From icci2010 at gmail.com Sat Jan 2 14:03:28 2010 From: icci2010 at gmail.com (Binbin Cao) Date: Tue Jan 5 14:34:43 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for papers: The 9th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Informatics (ICCI2010) Message-ID: The 9th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Informatics (ICCI2010) Venue: Beijing, China Dates: July 7-9, 2010 website: http://www.icci2010.edu.cn/ or http://enel.ucalgary.ca/ICCI2010 Cognitive Informatics (CI) is a cutting-edge and transdisciplinary research area that tackles the fundamental problems shared by modern informatics, computing, AI, cybernetics, computational intelligence, cognitive science, neuropsychology, medical science, systems science, software engineering, telecommunications, knowledge engineering, philosophy, linguistics, economics, management science, and life sciences. CI is a transdisciplinary enquiry on the internal information processing mechanisms and processes of the natural intelligence ?C human brains and minds ?C and their engineering applications in cognitive computing, computational intelligence, as well as the information/communication technology and software industries. The development and the cross fertilization between the aforementioned science and engineering disciplines have led to a whole range of extremely interesting new research areas known as CI. Following the first eight successful conferences on Cognitive Informatics (ICCI??02 through ICCI??09), the 9th IEEE Int??l Conference on Cognitive Informatics (ICCI??10) focuses on the theme of Cognitive Computing and Cognitive Communications. ICCI??10 welcomes researchers, practitioners, and graduate students to join the international cognitive informatics and cognitive computing initiative toward the investigation of cognitive mechanisms and processes of human information processing, and the development of next generation computers that learn and think. Original papers are invited from all topics on Cognitive Computing, Computational Intelligence and Neural Informatics. The proceedings will be published by IEEE CS Press. Selected papers will be published in International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence (IJCINI), IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, or International Journal of Software Science and Computational Intelligence (IJSSCI). More details can be found in the conference website. We sincerely invite you to submit your original work and look forward to seeing you in Beijing. ****************** Important Dates ****************** Special session/workshop proposal submission due: Jan. 31, 2010 Full paper submission due: Feb. 28, 2010 Notification of acceptance: March 31, 2010 Camera-ready copy due: April 30, 2010 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100102/7ac00b48/attachment.html From kirsch at bcf.uni-freiburg.de Mon Jan 4 16:11:13 2010 From: kirsch at bcf.uni-freiburg.de (Janina Kirsch) Date: Tue Jan 5 14:35:21 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] ADVANCED COURSE IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE Message-ID: <008a01ca8d50$28387850$78a968f0$@uni-freiburg.de> ADVANCED COURSE IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE, 15th Edition. (A FENS-IBRO/Bernstein Training Center) Applications open August 2-27, 2010 Freiburg, Germany SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS: * John Rinzel (New York University, New York, USA) * Peter Latham (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL, UK) * Yifat Prut (Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel) * Carl van Vreeswijk (CNRS, Universit? Paris Descartes, France) ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTORS: * Florence Dancoisne & Gunnar Grah (Bernstein Center Freiburg, Germany) For its third and final year, the Advanced Course in Computational Neuroscience (ACCN) will be held this summer in Freiburg in the Southwest of Germany. The ACCN is for advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are interested in learning the essentials of the field of computational neuroscience. The course has two complementary parts. Mornings are devoted to lectures given by distinguished international faculty on topics across the breadth of experimental and computational neuroscience. During the rest of the day, students pursue a project of their choosing under the close supervision of expert tutors. This gives them practical training in the art and practice of neural modeling. The first week of the course introduces students to essential neurobiological concepts and to the most important techniques in modeling single cells, synapses and circuits. Students learn how to solve their research problems using software such as MATLAB, NEST, NEURON, Python, XPP, etc. During the following three weeks the lectures cover networks and specific neural systems and functions. Topics range from modeling single cells and subcellular processes through the simulation of simple circuits, large neuronal networks and system level models of the brain. The course ends with project presentations by the students. In addition, we will offer three internships to ACCN students. These fully funded internships will allow students to work, post-ACCN, on a research project in a faculty member?s lab for up to three months. Applications for internships will be considered after the ACCN. The course is designed for students from a variety of disciplines, including neuroscience, physics, electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics and psychology. Students are expected to have a keen interest and basic background in neurobiology as well as some computer experience. Students of any nationality can apply. A maximum of 30 students will be accepted. The current fee for the course will be EUR 500; this will cover tuition, lodging, breakfast and dinner. There will be a limited number of course fee scholarships and travel stipends available for students who need financial help for attending the course. We specifically encourage applications from researchers who work in the developing world. Applications for the ACCN, including a description of the target project, must be submitted electronically (see below) and will need to be accompanied by the names and email details of two referees who have agreed to furnish references. Applicants will need to ensure that their referees have submitted their references. Applications will be assessed by a committee, with selection being based on the following criteria: the scientific quality of the candidate (CV) and of the project, the recommendation letters, and evidence that the course will afford substantial benefit to the candidate. Please apply electronically using a web browser. For more information and access to the application database go to: http://www.neuroinf.org/courses/accn.html Contact address: * Fiona Siegfried Bernstein Center Freiburg Albert-Ludwigs-Universit?t Freiburg Hansastrasse 9A 79104 Freiburg Germany * email: accn@bcf.uni-freiburg.de Application deadline: April 2, 2010 Deadline for letters of recommendation: April 2, 2010 Notification of results: April 30, 2010 INVITED FACULTY (* = confirmed) Ad Aertsen, Freiburg (*) Hagai Bergman, Jerusalem Nathaniel Daw, New York (*) Erik De Schutter, Okinawa (*) Alain Destexhe, Gif sur Yvette (*) Zhaoping Li, London (*) Gianluigi Mongillo, Paris (*) Yael Niv, Princeton (*) Jonathan Pillow, London (*) Idan Segev, Jerusalem (*) Alex Thomson, London Matt Tresch, Evanston (*) Mark Van Rossum, Edinburgh Fred Wolf, G?ttingen (*) INVITED TUTORS Farzad Farkhooi, FU Berlin, Germany Pablo Jercog, Columbia U, USA Shaul Druckmann, Hebrew U, Israel Sukbin Lim, NYU, USA SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR Bernd Wiebelt, U. Freiburg, Germany From erik at oist.jp Mon Jan 4 06:41:56 2010 From: erik at oist.jp (Erik De Schutter) Date: Tue Jan 5 14:56:31 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course 2010: Application form available Message-ID: OKINAWA COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE COURSE 2010 Methods, Neurons, Networks and Behaviors June 13 - July 2, 2010. Okinawa, Japan http://www.irp.oist.jp/ocnc/2010 The aim of the Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course is to provide opportunities for young researchers with theoretical backgrounds to learn the latest advances in neuroscience, and for those with experimental backgrounds to have hands-on experience in computational modeling. We invite graduate students and postgraduate researchers to participate in the course, held from June 13th through July 2nd, 2010 at an oceanfront seminar house of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. Applications are through the course web page only; they will close February 15th, 2010. Applicants are required to propose a project at the time of application. Applicants will receive confirmation of acceptance in March. Like in preceding years, OCNC will be a comprehensive three-week course covering single neurons, networks, and behaviors with ample time for student projects. The first week will focus exclusively on methods with hands-on tutorials during the afternoons, while the second and third weeks will have lectures by international experts. We invite those who are interested in integrating experimental and computational approaches at each level, as well as in bridging different levels of complexity. The sponsor will provide lodging and meals during the course and support travel for those without funding. We hope that this course will be a good opportunity for theoretical and experimental neuroscientists to meet each other and to explore the attractive nature and culture of Okinawa, the southernmost island prefecture of Japan. Invited faculty: ? Amari, Shun-Ichi ? Arbuthnott, Gordon ? Brette, Romain ? Dayan, Peter ? De Schutter, Erik ? Doya, Kenji ? Gutkin, Boris ? Izhikevich, Eugene ? Kawato, Mitsuo ? Kn?pfel, Thomas ? Kotaleski, Jeanette ? Nicolelis, Miguel ? Obermayer, Klaus ? Sharpee, Tatyana ? Spruston, Nelson ? Stiefel, Klaus ? Thomson, Alex From stephen.coombes at nottingham.ac.uk Tue Jan 5 14:51:07 2010 From: stephen.coombes at nottingham.ac.uk (Stephen Coombes) Date: Tue Jan 5 17:06:33 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Mathematical Neuroscience 2010 - Registration open Message-ID: Mathematical Neuroscience 2010 Apr 19-21 2010 Edinburgh Registration open This three-day conference will provide an overview of the current state of research in mathematical approaches to neuroscience, bringing together both physical and life scientists. Drawing together the field in this way will allow for a critical discussion of the relevant experimental facts and of various mathematical methods and techniques that have been successfully applied to date. Importantly, it will draw attention to, and help develop, those pieces of mathematical theory which are likely to be relevant to future studies of the brain. The meeting will consist of invited speakers and registered participants, though will be limited to 100 people. The schedule will allow for a number of poster presentations. Invited speakers: Paul Bressloff (Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics, Oxford) Romain Brette (D?partement d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Sup?rieure, Paris) Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Institute, UCL, London) Bard Ermentrout (Department of Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh) Kevin Gurney (Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield) Yixin Guo (Department of Mathematic, Drexel University) Arjen van Ooyen (Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, VU University Amsterdam) Alex Roxin (Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University) Steven Schiff (Center for Neural Engineering, Penn State University) Eric Shea-Brown (Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington) Louis Tao (Center for Bioinformatics, Peking University) Paul Tiesinga (Radboud University Nijmegen) Xiao-Jing Wang (Department of Neurobiology, Yale University) John White (Department of Bioengineering, Utah) Si Wu (Neural Information Processing, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences) The registration fee for the conference is 80.00 GBP. A one-day training workshop for PhD students and post-docs entitled ?An introduction to Mathematical Neuroscience? will also take place prior to the meeting (on 18 April). Some financial assistance is available to assist graduate students who attend BOTH the training workshop and the conference. Further details of this meeting may be found at http://www.icms.org.uk/workshops/neuro2010 Scientific Organisers Professor Stephen Coombes, University of Nottingham Dr Yulia Timofeeva, University of Warwick Training Workshop Organiser Dr Mark van Rossum, University of Edinburgh Enquiries should be addressed to Irene Moore: irene.moore@icms.org.uk ------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Coombes Professor of Applied Mathematics School of Mathematical Sciences Nottingham, UK Tel: 0115 846 7836 Fax: 0115 951 3837 http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/~sc/ ------------------------------------------------------- From pprodrigues