www.bravewell.org/current_projects/bravenet/>, the nation's largest practice-based integrative medicine research network across 19 collaborative institutions. The successful candidate will work closely with our expert team of clinicians and research staff, neuroimaging faculty, and collaborators across the Vanderbilt University campus to contribute to the rigorous investigation of mind-brain-body interactions and their therapeutic relevance in health care settings. The post-doctoral fellow will be expected to contribute to ongoing projects and to develop an independent line of research. Mentorship, training, and professional development opportunities will be provided to facilitate the fellow's future career in academic, research, or industry settings with expertise in affective neuroscience, the science of meditation and integrative medicine. We are seeking a candidate with the following qualifications/experience: * A PhD and relevant research experience in cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, brain network modeling, biostatistics, bioinformatics, or related fields. * Experimental paradigm design/implementation (e.g., E-Prime, Presentation, PsychoPy, etc.), * Psychophysiological experimentation (e.g., Startle-blink, skin conductance, etc.) * Neuroimaging analyses (e.g., GLM, MVPA, ICA, functional and anatomical connectivity/morphometry) using both BOLD and ASL. * Computational methods and programming/scripting skills used in neuroimaging (e.g., Matlab, C/C++, Python, AFNI, FSL, SPM, Freesurfer). * Exceptional skills in experimental design, quantitative methods, statistical modeling, and the ability to carry out independent data entry and statistical analyses using standard software packages (e.g., SPSS, SAS, R) are particularly desirable. * Solid mastery of written English and show evidence of peer-reviewed publications. Candidate must be eligible to work in United States. We offer a competitive salary that is commensurate on experience plus full benefits. Start date as soon as possible. This is a 1-3 year full-time position that depends upon leveraging future funding and performance. Please email a CV, statement of research interests and relevant background, and names of three referees to Dr. David Vago at david.vago(a)vanderbilt.edu<mailto:david.vago@vanderbilt.edu> ============================== David R. Vago, Ph.D. | Research Director | Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University Associate Professor | Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences | Contemplative Neuroscience & Integrative Medicine Laboratory<http://davidvago.bwh.harvard.edu/contemplative-neuroscience-and-integrative…> 3401 West End Ave., Suite 380 (3rd floor) | Nashville, TN 37203 | O: (615) 875-9555 ------- Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry | Brigham & Women’s Hospital | Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory<http://neuroimaging.bwh.harvard.edu/> | Boston, MA 02115 http://contemplativeneurosciences.com<http://contemplativeneurosciences.com/>

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Summer school in Neurogeometry
by Sarti Alessandro May 10, 2017

May 10, 2017

http://nobelio.math.unifi.it/smi/ Summer School in Neurogeometry Organisers Dmitri Alekseevsky (Russian Academy of Science) Giovanna Citti (University of Bologna) Jean Petitot (CAMS - EHESS) Alessandro Sarti (CAMS - EHESS/CNRS) from July 2 to July 14 2017 Palazzone of the Scuola Normale Superiore, Cortona, Italy ______________ Jêrome Ribot College de France Physiological properties of neurons in the primary visual cortex Enrico Le Donne University of Jyvaskyla Riemannian and subRiemannian geometry in Lie groups Davide Barbieri Universdad Autonoma de Madrid Harmonic analysis for modeling visual cortical functions Remco Duits TU Eindhoven Orientation score theory and its solutions to cortical PDE, ODE and Wavelet models ______________ Scope is to provide students at the end of Master classes or at the beginning of PhD school with an introduction to Neurogeometry. Instruments of differential geometry in anisotropic structures and experimental brain data allow to build efficient models of the visual cortex, with applications to image processing. Theoretical courses will be held in the morning and complementary activity in the afternoon. The registration to Cortona Neurogeometry 2017 course is open on line at http://nobelio.math.unifi.it/smi/ Deadline for applications is June 10, 2017 . A selection committee will meet shortly afterwards and all accepted foreign applicants will be notified of the result in due time. Applications should contain a BRIEF CURRICULUM VITAE and a DETAILED CURRICULUM STUDIORUM and should. The exact e-mail address to which all correspondence concerning the Summer courses has to be mailed should be clearly stated

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full-time job openings at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, CA
by Pilly, Praveen K May 10, 2017

