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CFP: Special Issue on Crossmodal Learning
by Pablo Barros Nov. 9, 2017

Nov. 9, 2017

CALL FOR PAPERS Special Issue on Computational Models for Crossmodal Learning of the Cognitive Systems Research Journal. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/cognitive-systems-research/ I. Aim and Scope The ability of processing crossmodal information is a fundamental feature of the brain that provides a robust perceptual experience for an efficient interaction with the environment. Consequently, the integration of multisensory information plays a crucial role in autonomous systems to create robust and meaningful representations of objects and events. For dealing with real-world information, an autonomous, intelligent system must be capable of processing, integrating, and segregating different modalities for the purpose of coherent perception, decision-making, and cognitive learning. Recent neurophysiological findings in crossmodal learning have inspired novel computational models with the aim to trigger biologically inspired behavioral responses. A rich set of neural mechanisms support the integration and segregation of multimodal stimuli, providing the means to efficiently solve conflicts across modalities. This special issue aims to invite contributors from psychology, computational neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and cognitive robotics to discuss current research on crossmodal learning mechanisms both from the theoretical and modelling perspective. II. Potential Topics Topics include, but are not limited to: - New theories and findings on crossmodal processing - New neuroscientific results on crossmodal learning - Machine learning and neural networks for learning multisensory representations - Computational models of crossmodal attention and perception - Brain-inspired approaches for multisensory integration - Multisensory robot perception III. Submission Authors must use the Evise system to submit their contibutions, more informations can be found here: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/cognitive-systems-research/ *All manuscripts must be submitted to the Special Issue "VSI: Crossmodal Learning"* - Paper submission deadline: 09.02.2018 IV. Guest Editors Pablo Barros, University of Hamburg, Germany German I. Parisi, University of Hamburg, Germany Doreen Jirak, Hamburg University, Germany Bruno Fernandes, Universidade de Pernambuco, Brazil -- Dr.rer.nat. Pablo Barros Research Associate Knowledge Technology Department of Informatics University of Hamburg Vogt-Koelln-Str. 30 22527 Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 40 42883 2535 Fax: +49 40 42883 2515 barros at informatik.uni-hamburg.de https://www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/wtm/people/barros.html www.knowledge-technology.info

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Postdoc at Edinburgh - Visual navigation in ants
by Barbara Webb Nov. 9, 2017

Nov. 9, 2017

A research associate position is available in the Insect Robotics group in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh to work on developing experimental and modelling tools as part of the BBSRC funded project “Visual navigation in ants: from visual ecology to brain”, in collaboration with the University of Sussex. Excellent skills in programming are essential and candidates with experience in developing experimental tools such as visual tracking and trackballs, in carrying out advanced analysis of experimental data, in image processing and analysis, will be preferred. Ideally, candidates would also be familiar with invertebrate brain and behaviour research, and/or have expertise in modelling of sensory and neural systems. The post is full time and fixed term for 36 months. The post is available from 1st January 2018. Salary: £32,548 - £38,833 per annum Informal enquiries can be addressed to: Professor Barbara Webb (b.webb(a)ed.ac.uk) Principal Investigator of the project. Further details and the application form can be found at the University of Edinburgh website: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobsp ec?p_id=041829 Closing Date: Wednesday 6th December 2017 at 5pm (GMT). -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

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EPFL Simulation Neuroscience I - Enrol now on edX.org!
by Eilif Muller Nov. 9, 2017

Nov. 9, 2017

Dear Colleagues, I would like to bring to your attention a recently launched Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Simulation Neuroscience we are now offering on edX.org, leveraging the HBP Brain Simulation Platform. It is the first of 3 planned MOOCs 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 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) 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 course is open as of November 2nd, and is self-paced and can be started at any time. For more information: https://www.edx.org/course/simulation-neuroscience-epflx-simneurox ------------- Dr. Eilif Muller Section Manager - Simulation Neuroscience - Cells & Circuits Task Leader - Community Engagement - HBP Brain Simulation SP EPFL - Blue Brain Project Biotech Campus Chemin des Mines 9 1202 Geneva 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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Postdoc positions available in Alex Pouget's lab
by Berk Gercek Nov. 9, 2017