at liaad.up.pt Wed Jan 6 19:54:52 2010 From: pprodrigues at liaad.up.pt (Pedro Pereira Rodrigues) Date: Thu Jan 7 11:52:31 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] KDD 2010 - Expert Panels - Call for Proposals Message-ID: <4B44DC7C.9040302@liaad.up.pt> ** Apologies for cross-posting ** KDD 2010 16th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Washington D.C. - United States of America, July 25-28, 2010 http://www.sigkdd.org/kdd2010/ == Call for Expert Panels == The KDD-2010 organizing committee invites proposals for panels to be held at the conference. Panel proposals should address emerging, controversial and critical issues in data mining that are likely to have impact on the field and lead to exciting discussions and debates. We encourage panels that involve industry, academic and government participants. -- Panel Topics -- Topics might be any frontier research or frontier applications of Data Mining. For illustrative propose some examples of welcome topics include: Data Mining for: Energy efficiency, Environment and Climate Change, Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, Transport and Aeronautics, etc. Of course, this is not a restrictive list. -- Proposal Details -- Panel proposals should be no more than four pages long and should include the following: - title of the panel; - the topic and issues to be discussed in the panel; - name, affiliation, and contact information for the panel organizer; - names and affiliations of up to four panelists (in addition to the panel organizer) who have made a commitment to participate; - list of 10 questions that the panel organizer will ask the panelists; - brief biography of each participant. -- Important Dates -- Panel Proposal Submission: February 26, 2010 Notification of Acceptance: April 16, 2010 -- Proposal Submission -- Please send proposals by email in pdf format to panel chairs Wei Fan and Jo?o Gama From g.akmayeva at i-society.eu Thu Jan 7 07:18:09 2010 From: g.akmayeva at i-society.eu (i-Society 2010) Date: Thu Jan 7 11:53:06 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Papers: i-Society 2010! Message-ID: <1509697807.392539.1262845089627.JavaMail.open-xchange@oxltgw02.schlund.de> Apologies for cross-postings. Please send it to interested colleagues and students. Thanks! CALL FOR PAPERS ******************************************************************* International Conference on Information Society (i-Society 2010), Technically Co-Sponsored by IEEE UK/RI Computer Chapter 28-30 June, 2010, London, UK www.i-society.eu ******************************************************************* The International Conference on Information Society (i-Society 2010) is Technically Co-Sponsored by IEEE UK/RI Computer Chapter. The i-Society is a global knowledge-enriched collaborative effort that has its roots from both academia and industry. The conference covers a wide spectrum of topics that relate to information society, which includes technical and non-technical research areas. The mission of i-Society 2010 conference is to provide opportunities for collaboration of professionals and researchers to share existing and generate new knowledge in the field of information society. The conference encapsulates the concept of interdisciplinary science that studies the societal and technological dimensions of knowledge evolution in digital society. The i-Society bridges the gap between academia and industry with regards to research collaboration and awareness of current development in secure information management in the digital society. The topics in i-Society 2010 include but are not confined to the following areas: *New enabling technologies - Internet technologies - Wireless applications - Mobile Applications - Multimedia Applications - Protocols and Standards - Ubiquitous Computing - Virtual Reality - Human Computer Interaction - Geographic information systems - e-Manufacturing *Intelligent data management - Intelligent Agents - Intelligent Systems - Intelligent Organisations - Content Development - Data Mining - e-Publishing and Digital Libraries - Information Search and Retrieval - Knowledge Management - e-Intelligence - Knowledge networks *Secure Technologies - Internet security - Web services and performance - Secure transactions - Cryptography - Payment systems - Secure Protocols - e-Privacy - e-Trust - e-Risk - Cyber law - Forensics - Information assurance - Mobile social networks - Peer-to-peer social networks - Sensor networks and social sensing *e-Learning - Collaborative Learning - Curriculum Content Design and Development - Delivery Systems and Environments - Educational Systems Design - e-Learning Organisational Issues - Evaluation and Assessment - Virtual Learning Environments and Issues - Web-based Learning Communities - e-Learning Tools - e-Education *e-Society - Global Trends - Social Inclusion - Intellectual Property Rights - Social Infonomics - Computer-Mediated Communication - Social and Organisational Aspects - Globalisation and developmental IT - Social Software *e-Health - Data Security Issues - e-Health Policy and Practice - e-Healthcare Strategies and Provision - Medical Research Ethics - Patient Privacy and Confidentiality - e-Medicine *e-Governance - Democracy and the Citizen - e-Administration - Policy Issues - Virtual Communities *e-Business - Digital Economies - Knowledge economy - eProcurement - National and International Economies - e-Business Ontologies and Models - Digital Goods and Services - e-Commerce Application Fields - e-Commerce Economics - e-Commerce Services - Electronic Service Delivery - e-Marketing - Online Auctions and Technologies - Virtual Organisations - Teleworking - Applied e-Business - Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) *e-Art - Legal Issues - Patents - Enabling technologies and tools *e-Science - Natural sciences in digital society - Biometrics - Bioinformatics - Collaborative research *Industrial developments - Trends in learning - Applied research - Cutting-edge technologies * Research in progress - Ongoing research from undergraduates, graduates/postgraduates and professionals Important Dates: Paper Submission Date: January 31, 2010 Notification of Paper Acceptance /Rejection: February 28, 2010 Camera Ready Paper Due: March 15, 2010 Early Bird Attendee registration: January 01, 2010 Late Bird Attendee registration: February 28, 2010 Conference Dates: June 28-30, 2010 For more details, please visit www.i-society.eu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100107/cb30c009/attachment.html From dmckinnon at notes.cc.sunysb.edu Thu Jan 7 00:48:51 2010 From: dmckinnon at notes.cc.sunysb.edu (dmckinnon@notes.cc.sunysb.edu) Date: Thu Jan 7 12:13:44 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Computational Neuroscience tenure-track position available Message-ID: Dear Colleagues I am sorry to bother you but I would like to inform you of search that we are currently conducting for candidates with expertise in computational neuroscience. This is for a new tenure-track faculty position, in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Stony Brook University. With the recent recruitment of a new chairperson, Dr. Lorna Role, the Department is expanding significantly, as part of a campus-wide commitment to invest significantly in ground breaking experimental and computational neuroscience. We intend to fill this position at the Assistant Professor level. An excellent package includes state-funded salary and benefits, newly renovated lab space, and generous start-up funding. Applications can be sent via the web site, www.stonybrook.edu/jobs (JOBS Reference #: F-6116-09-11), or by mail to: Faculty Search Committee Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Life Sciences Building Room 573, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5230 Sincerely, David McKinnon Chair, search committee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100106/ba903a87/attachment.html From pierre-yves.oudeyer at inria.fr Thu Jan 7 11:54:59 2010 From: pierre-yves.oudeyer at inria.fr (Pierre-Yves Oudeyer) Date: Thu Jan 7 12:15:10 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] [CFP IEEE TAMD] REMINDER: Special issue on Active Learning and Intrinsically Motivated Exploration in Robots, deadline 31st january In-Reply-To: <4AEAF88B.2010807@inria.fr> References: <4AEAF88B.2010807@inria.fr> Message-ID: <4B45BD83.3070501@inria.fr> ======================================================= CALL FOR PAPER IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development, Special Issue on Active Learning and Intrinsically Motivated Exploration in Robots ======================================================= REMINDER: Deadline for paper submission: 31st january 2010 http://www.ieee-cis.org/pubs/tamd// /http://flowers.inria.fr/tamd-activeLearningIntrinsicMotivation.htm/ / This special issue is jointly supported by the IEEE CIS Technical committee on Autonomous Mental Development, http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/zhang/amdtc/ and the IEEE RAS Technical committee on Robot Learning, http://www.learning-robots.de/ === Topic Learning techniques are increasingly being used in todays' complex robotic system. Robots are expected to deal with a large variety of tasks, using their high-dimensional and complex bodies, to interact with objects and humans in an intuitive and friendly way. In this new setting, not all relevant information is available at design time, thus self-experimentation and learning by interacting with the physical and social world is very important to acquire knowledge. A major obstacle, in high and complex sensorimotor space, is that learning can become extremely slow or even impossible without adequate exploration strategies. To solve this problem, two main approaches are now converging. Active learning, from statistical learning theory, where the learner actively chooses experiments in order to collect highly informative examples, and where expected information gain can be evaluated with either theoretically optimal criteria or various computationally efficient heuristics. The second approach, intrinsically motivated exploration, from developmental psychology and recently operationalized in the developmental robotics community, aims at building robots capable of open-ended cumulative learning through task-independent efficient exploration of their sensorimotor space and to refine our understanding of how children learn and develop. Although similar in some aspects, these two approaches differ in some of the underlying assumptions. Active learning implicitly assumes that samples with high uncertainty are the most informative and focuses on single tasks. On the contrary, Intrinsic motivation has been identified by psychologists as an innate incentive that pushes organisms to spontaneously explore activities or situations for the sole reason that they have a certain degree of novelty, challenge or surprise, hence the term curiosity-driven learning sometimes used. Several open problems exist still and the goal of this special issue is to show state-of-the-art approaches to these problems and open new directions. Papers should address the following, non-exhaustive, topics applied to robotics or animal cognitive model: . How can traditional active learning heuristics be applied to robotics problems such as motor learning, affordance learning or interaction learning? . How to select an active strategy ? Are there general purpose methods or are they task dependent? . How can active and intrinsic motivated exploration enable long-life, task-independent learning and development? . Is there a unified formalism to both approaches? . How precisely do they model human active learning and exploration and its role in development? . Can these approaches be used for social tasks, e.g. joint-work and human-robot interaction ? === Editors: Manuel Lopes, University of Plymouth, http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/mlopes Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, INRIA, http://www.pyoudeyer.com === Two kinds of submissions are possible: . Regular papers, up to 15 double column pages ; . Correspondence papers either presenting a "perspective" that includes insights into issues of wider scope than a regular paper but without being highly computational in style or presenting concise description of recent technical results, up to 8 double column pages ; === Instructions for authors : http://ieee-cis.org/pubs/tamd/authors/ We are accepting submissions through Manuscript Central at : http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tamd-ieee (please select "Active Learning and Intrinsic Motivation" as the submission type) When submitting your manuscript, please also send an email to manuelcabidolopes@gmail.com and pierre-yves.oudeyer@inria.fr with the title and name of the authors of the manuscript. === Timeline : 31 Jan 2010 -- Deadline for paper submission 15 March -- Notification 15 April -- Final version 20 April -- Electronic publication 15 June -- Printed publication > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100107/37327339/attachment.html From pprodrigues at liaad.up.pt Wed Jan 6 19:52:51 2010 From: pprodrigues at liaad.up.pt (Pedro Pereira