From prodrigues at liacc.up.pt Wed Aug 1 16:53:22 2007 From: prodrigues at liacc.up.pt (Pedro Pereira Rodrigues) Date: Wed Aug 8 09:23:15 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Health Informatics advanced postdoctoral research position Message-ID: <200708011553.35225.prodrigues@liacc.up.pt> http://www.eracareers.pt/opportunities/index.aspx?task=global&jobId=6710 The Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Laboratory (LIACC) (http://www.liacc.up.pt) offers one advanced postdoctoral research position in the field of Health Informatics. Applicants should have at least 3 years of postdoctoral research experience in a relevant area. Candidates should have a high quality research record, know-how and research experience in any sub-area of Health Informatics, namely electronic patient records, clinical decision support systems, knowledge extraction methods in healthcare and security in healthcare information systems. The contract offered will have duration of up to 5 years, renewed yearly based on mutual agreement. The annual gross income will be 3,038.06 Euros x 14 months (approximately 55K USD). Taxes will be deduced according to the national law. For more information, consult lfa@ncc.up.pt. HOW TO APPLY By email to sca@ncc.up.pt with the following information: - Identification of the candidate - Curriculum Vitae/resume - Three Letters of Reference - Research Plan ---------------------------------------------------------------- Departamento de Ciencia de Computadores Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade do Porto http://www.dcc.fc.up.pt/ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 189 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part. Url : http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20070801/eca0ba83/attachment-0001.bin From alexwade at gmail.com Thu Aug 2 21:41:22 2007 From: alexwade at gmail.com (Alex Wade) Date: Wed Aug 8 09:23:16 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Cosyne 2008: Call for workshop proposals Message-ID: <76eaaa9a0708021241h88eaba8p8b6349dcba7f5a86@mail.gmail.com> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cosyne08 - CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS March 3-4, 2008 Snow Bird, Utah http://cosyne.org/wiki/Cosyne_08_workshop_submissions ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROPOSAL DEADLINE: Sept. 15th, 2007 A series of workshops will be held after the main Cosyne meeting (http://cosyne.org/). The goal is to provide an informal forum for the discussion of important research questions and challenges. Controversial issues, open problems, comparisons of competing approaches, and alternative viewpoints are encouraged. Workshop topics include, but are not limited to, the following: neurobiology and computational models of visual and auditory processing of complex stimuli, time perception, olfactory computation, multisensory integration, memory, Bayesian inference, decision making, active sensation, motor control; principles of unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning; neural coding; computation with spikes, with network dynamics/adaptation mechanisms on multiple time scales; dendritic processing; reward and neuromodulation; microcircuitry of the cortical column; computational anatomy; multi-scale brain modeling; foraging; neurogenesis; ________________________________________________________________ WORKSHOP DETAILS: -- There will be 4-8 workshops/day, running in parallel. -- Each workshop is expected to draw between 15 and 80 people. -- The workshops will be split into morning (7:30-10:30 AM) and afternoon (4:30-7:30 PM) sessions. -- Snow Bird is a ski resort, located 30 miles (typically less than an hour) from the Salt Lake City airport. -- Buses from the main conference will be provided. -- Up-to-date information and descriptions of previous workshops may be found at http://cosyne.org/wiki/Cosyne_08_workshop_submissions ________________________________________________________________ SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Deadline: September 15th, 2007 Format: plain text only -- please no attachments email to: fsommer@berkeley.edu Proposals should include: -- Name(s) and email address(es) of the the organizers. A primary contact should be designated. -- A title. -- A description of: what the workshop is to address and accomplish, why the topic is of interest, who the targeted group of participants is. -- Names of potential invitees. Preference will be given to workshops with the most confirmed speakers. -- Proposed workshop length (1 or 2 days). Most workshops will be limited to a single day. If you think your workshop needs 2 days, please explain why. -- A *brief* resume of the workshop organizer along with a *brief* list of publications (about half a page total). ________________________________________________________________ WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS RESPONSIBILITIES: -- Coordinate workshop participation and content. -- Moderate the discussion. ________________________________________________________________ SUGGESTIONS: Experience has shown that the best discussions during a workshop are those that arise spontaneously. A good way to foster these is to have short talks and long question periods (e.g. 30 + 15 minutes), and have plenty of breaks. Also, when it comes to the number of talks, in the words of Jerry Brown, less is more. We recommend fewer than 10 talks. ________________________________________________________________ WORKSHOP COSTS: Detailed registration costs, etc, will be available at http://cosyne.org/ Please note: Cosyne does NOT provide travel funding for workshop speakers. All workshop participants are expected to pay for workshop registration fees. Participants are encouraged to register early, in order to qualify for discounted registration rates. Cosyne does provide free workshop registration for workshop organizers. ________________________________________________________________ COSYNE 2008 WORKSHOP CHAIR: Fritz Sommer, Jascha Sohl-Dickstein (UC Berkeley) COSYNE 2008 EXECUTIVE COMMITEE: Tony Zador (CSHL) Alex Pouget (U Rochester) Zach Mainen (CSHL) Eero Simconelli (NYU) Matteo Carandini (Smith Kettlewell) ________________________________________________________________ QUESTIONS: email fsommer@berkeley.edu From announce at ccnconference.org Thu Aug 2 22:27:13 2007 From: announce at ccnconference.org (announce@ccnconference.org) Date: Wed Aug 8 09:23:18 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] CCNC 2007/Dynamical Neuroscience XV --- ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE! Message-ID: <200708021427.13144.announce@ccnconference.org> IMPORTANT UPDATE: * Online registration is now available via the conference website: www.ccnconference.org/page5.html PLEASE TRY TO REGISTER AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE AS THIS HELPS THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE IN OUR PLANNING! OTHER UPDATES: * The new deadline for abstract submission is Friday August 17, 2007 * Our meeting has been officially assigned to the San Diego Convention Center by SfN * The symposium "Computational Models in Biological Psychiatry", moderated by Michael Frank, replaces the previously publicized one on sequence learning ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Call-for-Abstracts ~ 3RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE www.ccnconference.org To be held in conjunction with Dynamical Neuroscience XV immediately prior to the 2007 SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE (SfN) meeting, November 3-7, 2007 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA. * CONFERENCE DATES: Thu-Fri November 1 & 2, 2007 * REGISTER AT: www.ccnconference.org/page5.html The inaugural CCNC 2005 meeting held prior to Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in Washington, DC (also in conjunction with the Dynamical Neuroscience satellite) was a great success, with approximately 250 attendees, 60 presented posters, and strongly positive reviews. For 2006, we went to Houston for the much smaller Psychonomics meeting and still had over 100 attendees and almost 50 posters. In future years, we will continue to rotate among different neuroscience and psychology