May 10, 2017

(1) POST DOC RESEARCH STAFF, Machine Learning and Brain-Inspired Computing EDUCATION DESIRED: Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Neuroscience, Machine Learning, or related fields. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTION: To develop, implement, and evaluate novel large-scale brain-inspired computational architectures, including spiking neuromorphic models, to solve complex problems such as resilient sensorimotor control; one-shot learning; visual scene segmentation, recognition, and tracking; spatiotemporal pattern discovery; big data prognostics and diagnostics; grammar learning; etc. Additional job functions include writing invention disclosures, publishing papers, making presentations, and assisting in marketing HRL expertise. KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE DESIRED: Programming proficiency in C++, Python, or Matlab is required. Knowledge and/or research experience in the development, implementation, and evaluation of various neural networks including spiking neuromorphic models, deep learning models, hierarchical temporal memory models, recurrent neural networks, long short-term memory models, deep reinforcement models. Knowledge of expectation maximization theory, Bayesian inference on graphical models, reinforcement learning theory, control systems, nonlinear optimization, and episodic, semantic, and procedural memory systems is preferred. Any experience with high-performance computing using clusters, GPUs, or FPGAs will be a plus. ESSENTIAL PHYSICAL/MENTAL REQUIREMENTS: Good communication (verbal and written) skills, and active participation in R&D team activities are required. Able and willing to occasionally travel. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Should be U.S. citizen or permanent resident. If interested, please apply at the following link: https://www4.recruitingcenter.net/Clients/HRL/PublicJobs/controller.cfm?jba…. Also, send your resume via email to Dr. Praveen Pilly (pkpilly(a)hrl.com<mailto:pkpilly@hrl.com>) and put the pertinent Job Name in the subject heading. (2) POST DOC RESEARCH STAFF, Machine Learning and EEG Processing EDUCATION DESIRED: Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Neuroscience, Machine Learning, Bio-Statistics, or related fields ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTION: To develop, implement, and validate real-time pattern recognition algorithms for decoding high-density EEG signals to predict future behavioral performance and inform non-invasive brain stimulation for behavioral enhancement in realistic tasks. Additional job functions include writing invention disclosures, publishing papers, making presentations, and assisting in marketing HRL expertise. EXPERIENCE DESIRED: Research experience in one or more of the following areas: high-density EEG decoding, pattern recognition applied to brain/body signals, machine learning with very limited training data, brain-machine interfaces, neural statistical modeling, closed-loop brain stimulation, and computational neuroscience. Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms applied to EEG is highly desirable. Experience developing innovative solutions based upon the application of relevant research results from a wide variety of sources. Individuals with a keen interest in translating basic neuroscience research into real-world applications are especially encouraged to apply. KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE DESIRED: Background in one or more of the following areas: machine learning, pattern recognition, statistical data analysis, neural statistical modeling, neurophysiology, peripheral physiology, neuroscience, and sleep/wake states. Programming proficiency in Matlab and/or C++ is required. ESSENTIAL PHYSICAL/MENTAL REQUIREMENTS: Good communication (verbal and written) skills and active participation in R&D team activities are required. Able and willing to occasionally travel. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Should be U.S. citizen or permanent resident. If interested, please apply at the following link: https://www4.recruitingcenter.net/Clients/HRL/PublicJobs/controller.cfm?jba…. Also, send your resume via email to Dr. Praveen Pilly (pkpilly(a)hrl.com<mailto:pkpilly@hrl.com>) and put the pertinent Job Name in the subject heading. We are proud to be an EOE/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disability employer. We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing. The Information and Systems Sciences Laboratory (ISSL) at HRL Laboratories conducts groundbreaking research in three thrust areas: Complex Networks, Secure and Resilient Systems, Autonomy Computing, and Human-Machine Cognition. We create new and innovative capabilities for diverse applications such as cyber-security, unmanned autonomous systems, human performance augmentation, big data analytics, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. The goal of our research in Human-Machine Cognition is to understand how humans process information and effectively interact with the environment to develop smarter autonomous systems, enhance human performance, and develop novel processing systems. Our research starts with the development of large-scale, neurobiologically and behaviorally faithful brain region models. We apply these models along with real-time measurements of brain activity (EEG, fMRI, fNIRS) to create advanced brain-computer interfaces, human decision aids, and neurostimulation-based enhanced training systems. We also use our models to develop novel brain-inspired sensor exploitation, machine learning, and control algorithms, and to develop low size, weight and power brain-based processing hardware for resilient autonomous systems, dexterous robots, and threat warning applications. HRL offers a competitive salary and benefits package, a small company atmosphere, and an ideal work location overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We also provide a collaborative technical culture committed to producing the leading R&D in the world. -- Praveen K. Pilly, Ph.D. Research Staff Scientist Information and Systems Sciences Laboratory HRL Laboratories Address: 3011 Malibu Canyon Road, Malibu, CA 90265 Tel: (310) 317-5492 Email: pkpilly(a)hrl.com