Nov. 9, 2017

The laboratory of Alexandre Pouget, at the university of Geneva, will have one, possibly two, postdoc positions available in March 2018. Candidates with strong physics or math background, and with prior experience in computational neuroscience, are encouraged to apply. The topic of research will depend on the interest and profile of the candidate though the lab currently works on decision making, neural coding, probabilistic learning and probabilistic inference in neural circuits. One of these positions will be affiliated with the International Brain laboratory (see https://www.internationalbrainlab.com/) Candidates should send their CV to Alexandre Pouget at alexandre.pouget(a)unige.ch. -- ---------------------------------------- Berk Gercek Doctoral student, Pouget lab Université de Genève 1 rue Michel-servet 1205, Geneva, Switzerland

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RaPID 2018 Workshop @ LREC: Resources and ProcessIng of linguistic, para-linguistic and extra-linguistic Data from people with various forms of cognitive/psychiatric impairments
by Dimitrios Kokkinakis Nov. 8, 2017

Nov. 8, 2017

*[apologies for cross-postings]* *1st Call for Papers* RaPID 2018: "*Resources and ProcessIng of linguistic, para-linguistic and extra-linguistic Data from people with various forms of cognitive/psychiatric impairments*" Half-day workshop at LREC2018 | Miyazaki, Japan | May 8th, 2018 Submission deadline: January 14th, 2018 (see also Important dates below) RaPID website: <https://spraakbanken.gu.se/eng/rapid-2018> The RaPID 2018 Workshop will follow up on the successful RaPID Workshop @ LREC2016 (<https://spraakbanken.gu.se/eng/rapid-2016>) *CALL FOR PAPERS:* RaPID-2018 will be an interdisciplinary forum for researchers to share information, findings, and experience on the creation and processing of data acquired or produced by people with various forms of mental, cognitive, neuropsychiatric, or neurodegenerative impairments, such as aphasia, dementia, autism, Parkinsons or schizophrenia. Particularly, the workshop focus on the creation, annotation, description, processing and analysis of linguistic, paralinguistic and extra-linguistic resources (e.g., spontaneous spoken language; audio-recorded samples and transcripts; eye tracking measurements; wearable and in-situ sensor data etc.) from individuals at various stages of these impairments and with varying degrees of severity in order to identify, extract, process, correlate, evaluate and disseminate various linguistic phenotypes and measurements and thus aid the diagnosis, monitor the progression or predict individuals at risk. A central aim is to facilitate the study of the relationships among various levels of linguistic, paralinguistic and extra-linguistic observations (e.g., acoustic measures; phonological, syntactic and semantic features; eye tracking measurements; sensors, signs and multimodal signals). Submission of papers are invited in all of the aforementioned areas, particularly emphasizing multidisciplinary aspects of processing such data and the interplay between clinical/nursing/medical sciences, language technology, computational linguistics, natural language processing (NLP) and computer science. The workshop will act as a stimulus for the discussion of several ongoing research questions driving current and future research by bringing together researchers from various research communities. *TOPICS OF INTEREST:* The topics of interest for the workshop session include but are not limited to: - Building, adapting and availability of linguistic resources, data sets and tools - Data collection methodologies - Acquisition and combination of novel data samples - Guidelines, annotation schemas, annotation tools - Addressing the challenges of representation, including dealing with data sparsity and dimensionality issues, feature combination from different sources and modalities - Domain adaptation of NLP tools - Acoustic/phonologic/phonetic, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic analysis of data; including modeling of perception (e.g. eye-movement measures of reading) and production processes (e.g. recording of the writing process by means of digital pens, keystroke logging etc.); use of gestures accompanying speech and non-linguistic behavior - Modeling and deep / machine learning approaches for early diagnostics, prediction, monitoring, classification etc. of various cognitive and psychiatric impairments - Information fusion - Evaluation of the significance of features in diagnostics - Evaluation of tools, systems, components, metrics, applications and technologies including methodologies making use of NLP - Evaluation, comparison and critical assessment of resources - Involvement of medical/clinical professionals and patients - Ethical and legal questions in research with human data in the domain, and how they can be handled - Deployment - Experiences, lessons learned and the