meetings. ____________________________________________________________________________ * DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: Friday, August 17, 2007 (NEW DATE!) Abstracts are to be submitted online via the website: www.ccnconference.org/page6.html As in past years, there will be two categories of submissions: -Poster only -Poster, plus short talk (15 min) to highlight the poster Abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Women and underrepresented minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Reviewing of posters will be inclusive and only to ensure appropriateness to the meeting. Short talks will be selected on the basis of research quality, relevance to conference theme, and expected accessibility in a talk format. Abstracts not selected for short talks will still be accepted as posters as long as they meet appropriateness criteria. * NOTIFICATION OF POSTER ACCEPTANCE: Approx. September 5, 2007 * CONTRIBUTED SHORT TALK SELECTION: Approx. September 15, 2007 __________________________________________________________________________ Program: * 2007 Keynote Speakers: Alex Pouget, University of Rochester Read Montague, Baylor College of Medicine * 3 Symposia, each including a mixture of modelers and non-modelers and focused on a common theme or issue: ** Use of computational and cognitive models in functional brain-imaging Moderator: Todd Braver, Washington University - St. Louis ** Computational models in biological psychiatry Moderator: Michael Frank, University of Arizona ** Hippocampal neurogenesis in learning and memory Moderator: Janet Wiles, University of Queensland * Approximately 12 short talks will be chosen featuring selected posters * Poster sessions ____________________________________________________________________________ 2007 Planning Committee: Suzanna Becker, McMaster University Jonathan Cohen, Princeton University Nathaniel Daw, New York University David Noelle, University of California, Merced Maximilian Riesenhuber, Georgetown University Medical Center Randall O'Reilly, University of Colorado, Boulder (ex officio) Executive Staff: Thomas Hazy, University of Colorado, Boulder For more information and to sign up for the mailing list visit: www.ccnconference.org _______________________________________________ From rubin at math.pitt.edu Fri Aug 3 19:37:35 2007 From: rubin at math.pitt.edu (Jonathan Rubin) Date: Wed Aug 8 09:23:19 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Workshop on Coherent Behavior in Neuronal Networks Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, The workshop "Coherent Behavior in Neuronal Networks" will be held at the Hotel Delta in Mallorca, Spain on October 17-20, 2007. We have begun to distribute travel awards for students and postdocs needing support to attend and present posters at the meeting. However, the deadline for award applications has been extended until August 15, 2007. Applications for participants not seeking travel funding will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Applications can be submitted online from http://ifisc.uib.es/public/cobenn/ Plenary speakers for the meeting include Larry Abbott (Columbia U.), Mark Churchland (Stanfor U.), Gustavo Deco (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona), Ranulfo Romo (UNAM, Mexico City), Bard Ermentrout (University of Pittsburgh), Nathan Urban (Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh), Nancy Kopell (Boston University), Roger Traub (SUNY, New York), and Miles Whittington (University of Newcastle upon Tyne). The above URL contains a complete speaker listing and a description of the scientific themes of the meeting, as well as local information. Thanks for your attention, Kresimir Josic (josic@math.uh.edu) Manuel Matias (manuel@imedea.uib.es) Jonathan Rubin (rubin@math.pitt.edu) From gtrajkovski at southuniversity.edu Wed Aug 8 22:00:31 2007 From: gtrajkovski at southuniversity.edu (Trajkovski, Goran) Date: Thu Aug 9 12:39:30 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Chapters: Agent-Based Societies: Social and Cultural Interactions Message-ID: <71C45C19EC03A64AAFA5E2DCAB3CE878081C69C2@CSCEX02.edmc.adm> CALL FOR CHAPTERS Proposals Submission Deadline: 8/15/2007 Full Chapters Due: 12/16/2007 https://igi-pub.com/requests/details.asp?ID=213 Agent-Based Societies: Social and Cultural Interactions A book edited by Goran Trajkovski, South University, Savannah, GA, USA Samuel G. Collins, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA OBJECTIVE Multiagent systems, we submit, cross-disciplinary boundaries by focusing on society and culture as emerging from the interactions of autonomous agents. Poised at the intersection of AI, cybernetics, sociology, semiotics and anthropology, this strand of multiagent systems research enables a powerful perspective illuminating not only how we live and learn now, but also, through focusing on emergence, how we anticipate a human future premised more an more on the interactions between human and non-human agents. This volume aims to address the main issues of concern within multiagent systems and interaction between the agents, emphasizing the emergent societal phenomena that come out of these interactions. Papers in the volume generally fall into the categories of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), by focusing more generally on interaction between agents in a homogenous or heterogeneous society of agents (SOA). More than simply reflecting current trends in multiagent systems research, it is our belief that these two modalities form the basis of life in information society where the success of the human agent lies in the capacity to interact with non-human agents. In a given environment, the agents interact between themselves, imitate each other, communicate etc, thus exchanging information on their experiences from their sojourn in the world. Based on the quality and trust of these communications, or the modalities of interaction, we observe a variety of societal phenomena emerge in the world. On a more conceptual level we observe phenomena like concept formation and emergence of language, whereas on a more applied side, we observe societal groupings such as parties, special interest groups, or observe economic patterns in trade. Even "culture" itself can be seen emerge out of the interactions of agents. Whereas multiagent systems have been extremely helpful in solving engineering problems, much of what we find exciting lies in their applications to contemporary human life. In particular, the focus of this book will be on self-constituting systems and networks composed of human and non-human agents characteristic of emergent cyber cultures, including e-commerce, e-learning as well as other human/non-human agent systems in medicine, law, science and online interactions of all kinds. It represents an opportunity not only to share insights and experiments in multiagent systems composed of robot- and software agents, but to theorize hybridity formed at the junction of the human- and non-human. In other words, we hope the books acts as an agent in itself, in particular, what Michel Serres terms a "quasi-object," i.e., an object that not only takes on agential properties, but also catalyzes agencies in others. Just as we now emulate the non-human agents we originally developed to simulate us, so the analysis of extant multiagent systems may stimulate the development of new multiagencies, heretofore undiscovered conurbations of human and non-human, information and social sciences. FOCUS # Interaction and emergence of multiagent socialities # Emergence of shared representations # How do the environment and the society influence the individual agent and vice versa? # What are the knowledges, translations or other hierarchies that emerge in such settings? # What tools do we use in these explorations? # How are these phenomena reflected in off and on-line societies? AUDIENCE General AI community, researchers in the domain of theories of chaos and nonlinear systems, cognitive scientists, linguists, psychologists, anthropologists, social scientists in general, computer scientists in general. SUBMISSIONS Prospective authors are invited to submit a 2-3 page manuscript on their proposed chapter via e-mail on or before August 12, 2007. Upon acceptance of your proposal, you will have until December 16, 2007 to prepare your chapter. Guidelines for preparing your paper and terms and definitions will be sent to you upon acceptance of your proposal. You will be notified about the status of your proposed chapter by September 9, 2007. The book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global, http://www.igi-pub.com/ , publisher of IGI Publishing (formerly Idea Group Publishing), Information Science Publishing, IRM Press, CyberTech Publishing and Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group Reference) imprints in 2008. Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to: Dr. Goran Trajkovski, Chair, IT Department South University 709 Mall Blvd Savannah, GA 31406, USA gtrajkovski@southuniversity.edu http://www.gorantrajkovski.info or Dr Samuel Collins, Assoc. Professor of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Towson University 8000 York Rd, Towson, MD 21252 scollins@towson.edu -- Cordially yours, Dr. Goran Trajkovski http://www.gorantrajkovski.info -------------------------------------------- Coming Up: AAAI Fall Symposium 2007 Emergent Agents and Socialities: Social and Organizational Aspects of Intelligence http://www.gorantrajkovski.info/academic/FSS07/ =================================================================================== CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, copy or distribute this message. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the original message. Neither the sender nor the company for which he or she works accepts any liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. =================================================================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20070808/e9a5760e/attachment-0001.html From prasad at kitp.ucsb.edu Wed Aug 8 22:43:20 2007 From: prasad at kitp.ucsb.edu (Ila Fiete) Date: Thu Aug 9 12:39:32 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Paper on birdsong learning in spiking neural network model Message-ID: <46BA2AE8.9000403@kitp.ucsb.edu> Dear Colleagues, I'd like to announce (1) A new paper on song learning in a spiking neural network model of the birdsong pathway, and (2) A companion (background) paper that presents the theory for a general, biologically plausible rule for gradient learning in recurrent nonlinear networks: (1) Fiete IR, Fee MS, Seung HS. Model of birdsong learning based on gradient estimation by dynamic perturbation of neural conductances. J Neurophysiol, 2007 (In press). Available for free from the publisher site. Access via pubmed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17652414&ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum (2) Fiete IR, Seung HS. Gradient learning in spiking neural networks by dynamic perturbation of conductances. Phys Rev Lett, 048104, 2006. Available at: http://www.klab.caltech.edu/~ila/spike_learning_theory.pdf With best regards, Ila Fiete From tobias at nld.ds.mpg.de Thu Aug 9 11:56:26 2007 From: tobias at nld.ds.mpg.de (Tobias Niemann) Date: Thu Aug 9 12:39:35 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral Researcher and PhD-Student in Theoretical Neuroscience In-Reply-To: <468A63A7.5040101@nld.ds.mpg.de> References: <461CB576.7030407@nld.ds.mpg.de> <468A63A7.5040101@nld.ds.mpg.de> Message-ID: <46BAE4CA.3090806@nld.ds.mpg.de> The Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (G?ttingen, Germany) and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) G?ttingen invites applications for Postdoctoral Researcher and PhD-Student positions in Theoretical Neuroscience Recent progress in neuroscience enables experimental neuroscientists to simultaneously record the activity of up to hundreds of neurons in the brains of animals engaged in a cognitive task. The development of adequate models and mathematical tools for the analysis of such large scale neuronal activity patterns is thus an important challenge in theoretical neuroscience. The successful candidate will use approaches from statistical physics and dynamical systems theory to develop mathematical methods and models for the analysis of the coordinated dynamics of large ensembles of neurons and apply these methods to analyse in vivo and in vitro multi neuronal recordings. We are looking for applicants with a degree in physics or applied mathematics, preferably with prior experience in statistical physics or nonlinear dynamics and probabilistic data analysis, and for interdisciplinary research at the border of theoretical physics and neuroscience. Prior biological or neuroscience training is welcome but not required. The candidate's research will be supported by the recently established Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) in G?ttingen. G?ttingen is a center of neuroscience in Europe hosting numerous internationally recognized neuroscience research institutions, including three Max Planck Institutes, the European Neuroscience Institute, the German Primate Research Center, and G?ttingen University's Centers for Systems Neuroscience (ZNV) and for the Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB). The BCCN integrates theoretical and experimental research groups from these institutions to foster interdisciplinary research in computational neuroscience specifically supporting close collaboration between theorists and experimental researchers. Please submit your application preferably in one single PDF-document, including cover letter, CV, statement of interests, list of publications, names of possible referees, relevant certificates until September 15, 2007, to: jobs@bccn-goettingen.de (Subject: ThN PostDoc/PhD) While e-mail is preferred, applications may also be submitted in hardcopy to the following address: Prof. Dr. Theo Geisel Subject: ThN PostDoc/PhD Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) G?ttingen Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Bunsenstrasse 10 D - 37073 G?ttingen, Germany http://www.ds.mpg.de The MPIDS is an equal opportunity employer. From lmate at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk Sun Aug 12 00:53:07 2007 From: lmate at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk (Mate Lengyel) Date: Mon Aug 13 09:36:34 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] postdoc in computational neuroscience Message-ID: <46BE3DD3.50308@gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The University is committed to equality of opportunity DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING Senior Research Associate in Computational Neuroscience A position exists for a Senior Research Associate (equivalent of a senior postdoctoral fellow) to work on theories of spike timing-based memory in the hippocampus. The project is funded by the Wellcome Trust and will involve work at the recently established Computational and Biological Learning Lab (learning.eng.cam.ac.uk) in close collaboration with Prof. Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL, www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk). The project also involves collaboration with the groups of Dr. Ole Paulsen (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, noggin.physiol.ox.ac.uk) and Dr. Francesco Battaglia (SILS Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam) providing direct access to relevant in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological data. The aim of the project is to develop normative theories of spike-timing based interactions (neural dynamics and synaptic plasticity rules) between hippocampal neurons for efficient memory processing that make testable prediction at the electrophysiological level (starting from Lengyel et al, Nat Neurosci 2005; Lengyel & Dayan, Advances in NIPS 2007). Candidates must have a strong analytical background and demonstrable interest in theoretical neuroscience. They should have a PhD or equivalent in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, machine learning or a related field. Preference will be given to candidates with sufficient programming skills to run numerical simulations (eg. in C or MatLab) and expertise with neural network models, analysis of dynamical systems, and Bayesian techniques. Familiarity with the neurobiology of the hippocampus is an advantage. The appointment will be for 2 years initially (renewable for a 3rd year) starting 1 January 2008 or as soon as possible thereafter. Salary is highly competitive and is in the range ?33,779 to ?42,791 p.a. Further details may be obtained from Dr M?t? Lengyel, Department of Engineering, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, (Tel +36 1 224 8327, Fax +36 1 224 8310, email lmate@gatsby.ucl.ac.uk), to whom a letter of application, a statement of research interests, and a CV (in pdf or plain text formats if possible) with the names and full contact details (including e-mail addresses) of three referees should be sent so as to reach him not later than 5 September 2007. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed between 24 September-5 October, 2007. From alessandro at idsia.ch Mon Aug 13 10:21:32 2007 From: alessandro at idsia.ch (Alessandro Antonucci) Date: Tue Aug 14 09:45:02 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] SIPTA Newsletter Announcement - New issue Message-ID: <20070813082132.GA5361@idsia.ch> We would like to briefly indicate that the latest (July 2007) issue of the SIPTA newsletter (Society for Imprecise Probability Theory: Theories and Applications) has been available at the address http://www.sipta.org/resources/news.html and that it contains material that may be of interest to this community: - An interview with prominent philosopher Isaac Levi, on the genesis of his thinking about indeterminate probabilities. - A report on the Fifth Int. Symp. on Imprecise Probabilities: Theories and Applications. - Brief notes on the Wikipedia entry for SIPTA and on the Int. Workshop on Interval/Probabilistic Uncertainty and Non-classical Logics. - A description of the Statool package for partially specified probability distributions. -- =============================================================== Alessandro Antonucci Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA) at Idsia e-mail: alessandro@idsia.ch Galleria 2 web: www.idsia.ch/~alessandro Via Cantonale mobile: +39 339-567-23-28 CH-6928 tel: +41 58-666-66-70 Manno - Lugano fax: +41 58-666-66-61 Switzerland skype: alessandro.antonucci =============================================================== From Randy.OReilly at colorado.edu Mon Aug 13 19:21:23 2007 From: Randy.OReilly at colorado.edu (Randall C. O'Reilly) Date: Tue Aug 14 09:45:03 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Faculty Position at University of Colorado Boulder Message-ID: <200708131121.24047.Randy.OReilly@colorado.edu> BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE FACULTY POSITION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER The Behavioral Neuroscience program in the Psychology Department at the University of Colorado invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position. We seek a broad range of applicants whose interest could be in the neural basis of memory, addiction, stress adaptations, pain modulation, recovery from brain damage, emotion and sensory processing. Researchers with a developmental/aging approach to these problems also will be considered. The selected candidate will have training in Neuroscience, postdoctoral experience, and demonstrated research independence, and will be expected to develop and maintain a strong extramurally-funded research program, as well as contribute to the department?s undergraduate and graduate teaching mission. A candidate?s qualifications are more important than the specific area of expertise. This individual will join a strong Neuroscience group on the Boulder Campus (see Univ. of Colorado Center for Neuroscience Web-site for more information: http://www.colorado.edu/neuroscienceprogram/index.html), and have the opportunity to interact with the Neuroscience group at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver (http://www.uchsc.edu/neuroscience/). Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, relevant reprints, a concise statement of research and teaching plans, and arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent to: Chair, Behavioral Neuroscience Search Committee, Department of Psychology, Muenzinger Building Room D244, UCB 345, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309. A review of completed applications will begin on Nov. 15, 2007 and will continue until the position is filled. The University of Colorado at Boulder is committed to diversity and equality in education and employment. Contact Person: Steven F. Maier (steven.maier@colorado.edu) From candidaf at gene-expression-programming.com Wed Aug 15 10:27:52 2007 From: candidaf at gene-expression-programming.com (Candida Ferreira) Date: Thu Aug 16 16:54:47 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Paper on complete neural network induction using GEP Message-ID: <00fa01c7df16$2cacdfb0$080ca8c0@home.gepsoft.net> Dear Colleagues, The paper on complete neural network induction using Darwinian evolution is now available online both in pdf format and html at: http://www.gene-expression-programming.com/webpapers/abstracts.asp#14 Ferreira, C., Designing Neural Networks Using Gene Expression Programming. In A. Abraham, B. de Baets, M. K?ppen, and B. Nickolay, eds., Applied Soft Computing Technologies: The Challenge of Complexity, pages 517-536, Springer-Verlag, 2006. ABSTRACT: An artificial neural network with all its elements is a rather complex structure, not easily constructed and/or trained to perform a particular task. Consequently, several researchers used genetic algorithms to evolve partial aspects of neural networks, such as the weights, the thresholds, and the network architecture. Indeed, over the last decade many systems have been developed that perform total network induction. In this work it is shown how the chromosomes of Gene Expression Programming can be modified so that a complete neural network, including the architecture, the weights and thresholds, could be totally encoded in a linear chromosome. It is also shown how this chromosomal organization allows the training/adaptation of the network using the evolutionary mechanisms of selection and modification, thus providing an approach to the automatic design of neural networks. The workings and performance of this new algorithm are tested on the 6-multiplexer and on the classical exclusive-or problems. This paper requires a certain familiarity with the basics of GEP, especially the head/tail organization, the expression of genes with random constants, and the type and mechanisms of the genetic operators. For a quick introduction see my Complex Systems paper: http://www.gene-expression-programming.com/webpapers/GEP.pdf For the sample problems of this paper I chose well-known logical functions, but the beauty of GEP-nets is that they can be used on a multitude of modeling problems, from nonlinear regression to classification and they are as good as any GEP system. I guess I?ll have to write a paper on this since I haven?t seen anyone taking up on this task since I first described this algorithm in my 2002 book. Best wishes, Candida --- Candida Ferreira, Ph.D. Founder and Director, Gepsoft http://www.gene-expression-programming.com/author.asp GEP: Mathematical Modeling by an Artificial Intelligence. 