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Post-doctoral Fellowship in modelling brain networks and dynamics
by Alex Fornito May 10, 2017

May 10, 2017

Post-doctoral Fellowship in modelling brain networks and dynamics We seek a talented post-doctoral researcher to work on developing and applying biophysical models of large-scale brain dynamics, particularly neural mass models and neural field models, with a focus on: - applying the models to understand empirical brain imaging data acquired with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), electroencephaolography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and/or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); - integrating the models with data derived from genetic and other molecular techniques; and - using the models to understand brain disturbances in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The position is funded for three years and is offered at level A or B, depending on experience and track record. The Fellow will be based in team of A/Prof Fornito in the Brain and Mental Health Lab at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. It involves close collaboration with Prof Gustavo Deco, and will require regular travel to Prof Deco’s lab at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain. For further details, please see: careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/job/561731/research-fellow-brain-and-men… ___________________________________ Alex Fornito Associate Professor Brain & Mental Health Laboratory Monash Institute of Cognitive & Clinical Neurosciences A: 770 Blackburn Rd, Clayton, 3800, Vic, Australia P: +61 3 9902 9796 F: +61 3 9902 9817 E: alex.fornito(a)monash.edu W: http://www.med.monash.edu.au/psych/bmh/ T: @AFornito Book: http://bit.ly/1mz215S

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Call for 21 positions to the three-year Ph.D. Program in BioRobotics at The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Italy
by Alberto Mazzoni May 9, 2017

May 9, 2017

Dear Colleagues, The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Pisa, Italy, announces 21 positions funded with fellowships and research grants for admission to the three-year Ph.D. Program in BioRobotics. The Program The Ph.D. Program in BioRobotics is a three-year course of advanced studies and supervised research; at the end of the Program, the Ph.D. degree is conferred to students who have fulfilled the didactic requirements and passed a final examination with thesis dissertation. The Ph.D. Program aims at educating highly competent researchers with the potential to be leaders in this area. The students will be educated in a stimulating and multidisciplinary environment, both through high-level courses and through demanding, creative and original research work. Doctoral research projects will be carried out in very well equipped, state-of-the-art laboratories (in such fields as bio-robotics, micro- and nanotechnology, biomimetics, prosthetics) and through individual and team work performed under the supervision of a committed full-time faculty. The students will investigate how biological systems work from an engineering viewpoint, and will make use of such knowledge to pursue challenging research projects aimed at modeling, designing and building novel components and systems for biomedical applications. At the end of the Ph.D. Program, students will possess solid scientific and engineering skills, the ability to conceive and carry out original research projects, and an autonomous entrepreneurship spirit. The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna SSSA is a public university where merit and talent count. Excellence in training and research, internationalization, interaction with the job market are the objectives of SSSA. Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna offers training and postgraduate courses in Economics and Management, Law, Political Science, Agricultural Science and Biotechnology, Medicine, and Industrial and Information Engineering. SSSA is a scientific community where the academic staff and researchers interact with students through a continuous exchange of cultural, creative and intellectual ideas ( http://www.santannapisa.it/it) The Ph.D. Program is managed by the BioRobotics Institute. Its mission is to educate the Engineer of the 21st Century: a competent, interdisciplinary, and creative inventor and entrepreneur, able to handle new technological and scientific challenges ( http://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/biorobotics-institute) Admission Students are admitted to the Program following a successful entrance examination. Eligible applicants must hold a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree or equivalent title. Undergraduate students may also apply if they graduate within Oct. 31st. The Program will start Oct 1st 2017. Instructions for applicants are reported here: https://www.santannapisa.it/en/admissions/call-admission-phd-biorobotics-0 The deadline for application is June 15, 2017

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PhD position/s at Centre for Systems Neuroscience - University of Leicester, UK
by Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo (Prof.) May 9, 2017