future of NLP/AI in the area *SUBMISSION DETAILS:* Papers are invited in all of the areas outlined in the Topics of interest, particularly emphasizing multidisciplinary aspects of processing such data and the interplay between clinical/nursing/medical sciences, language technology, computational linguistics, NLP, and computer science. We welcome also papers discussing problems derived from the design of relevant data samples and populations, but also the exploitation of results and outcomes as well as legal and ethical questions on how to deal with such data and make it available. The workshop solicits papers describing original research. Papers may preferably describe substantial and completed work, but may also focus on a contribution, a negative result, an interesting application nugget, a software package, a small, focused contribution *or* work in progress. The workshop will act as a stimulus for the discussion of several ongoing research questions driving current and future research and challenges by bringing together researchers from various research communities. RaPID-2018 will be a half-day LREC workshop to be held in the afternoon of Tuesday the 8th of May 2018. The oral presentations will be allocated 10-20 minutes (please see the program for details), possibly, followed by a common poster session (depending on the volume of received submissions). Submitted papers must be formatted according to the camera-ready style for LREC 2018 (style guidelines, templates etc. for the camera-ready papers are provided on LREC's main conference page/Submission), and submitted electronically in PDF format through the START conference manager page [*to be announced soon*]. Authorship does not have to be anonymous and *papers should be 4-8 pages of content*. Additional, unlimited pages containing the list of references and appendices are allowed. We will strive to have all submissions reviewed by at least three, or more, members of the program committee. Depending on the volume of contributions, papers that describe systems or tools will be invited to give a demo of their system during a poster session. *IMPORTANT DATES:* - First call for papers: Monday, 6th of November, 2017 - Submission deadline: Sunday 14th of January, 2018 - Notification of acceptance: Saturday 10th of February, 2018 - Early-bird registration for the main conference *and* workshops is the 15th of February, 2018 - Camera-ready papers: Sunday 10th of March 2018 - RaPID Workshop: Tuesday 8th of May, 2018 *CONTACT:* Dimitrios Kokkinakis: dimitrios _DOT_ kokkinakis _AT_ gu _DOT_ se *ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:* - Dimitrios Kokkinakis, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Kristina Lundholm Fors, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Kathleen Fraser, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Charalambos Themistocleous, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Graeme Hirst, University of Toronto, Canada - Alexandra König, Geriatric Hospital Nice and the University of Côte d'Azur, France - Frank Rudzicz, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Toronto, Canada - Arto Nordlund, the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden *PROGRAMME COMMITTEE**:* - Jan Alexandersson, DFKI GmbH, Germany - Eiji Aramaki, Kyoto University, Japan - Simon Dobnik, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Jens Edlund, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden - Gerasimos Fergadiotis, Portland State University, USA - Kathleen Fraser, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Peter Garrard, St George's, University of London, UK - Lena Hartelius, the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Graeme Hirst, University of Toronto, Canada - Kristy Hollingshead, Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), USA - Richard Johansson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Masatomo Kobayashi, IBM Research - Tokyo, Japan - Dimitrios Kokkinakis, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Alexandra König, Geriatric Hospital Nice and the University of Côte d'Azur, France - Peter Ljunglöf, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden - Kristina Lundholm Fors, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Arto Nordlund, the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Marcus Nyström, University of Lund, Sweden - Paul Rayson, Lancaster University, UK - Vassiliki Rentoumi, SKEL, NCSR Demokritos, Greece - Fabien Ringeval, Université Grenoble Alpes, France - Frank Rudzicz, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Toronto, Canada - Kairit Sirts, University of Tartu, Estonia - Hironobu Takagi, IBM Research - Tokyo, Japan - Charalambos Themistocleous, University of Gothenburg, Sweden - Athanasios Tsanas, University of Oxford, UK - Spyridoula Varlokosta, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece - Åsa Wengelin, University of Gothenburg, Sweden -