2nd Edition, Springer, 2006 http://www.gene-expression-programming.com/Books/index.asp GeneXproTools 4.0 -- Data Mining Software http://www.gepsoft.com/ From nips2007publicity at msn.com Fri Aug 17 21:49:44 2007 From: nips2007publicity at msn.com (NIPS 2007 Publicity) Date: Sat Aug 18 09:52:17 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] [NIPS2007] Call for Demos Message-ID: CALL FOR DEMONSTRATIONS - NIPS 2007 Neural Information Processing Systems -- Natural and Synthetic NIPS 2006 Conference -- December 3 - 6, 2007 Hyatt Regency Vancouver, BC, CANADA www.nips.cc Demonstration Proposal Deadline: September 21, 2007 Would you like to interactively demonstrate your novel hardware, software, or wetware technology, your robot, or your chip to people at the NIPS 2007 Conference? The Neural Information Processing Systems Conference has a Demonstration Track that will run in parallel with the popular evening Poster Sessions. Demonstrators will have a chance to show their live interactive demos in the areas of hardware technology, neuromorphic and biologically-inspired systems, robotics, and software systems. The only hard rules are that the demo must show novel technology and must be LIVE and INTERACTIVE! (It is not a back-door Poster Session.) The full call for demonstrations is at the following URL: http://nips.cc/Conferences/2007/Calls/CallForDemos Giacomo Indiveri and Xubo Song From dnoelle at ucmerced.edu Sun Aug 19 20:05:30 2007 From: dnoelle at ucmerced.edu (David C. Noelle) Date: Mon Aug 20 10:31:55 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science Message-ID: <1187546736.2128.46.camel@74-60-145-129.mrc.clearwire-dns.net> University of California, Merced Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science The University of California at Merced invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science, to join a growing group of researchers building a world-class program in cognitive science. Preference will be given to those with broad research and teaching interests related to perception. Applicants should have a background in cognitive science or related fields, a strong publication record, an interdisciplinary research program, and a commitment to obtaining extramural funding. To apply or for more information, please visit our website: http://jobs.ucmerced.edu/n/academic/position.jsf?positionId=1082. Application deadline: 12/1/07. AA/EOE. Also see: http://cogsci.ucmerced.edu . From dnoelle at ucmerced.edu Sun Aug 19 20:04:28 2007 From: dnoelle at ucmerced.edu (David C. Noelle) Date: Mon Aug 20 10:31:56 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Tenured Faculty Position in Cognitive Science Message-ID: <1187546674.2128.44.camel@74-60-145-129.mrc.clearwire-dns.net> University of California, Merced Tenured Faculty Position in Cognitive Science The University of California at Merced invites applications for a Full or Associate Professor of Cognitive Science, to join a growing group of researchers building a world-class program in cognitive science. We seek individuals with an outstanding publication record and a well-established interdisciplinary research program, especially those with broad research interests. Applicants should have a proven track record in obtaining external funding and attracting graduate students. To apply or for more information, please visit our website: http://jobs.ucmerced.edu/n/academic/position.jsf?positionId=1081 . Application deadline: 10/1/07. AA/EOE. Also see: http://cogsci.ucmerced.edu . From tiesinga at physics.unc.edu Mon Aug 20 14:14:15 2007 From: tiesinga at physics.unc.edu (Paul Tiesinga) Date: Mon Aug 20 14:41:37 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Two faculty positions at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Message-ID: There are two faculty positions available at UNC, the text of the official ad is below. Applicants with an interest in imaging in systems neuroscience are especially encouraged to apply. _________________________________________________________ Paul Tiesinga, Asst. Professor, Physics & Astronomy 184 Phillips Hall University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255 919 962 7199 (phone), 919 962 0480 (fax) tiesinga@physics.unc.edu http://neuro.physics.unc.edu/ --------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------Ad----------------------------- Two Faculty Positions in Experimental Biological Physics Department of Physics and Astronomy University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites applications for two junior level tenure-track positions in experimental biological physics (www.physics.unc.edu/join/faculty_pos.php). We seek candidates with expertise in imaging from the molecular and cellular scales up to tissue and organs, neuroscience, single molecule physics, systems biology, nanomedicine and soft matter biophysics that will complement our core programs. UNC provides unusual opportunities for collaboration with the UNC Health Sciences campus that is immediately adjacent to the College of Arts and Sciences. One of the successful candidates will be affiliated with the new Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC) which is developing new multi-million dollar imaging facilities with techniques from the cellular level to animal and human imaging. The department is home to major efforts in x-ray imaging technologies, systems neuroscience and the NIH Center for Computer Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation (CISMM). Successful candidates will be expected to take advantage of extensive collaborations on campus. Current examples include the UNC Neuroscience Center, the Carolina Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, the systems biology of lung defense (Virtual Lung Project), the Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology and the Molecular & Cellular Biophysics Training Program. Applications will be reviewed beginning November 1, 2007, but the search will remain open until the position is filled, with a targeted start date of July 1, 2008. Applicants should submit a curriculum vita, research and teaching statements, and arrange to have 4 letters of recommendation sent as MS-Word or PDF format attachments to biophysics-search-2007@physics.unc.edu . If necessary, hardcopy versions may be addressed to Chairman, Biophysics Search Committee, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255. UNC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and strongly encourages applications from women and minorities. From Randy.OReilly at colorado.edu Tue Aug 21 11:14:45 2007 From: Randy.OReilly at colorado.edu (Randall C. O'Reilly) Date: Tue Aug 21 11:40:05 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Announcing: Emergent Neural Network Simulation Software (formerly PDP++) Message-ID: <200708210314.45574.Randy.OReilly@colorado.edu> Announcing: The Emergent Neural Network Simulation System http://grey.colorado.edu/emergent/index.php/Main_Page Emergent is a major rewrite of the widely used PDP++ system. Emergent is a comprehensive simulation environment for creating complex, sophisticated models of the brain and cognitive processes using neural network models. These networks can also be used for all kinds of other more pragmatic tasks, like predicting the stock market or analyzing data. Emergent includes a full GUI environment for constructing networks and the input/output patterns for the networks to process, and many different analysis tools for understanding what the networks are doing. It has a new tabbed-browser style interface (in Qt 4), with full 3D graphics (via Open Inventor/Coin3D), and powerful new GUI programming tools and data processing and analysis capabilities. It supports the same algorithms as PDP++: Backpropagation (feedforward and recurrent), Self-Organizing (e.g., Hebbian, Kohonen, Competitive Learning), Constraint Satisfaction (e.g., Boltzmann, Hopfield), and the Leabra algorithm that integrates elements of all of the above in one coherent, biologically-plausible framework. Relative to PDP++, the main advances are: * Much easier to modify and extend the "scripting" of network training through a new GUI-based programming system -- everything is transparent and user-modifiable. Considerable support is included for implementing complex psychological tasks via this programming environment. * The tabbed browser allows everything to be contained within a single window, with full search functions, cut/copy/paste, drag-and-drop, etc, for a modern, highly efficient working environment. * Everything has been boiled down to the most basic, general-purpose elements, which can now be combined in more powerful, "emergent" ways. Environments and monitor data and all other forms of data have been consolidated in a single powerful DataTable object that supports many different kinds of operations (e.g., database-style Joins and Sorts, vector and matrix math, 3d graphing, statistics, etc). With convenient interfaces for DataTables in the GUI programming environment, flexible and efficient data processing and analysis functions can be readily performed. * Has a greater variety of network visualization tools, and a built-in virtual environment simulator (based on the popular ODE toolkit) allows networks to interact with a realistic simulated environment, to explore more embodied and robotic functionality. * Standard GPL license, ./configure build process, native