May 9, 2017

***apologies for multiple postings*** Fully Funded PhD Studentships (for UK/EU candidates only) Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, UK. The Centre for Systems Neuroscience at the University of Leicester, UK, offers up to 2, 3-Year Fully Funded (stipend plus fees) PhD positions for UK/EU candidates. The project involves the study single cell recordings in humans – performed in epileptic patients for curative surgery – with Prof. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga. The project will investigate concept cells (a.k.a. Jennifer Aniston neurons) – that means, neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding areas that selectively fire to specific concepts, like different pictures and the written or spoken name of a particular person (e.g. Quian Quiroga et al, Nature 2005; Quian Quiroga Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2012), which are involved in declarative memory functions. The successful candidate will contribute to performing recordings with patients in collaborating hospitals and the analysis of the data to investigate the role of these neurons in memory formation. Candidates should have excellent quantitative skills (data processing, and programing in Matlab), a strong background in neuroscience and, ideally, good experience with neurophysiology recordings. They should be able to work both independently and as part of a research team within the Centre for System Neuroscience at Leicester and with our external collaborators. For a description of the research activities at the Centre for Systems Neuroscience, see: www.le.ac.uk/csn Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Valeria Zonato, Research Centre Manager, vz12(a)le.ac.uk or 0116 252 3249. Interested candidates should send their curriculum vitae and a brief description of their scientific interests to Valeria Zonato (vz12(a)le.ac.uk) The closing date for the applications is Monday 12 June 2017. Starting date will be in September 2017. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga Centre for Systems Neuroscience University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk/csn

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Faculty position in Motor Control - University of Birmingham, UK
by Sang-Hoon Yeo May 9, 2017

May 9, 2017

Faculty (Lecturer / Senior Lecture) position available at School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences in University of Birmingham. https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?amNvZGU9MTY0MDg5NiZ2dF90ZW1w… Best wishes, Sang-Hoon -- Dr Sang-Hoon Yeo Lecturer in Biomechanics and Motor Control School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences The University of Birmingham Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom +44(0)121 414 8748

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2nd CfP: Coupling & Causality in Complex Systems, Sep 25-27, Cologne, Germany
by Michael von Papen May 9, 2017

May 9, 2017

============================================================== 2nd CALL FOR PAPERS (Deadline: June 01, 2017) http://c3s.uni-koeln.de ============================================================== INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: *Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems* September 25-27, 2017, Cologne, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- The interdisciplinary conference Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems (C3S) is hosted by the Competence Area 3: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems of the University of Cologne (UoC), Germany. It is organized by the Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology, UoC, the Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf and the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Research Center Juelich. -------------------------------------------------- *Invited Speakers* Jörg Breitung - Macroeconomic Policy Institute, University of Cologne, Germany David Gross - Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Germany Philip Holmes - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering / Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA Ankit Khambhati - Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, USA Laura Marzetti - Department of Neuroscience, Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti - Pescara Arkady Pikovsky - Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University Potsdam, Germany Michael Rosenblum - Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University Potsdam, Germany Jakob Runge - The Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London -------------------------------------------------- *Preliminary Session Program* We will have different sessions with differing topics and each session will be opened by one of the invited speakers. Here is a preliminary version of our program: Session 1 Synchronization I Arkady Pikovsky Session 2 Synchronization II Silvia Daun Session 3 Coupled oscillators I Phil Holmes Session 4 Coupled oscillators II Michael Rosenblum Session 5 Phase coupling Laura Marzetti Session 6 Network structures Ankit Khambati Session 7 Bayesian networks David Gross Session 8 Granger causality I Jörg Breitung Session 9 Granger causality II Esther Florin Session 10 Causal network measures Jakob Runge Further topics of interest for the conference include, amongst others, research and methods development on: functional connectivity, (partial directed) coherence, network topology, graph-theoretic measures, directed graphs, nonlinear dynamics of complex systems, complex spatio-temporal systems, mutual information and transfer entropy. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Scientific Organizing Committee* Silvia Daun - Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Germany Esther Florin - Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychology, Düsseldorf, Germany Joachim Gross - Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Glasgow, UK Michael von Papen - Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology, Cologne, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- *Abstract* Complex systems such as the human brain, Earth’s climate and economy are characterized by a multitude of coupled processes on different spatial and temporal scales. In order to better understand the dynamics of the system at hand each scientific area has developed specific tools to identify, model and quantify these processes. The conference Coupling and Causality in Complex Systems (C3S) will present a collection of these approaches with the aim to provide scientists with new analysis strategies for their field. The conference focuses on how to characterize a complex system and on the methods for estimating and modeling of statistical coupling (e.g. network coherence, creation and modulation of small networks and local or long-range synchronization by cross frequency phase-phase and phase-amplitude coupling) and causality (e.g. Granger causality, transfer entropy). Therefore, data analysts from different study fields including neuroscience, mathematics, physics, biology, and economy will present their approaches with a particular focus on the methods they use. The aim of this conference is to foster discussions and the transdisciplinary exchange of advanced techniques, methods, and algorithms, thereby stimulating potential future collaborations. -------------------------------------------------------------- PAPER SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION Authors are invited to submit conference abstracts with up to 400 words. Authors of exceptional abstracts will be given the opportunity to present their research in a talk. However, poster sessions will be provided with ample time for discussions. For your submission, please use the conference website c3s.uni-koeln.de. To register, please send an email with the subject "registration" to c3s-conference(a)uni-koeln.de. Please be sure to include your full name, your affiliation and whether you qualify as student (also PhD candidates) or not. The registration fee will cover snacks and refreshments during coffee breaks, lunch and a dinner with all participants. Early-bird registration is available until July 10 with a reduced fee of 100 EUR (50 EUR for students), after July 10 the registration fee will be 200 EUR (100 EUR for students). -------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT DATES Paper Submission deadline: June 01, 2017 Author Notification: mid June, 2017 Early-bird registration: July 10, 2017 Conference: September 25-27, 2017 ============================================================== Please find the call for papers and more information at the conference website: http://c3s.uni-koeln.de. For questions regarding the conference feel free to contact us via c3s-conference(a)uni-koeln.de. -- ------------------------------------------ UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology Coordinator of Competence Area III: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems Dr. Michael von Papen Email: m.papen(a)uni-koeln.de http://www.uni-koeln.de/~vpapenm http://complexsystems.uni-koeln.de -- ------------------------------------------ UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE Institute of Geophysics & Meteorology Coordinator of Competence Area III: Quantitative Modeling of Complex Systems Dr. Michael von Papen Email: m.papen(a)uni-koeln.de http://www.uni-koeln.de/~vpapenm http://complexsystems.uni-koeln.de -- RESEARCH CENTRE JUELICH Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) & Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Dr. Michael von Papen Email: m.von.papen(a)fz-juelich.de Tel.: +49 2461 61-96482 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Second CfP: ACM Symposium on Applied Perception 2017
by Douglas Cunningham May 8, 2017