Rodrigues) Date: Thu Jan 7 12:17:23 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] KDD 2010 - Expert Panels - Call for Proposals Message-ID: <4B44DC03.2090601@liaad.up.pt> ** Apologies for cross-posting ** KDD 2010 16th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Washington D.C. - United States of America, July 25-28, 2010 http://www.sigkdd.org/kdd2010/ == Call for Expert Panels == The KDD-2010 organizing committee invites proposals for panels to be held at the conference. Panel proposals should address emerging, controversial and critical issues in data mining that are likely to have impact on the field and lead to exciting discussions and debates. We encourage panels that involve industry, academic and government participants. -- Panel Topics -- Topics might be any frontier research or frontier applications of Data Mining. For illustrative propose some examples of welcome topics include: Data Mining for: Energy efficiency, Environment and Climate Change, Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, Transport and Aeronautics, etc. Of course, this is not a restrictive list. -- Proposal Details -- Panel proposals should be no more than four pages long and should include the following: - title of the panel; - the topic and issues to be discussed in the panel; - name, affiliation, and contact information for the panel organizer; - names and affiliations of up to four panelists (in addition to the panel organizer) who have made a commitment to participate; - list of 10 questions that the panel organizer will ask the panelists; - brief biography of each participant. -- Important Dates -- Panel Proposal Submission: February 26, 2010 Notification of Acceptance: April 16, 2010 -- Proposal Submission -- Please send proposals by email in pdf format to panel chairs Wei Fan and Jo?o Gama -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 261 bytes Desc: OpenPGP digital signature Url : http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100106/4d557637/signature.bin From Pierre.Kornprobst at sophia.inria.fr Thu Jan 7 12:31:41 2010 From: Pierre.Kornprobst at sophia.inria.fr (Pierre Kornprobst) Date: Thu Jan 7 12:43:21 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] New Master of Science in Computational Biology (Nice Sophia Antipolis University, France) Message-ID: <4B45C61D.6000506@sophia.inria.fr> Subject: NEW Master of Science in Computational Biology (Nice Sophia Antipolis University, France) [Please forward to interested parties] NEW: Nice Sophia Antipolis University (France) is launching a new Master of Science program in Computational Biology. The scientific goal of this program is to focus on the human being from different perspectives (understanding and modeling functional aspects or interpreting biomedical signals from various devices) and at different scales (from molecules to organs and the whole organism). GOAL: The goal of this program is to provide excellent academic or industrial career opportunities by offering high level coverage of modeling and computing principles that will help to meet the challenges and make the technological choices of tomorrow in the domains of biological and medical computing. To achieve this, all classes will be given in English by several outstanding professors and researchers from research institutes in the campus: Nice Sophia Antipolis University/CNRS (I3S, IPMC, LJAD, INLN) and INRIA. The curriculum consists of two periods, namely classes over a 6 months period, followed by a research internship. ADMISSION CRITERIA: Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of the program, the program is designed for those having completed the first-year MSc program at home institution in either computer science, electrical engineering, applied mathematics, mathematical biology, bioinformatics or biophysics. IMPORTANT DATES: Application period is now open for 2010-2011. Any student from any country can register. Important dates are: # November 1st, 2009 to April 5th, 2010: First round of applications # May 5th, 2010: Notification of acceptance of the first round # May 5th, 2010 to June 4th, 2010: Second round of applications # June 25th, 2010: Notification of acceptance of the second round SCHOLARSHIPS: The scholarship program offers outstanding students the chance to receive a grant covering the living expenses during the first period of the master. Early application increases the chances of receiving financial aid. Therefore, it is in the applicant???s best interest to submit his/her application at the first round of applications. COORDINATORS: Frederic Cazals and Pierre Kornprobst Contact: msc-compbio.coordinator@lists-sop.inria.fr **************************************************** FOR MORE: To find out more, please visit our website http://www.computationalbiology.eu **************************************************** From alongtin at uottawa.ca Thu Jan 7 22:58:19 2010 From: alongtin at uottawa.ca (Andre Longtin) Date: Fri Jan 8 12:19:27 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Reminder: Fourth U Ottawa Computational Neuroscience Summer School Message-ID: <35141BE6A60459488367EDBFED55F4FB04B376C1@MSMAIL2.uottawa.o.univ> FOURTH COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL CENTER FOR NEURAL DYNAMICS UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA JUNE 13-25, 2010 SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT We are pleased to announce the 4th summer School in Computational Neuroscience, which will be held from Sunday June 13, 2010 until Friday June 25, 2010 inclusively. It is organized by the Center for Neural Dynamics at the University of Ottawa. This highly pedagogical course is directed at graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from the physical sciences (e.g. physics, applied mathematics, engineering, computer science) and the life sciences (e.g. neuroscience, biology, physiology, human kinetics) who wish to develop their skills in neural data analysis and in mathematical modeling of neural activity. The topics will range from cellular to systems neuroscience, with a focus on sensory and motor systems. There is no tuition fee for participants from academic institutions, and further, there is support for travel and accommodation based on need. The course will consist of 3 hours of lectures in the mornings, followed by 3-hour MATLAB-based computer laboratories in the afternoons. Participants will pair up for these laboratories, and an effort will be made to pair someone from the life sciences with someone from the physical sciences. All classes and laboratories will be held on the main downtown campus of the University of Ottawa. The School will be held in English. All participants must also do a research project and 15-minute presentation. The course can also be taken for official credits, since it is a University of Ottawa three-credit graduate course (NSC8104). The mark for the course will be based on work done in the computer laboratories, on the presentation of a research project by the end of the course, plus a write-up to follow within a week. The first day of the school (Sunday June 13th) will consist of a refresher on linear differential equations, linear algebra and probability theory open to all participants, as well as an introduction to MATLAB. Enrollment in the course will be limited to 40 participants. Apart from enjoying the capitol city, there will also be opportunities to hike or swim in the Gatineau hills nearby or to go white-water rafting down the world-class Ottawa river. MATH PRE-REQUISITES: Calculus I and II, first-year university level Linear Algebra and Probability and Statistics. LIFE SCIENCES PRE-REQUISITES: first-year university level life science courses for students in the physical sciences. FACULTY Prof. Maurice Chacron, Center for Nonlinear Dynamics, Dept. Physiology, McGill Prof. John Lewis, Biology, University of Ottawa Prof. Tim Lewis, Mathematics, University of California at Davis Prof. Andr? Longtin, Physics, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa Prof. Len Maler, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa Prof. John Milton, Keck Science Center, Claremont Colleges, California, USA Prof. Jonathan Rubin, Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, USA TUITION None for participants from academia. See the application form at: http://www.neurodynamic.uottawa.ca/summer.html ACCOMMODATION Accommodation will be available at the Marchand Residence of the University of Ottawa, a few minutes walk away from the lecture hall and computer lab, cafeterias and downtown Ottawa with its restaurants, museums etc... Accommodation consists of a single room (with desk and internet access), with communal kitchen and living area and shared bathroom. The cost is approximately $28 CAN per night per person, taxes included. FINANCIAL SUPPORT Partial financial support is available for those demonstrating the need. IMPORTANT DATES February 1st , 2010: Application, including a letter of recommendation sent to compneuro09@uottawa.ca February 15, 2010: Notification of acceptance and level of financial support. March 1st, 2010: Notification of acceptance by the participant. Accommodation: as soon as possible after notification of acceptance, participants can reserve their accommodation online at reserve@uottawa.ca or by phoning 1-888-564-4545. REGISTER AT: www.neurodynamic.uottawa.ca/summer.html CONTACT US: compneuro10@uottawa.ca SYLLABUS 1) Introduction to Linear and Nonlinear Dynamical Systems -solutions of linear differential equations -qualitative analysis of nonlinear differential equations 2) Single Neuron Models -ionic models -simplified deterministic models -stochastic models 3) Neural Spike Train Analysis and Modeling -basic statistics -autocorrelation, spectrum -information theory toolbox 4) Sensory Coding -artificial and naturalistic stimuli -modeling activity along the afferent pathways -modeling feedback -population coding and information theory 5) Computational and Dynamical Approaches to Motor Control -posture control and equilibrium point approaches -movement adaptation to force fields -timing and rhythmic movements -computational approaches to movement pathologies 6) Synaptic Plasticity -short term depression and facilitation -long term plasticity -implications for information processing 7) Coupled Neurons -gap junction -excitatory and inhibitory synaptic coupling -effect of coupling on neural population behavior 8) Waves of Activity in Neural Networks -neural field models -traveling waves -spiral waves -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100107/9c6b2833/attachment.html From alongtin at uottawa.ca Thu Jan 7 23:11:01 2010 From: alongtin at uottawa.ca (Andre Longtin) Date: Fri Jan 8 12:21:49 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral Research Position Message-ID: <35141BE6A60459488367EDBFED55F4FB04B376D5@MSMAIL2.uottawa.o.univ> POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN THEORETICAL/COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE A new postdoctoral position is available after May 2010 in Andre Longtin's group in the Physics Department at the University of Ottawa (http://www.science.uottawa.ca/~alongtin/default3.html). The position involves theoretical and modeling work on the following topics: 1) memory formation in the context of temporal pulse patterns and social interactions, including algorithms for signal separation, and 2) mechanisms and role of novelty detection in spatial memory. These projects are inter-related and intended to reveal general principles of neural information representation, memory formation and signal demixing. They are based on studies of weakly electric fish. There are also opportunities for a combination of modeling and experimental work via collaborations with other members of the Center for Neural Dynamics (Len Maler, Jean-Claude Beique and John Lewis - see http://www.neurodynamic.uottawa.ca ). The candidate will have access to data from these collaborators, including single and multi-electrode electrophysiological recordings, infrared video recordings of animal motion, as well as from optical recordings of neural tissue including two-photon imaging. The candidate will thus have the opportunity to interact closely with experimental collaborators, or even perform experiments. The position is funded by an NSERC Canada Discovery Accelerator Award. The position is for one year, renewable for a second year. There are possibilities for a third year depending on funding and collaborations. Those interested should send their CV and letter of intent along with the names of at least two referees to alongtin@uottawa.ca. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100107/e0139614/attachment.html From steve at cns.bu.edu Thu Jan 7 23:45:53 2010 From: steve at cns.bu.edu (Stephen Grossberg) Date: Fri Jan 8 12:28:02 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] How spiking dynamics form object groupings in the laminar circuits of visual cortex Message-ID: The following article is now available at http://cns.bu.edu/~steve Leveille, J., Versace, M., and Grossberg, S. Running as fast as it can: How spiking dynamics form object groupings in the laminar circuits of visual cortex. ABSTRACT: How spiking neurons cooperate to control behavioral processes is a fundamental problem in computational neuroscience. Such cooperative dynamics are required during visual perception when spatially distributed image fragments are grouped into emergent boundary contours. Perceptual grouping is a challenge for spiking cells because its properties of collinear facilitation and analog sensitivity occur in response to binary spikes with irregular timing across many interacting cells. Some models have demonstrated spiking dynamics in recurrent laminar neocortical circuits, but not how perceptual grouping occurs. Other models have analyzed the fast speed of certain percepts in terms of a single feedforward sweep of activity, but cannot explain other percepts, such as illusory contours, wherein perceptual ambiguity can take hundreds of milliseconds to resolve by integrating multiple spikes over time. The current model reconciles fast feedforward with slower feedback processing, and binary spikes with analog network-level properties, in a laminar cortical network of spiking cells whose emergent properties quantitatively simulate parametric data from neurophysiological experiments, including the formation of illusory contours; the structure of non-classical visual receptive fields; and self-synchronizing gamma oscillations. These laminar dynamics shed new light on how the brain resolves local informational ambiguities through the use of properly designed nonlinear feedback spiking networks which run as fast as they can, given the amount of uncertainty in the data that they process. KEYWORDS: perceptual grouping, laminar cortical circuit, spiking neuron, visual cortex, gamma oscillations, illusory contour, bipole cell -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100107/68e8a39b/attachment-0001.html From yasser at nordita.org Fri Jan 8 12:47:06 2010 From: yasser at nordita.org (Yasser Roudi) Date: Fri Jan 8 13:11:11 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Workshop on Statistical Mechanics of Learning and Inference Message-ID: For several years, ideas from statistical mechanics have been used in developing inference techniques useful for analyzing high dimensional data. Furthermore, in recent years technological advances have resulted in an increase in the number of elements that can be observed simultaneously in many biological systems. This event is meant to gather scientists interested in such applications of statistical mechanics and to gather participants from Computer and Information Science working on similar ideas. The workshop starts on a ferry from Stockholm, Sweden and goes on for 2.5 days at Mariehamn (Aland, Finland). For more information about the workshop and the registration please visit the following webpage. http://agenda.albanova.se/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=1737 From robert at grid.chu.edu.tw Tue Jan 5 15:38:06 2010 From: robert at grid.chu.edu.tw (Robert C. Hsu) Date: Fri Jan 8 17:01:00 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Papers - ICA3PP 2010, May 21-23, Busan, Korea Message-ID: <201001051438.o05Ec6T0025828@grid.chu.edu.tw> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100105/5573e141/attachment.html From robert at grid.chu.edu.tw Wed Jan 6 20:01:08 2010 From: robert at grid.chu.edu.tw (Robert C. Hsu) Date: Fri Jan 8 17:03:32 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Papers - IET FC 2010, August 4-6, 2010, Taichung, Taiwan Message-ID: <201001061901.o06J18p4030114@grid.chu.edu.tw> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100107/f7642c68/attachment.html From sethu.vijayakumar at ed.ac.uk Thu Jan 7 16:40:38 2010 From: sethu.vijayakumar at ed.ac.uk (Sethu Vijayakumar) Date: Fri Jan 8 17:04:30 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] TWO Postdoctoral Fellowships in ML for Robotics and Adaptive Control @ Edinburgh, UK: App Deadline Jan 15!! Message-ID: <4B460076.80107@ed.ac.uk> TWO Postdoctoral Research Fellows in Machine Learning for Robotics and Adaptive Control Applications are invited for two Postdoctoral Research Fellows in the area of Learning Robotics and Adaptive Control as part of an EU-IST FP7 funded project STIFF dealing with variable impedance actuation. The posts are available from Feb. 2010 for a maximum of 23 months and located in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Salary is on the UE07 scale (?29,704 - ?35,469) with annual increments and full staff benefits. Placement for the post is according to experience and qualifications. The successful candidates will have a PhD (or expected completion) in the area of (learning) robotics, probabilistic machine learning and/or adaptive motor control; have strong fundamental skills in statistical machine learning, optimization and basic control theory and some familiarity of concepts such as reinforcement learning and optimal feedback control. The appointees will have to opportunity for hands-on implementation of adaptive control paradigms on biophysical simulations and on state-of-the-art novel variable impedance actuators and anthropomorphic robotic systems such as the KUKA LWR arm and the Schunk hand. . Both posts will involve travelling to project partner meetings around Europe(DLR Germany, CNRS Paris, Delft Netherlands, IDSIA Switzerland), preparing and presenting material for periodic reporting at EU reviews and attending and disseminating work at international conferences. The posts also assume leadership roles and some level of PhD supervision on topics relevant to the project. More details of the job, the research group and application procedure can be found at: http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk/vacancies/index.cfm?fuseaction=vacancies.detail&vacancy_ref=3012111 Applicants are asked to submit your curriculum vitae including a *statement of interest* justifying your suitability for the post and contact details of two referees using the online application procedure from the link above. Application Deadline: January 15, 2010 Interviews: late Jan/early Feb 2010 Informal enquiries may be addressed to: Sethu Vijayakumar (sethu.vijayakumar@ed.ac.uk) -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sethu Vijayakumar, Ph.D. Reader (Associate Professor) Director, IPAB, School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh 1.28 Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, UK URL: http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/svijayak Ph: +44(0)131 651 3444 SLMC Research Group URL: http://www.ipab.informatics.ed.ac.uk/slmc ------------------------------------------------------------------ Adjunct Faculty, Department of Computer Science University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA 90089-0781 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Microsoft Research& Royal Academy of Engg. Senior Research Fellow ------------------------------------------------------------------ The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. From tcp1 at leicester.ac.uk Fri Jan 8 17:29:07 2010 From: tcp1 at leicester.ac.uk (Pearce, Tim C. (Dr.)) Date: Sat Jan 9 15:13:51 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Research Associate (Postdoc) in Computational Modelling of Olfactory Processing Message-ID: <6260DB6471291D4F81C5A06E379C83A89BCE4909C3@EXC-MBX3.cfs.le.ac.uk> Research Associate in Computational Modelling of Olfactory Processing Salary Grade 7 - ?30,594 to ?35,469 pa Fixed Term Contract up to 31 December 2010 with the possibility of Extension Ref: SEN00001 We are looking for a highly motivated researcher to undertake and deliver research in the areas covered by the EU Research Grant "Biologically Inspired Computation for Chemical Sensing (NeuroChem)". The Research Associate will be responsible for developing, implementing and testing neuronal models of olfactory processing in mammals and insects for operation in real-time to support the project wide development of a neuromorphic chemical sensing platform. These and other models made available by members of the consortia will be integrated together with chemical sensing hardware and evaluated for their ability to solve key olfactory detection problems, e.g. odour classification, segmentation and odour identification in time-varying backgrounds. The post will be based at Leicester but will also involve some travel within Europe. Applicants should have a PhD (or close to completing a PhD) in a relevant area and a background in computational neuroscience. Experience in building and testing neuronal models is desirable. More information about the project can be found at http://www.neurochem-project.org/ For further information and to apply on-line, please visit our website: http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/personnel Closing Date: 18th January, 2010 (late applications can be sent by email) Promoting equality of opportunity throughout the University Times Higher Education University of the Year 2008-9 -- T.C. Pearce, PhD Reader in Bioengineering, Department of Engineering, University of Leicester Leicester LE1 7RH United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)116 223 1307 Fax: +44 (0)116 252 2619 URL: http://www.neurolab.le.ac.uk/ E-mail: t.c.pearce@leicester.ac.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100108/81876e6c/attachment.html From robert at grid.chu.edu.tw Thu Jan 7 20:36:52 2010 From: robert at grid.chu.edu.tw (Robert C. Hsu) Date: Sat Jan 9 15:19:20 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Workshop Proposals - UIC 2010, October 26-29, Xi\'an, China Message-ID: <201001071936.o07Jaq0P004125@grid.chu.edu.tw> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100108/211fe050/attachment.html From bressler at fau.edu Sun Jan 10 08:32:05 2010 From: bressler at fau.edu (Steven Bressler) Date: Mon Jan 11 12:26:46 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] PHD POSITION IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS & BRAIN SCIENCES Message-ID: <140CFC04C03B4AF48936976E8CC6E968@opal> PHD POSITION IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS & BRAIN SCIENCES CENTER FOR COMPLEX SYSTEMS & BRAIN SCIENCES FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY Applications are currently being accepted for interdisciplinary training in the PhD Program in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences at FAU under Dr. Steven Bressler (http://www.ccs.fau.edu/~bressler ). The program of training will take a quantitative approach to the study of neural and cognitive function, with emphasis on top-down control in visual spatial attention, and will involve collaborative research with Gordon Shulman ( http://neuro.wustl.edu/aboutus/facultybiographies/shulman.htm) and Maurizio Corbetta (http://neuro.wustl.edu/aboutus/facultybiographies/corbetta.htm) at Washington University Medical School. The position will emphasize: * Investigation of the functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks in visual spatial attention. * Application of causality analysis to fMRI BOLD time-series data from both control subjects and patients with attentional impairment. The program offers competitive, multi-year stipends and tuition remission. The ideal candidate should have the following qualifications: * Prior training in neuroscience and experimental psychology * Programming experience (Matlab, C/C++, Python) * English speaking and writing skills Interested students are encouraged to submit a CV, contact details of two referees, and a short statement of research interests to Dr. Bressler (bressler@fau.edu). Please visit the Center for Complex Systems & Brain Sciences web site at http://www.ccs.fau.edu for more information. The Center for Complex Systems & Brain Sciences at Florida Atlantic University is in Boca Raton, situated between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, with easy access to the beautiful beaches and rich cultural life of the Miami-Dade metropolitan area. Committed to Equal Opportunities. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100110/0a7765b9/attachment.html From hirsh.cohen at theswartzfoundation.org Sat Jan 9 20:55:48 2010 From: hirsh.cohen at theswartzfoundation.org (Hirsh Cohen) Date: Mon Jan 11 12:27:53 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Computational Neuroscientist Job Search postings Message-ID: <0ED9AC3C0280374A87C8BC526DE5B9FE25DEDC@EXMAIL06.asp.local> The purpose of this message is to draw your attention to a new posting service that may be useful to the computational neuroscience community. Comp-neuro has provided an excellent job posting platform for instritutions that are seeking candidates for academic professorial positions, post-doc, and doctoral strudent opportunities. However this is just part of the 'job market" for our field: the other part is the job searches of candidates who wish to advertise their need for positions. The Swartz Foundation, which has been active in the field since 1995, is now providing a job search listing which is located on the Foundation's web site,www.theswartzfoundation.org. We have started this listing by inviting job seeking post-docs and pre-docs at our 11 Sloan-Swartz centers to enter their particulars and addresses for their c.v.s. These are then listed at http://www.theswartzfoundation.org/job-board.asp. Their submissions are reviewed before being placed in the listing. We will be willing to open this listing to similar position seekers at other institutions and laboratories in the field, subject to our review for authenticity. These can be entered at http://www.theswartzfoundation.org/jobsearchfrm.asp Questions or comments may be addressed to the Swartz Foundation from the inquiry form on the Foundation's web site mentioned above. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100109/32e4d57c/attachment.html From r.c.miall at bham.ac.uk Mon Jan 11 15:42:59 2010 From: r.c.miall at bham.ac.uk (Chris Miall) Date: Mon Jan 11 16:20:38 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Two chairs in Computational Neuroscience and Cogntive Robotics Message-ID: <4B4B38F3.4080700@bham.ac.uk> Jobs: Two Chairs in new Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics University of Birmingham, UK College of Life and Environmental Sciences College of Engineering and Physical Sciences School of Psychology School of Computer Science Chair in Computational Neuroscience (Ref: 38192) Chair in Cognitive Robotics (Ref: 38193) Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics Linking neuroscience with robotics. The University of Birmingham is making a multimillion pound investment to create the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics (CNCR). The Centre will foster an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to advance understanding of brain function and learning, and develop better robotic systems. The research will be translated into innovative treatment for patients with developmental, degenerative or acquired neurological disorders. To establish the centre, we are seeking two Chairs, one in computational neuroscience and one in cognitive robotics. These appointments will be the first of a series culminating in ten academic and technical positions. In the intermediate term we will be appointing three lecturers and two technical positions to directly support the incoming teams. This will be followed by the appointment of a further three posts (one chair level) in the next year. We expect the new chair-level appointees to play a major role in the next round of recruitment. The initial two chairs should have an international research record that makes cutting-edge contributions to their field. Salary will be commensurate with experience. For information and enquiries please contact either Professor Glyn Humphreys, g.w.humphreys@bham.ac.uk , Professor Chris Miall, Head of Psychology, r.c.miall@bham.ac.uk or Dr Jeremy Wyatt, School of Computer Science, j.l.wyatt@bham.ac.uk To download the details and submit an electronic application online visit: www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs . Alternatively information can be obtained from Sally Johnson on +44 (0)121 415 8116. Details for the Chair in Cognitive Robotics http://www.download.bham.ac.uk/vacancies/jd/38193.pdf Details for the Chair in Computational Neuroscience http://www.download.bham.ac.uk/vacancies/jd/38192.pdf Closing date for both posts: 30 March 2010 A University of Fairness and Diversity -- Regards, Chris ---------------------------------------------------------- Professor R.C. Miall Behavioural Brain Sciences Tel +44 121 414 2867 School of Psychology, Fax +44 121 414 4897 University of Birmingham, Mobile: 07709 586997 Edgbaston, Email: r.c.miall@bham.ac.uk Birmingham B15 2TT UK Web: http://prism.bham.ac.uk ---------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100111/08be0ed1/attachment.html From sabah.boumaza at paris-neuroscience.com Mon Jan 11 17:08:41 2010 From: sabah.boumaza at paris-neuroscience.com (Sabah Boumaza) Date: Mon Jan 11 17:18:24 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Paris School of Neuroscience (ENP) - PhD Program Message-ID: <4B4B4D09.5080108@paris-neuroscience.com> /Paris School of Neuroscience PhD Program / /The Paris School of Neuroscience (ENP) is a network of outstanding neuroscience laboratories in the Paris area, within major universities and research institutes. /- The ENP aims to facilitate graduate training of selected students. It covers all areas of neuroscience and associated methodologies, from basic to clinical and from molecular to cognitive sciences. - Pre-PhD and PhD programs are open to highly talented and motivated students who received their undergraduate training outside of France, irrespective of their original disciplines. - Pre-PhD: up to a year of rotations in participating laboratories. It can include a Master's degree - PhD: a three year program with possible one-year extension - Courses in neuroscience and related topics - International conferences and seminars - French and/or English language courses - Individual supervision by a tutor and a thesis committee - Annual retreat with faculty members and guest scientists - Assistance for settling in Paris (visa, housing, social security, medical and/or other insurance) - Stipends from the ENP and other sources (pre-PhD 1200 EUR/month, PhD 1800 EUR/month) - Scholarships for attendance to international meetings - Support for periods of training in other laboratories. Two application deadlines per year 30 September & 30 March Details & online registration http://www.paris-neuroscience.fr/enp-uk/calls-for-proposals/index.php Contact enp@paris-neuroscience.com T +33 1 43 31 13 15 The ENP groups are located at the Coll?ge de France, CRICM (Institut du Cerveau et de la Mo?lle ?pini?re), ?cole normale sup?rieure, Institut Alfred Fessard, Institut du Fer ? Moulin, Institut Pasteur, Institut de la Vision, Jussieu, MiRCen (Molecular Imaging Research Center), NeuroSpin, Saint-Anne, Saint-P?res, etc. -- Sabah Boumaza Communication Paris School of Neuroscience T +33 1 43 31 04 05 http://www.paris-neuroscience.fr -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100111/e0127e45/attachment.html From steffen.wischmann at unil.ch Tue Jan 12 22:18:50 2010 From: steffen.wischmann at unil.ch (Steffen Wischmann) Date: Wed Jan 13 13:36:07 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for papers - Special Session on Evolutionary Robotics at the 2010 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation Message-ID: <4B4CE73A.5030305@unil.ch> 2010 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) Special Session on Evolutionary Robotics ---------------------------------------------------- Barcelona, Spain. July 18-23, 2010 *CALL FOR PAPERS* *Organisers:* Patricia A. Vargas (Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh) Steffen Wischmann (EPFL - Lausanne) Dario Floreano (EPFL - Lausanne) Phil Husbands (University of Sussex - Brighton) Website: http://lis.epfl.ch/specialsessions/CEC10/ *Scope:* Evolutionary Robotics (ER) aims to apply evolutionary computation techniques, inspired by darwinian selection, to automatically design the control and/or hardware of both real and simulated autonomous robots. Having an intrinsic interdisciplinary character, ER is being employed towards the development of many fields of research, among which we can highlight neuroscience, cognitive science, evolutionary biology and robotics. Hence the objective of this special session is to assemble a set of high-quality original contributions that reflect and advance the state-of-the-art in the area of Evolutionary Robotics, with an emphasis on the cross-fertilization between ER and the aforementioned research areas, ranging from theoretical analysis to real-life applications. Topics of interest include (but are not restricted to): - Evolution of robots which display minimal cognitive behaviour, learning, memory, spatial cognition, adaptation or homeostasis. - Evolution of neural controllers for robots, aimed at giving an insight to neuroscientists or advancing control structures. - Evolution of communication, cooperation and competition, using robots as a research platform. - Co-evolution and the evolution of collective behaviour. - Evolution of morphology in close interaction with the environment, giving rise to self-reconfigurable, self-designing, self-healing and self-reproducing robots. - Evolution of robot systems aimed at real-world applications as in aerial robotics, space exploration, industry, search and rescue, robot companions, entertainment and games. - Evolution of controllers on board real robots or the real?time evolution of robot hardware. - Novel or improved algorithms for the evolution or robot systems. - The use of evolution for the artistic exploration of robot design. *Important Dates:* Paper Submission: January 31, 2010 Notification of Acceptance: March 15, 2010 Camera-Ready Submission: May 2, 2010 *Paper Submission:* Submissions should follow the guidance given on the IEEE CEC 2010 conference website: http://www.wcci2010.org. When submitting, please select as the main research topic the Special Session on "Evolutionary Robotics" (S089). All submissions will be peer-reviewed with the same criteria used for other contributed papers. All accepted papers will be included and published in the conference proceedings. *Post Conference Publication:* Depending on the quality of the submissions, authors will be asked to contribute to a journal special issue on the topic of "Evolutionary Robotics". From benoit.girard at isir.fr Wed Jan 13 17:15:58 2010 From: benoit.girard at isir.fr (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Beno=EEt_Girard?=) Date: Wed Jan 13 18:30:45 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for workshops SAB2010 Message-ID: <4B4DF1BE.9040501@isir.fr> CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS SIMULATION OF ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR 2010 (SAB2010) The SAB2010 program committe invites proposals for workshop to be held in conjunction with the 11th conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB2010) in Paris, France, August 24-28 http://www.sab2010.org ** Important dates ** Deadline for workshop proposals: April 1st, 2010 Notification of acceptance: April 15th, 2010 Transmission of final versions of papers or videos: July 15th, 2010 Information and Submissions: sab_workshops@isir.fr SAB workhops provide a unique opportunity to meet people and exchange ideas in an informal setting. A SAB workshop should focus on a specialized research area, or on interdisciplinary research field related to the Animat community. SAB workshops are full- or half-day workshops. Each proposal should contain the following information: 1. Description of the workshop topics (half-page) 2. A brief description of why and how workshop topics are of interest for SAB (half-page) 3. The estimated number of participants 4. A tentative schedule 5. Contact information Workshops will be held the 24th of August in the "couvent des cordeliers" in Paris. All workshop attendees will get a copy of the workshop materials. Workshop organizers will be invited to send their own workshop materials (articles and videos) before July the 15th for inclusion in the electronic proceedings (CD-ROM or USB key). St?phane Doncieux, Beno?t Girard and Jean-Baptiste Mouret -- Beno?t Girard, ISIR, UPMC/CNRS Pyramide T55/65, CC 173 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex http://www.isir.upmc.fr/?op=view_profil&lang=fr&id=109 http://www.isir.fr/EvoNeuro/ http://www.sab2010.org/ From benoit.girard at isir.fr Wed Jan 13 17:15:15 2010 From: benoit.girard at isir.fr (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Beno=EEt_Girard?=) Date: Wed Jan 13 18:30:50 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] 2nd Call for papers SAB2010 Message-ID: <4B4DF193.1010004@isir.fr> CALL FOR PAPERS FROM ANIMALS TO ANIMATS 11 The 11th International Conference on the SIMULATION OF ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR (SAB'10) 24-28 August 2010, Paris, France http://www.isab.org/sab10/ ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Conference Chairs: Jean-Arcady Meyer, Agn?s Guillot, John Hallam Local Organizers : St?phane Doncieux, Beno?t Girard, Jean-Baptiste Mouret IMPORTANT DATES Paper submission deadline, February 22, 2010 Call for workshop deadline, April 1, 2010 Conference dates, August 25-28, 2010 Workshops date, August 24, 201 The objective of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together researchers in computer science, artificial intelligence, alife, control, robotics, neurosciences, ethology, evolutionary biology, and related fields so as to further our understanding of the behaviors and underlying mechanisms that allow natural and artificial animals to adapt and survive in uncertain environments. The conference will focus on experiments with well-defined models --- robot models, computer simulation models, mathematical models --- designed to help characterize and compare various organizational principles or architectures underlying adaptive behavior in real animals and in synthetic agents, the animats. Contributions treating any of the following topics from the perspective of adaptive behavior will receive special emphasis: The Animat Approach Motor control Body and brain co-evolution Self-assembling and self-replication Sensory-motor coordination Action selection amp; behavioral sequencing Navigation and mapping Internal models and representation Evolution, development and learning Motivation and emotion Collective and social behavior Communication and language Emergent structures and behaviors Neural correlates of behavior Evolutionary and co-evolutionary approaches Autonomous, bio-inspired, and hybrid robotics Autonomous robotics Humanoid robotics Cognitive developmental robotics Software agents and virtual creatures Applied adaptive behavior Animats in education Philosophical and psychological issues Authors should make every effort to suggest implications of their work for both natural and artificial animals, and to distinguish the portions of their work which use simulation from those using a physical agent. Papers that do not deal explicitly with adaptive behavior will be rejected. CONFERENCE FORMAT: Following the tradition of SAB conferences, the conference will be single track, with additional poster sessions. Each poster session will start with poster spotlights giving presenters the opportunity to orally present their main results. PUBLISHER: Springer Lecture Notes on Artificial Intelligence. Both oral and poster presentations will be published in conference proceedings. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Submitted papers must not exceed 10 pages. Detailed submission instructions are available from the conference Web site. CONTACT US: Please contact us at sab2010 [ at ] isab.org Jean-Arcady Meyer, Agn?s Guillot, John Hallam -- Beno?t Girard, ISIR, UPMC/CNRS Pyramide T55/65, CC 173 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex http://www.isir.upmc.fr/?op=view_profil&lang=fr&id=109 http://www.isir.fr/EvoNeuro/ http://www.sab2010.org/ From sean.hill at epfl.ch Thu Jan 14 10:00:42 2010 From: sean.hill at epfl.ch (Sean Hill) Date: Thu Jan 14 10:57:16 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral Researcher in Neuron Modeling Message-ID: Job Description: Postdoctoral Researcher in Neuron Modeling The Blue Brain Project, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, is an international research venture to reverse-engineer the brain and enable next-generation fundamental and medical research through simulation. BBP is now seeking for immediate hire a Postdoctoral Researcher in Neuron Modeling, for immediate hire, to strengthen the project?s computational neuroscience team and to prepare it for the next steps of growth. The primary objective for this position is to contribute to the ongoing large-scale detailed neuron modeling and validation efforts and to advance the model generation and validation of the full diversity of neuron electrical properties and dendritic integration. Scientific leadership is expected to supervise computational neuroscience students and intimate software knowledge in order to interface with the technical teams. The position will involve a close interaction between the electrophysiology lab and computer simulations. Detailed Requirements: ? PhD in the field of computational neuroscience ? expert knowledge in NEURON and multi-compartment conductance-based modeling ? expert knowledge in whole cell electrophysiology, ion channel experiments and models ? expert knowledge in Python and Matlab ? profound knowledge of model specification languages such as NeuroML ? profound knowledge in other programming languages (C++) and parallel computing is of advantage ? ?can-do? attitude for pragmatic prototypes that accompany the global model building and validation strategy ? co-supervision of PhD students ? fluent written and spoken English What we offer: ? An internationally visible and rising project successfully connecting the demanding challenges of research with industry-strength solutions ? Supervision of research projects and publication opportunities ? A young, dynamic, inter-disciplinary, and international working environment Competitive salary Interested applicants please send CV, 3 references and a statement of research interests to: Felix Schuermann (felix.schuermann@epfl.ch) -- Sean Hill, Ph.D. Blue Brain Project Project Manager for Computational Neuroscience Brain Mind Institute EPFL - Station 15 CH-1015 Lausanne Switzerland Tel +41 21 693.96 78 Fax +41 21 693.18 00 sean.hill@epfl.ch -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100114/296ec7cf/attachment-0001.html From a.k.seth at sussex.ac.uk Thu Jan 14 15:32:58 2010 From: a.k.seth at sussex.ac.uk (Anil Seth) Date: Thu Jan 14 16:16:00 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] PhD position available in computational neuroscience and consciousness. Message-ID: <4B4F2B1A.9050302@sussex.ac.uk> *Large-Scale Computational Models of Thalamocortical Systems Underlying Consciousness.* Funding is available (for UK/EU applicants) for a three-year full-time D.Phil. (Ph.D) in the area of computational neuroscience and consciousness, supervised by Dr. Anil Seth and Prof. Owen Holland. The successful candidate will develop a large-scale computational model of human thalamocortical systems using Graphics/ /Processor Unit (GPU) technology, and will use the model to investigate the neuronal consequences of simple psychophysical manipulations. The position will suit a candidate highly qualified in software engineering with a strong interest, and preferably prior training, in computational neuroscience and consciousness science. Sussex has one of the highest concentrations of expertise in consciousness science in the world, and this research area is growing rapidly within the University. For more information and for how to apply please visit http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AAN013/research-studentship/. Interested candidates should contact Dr. Seth (a.k.seth@sussex.ac.uk). Closing date for applications is Feb 20, 2010. -- Anil K. Seth, D.Phil. Reader, EPSRC Leadership Fellow School of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QJ, UK W: www.anilseth.com, T: (0)1273 678549 From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Thu Jan 14 16:06:59 2010 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Thu Jan 14 16:28:05 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Update on NEURON User Meeting and Parallel Network Course Message-ID: <4B4F3313.8020004@yale.edu> Space is still available in the "2010 NEURON Simulator Meeting" and the "Course on Parallelizing Network Models with NEURON" which will be held during the week of March 22 at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. The Course is designed for relatively advanced users who have active modeling projects, but the Simulator Meeting is intended for all who are interested in computational modeling of neurons and networks regardless of level of experience. Here are the titles of some of the presentations that will be given at the NEURON Simulator Meeting: Symposium on NEURON-RxD: Reaction-Diffusion Modeling in NEURON Speakers: Bill Lytton (SUNY Downstate), Michael Hines (Yale University), and others TBA Workshop on Parameter Optimization and Estimation Speakers: Christina Weaver (Franklin & Marshall College) and Sean Carver (Yale University) The abstracts of these presentations are posted at https://www.neuron.yale.edu/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1863 For more information, or to sign up for either or both of these events, please see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/meetings/nsm2010.html The registration deadline is Friday, February 26. --Ted From steps.dev at gmail.com Fri Jan 15 06:44:12 2010 From: steps.dev at gmail.com (STEPS Development Team) Date: Fri Jan 15 12:19:07 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] STochastic Engine for Pathway Simulation release Message-ID: <2E352880-4D4B-4D3B-A039-CE50B0D91922@gmail.com> We are pleased to announce the release of STochastic Engine for Pathway Simulation (STEPS) version 1.0. STEPS is a package for exact stochastic reaction-diffusion simulation in complex 3D geometries. Our core algorithm is an implementation of Gillespie's SSA extended for membrane reactions and diffusive fluxes between elements in a tetrahedral mesh. STEPS was developed for simulation of neuronal signaling pathways in dendritic spines and around synapses, however it is a general tool that may be used for studying spatial gradients and morphology in any biochemical pathway. STEPS supports a number of free and research-licensed powerful mesh- generation packages that can produce structured 3D tetrahedral meshes representing the required morphology. STEPS provides further functionality to retrieve all spatial information from the imported mesh necessary to initialize and run a simulation. The user-interface to STEPS is in Python, with core computations carried out in C++ for maximal speed of execution. The user creates Python scripts to build a model and control a simulation, optionally taking advantage of the many powerful scientific computing tools available for Python to process and visualize data. STEPS can be downloaded from the sourceforge website (http://steps.sourceforge.net/ ) where pre-compiled binaries are available for Mac OS X 10.5-10.6 and Windows, along with source-code, documentation and support. Best regards, The STEPS Development Team Website: http://steps.sourceforge.net/ Mailing List: http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/steps-users Email: steps.dev@gmail.com Computational Neuroscience Unit Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan http://www.irp.oist.jp/cns/ From bowlby at bu.edu Fri Jan 15 17:46:12 2010 From: bowlby at bu.edu (Brian Bowlby) Date: Fri Jan 15 17:52:37 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] 14th ICCNS: Call for Abstracts and Confirmed Invited Speakers Message-ID: FOURTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS May 19?22, 2010 Boston University 677 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA http://www.cns.bu.edu/meetings/ Sponsored by the Boston University Center for Adaptive Systems, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems (http://www.cns.bu.edu/), and Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology (http://celest.bu.edu) with financial support from the National Science Foundation This interdisciplinary conference is attended each year by approximately 300 people from 30 countries around the world. As in previous years, the conference will focus on solutions to the questions: HOW DOES THE BRAIN CONTROL BEHAVIOR? HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY EMULATE BIOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE? The conference is aimed at researchers and students of computational neuroscience, cognitive science, neural networks, neuromorphic engineering, and artificial intelligence. It includes invited lectures and contributed lectures and posters by experts on the biology and technology of how the brain and other intelligent systems adapt to a changing world. The conference is particularly interested in exploring how the brain and biologically-inspired algorithms and systems in engineering and technology can learn. Single-track oral and poster sessions enable all presented work to be highly visible. Three-hour poster sessions with no conflicting events will be held on two of the conference days. Posters will be up all day, and can also be viewed during breaks in the talk schedule. CONFIRMED INVITED SPEAKERS Moshe Bar (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School) The proactive brain: Predictions in visual cognition Leon Chua (University of California, Berkeley) [Plenary Speaker] Memristor minds Carol Colby (Carnegie Mellon University) Active vision Heiner Deubel (University of Munich) Attention before goal-directed actions Stephen Grossberg (Boston University) Linking What and Where in visual attention, recognition, navigation, and planning Earl Miller (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) [Plenary Speaker] The prefrontal cortex: Brain rhythms and cognition Anthony Movshon (New York University) Reading visual information from neuronal populations Steven Petersen (Washington University) Using network analysis tools to study the brain's control systems Russell Poldrack (UCLA) Stopping ourselves: The neural basis of response inhibition Josef Rauschecker (Georgetown University Medical Center) A functional and computational role for the dorsal stream in space and speech Barry Richmond (National Institutes of Health) Neuropsychological, physiological, and theoretical studies of stimulus-outcome learning in monkeys Linda Smith (Indiana University) Head, hand and eye: Action, attention, and learning in toddlers Xiao-Jing Wang (Yale University) Computational neurobiology of decision making WORKSHOP ON ?TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM? Steffen Gais (Ludwig Maximilians University) Cholinergic and other neurotransmitter influences on memory processing during sleep Michael Hasselmo (Boston University) Modulation of grid cells and head direction cells during waking and sleep Bruce McNaughton (University of Lethbridge) Memory trace reactivation in sleep Cliff Saper (Harvard Medical School) Sleep switches Robert Stickgold (Harvard Medical School) Sleep, memory, and dreams: Beyond consolidation Erin Wamsley (Harvard Medical School) Memories in the sleeping brain: A function for our dreams? Matt