look-and-feel on all 3 major platforms (Linux, Mac, Windows), easily-installable binary packages (including apt & yum on linux), and dynamically-loadable plugin modules. Relative to the prevalent use of MATLAB and other general-purpose tools for neural neural network simulation, Emergent offers several important advantages: * completely open source, free software. * highly optimized execution speed, including distributed memory computation, while also supporting complex biologically-based neural architectures. * designed specifically to make research simulations easily accessible to other users with minimal additional effort: built-in documentation system, pervasive comment fields, accessible, transparent interface. In brief, if you're doing large scale, complex neural network models, Emergent offers many advantages. From mail at jan-peters.net Thu Aug 23 11:25:10 2007 From: mail at jan-peters.net (Jan Peters) Date: Thu Aug 23 11:59:08 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] NIPS 2007 WORKSHOP: Robotics Challenges for Machine Learning Message-ID: *** Apologies for Multiple Postings *** ======== ==== CALL FOR POSTERS ==== =========== NIPS 2007 WORKSHOP: Robotics Challenges for Machine Learning Dates: 7-8 December, 2007 Organizers: Jan Peters (Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics & USC), Marc Toussaint (Technical University of Berlin) WWW: http://www.robot-learning.de email: nips07@robot-learning.de Abstract Submission Deadline: October 21, 2007 Acceptance Notification: October 26, 2007 ======== ==== CALL FOR POSTERS ==== =========== Abstract: Creating autonomous robots that can assist humans in situations of daily life is a great challenge for machine learning. While this aim has been a long standing vision of robotics, artificial intelligence, and the cognitive sciences, we have yet to achieve the first step of creating robots that can accomplish a multitude of different tasks, triggered by environmental context or higher level instruction. Despite the wide range of machine learning problems encountered in robotics, the main bottleneck towards this goal has been a lack of interaction between the core robotics and the machine learning communities. To date, many roboticists still discard machine learning approaches as generally inapplicable or inferior to classical, hand-crafted solutions. Similarly, machine learning researchers do not yet acknowledge that robotics can play the same role for machine learning which for instance physics had for mathematics: as a major application as well as a driving force for new ideas, algorithms and approaches. Some fundamental problems we encounter in robotics that equally inspire current research directions in Machine Learning are: -- learning and handling models, (e.g., of robots, task or environments) -- learning deep hierarchies or levels of representations (e.g., from sensor & motor representations to task abstractions) -- regression in very high-dimensional spaces for model and policy learning -- finding low-dimensional embeddings of movement as an implicit generative model -- methods for probabilistic inference of task parameters from vision, e.g., 3D geometry of manipulated objects -- the integration of multi-modal information (e.g., proprioceptive, tactile, vision) for state estimation and causal inference -- probabilistic inference in non-linear, non-Gaussian stochastic systems (e.g., for planning as well as optimal or adaptive control) Robotics challenges can inspire and motivate new Machine Learning research as well as being an interesting field of application of standard ML techniques. Inversely, with the current rise of real, physical humanoid robots in robotics research labs around the globe, the need for machine learning in robotics has grown significantly. Only if machine learning can succeed at making robots fully adaptive, it is likely that we will be able to take real robots out of the research labs into real, human inhabited environments. To do so, future robots will need to be able to make proper use of perceptual stimuli such as vision, proprioceptive & tactile feedback and translate these into motor commands. To close this complex loop, machine learning will be needed on various stages ranging from sensory-based action determination over high-level plan generation to motor control on torque level. Among the important problems hidden in these steps are problems which can be understood from the robotics and the machine learning point of view including perceptuo-action coupling, imitation learning, movement decomposition, probabilistic planning problems, motor primitive learning, reinforcement learning, model learning and motor control. Format: The goal of this one-day workshop is to bring together people that are interested in robotics as a source and inspiration for new Machine Learning challenges, or which work on Machine Learning methods as a new approach to robotics challenges. In the robotics context, among the questions which we intend to tackle are Reinforcement Learning, Imitation, and Active Learning: * What methods from reinforcement learning scale into the domain of robotics? * How can we improve our policies acquired through imitation by trial and error? * Can we turn many simple learned demonstrations into proper policies? * Does the knowledge of the cost function of the teacher help the student? * Can statistical methods help for generating actions which actively influencing our perception? E.g., Can these be used to plan visuo-motor sequences that will minimize our uncertainty about the scene? * How can image understanding methods be extended to provide probabilistic scene descriptions suitable for motor planning? Motor Representations and Control: * Can we decompose human demonstrations into elemental movements, e.g., motor primitives, and learn these efficiently? * Is it possible to build libraries of basic movements from demonstration? How to create higher-level structured representations and abstractions based on elemental movements? * Can structured (e.g., hierarchical) temporal stochastic models be used to plan the sequencing and superposition of movement primitives? * Is probabilistic inference the road towards composing complex action sequences from simple demonstrations? Are superpositions of motor primitives and the coupling in timing between these learnable? * How to generate compliant controls for executing complex movement plans which include both superposition and hierarchies of elemental movements? Can we find learned versions of prioritized hierarchical control? * Can we learn how to control in task-space of redundant robots in the presence of under-actuation and complex constraints? Can we learn force or hybrid control in task-space? * Is real-time model learning the way to cope with executing tasks on robots with unmodeled nonlinearities and manipulating uncertain objects in unpredictable environmental interactions? * What new regression techniques can help real-time model learning to improve the execution of tasks on robots with unmodeled nonlinearities and manipulating uncertain objects in unpredictable environmental interactions? Learning structured models and representations: * What kind of probabilistic models provide a compact and suitable description of real-world environments composed of manipulable objects? * How can abstractions or compact representations be learnt from sensori-motor data? * How can we extract features of the sensori-motor data that are relevant for motor control or decision making? E.g., can we extract visual features of objects directly related to their manipulability or ``affordance''? Posters: We are open for any posters posing problems for machine learning and for presenting machine learning algorithms with applications in robotics. The deadline for abstract submissions is October 21, 2007 and the notification will be October 26, 2007 Abstract Submission Deadline: October 21, 2007 Acceptance Notification: October 26, 2007 From hans.ekkehard.plesser at umb.no Sat Aug 25 01:51:58 2007 From: hans.ekkehard.plesser at umb.no (Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser) Date: Sat Aug 25 13:19:36 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Scientific Software Developer Position Message-ID: <200708250151.58637.hans.ekkehard.plesser@umb.no> Scientific Software Developer ============================= A full-time position as overingeni?r (code 1087) or senioringeni?r (code 1181) is available at the Depart?ment of Mathematical Sciences and Technology of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. The position is financed through a grant from the Research Council of Norway and is limited to four years. The Computational Neuroscience Group at the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences has just received a substantial grant under the eScience program of the Research Council of Norway (RCN): eNEURO?