May 8, 2017

Symposium on Applied Perception Call for Papers and Posters The ACM Symposium on Applied Perception (ACM SAP) aims to advance and promote research that crosses the boundaries between perception and disciplines such as graphics, visualization, computer vision, haptics and acoustics. These fields can benefit from the exchange of ideas. The scope of the conference includes applications and algorithms in any area of research that incorporates elements of perception and computer science. Our fourteenth annual event provides an intimate, immersive forum for exchanging ideas about areas of overlapping interests. The ACM SAP 2017 conference will be held in Cottbus, Germany at the Brandenburg University of Technology on the 16th and 17th of September, 2017. We aim to further promote communication between the core perception and computer graphics communities. We invite submissions of original work in all areas of applied perception. Relevant areas include: Modeling, rendering, and animation Visualization Computational aesthetics Haptic rendering, haptic input and perception Perception of virtual characters Color vision and color appearance modeling Perception of high dynamic range scenes and images Interaction techniques and interfaces Augmented reality Virtual worlds Display technologies Auditory display and interfaces Perceptual auditory coding Spatialized sound Speech synthesis and recognition Sensory integration Multimodal rendering Spatial and temporal vision Attention and eye movements Statistical learning and perception of natural scenes Perception of shapes, surfaces, and materials Papers Research can be submitted as a long paper (up to 8 pages and up to 20 minute talk), a short paper (up to 4 pages and up to 15 minute talk), or as a poster presentation (1 page abstract). All submissions should follow the generalSIGGRAPH formatting guidelines. Diagrams and images should be represented in color where appropriate. Papers that are not accepted will be considered for the poster session. Authors of posters accepted by this route will, of course, have the option to decline the opportunity to present a poster. Posters The posters program at SAP provides an informal venue for authors to share their research achievements and further discuss them with others. In that spirit, we encourage all types of scholarly submissions that fit the scope of ACM-SAP. In particular, we explicitly welcome poster submissions on work-in-progress and on work that may have been previously published elsewhere but for which additional dissemination and discussion is desired. The poster session is an integral part of SAP and the SAP program will include a dedicated time slot for poster viewing and discussion. All poster presenters will also have the opportunity to give a one-minute presentation on their work during a poster fast-forward session. NOTE: SAP poster abstracts are NOT considered to be publications, and as such will NOT appear in the ACM Digital Library. Poster abstracts WILL be included in the conference USB drive. Poster abstracts should follow the general SIGGRAPH formatting guidelines, except that they should be 1 page long. . Further details All papers will be carefully reviewed by our International Program Committee. SAP follows a double blind review process. Papers will be evaluated as submitted, given limited time between submission and printing of final versions. Under a recent agreement with the ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP) and the ACM Publications Board, the strongest accepted papers will be offered publication as full papers in the ACM journal TAP. Authors of such special issue papers must agree to present the paper at ACM SAP. As has always been the case, authors of regular ACM SAP papers can still submit to TAP regular issues with appropriate additions. Papers that have been recommended for acceptance in the ACM TAP journal will undergo a second review cycle, during which the authors will revise the paper to address reviewer concerns (similar to conditional acceptances at ACM SIGGRAPH). Please note that TAP referrals are conditional. The TAP reviewers may recommend bringing the paper back to the SAP proceedings if the quality of the revision is inadequate. Therefore, it is very important to incorporate as many reviewer comments as possible into the revision. The revised paper has to be submitted in TAP format to Manuscript Central and must include a cover letter stating that the submission is for the SAP special issue. The cover letter should also document the list of changes made to the paper to address the reviewer concerns. Reformatting an 8-page paper from the SAP format to the TAP format typically adds a few pages so we expect the final papers will have somewhere between 10-15 pages. TAP papers must not exceed 20 pages in length. Complete TAP author guidelines and templates are available at h ttp://tap.acm.org/authors.cfm. Conference Chairs Douglas W. Cunningham, Brandenburg University of Technology Michael Breuß, Brandenburg University of Technology Program Chairs Sophie Joerg, Clemson University Victoria Interrante, University of Minnesota Poster Chair Susana Castillo Alejandre, Brandenburg University of Technology Deadlines Papers: Monday, May 22: Mandatory abstract submission Friday, May 26: Paper submission deadline Friday, June 23: Decisions announced Friday, July 14: Final papers due Papers recommended for TAP: Friday, July 14 (Camera Ready) Revisions to TAP recommended papers due (anonymous, in TAP format) Friday, July 21: Notification to TAP authors Posters: Friday, July 7: Poster submission Friday, July 21: Decisions announced Friday, July 28: Camera ready version of 1-page abstract due ##SELECTION_END##