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Computational Neuroscience of Prediction: Upcoming Brain Conference
by Mihaela Vincze Nov. 8, 2017

Nov. 8, 2017

Dear Colleague, We would like to bring to your attention the upcoming Brain Conference on *Computational Neuroscience of Prediction <http://www.fens.org/Meetings/The-Brain-Conferences/The-Computational-Neuros…> *(Rungstedgaard, Denmark, 15-18 April) organised by *- Peter Dayan* (UCL, UK) and *- Kerstin Preuschoff* (Univ. of Geneva and EPFL, Switzerland) If interested, we would welcome your application. Kindly note the end of early application on *20 January. * The short talk presenters and 15 stipend awardees will be selected following the regular registration deadline (of 14 Feb). For reference, detailed information (speakers, application overview etc.) is available on the Brain Conference page. <http://www.fens.org/Meetings/The-Brain-Conferences/The-Computational-Neuros…> Please also feel free to disseminate information about this Brain Conference among your network. With kind regards, The Brain Conferences team *FENS* - Federation of European Neuroscience Societies 11 Rue d’Egmont, 1000 - Brussels, Belgium T: +32 2 545 04 06 E: mihaela.vincze(a)fens.org http://www.fens.org

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MCAA Academy: Call for Mentors
by Jolivet, Renaud Nov. 8, 2017

Nov. 8, 2017

Dear list, Please find below a call for mentors for a new program of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) affiliated with EU institutions. MCAA Academy is a new program to support the career development of its members. Mentoring is at the core of the program. Our advanced mentoring platform provides a continuous, full-spectrum learning experience, allowing mentees to focus on the skills that matter the most, when they matter the most. We are seeking outstanding professionals to mentor MCAA members using this platform. Mentors are expected to have achieved an advanced stage in their career and be willing to provide leadership and advice to our members. The program will run for 6 months and will require up to 1 hour face time per month. Mentors and mentees will be matched according to their skills, interests and career goals. Do you want to become a mentor? Complete the registration form at https://www.mariecuriealumni.eu/form/mcaa-academy-call-mentors. Want to know more about the Marie Curie Alumni Association, visit https://www.mariecuriealumni.eu/. Regards, Renaud Jolivet — Prof. Renaud Jolivet University of Geneva, Physics Section CERN, Experimental Physics Department +41 79 830 2129 (mobile) +41 22 379 6275 (UNIGE) +41 22 767 2470 (CERN) renaud.jolivet(a)unige.ch<mailto:renaud.jolivet@unige.ch> linkedin.com/in/renaud-jolivet-63b5534<http://linkedin.com/in/renaud-jolivet-63b5534> http://unige.ch/dpnc/en/groups/renaud-jolivet/home/ https://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=9Ozwv7EAAAAJ&hl=en

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EPSRC funded PhD in Computational/Mathematical Neuroscience (funded for UK students)
by James Rankin Nov. 7, 2017

Nov. 7, 2017

*3 EPSRC funded PhD positions in Computational & Mathematical Neuroscience* UK students (or students who have spent last 3 years in UK) fully funded (fees and stipend) EU students partially funded (fees but no stipend) International students not eligible Application deadline: 10th January 2018 The studentships will provide funding for a stipend which is currently £14,553 per annum for 2017-2018. It will provide research costs and UK/EU tuition fees at Research Council UK rates for 42 months (3.5 years) for full-time students, pro rata for part-time students. * The neural circuitry mediating multisensory integration in Platynereis larvae* Supervisors: Dr James Rankin and Prof Gáspár Jékely (Living Systems Institute, Exeter) http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=2901 * Cortical network models to understand differential input response properties during active and silent states* Supervisors: Dr James Rankin and Dr Mick Craig (Medical School, Exeter) http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=2903 * Determination of parameter dependencies across diverse populations of neuronal and excitable cells* Supervisors: Dr James Rankin and Dr Joel Tabak (Medical School, Exeter) http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=2932 Apply through links above or contact pgrenquiries(a)exeter.ac.uk or j.a.rankin(a)exeter.ac.uk directly with any questions. -- <comp-neuro(a)neuroinformatics.be> http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/mathematics/staff/jar226