-?Multilevel Modeling and Simulations. We are thus expanding our activities and are looking for a scientific software developer to support us in the development of advanced neuronal modeling software as part of the eNEURO project. For information on our group and the eNEURO project, see arken.umb.no/compneuro. Our group presently consists of three permanent faculty members (Einevoll, Plesser, Wyller), two post-docs and four doctoral students, and will grow substantially in the next few years. We have close collaborations with experimental and computational neuroscientists at University of Oslo (Storm, Heggelund), University of California at San Diego (Dale, Devor), RIKEN Brain Science Institute (Diesmann, Gr?n) and the Honda Research Institute Europe (Gewaltig). We enjoy priori?tized access to the Norwegian national scientific high-performance computing resources as part of the eNeuro grant (www.notur.no). As a member of the NEST Initiative, we are closely involved in the development of the NEST simulator for large neuronal networks, one of the leading simulators in the field (www.nest-initiative.org). As a scientific software developer in our group, you will work closely with scientists and other NEST developers on the development of the simulator and other software tools for modeling neurons and neural networks. You will also be involved in organizing data sharing tools to facilitate the collaboration among our project partners around the world. As an applicant, you are strong on advanced C++ programming techniques including parallel programming and experienced with Python. Experience with collaboration tools, e.g. code reposi?tories and wikis, is a plus. Applicants should have at least a M.Sc. in computer science, physics, mathematics or computational biology. The working language in our group is English. We would like to increase the number of women in our group and encourage women to apply. The position is financed through the eNeuro grant of the Research Council of Norway limited to four years, starting at your earliest convenience and preferably no later than 1 January 2008. Salary as overingeni?r will be according to state salary level 49-56, depending upon your qualifications. Experienced candidates may qualify for employment as senioringeni?r (senior engineer) with a salary according to levels 54-58 (NOK 394.500-424.000 p.a., approx Euro 49.000-53.000, USD 66.500-71.500). Please contact assoc. prof. Hans E. Plesser (+47-64965467, hans.ekkehard.plesser@umb.no) or prof. Gaute T. Einevoll (+47-95124536, gaute.einevoll@umb.no) for more information! Deadline for applications: Friday, 21 September 2007. Please submit your application either electronically via www.jobbnorge.no, ID code 41144, or by convential mail to Dept. of Mathematical Sciences and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway. Please mark your letter with position code 07/1159. The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) is one of Norway's leading institutes in the life sciences, including biology, food and environmental science, land use and natural resource management. Through education and research, UMB shall contribute to sustaining the livelihood of present and future generations. UMB is nationally and internationally extensively involved in research, education, information and innovation. UMB offers education at all academic levels. UMB has about 2900 students and 900 staff and is located at Aas, 30 minutes south of Oslo. -- Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Associate Professor Dept. of Mathematical Sciences and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences Phone +47 6496 5467 Fax +47 6496 5401 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser@umb.no Home http://arken.umb.no/~plesser From mr287 at georgetown.edu Mon Aug 27 19:16:43 2007 From: mr287 at georgetown.edu (Maximilian Riesenhuber) Date: Tue Aug 28 10:33:57 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral Position: Exploring and exploiting the limits of fast visual recognition Message-ID: <46D306FB.7050800@georgetown.edu> Postdoctoral Position: Exploring and exploiting the limits of fast visual recognition Riesenhuber Lab Department of Neuroscience Georgetown University Washington, DC We have an opening for a postdoctoral fellow (pending finalization of budget negotiations), starting in the late fall, to participate in a research project studying the limits of visual object recognition and cognitive processing at high image presentation rates and under dual-task conditions, with the goal of utilizing target-related neural signals recorded via high-density EEG for a real-time neurally-based target detection system combining machine and biological vision. The project thus offers the opportunity to do interesting research on visual object recognition, attentional modulations, cognitive control, and brain-machine-interfaces. A strong quantitative background and experience in neural data analysis are required. Experience with EEG and psychophysics is a strong plus, as is a background in biological and/or machine vision. The position is for an initial period of one year with the possibility of extension for an additional two years depending on progress. Salary is competitive. Due to funding restrictions, candidates should be US citizens or permanent residents. Our lab investigates the computational mechanisms underlying human object recognition as a gateway to understanding information processing and learning in cortex. In our work, we combine computational modeling with psychophysical, fMRI and most recently EEG data from our own lab and collaborators, as well as with single unit data obtained in collaboration with physiology labs. For more information, see http://maxlab.neuro.georgetown.edu. Interested candidates should send a CV, a brief (1 page) statement of research interests, representative reprints, and the names and contact information of three references by email to Maximilian Riesenhuber (mr287@georgetown.edu). Review of applications will begin immediately, and will continue until the position is filled. Informal inquiries (to mr287@georgetown.edu) are welcome. ********************************************************************** Maximilian Riesenhuber phone: 202-687-9198 Department of Neuroscience fax: 202-784-3562 Georgetown University Medical Center email: mr287@georgetown.edu Research Building Room WP-12 3970 Reservoir Rd., NW Washington, DC 20007 http://maxlab.neuro.georgetown.edu ********************************************************************** From ps629 at columbia.edu Tue Aug 28 11:27:15 2007 From: ps629 at columbia.edu (Paul Sajda) Date: Tue Aug 28 12:31:39 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Position for Postdoctoral Fellow: Cortically-coupled Computer Vision Message-ID: <44978914-3AEC-41B3-BC3E-C7E4E8812AB6@columbia.edu> Position for Postdoctoral Fellow: Cortically-coupled Computer Vision The Laboratory for Intelligent Imaging and Neural Computing (LIINC) at Columbia University has an immediate opening for a Postdoctoral Fellow to participate in our research program in "Cortically-coupled Computer Vision (C3Vision)". The C3Vision program looks to synergistically couple biological and computer vision systems using a combination of brain machine interfaces, machine learning and pattern classification, and image understanding within the context of understanding the advantages and limits of both biological and computer vision. Applicants should have a background in one, and preferably several, of the following: machine vision (especially content based indexing and automated image labeling), machine learning, neural signal processing, neuroimaging (EEG and/or fMRI), real-time systems design and programming. LIINC is in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University and interacts closely with other departments at Columbia, Including Electrical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Computer Science and Neuroscience. In addition, the C3Vision project includes collaborators at other academic institutions as well as in industry, and the project involves both basic and applied research which will ultimately lead to testable systems. Interested candidates should send via email their CV, three representative papers, the names of three references, and cover letter to Prof. Paul Sajda (ps629@columbia.edu). Applications will be considered immediately. The position is for one year, with the option to renew for 2-3 years, given satisfactory performance and available funding. Paul Sajda, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Biomedical Engineering Columbia University 351 Engineering Terrace Building, Mail Code 8904 1210 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10027 tel: (212) 854-5279 fax: (212) 854-8725 email: ps629@columbia.edu http://liinc.bme.columbia.