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PhD positions - perception, learning, and cognitive state
by Nelson Totah May 8, 2017

May 8, 2017

PhD Position - Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (Tübingen, Germany) The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics offers 2 PhD student positions under the supervision of Dr. Nelson Totah in the department of Prof. Nikos Logothetis (Department of Physiology of Cognitive Processes). The projects will study the roles that attention and arousal play in learning and cognitive control. The learning task involves flexibly attending to visual and auditory stimuli. Students will record frontal cortex neurons and brain stem norepinephrine neurons from head-fixed rats during learning. We will also explore novel methods for activating the norepinephrine system to improve learning and cognition impairments in psychiatric disorders. Applicants should have a degree in neuroscience, biology, or experimental psychology. Candidates with a background in engineering, physics, or related fields are also encouraged to apply their skills to the analysis of neurophysiological data, but these applicants should also have interest in our ultimate goal of understanding behavior and cognition. Prior experience working with behaving rats or mice, programming (MATLAB), and a mathematical or computational background are all highly desirable in applicants, but not all required. English language fluency is required, but German language fluency is not required for laboratory work or classes. Students will join the International Max Planck Research School for Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience / Graduate Training Center of Neuroscience at the University of Tübingen (http://www.neuroschool-tuebingen.de/) The positions are fully funded for 3 years with extension for additional years possible. Applications should include a CV, a brief (up to 500 word) personal statement about research interests and goals after the PhD, and 2 letters of reference. These may be submitted by email to Dr. Totah (nelson.totah(a)tuebingen.mpg.de) Nelson Totah, PhD Research Group Leader Department of Physiology of Cognitive Processes Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Tuebingen, Germany

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Blue Brain Project: Section Manager for Data & Knowledge Engineering
by Hill Sean May 6, 2017