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Postdoc Position Available - Human Intracranial Electrophysiology
by Woolnough, Oscar Nov. 7, 2017

Nov. 7, 2017

Postdoctoral Research Positions Available Postdoctoral research positions are available at the NeuroImaging and Electrophysiology Lab (www.tandonlab.org) in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. One position is funded by a recently awarded BRAIN Initiative U01 grant. The project uses electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings to evaluate psycho-linguistic models of reading and speech production to create network level representation of language. Collaborators on the project with whom the post-doc will work closely are Nathan Crone (Hopkins), Greg Hickok (UCI), Stanislas Dehaene (College de France), Xaq Pitkow (Baylor) and Josh Breier (UT Houston). A second position is internally funded and will use existing ECoG data, electrical cortical stimulation mapping data and lesional analysis to probe the relationship between electrophysiology and causality. Project Description: This is a project brings together multiple modalities - intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings, fMRI, lesional analysis, brain mapping and computational neuroscience to better understand the uniquely human behaviors of reading and speech production. More details about the U01 grant are online at NIH Reporter; details about the lab are at www.tandonlab.org. The post-docs will benefit from a close interaction with several expert collaborators in the fields of reading, semantics, and speech production. Post-doc Responsibilities: The selected individuals are expected to be highly motivated, team players with a passion to study cognitive processes using direct recordings in humans. He or she will be responsible for 1) optimizing and refining paradigms for use in the project, 2) data collection in the epilepsy monitoring unit and in the MRI scanner, 3) ECoG, cortical mapping and lesional data analysis using analysis pipelines existent in the lab and via the development of innovative strategies, and 4) data presentation at conferences, manuscript and grant writing. Requirements: The selected individuals must have a Ph.D. in one or more of the following - neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, mathematics, electrical engineering or computer science. Previous experience in neural time series data analysis or functional imaging studies of reading or language production is highly desirable. Crucial is the ability to independently code in either or all of the following – MATLAB, R or Python. Given the multiple unpredictable variables and privacy issues around data collection in human patients, the individuals must possess high ethical and professional standards. The individuals must possess the ability to work effectively independently, yet collaborate effectively on projects with multiple investigators. Publication records and prior academic credentials may also factor into hiring decisions. If you are interested, please email nitin.tandon(a)uth.tmc.edu<mailto:nitin.tandon@uth.tmc.edu> or call (713) 500-5475.

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SfN 2017: Visit the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience at booth #3523
by Alexandra Stein Nov. 7, 2017

Nov. 7, 2017

Dear all, The Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience [6] will be an exhibitor at the SfN Meeting 2017. Please find us at the NEUROSCIENCE IN GERMANY booth #3523. The Bernstein Network will present: * research fields * study and training programs * open positions * research and funding opportunities * infrastructural facilities Furthermore, the German Neuroinformatics Node (G-Node) [7] will present their data management services [8] for organizing, sharing, and publishing research data. Demo presentations times are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (Nov 13, 14, 15) 3pm - 5pm, or by individual appointment (mail to info(a)g-node.org<mailto:info@g-node.org>). We are looking forward to welcoming you at booth #3523! Best regards Alexandra Stein -- Dr. Alexandra Stein Head of Bernstein Coordination Site Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience | Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Branch Office of the Forschungszentrum Jülich at the University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9A | 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: (+49) 0761 203 9583 mobile: (+49) 0151 67114645 mail: a.stein(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:a.stein@fz-juelich.de> web: www.nncn.de<http://www.nncn.de> Twitter: NNCN_Germany YouTube: Bernstein TV Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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