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20070828/829f7399/attachment.html From stiber at u.washington.edu Tue Aug 28 16:44:31 2007 From: stiber at u.washington.edu (Michael Stiber) Date: Tue Aug 28 16:53:46 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Neural Coding 2007 -- Student/Postdoc Travel Support Message-ID: Neural Coding 2007 -- Student/Postdoc Travel Support Funding is available for US postdoctoral and predoctoral (graduate and undergraduate) researchers to attend the 2007 Neural Coding meeting and its associated Joint US/Uruguay Workshop on Neural Dynamics, to be held in Montevideo, Uruguay on November 4-12, 2007. Support in the amount of $2000, to be used toward registration fees, hotel expenses, and other travel costs, will include post-meeting travel to research laboratories in the southern cone region of South America; contacts to research laboratories will be provided (participants will be responsible for arranging the specifics of their own travel). This will be an excellent opportunity to establish contacts with international experts and a small but very valuable and growing community of Uruguayan and Latin American scientists. The Neural Coding symposia bring together scientists from different fields with the conviction that multidisciplinary approaches are essential for better understanding neural coding mechanisms as well as their disturbances in clinical cases. Hence, the attendees of the Neural Coding Workshop should be prepared to cross the borders of their own disciplines. Intense discussions of experimental, modeling, and analytical approaches are expected. Major emphasis will be placed on biologically inspired formal and computer models which could elucidate the functionally relevant dynamics of the neural coding mechanisms, including their possible roles in causing and treating neurological and related diseases. For more information on the meeting, please see the meeting web site at . The deadline for applications is September 14. In your application, please include: 1. For postdoctoral researchers and graduate students, an abstract prepared in accordance with the instructions at the Neural Coding web site. Alternatively, you may indicate that you are a co-author of an already submitted paper (please indicate the title and author list of the paper as well). You will be expected to present your research during the Joint Workshop. 2. A personal statement describing your research interests and plans and how this experience will factor into them. Your personal statement should also indicate: your commitment to attend both the Joint Workshop and the main Neural Coding meeting, a plan for your stay in the southern cone area of South America beyond these (see the Neural Coding web site for a list of contacts), and your agreement to submit afterwards a brief summary of your experiences at the Joint Workshop and during your travels in the region, including prospective new collaborations. 3. A curriculum vitae. 4. The name and contact information (including email) for a faculty member or other scientific reference who will be sending a (separate) letter of reference for you. Please arrange for this letter to be sent directly to us. All application materials should be sent via email to . Awardees will be notified of the grant within two weeks after the deadline date. Support is provided by the US National Science Foundation under grant number OISE-0652336. From dirk.hoyer at biomag.uni-jena.de Fri Aug 31 12:38:20 2007 From: dirk.hoyer at biomag.uni-jena.de (Dirk Hoyer) Date: Fri Aug 31 12:46:52 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] positions available Message-ID: <46D7EF9C.8020705@biomag.uni-jena.de> Please notice the following two scientific positions available within a grant dealing with interdisciplinary signal analysis in prenatal diagnosis. http://www.biomag.uni-jena.de/systemanalyse/Ausschreibung1.pdf http://www.biomag.uni-jena.de/systemanalyse/Ausschreibung2.pdf Sincerely yours Dirk Hoyer PD Dirk Hoyer Biomagnetisches Zentrum, Klinik f?r Neurologie Friedrich Schiller Universit?t Erlanger Allee 101 07747 Jena Germany Tel. +49-(0)3641-9 325 795 Fax. +49-(0)3641-9 325 772 dirk.hoyer@biomag.uni-jena.de http://www.biomag.uni-jena.de ------------------------------------------------------------- Universit?tsklinikum Jena K?rperschaft des ?ffentlichen Rechts und Teilk?rperschaft der Friedrich-Schiller-Universit?t Jena Bachstra?e 18, 07743 Jena Verwaltungsratsvorsitzender: Prof. Dr. Walter Bauer-Wabnegg; Medizinischer Vorstand: Prof. Dr. Klaus H?ffken; Wissenschaftlicher Vorstand: Prof. Dr. Heinrich Sauer; Kaufm?nnischer Vorstand: Rudolf Kruse Bankverbindung: Sparkasse Jena; BLZ: 830 530 30; Kto.: 221; Gerichtsstand Jena Steuernummer: 161/144/02978; USt.-IdNr. : DE 150545777 --------------------------------------------------------------- From alongtin at uottawa.ca Fri Aug 31 21:27:17 2007 From: alongtin at uottawa.ca (Andre Longtin) Date: Sat Sep 1 11:20:34 2007 Subject: [Comp-neuro] POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN SENSORY PROCESSING AND MEMORY Message-ID: <35141BE6A60459488367EDBFED55F4FB0151F3A4@MSMAIL2.uottawa.o.univ> POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH IN SENSORY PROCESSING AND MEMORY CENTER FOR NEURAL DYNAMICS UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA We seek a postdoctoral researcher to carry out a blend of experimental and computational work in the area of sensory processing and memory. This project focusses first on the role that feedback loops and synaptic plasticity play in the segregation of stimuli into separate classes. It also aims to unravel the biophysical substrate of the memory mechanisms that enable the animal to detect the novelty of such segregated stimuli, as evidenced by stereotyped behavioral outputs. The preparation of interest for addressing these fundamental questions of sensory neuroscience is the weakly electric fish, about which much is known at the anatomical, physiological and behavioral levels. The ideal candidate will have experience in electrophysiology, and skills in computational modeling are an asset. Candidates with a strong theoretical background in either physics, applied mathematics, computer science or engineering will also be considered, with a preference for those who wish to conduct both theoretical and experimental work. The researcher will work in the experimental/theoretical collaboration of Profs. Len Maler and Andre Longtin, and benefit from the highly interdisciplinary environment provided by the Center for Neural Dynamics (www.neurodynamic.uottawa.ca). The position is funded by a Canadian Institute of Health Research Grant held by the investigators. The one-year position can be renewed for up to two years following satisfactory progress. Applicants should send a CV and a brief summary of research interests to either Prof. Len Maler, Dept. of Cellular and Molecular Medecine (lmaler@uottawa.ca) or Prof. Andre Longtin, Dept. of Physics (alongtin@uottawa.ca). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20070831/23f27182/attachment-0001.html