May 6, 2017

BBP - Section Manager - Data & Knowledge Engineering The EPFL Blue Brain Project (BBP), situated on the Campus Biotech in Geneva, Switzerland, applies advanced neuroinformatics, data analytics, high-performance computing and simulation-based approaches to the challenge of understanding the structure and function of the mammalian brain in health and disease. The BBP plays a leading role in the Human Brain Project, which aims to accelerate our understanding of the human brain, enable advances in defining and diagnosing brain disorders, and develop new brain-like technologies through open science and global collaboration. The Blue Brain has built a neuroinformatics platform for large-scale neuroscience data integration, search and analysis to enable and accelerate the delivery of its scientific roadmap. We are now seeking to fill the following position: Section Manager – Data & Knowledge Engineering Major Duties and responsibilities: • Lead and manage the Neuroscience Data & Knowledge Engineering team • In collaboration with the Head of the Neuroinformatics division and the Section Manager of the Neuroinformatics Software Engineering, define and implement the Data Integration roadmap in accordance to the project objectives • Build strong working relationships and partnerships with data providers and the neuroinformatics platform users in order to lead the efforts of data standardisation in the frame of their implementation in the Neuroinformatic Platform • Coordinate and ensure effective communication with internal and external stakeholders • Participate in operating and maintaining data integration in the Neuroinformatic Platform • Support the coordination of the external projects • Participate in writing and reviewing of scientific reports Experience and preferred skills: • Strong personnel management, organisational skills and sense of diplomacy • Positive attitude and hands on approach • Experience in data management and integration of biological data • Proficiency and proven experience with ontology engineering and semantic technologies (applications to the field of biosciences would be a plus) • Domain knowledge in neuroscience is a plus (understanding different types of neuroscience experimental data and experiment design) • Excellent written and oral communication skills Profile: • PhD or Master in computer science, bioinformatics or equivalent. • At least 3-5 years experience in data management and knowledge engineering • English written and spoken, French would be a plus. What we offer: • An internationally visible and rising project in simulation-based research in neuroscience • A young, dynamic, inter-disciplinary, and international working environment • A modern working environment, based at the Biotech Campus in Geneva Sécheron Start date: as soon as possible ; Activity rate: 100%; Deadline for application : until position is filledDuration of contract: 1 year, renewable, possibility for a CDI after 1 year. Ref: BBP13201 Applicants should submit a cover letter and a detailed CV in PDF format only, with file name “{ Surname} _{PositionApplied} _Cover_letter” and “{ Surname} _{P ositionApplied} _CV” electronically tojobs.bbp(a)epfl.ch . Please use the position title as the “subject” of your email. BBP : 05.05.2017

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Funded PhD in Psychology (New insights into ADHD through behavioural and modelling studies)
by Eirini Mavritsaki May 4, 2017

May 4, 2017

Reminder funded PhD Please note the deadline of application is 10th of May 2017 New insights into ADHD through behavioural and modelling studies Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD studentship within the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Business Law and Social Sciences, Birmingham City University. Applicants need to demonstrate ability and commitment, including excellent communications skills in written and spoken English. Project Synopsis: There are many limitations on the behaviour of complex neural systems, but one primary constraint is to filter incoming input in order that actions can be programmed to behaviourally relevant stimuli. A major challenge for current-day researchers is to understand how (and why) these limitations arise, especially in conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) where the attentional system is dysfunctional. The main aim of this project is to identify and understand the differences in visual attention between children diagnosed with ADHD and typically functioning children. In addition, to investigate the role of diet in ADHD. This Ph.D. thesis aims to do this by using a novel interdisciplinary approach, behavioural and computational modelling study. The student can choose to work in both or just one approach (either computational or behavioural work). The successful applicant will join the Centre for Applied Psychological Research (CAP Research) within the Department of Psychology at Birmingham City University. This centre is part of a vibrant and rapidly expanding research community, which offers applicants with an excellent opportunity to develop their research career. The applicant will have the opportunity to gain teaching experience, to participate in research seminars and to co-supervise undergraduate projects. For more information please contact Dr Eirini Mavritsaki (Eirini.mavritsaki(a)bcu.ac.uk<mailto:Eirini.mavritsaki@bcu.ac.uk>). Candidate Qualification and Specifications: Essential ? The applicant should hold a good undergraduate honours degree (First or 2:1) in psychology or a related area to the topic. ? A demonstrated understanding of research methods is essential (as evidenced by degree transcript grades for research methods and dissertation modules). ? The applicant will be expected to undertake and pass Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. ? The applicant should enjoy working with children. ? For applications that involve computational modelling the student needs to have experience in C++ and/or Matlab. Desirable ? A Masters' degree in research methods, psychology or a computational modelling. ? For applications that involve behavioural work, itis desirable to have experience (voluntary or paid) in schools or experience working with children. ? Access to a car and a valid driving licence. ? For applications that involve computational modelling, it is desirable to have Computational modelling experience. Application Process (Deadline of application 10th of May) You can find further details on studying for a PhD and details of how to apply by clicking on the following link http://www.bcu.ac.uk/social-sciences/courses/research-degrees. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the application or to express an interest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eirini Mavritsaki, PhD, CPsychol Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology Director of Research in the School of Social Sciences Department of Psychology Faculty of Business Law and Social Sciences Birmingham City University The Curzon Building 4 Cardigan Street Birmingham B4 7BD eirini.mavritsaki(a)bcu.ac.uk<mailto:eirini.mavritsaki@bcu.ac.uk> 0121 331 6361 Office Hours Appointment only: Tuesdays 11:00-12:00 Drop-in: Fridays 09:00-10:00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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BCBT2017 Summer School. Registrations Open!
by INFO CSNETWORK, Bústia Compartida May 4, 2017