Wilson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Hippocampal memory reactivation during sleep WORKSHOP ON ?NEUROMORPHIC COMPUTING: FROM BRAINS TO NANOCHIPS? Ralph Etienne-Cummings (Johns Hopkins University) Implementing a spike-based HMAX vision system with a silicon neural array Henry Markram (Ecole Polytechnique F?d?rale de Lausanne) The Blue Brain Project: Insights into the design of the neocortical microcircuitry Karlheinz Meier (University of Heidelberg) Neuromorphic computing ? Are we ready for a big step? Narayan Srinivasan (HRL Laboratories LLC) Low power analog neuromorphic hardware for large scale cortical computations CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Session Topics: * vision * object recognition * image understanding * neural circuit models * audition * neural system models * speech and language * mathematics of neural systems * unsupervised learning * robotics * supervised learning * hybrid systems (fuzzy, evolutionary, digital) * reinforcement and emotion * neuromorphic VLSI * sensory-motor control * industrial applications * cognition, planning, and attention * other * spatial mapping and navigation Contributed abstracts must be received, in English, by January 31, 2010. Email notification of acceptance will be provided by February 28, 2010. A meeting registration fee must accompany each abstract. The fee will be refunded if the abstract is not accepted for presentation. Fees of accepted abstracts will be returned upon written request only until April 9, 2010. Abstracts must not exceed one 8.5"x11" page in length, with 1" margins on top, bottom, and both sides in a single-column format with a font of 10 points or larger. The title, authors, affiliations, surface, and email addresses should begin each abstract. A separate cover letter should include the abstract title; name and contact information for corresponding and presenting authors; requested preference for oral or poster presentation; and a first and second choice from the topics above, including whether it is biological (B) or technological (T) work [Example: first choice: vision (T); second choice: neural system models (B)]. Contributed talks will be 15 minutes long. Posters will be displayed for a full day. Overhead, slide, and computer projector facilities will be available for talks. Accepted abstracts will be printed in the conference proceedings volume. No extended paper will be required. Abstracts should be submitted electronically as Word files to cindy@bu.edu using the phrase ?14th ICCNS abstract submission? in the subject line or as paper hard copy (four copies of the abstract with one copy of the cover letter and the registration form) to Cynthia Bradford, Boston University, CNS Department, 677 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02215 USA. Fax submissions of the abstract will not be accepted. REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Early registration is recommended using the registration form below. Student registrations must be accompanied by a letter of verification from a department chairperson or faculty/research advisor. STUDENT TRAVEL FELLOWSHIPS: Funding is not available at this time for graduate student and postdoctoral travel fellowships, but may become available later. If funding becomes available, then information will be posted at the conference web site with further details about how to apply. REGISTRATION FORM Fourteenth International Conference on Cognitive and Neural Systems May 19?22, 2010 Boston University Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems 677 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA Fax: +1 617 353 7755 Mr/Ms/Dr/Prof:_____________________________________________________ Affiliation:_________________________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________________________ City, State, Postal Code:______________________________________________ Phone and Fax:_____________________________________________________ Email:____________________________________________________________ The registration fee includes a copy of the conference proceedings volume, a reception on Friday night, and 3 coffee breaks each day. CHECK ONE: ( ) $95 Conference (Regular) ( ) $65 Conference (Student) METHOD OF PAYMENT: [ ] Enclosed is a check made payable to "Boston University" Checks must be made payable in US dollars and issued by a US correspondent bank. Each registrant is responsible for any and all bank charges. [ ] I wish to pay by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, or Discover Card only) Name as it appears on the card:___________________________________________ Type of card: _____________________________ Expiration date:________________ Account number: _______________________________________________________ Signature:____________________________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- Skipped content of type multipart/mixed From jeedward at yahoo.com Sun Jan 17 19:10:31 2010 From: jeedward at yahoo.com (John Edward) Date: Mon Jan 18 11:11:53 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Workshop on computational neuroscience Message-ID: <326200.15702.qm@web45904.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Workshop on computational neuroscience ? There is a special workshop on computational neuroscience at the 2010 multi-conference (MULTICONF-10) (website: http://www.promoteresearch.org) that will be held during July 12-14, 2010 in Orlando, Florida, USA. This workshop focuses on all areas of computational neuroscience and neuroinformatics. We invite draft paper submissions. The subject line of the submission email should be ?special workshop on computational neuroscience? ? The primary goal of MULTICONF is to promote research and developmental activities in computer science, information technology, control engineering, and related fields. Another goal is to promote the dissemination of research to a multidisciplinary audience and to facilitate communication among researchers, developers, practitioners in different fields.The following conferences are planned to be organized as part of MULTICONF-10. ? * International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Recognition (AIPR-10) * ?International Conference on Automation, Robotics and Control Systems (ARCS-10) * International Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics and Chemoinformatics (BCBGC-10) * International Conference on Computer Networks (CN-10) * International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems and Web Technologies (EISWT-10) * International Conference on High Performance Computing Systems (HPCS-10) * International Conference on Information Security and Privacy (ISP-10) * International Conference on Image and Video Processing and Computer Vision (IVPCV-10) * International Conference on Software Engineering Theory and Practice (SETP-10) * International Conference on Theoretical and Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (TMFCS-10) ? We invite draft paper submissions. Please see the website http://www.promoteresearch.org for more details. ? Sincerely John Edward Publicity committee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100117/66a1e686/attachment.html From d.lin at icitst.org Sun Jan 17 16:03:33 2010 From: d.lin at icitst.org (d.lin@icitst.org) Date: Mon Jan 18 11:41:33 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Papers: ICITST-2010, Technical Co-Sponsored by IEEE UK/RI Communications Chapter Message-ID: <44870616.170870.1263740613140.JavaMail.open-xchange@oxltgw03.schlund.de> Kindly email this Call for Papers to your colleagues, faculty members and postgraduate students. CALL FOR PAPERS ************************************************************ The 5th International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions (ICITST-2010), Technical Co-Sponsored by IEEE UK/RI Communications Chapter November 8-11, 2010, London, UK (www.icitst.org)? ************************************************************???????????????????? ?????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? The ICITST is an international refereed conference dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practical implementation of secured Internet transactions and to fostering discussions on information technology evolution. The ICITST aims to provide a highly professional and comparative academic research forum that promotes collaborative excellence between academia and industry. The objectives of the ICITST are to bridge the knowledge gap between academia and industry, promote research esteem in secured Internet transactions and the importance of information technology evolution to secured transactions. The ICITST-2010 invites research papers that encompass conceptual analysis, design implementation and performance evaluation. All the accepted papers will appear in the proceedings published by IEEE and fully indexed by IEEE Xplore. All the ICITST papers are indexed by DBLP. ? The topics in ICITST-2010 include but are not confined to the following areas: ? *? Application of agents *? Application security *? Blended Internet security methods *? Biometrics *? Boundary issues of Internet security *? Broadband access technologies *? Challenges of content authoring *? Data mining security *? E-society *? Globalisation of information society *? Government, and corporate Internet security policy *? Internet architecture *? Infonomics *? IPSec quality of services *? Patentability *? Regulation, self-regulation, and co-regulation Web services *? Secured database systems *? Synchronising e-security *? Software Architectures *? Technology-enabled information *? Trust, privacy, and data security *? Wireless transactions *? Context-Awareness and its Data mining for Ubi-com service *? Human-Computer Interface and Interaction for Ubi-com *? Smart Homes and its business model for Ubi-com service *? Intelligent Multimedia Service and its Data management for Ubi-com *? USN / RF-ID for Ubi-com service *? Network security issues, protocols, data security in Ubi-com *? Database protection for Ubi-com *? Privacy Protection and Forensic in Ubi-com *? Multimedia Security in Ubi-com *? Quality of Service Issues *? Authentication and Access control for data protection in Ubi-com *? Information visualization *? Web services *? Service, Security and its Data management for U-commerce *? New novel mechanism and Applications for Ubi-com *? Information Management *? Multimedia Information Systems *? Information Retrieval *? Natural Language Processing *? Digital Libraries *? Data and Information Quality Management *? Data Grids, Data and Information Quality *? Database Management *? Web Databases *? Temporal and Spatial Databases *? Data Mining *? Web Mining including Web Intelligence and Web 3.0 *? E-Learning, eCommerce, e-Business and e-Government *? Web Metrics and its applications *? XML and other extensible languages *? Semantic Web and Ontology *? Human-Computer Interaction *? Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems *? Knowledge Management *? Ubiquitous Systems *? Peer to Peer Data Management *? Interoperability *? Mobile Data Management *? Data Models for Production Systems and Services *? Data Exchange issues and Supply Chain *? Data Life Cycle in Products and Processes *? Case Studies on Data Management, Monitoring and Analysis *? Security and Access Control *? Embedded Systems *? Defence Systems *? Information Content Security *? Software Architecture *? System design and verification *? Mobile, Ad Hoc and Sensor Network Security *? Distributed information systems IMPORTANT DATES ? Full Paper Submission Date: May 31, 2010? Extended Abstract (Work in Progress) Submission Date: April 01, 2010 Proposal for Workshops and Tutorials:? April 30, 2010? Notification of Workshop and Tutorial Acceptance: March 15, 2010 Proposal for Industrial Presentation: April 30, 2010 Notification of Extended Abstract Acceptance/Rejection: May 15, 2010 Notification of Industrial Presentation Acceptance: May 15, 2010 Notification of Paper Acceptance/Rejection: June 30, 2010 Camera Ready Extended Abstract Due: July 31, 2010 Camera Ready Paper Due: July 31, 2010 Early Registration Deadline: January 01 to July 31, 2010 Late Registration Deadline: July 31 to November 08, 2010 Conference Dates: November 08-11, 2010 The ICITST also encourages organisations to submit their Job Fair Booth Reservations and/or Exhibit Proposals. If your organisation is interested, kindly submit a brief Proposal (not more than 1 side of A4 page) to jobfair@icitst.org For more details, please visit www.icitst.