May 4, 2017

Apologies for crossposting! ---------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ---------------------------------------------------------- *Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology Summer School -BCBT2017* University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. 28 August - 8 September 2017 BCBT2017-Eventum UPF <https://eventum.upf.edu/9240/detail/bcbt-2017.html> Join us for the 10th edition of *"Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology summer school - BCBT2017 *" be held 28 August-8 September 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. The BCBT summer school is positioned at the interface between biology and future and emerging technologies with an emphasis on the principles underlying brains and their translation to avant-garde technologies. BCBT promotes a shared systems-level understanding of the functional architecture of the brain and its possible emulation in artificial systems. The summer school has been part of a series of events organized by the European coordination action Convergent Science Network of Biomimetics and Neurotechnology (*http://csnetwork.eu/ <http://csnetwork.eu/>*). This year the school is supported by the ERC project CDAC <http://specs.upf.edu/projects/2810> that investigates the role of consciousness in adaptive behavior combining empirical, computational and robot-based approach. BCBT is also supported by EPISENSE <https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/sp3>, a subproject of the Human Brain Project <https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/>(HBP) that investigates brain mechanisms of perception and memory. This is the 10th year of BCBT, which has run with great success in previous years thanks to an excellent line-up of outstanding speakers (see bcbt.upf.edu for previous editions of the school). BCBT lectures <https://www.youtube.com/user/ConvergentScienceNw/playlists> are available online with the BCBT *Podcast interviews *with many of the BCBT speakers. BCBT caters to students and researchers involved in projects that are in the ambit of “BIO-ICT convergence”, "Brain Inspired ICT", “Cognitive systems-robotics”, “Cognitive and neural systems”, “Foundations of social cognition”. BCBT will offer up to 30 student slots for the practical workshops, while as many researchers can register to attend the presentations and discussion sessions as they are interested. The atmosphere of the BCBT summer school is informal with the goal to stimulate in-depth discussion. There are 1 or 2 presentations in the morning, with the afternoons reserved for tutorials and projects for student participants and road-mapping workshops or further discussion for senior scientists. For the 2017 edition we plan a *1st week* of the school addressing *Neural basis of Consciousness *while the *2nd week* will include presentations aimed at the investigation of *Evolutionary and Developmental aspects of nervous systems and behavior.* Friday 8 is reserved for the presentation of the student projects to which everybody is invited. *Application deadline: July 24, 2017* For more information on how to apply, please go to BCBT2017-Eventum UPF <https://eventum.upf.edu/9240/detail/bcbt-2017.html> *BCBT is organized by* Paul Verschure, ICREA and University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES, Tony Prescott, Sheffield University, UK Anna Mura, University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES

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Postdoctoral Fellow position at Mclean Hospital/Harvard Medical School
by Wei Tang May 4, 2017

May 4, 2017

An NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow position is available in the Haber laboratory in the Basic Neuroscience Division at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate. We are a seeking a highly motivated individual with interests in a multidisciplinary approach for understanding network interactions between emotions and cognition. The position includes implementation and development of combining image methods to precise anatomic mapping to: 1) understand networks of prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia that underlie motivation and decision making; 2) use this data to guide and interpret connectivity profiles in the human brain, and link the neurocircuits to functional networks, and 3) determine how abnormal connectivity profiles in obsessive compulsive disorder, addiction, and depression, are related to specific circuits. One goal of the laboratory is to identify specific network dysfunction in diseases and develop novel targets for brain stimulation. The successful applicant will join a vibrant and collaborative laboratory and scientific community at McLean Hospital. (S)he will have full access to the diverse research, financial, and career development opportunities offered through both McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Candidates should have a PhD or MD/PhD in neuroscience or related discipline, with a strong computational background and a particular interest in neural circuits underlying cognitive and emotional networks. Experience in the following areas is preferred. - Circuit mapping - Computer science - Neuroscience - Neuroimaging Interested applicants should send a cover letter, CV, and contact information ((including phone numbers, email addresses) for three reference letters to Suzanne_Haber(a)urmc.rochester.edu. The position is full-time with excellent benefits. Salary will be commensurate with experience. Successful candidate will be proposed for academic appointment as a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at HMS. Qualified women and minority candidates are encouraged to apply. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. McLean Hospital, which is an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy of McLean Hospital to affirmatively provide equal opportunity to all qualified applicants for employment and existing employees without regard to their race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, ancestry, protected veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender orientation or any other basis that would be in violation of any applicable law or regulation.

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