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100117/c627aad5/attachment.html From d.brown at i-society.eu Mon Jan 18 01:05:26 2010 From: d.brown at i-society.eu (David Brown) Date: Mon Jan 18 11:41:45 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Papers: i-Society 2010! Message-ID: <970590888.33359.1263773126293.JavaMail.open-xchange@oxltgw01.schlund.de> Apologies for cross-postings. Please send it to interested colleagues and students. Thanks! CALL FOR PAPERS ******************************************************************* International Conference on Information Society (i-Society 2010), Technically Co-Sponsored by IEEE UK/RI Computer Chapter 28-30 June, 2010, London, UK www.i-society.eu ******************************************************************* The International Conference on Information Society (i-Society 2010) is Technically Co-Sponsored by IEEE UK/RI Computer Chapter. The i-Society is a global knowledge-enriched collaborative effort that has its roots from both academia and industry. The conference covers a wide spectrum of topics that relate to information society, which includes technical and non-technical research areas. The mission of i-Society 2010 conference is to provide opportunities for collaboration of professionals and researchers to share existing and generate new knowledge in the field of information society. The conference encapsulates the concept of interdisciplinary science that studies the societal and technological dimensions of knowledge evolution in digital society. The i-Society bridges the gap between academia and industry with regards to research collaboration and awareness of current development in secure information management in the digital society. The topics in i-Society 2010 include but are not confined to the following areas: *New enabling technologies - Internet technologies - Wireless applications - Mobile Applications - Multimedia Applications - Protocols and Standards - Ubiquitous Computing - Virtual Reality - Human Computer Interaction - Geographic information systems - e-Manufacturing *Intelligent data management - Intelligent Agents - Intelligent Systems - Intelligent Organisations - Content Development - Data Mining - e-Publishing and Digital Libraries - Information Search and Retrieval - Knowledge Management - e-Intelligence - Knowledge networks *Secure Technologies - Internet security - Web services and performance - Secure transactions - Cryptography - Payment systems - Secure Protocols - e-Privacy - e-Trust - e-Risk - Cyber law - Forensics - Information assurance - Mobile social networks - Peer-to-peer social networks - Sensor networks and social sensing *e-Learning - Collaborative Learning - Curriculum Content Design and Development - Delivery Systems and Environments - Educational Systems Design - e-Learning Organisational Issues - Evaluation and Assessment - Virtual Learning Environments and Issues - Web-based Learning Communities - e-Learning Tools - e-Education *e-Society - Global Trends - Social Inclusion - Intellectual Property Rights - Social Infonomics - Computer-Mediated Communication - Social and Organisational Aspects - Globalisation and developmental IT - Social Software *e-Health - Data Security Issues - e-Health Policy and Practice - e-Healthcare Strategies and Provision - Medical Research Ethics - Patient Privacy and Confidentiality - e-Medicine *e-Governance - Democracy and the Citizen - e-Administration - Policy Issues - Virtual Communities *e-Business - Digital Economies - Knowledge economy - eProcurement - National and International Economies - e-Business Ontologies and Models - Digital Goods and Services - e-Commerce Application Fields - e-Commerce Economics - e-Commerce Services - Electronic Service Delivery - e-Marketing - Online Auctions and Technologies - Virtual Organisations - Teleworking - Applied e-Business - Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) *e-Art - Legal Issues - Patents - Enabling technologies and tools *e-Science - Natural sciences in digital society - Biometrics - Bioinformatics - Collaborative research *Industrial developments - Trends in learning - Applied research - Cutting-edge technologies * Research in progress - Ongoing research from undergraduates, graduates/postgraduates and professionals Important Dates: Paper Submission Date: January 31, 2010 Notification of Paper Acceptance /Rejection: February 28, 2010 Camera Ready Paper Due: March 15, 2010 Early Bird Attendee registration: January 01, 2010 Late Bird Attendee registration: February 28, 2010 Conference Dates: June 28-30, 2010 For more details, please visit www.i-society.eu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100118/190c8f5c/attachment.html From dayan at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk Mon Jan 18 15:17:19 2010 From: dayan at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk (Peter Dayan) Date: Mon Jan 18 16:04:25 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Gatsby Unit Quinquennial Symposium: 22nd March 2010 In-Reply-To: <20080327220149.GA13656@crick.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> References: <20061013122857.GA10331@flies.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> <20070708230220.GA2602@crick.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> <20080327220149.GA13656@crick.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> Message-ID: <20100118141719.GA10714@flies.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> Gatsby Unit Quinquennial Symposium 10.30am-6:00pm Monday 22 March 2010 We are delighted to announce the 2010 Gatsby Unit Quinquennial Seminar, with talks by distinguished researchers in theoretical neuroscience and machine learning. The symposium will start at 10:30am on Monday 22nd March in the basement Lecture Theatre, 33 Queen Square, London WCIN 3BG All are welcome. Lunch and tea will be provided. ----------------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED : TO REGISTER, PLEASE EMAIL: asstadmin@gatsby.ucl.ac.uk before 15 March 2010 ----------------------------------------------------- 10:30-11:30 Daniel Wolpert Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge Probabilistic models of sensorimotor control and decision making The effortless ease with which humans move our arms, our eyes, even our lips when we speak masks the true complexity of the control processes involved. This is evident when we try to build machines to perform human control tasks. While computers can now beat grandmasters at chess, no computer can yet control a robot to manipulate a chess piece with the dexterity of a six-year-old child. I will review our recent work on how the humans learn to make skilled movements covering probabilistic models of learning, including Bayesian and structural learning, as well as decision making and the revision of decisions in the face of uncertainty. 11:30-12:30 Israel Nelken Dept. of Neurobiology and the ICNC, Hebrew University The representation of surprise in the auditory system Neurons in auditory cortex show high sensitivity to rare sounds, a phenomenon often called stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA). I will describe our attempts to find out what do the neurons really respond to, and to what extent SSA can be understood in terms of the simplest possible model, consisting of adaptation in narrow frequency channels. Finally, I will discuss some recent experiments in which we tested the sensitivity of neurons to features of the sound sequence that go beyond the rarity of the rare event, suggesting that neurons in auditory cortex are sensitive to higher-order regularities of the stimulus sequence. 12:30-14:30 Lunch and posters 14:30-15:30 John Hertz Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, and NORDITA, Stockholm The Inverse Ising Model: Why and How Ising models form a natural framework for modeling the distribution of multi-neuron spike patterns: Of all models that correctly describe the firing rates and pairwise firing correlations, the Ising model is the one of maximum entropy. The problem at hand here is an inverse one to that we usually encounter. Normally, one has a model with given couplings (Jij) and the task is to compute averages and correlation functions of the variables of the model. Here we are given the averages and correlations and the task is to find the couplings. In the simplest approach to this problem, one considers only the measured firing rates and equal-time pairwise firing correlations and tries to find the Ising model that has these statistics. In our work we have explored and compared a number of methods for doing this, using data from a realistic model network of spiking neurons. Several of these methods work remarkably well. This success is tempered, however, by our second set of findings. Using an information-theoretic measure of the overall quality of fit, we find that, while the Ising model is a good description of the distribution of spike patterns for small populations of neurons (~ 10), it does worse and worse for larger and larger populations (for reasons that are not yet understood). Finally, I will describe some recent work, which extends the Ising approach to describe non-equal-time firing correlations. 14:30-15:30 Yair Weiss School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Learning and inference in low-level vision Low level vision addresses the issues of labeling and organizing image pixels according to scene related properties - such as motion, contrast, depth and reflectance. I will describe our attempts to understand low-level vision in humans and machines as optimal inference given the statistics of the world. In particular, I will show how message passing algorithms allow us to solve real-world instances of NP-hard problems and to efficiently learn energy functions despite an exponential number of constraints. 16:30-17:00 tea 17:00-18:00 Marty Banks Visual Space Perception Laboratory, UC Berkeley, USA Perceptual Bases for Rules of Thumb in Photography Photographers utilize many rules of thumb for creating natural-looking pictures. The explanations for these guidelines are vague and probably incorrect. I will explore two common photographic rules and argue that they are understandable from a consideration of the perceptual mechanisms involved and peoples' viewing habits. The first rule of thumb concerns the lens focal length required to produce pictures that are not spatially distorted. Photography textbooks recommend choosing a focal length that is ~3/2 the film width. The textbooks state vaguely that the rule creates a field of view that corresponds to that of normal vision" (Giancoli, 2000), "the same perspective as the human eye" (Alesse, 1989), or "approximates the impression human vision gives" (London et al., 2005). There are two phenomena related to this rule. One is perceived spatial distortions in wide-angle (short focal length) pictures. I will argue that the perceived distortions are caused by the perceptual mechanisms people employ to take into account oblique viewing positions. I will present some demonstrations that validate this explanation. The second phenomenon is perceived depth in pictures taken with different focal lengths. The textbooks argue that pictures taken with short focal lengths expand perceived depth and those taken with long focal lengths compress it. I will argue that these effects are due to a combination of the viewing geometry and the way people typically look at pictures. I will present demonstrations to validate this. The second rule of thumb concerns the camera aperture and depth-of-field blur. Photography textbooks do not describe a quantitative rule and treat the magnitude of depth-of-field blur as arbitrary. I will examine the geometry of apertures, lenses, and image formation. From that analysis, I will argue that there is a natural relationship between depth-of-field blur and the 3D layout of the photographed scene. I will present demonstrations that human viewers are sensitive to this relationship. In particular, depicted scenes are perceived differently depending on the relationship between blur and 3D layout. ----------------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED : TO REGISTER, PLEASE EMAIL: asstadmin@gatsby.ucl.ac.uk before 15 March 2010 ----------------------------------------------------- From jonrubin at pitt.edu Mon Jan 18 18:01:10 2010 From: jonrubin at pitt.edu (Jonathan Rubin) Date: Tue Jan 19 15:29:53 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] CALL FOR REGISTRATION AND 2ND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - CNS*2010 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4B5493D6.7010804@pitt.edu> CNS*2010 Twentieth Annual International Computational Neuroscience Conference July 24 - July 30, 2010 San Antonio, Texas, USA http://www.cnsorg.org CALL FOR REGISTRATION AND 2ND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - CNS*2010 EARLY MEETING REGISTRATION OPEN: January 15, 2010 EARLY MEETING REGISTRATION CLOSED: May 15, 2010 (11 PM Pacific Time, USA) REGISTRATION WEBSITE: http://www.cnsorg.org/2010 or https://www.regonline.com/CNS2010 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPEN: January 18, 2010 SUBMISSION DEADLINE: February 14, 2010 (11 PM Pacific Time, USA) NOTIFICATION OF ABSTRACT ACCEPTANCE: April 16, 2010 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION WEBSITE: http://www.cnsorg.org/2010/submission.shtml CNS*2010 will be held in San Antonio, Texas, USA July 24-30th, 2010. The meeting will kick off with a day of tutorials and an evening welcome reception on July 24th. The main meeting of CNS*2010 will take place from Sunday July 25th-Wednesday July 28th, including a special Symposium, "Computational Neuroscience: What have we learned in 20 years and what do we still need to know?", on the afternoons of July 26th-27th. These events will be followed by two days of workshops on July 29-30th (Thursday-Friday). The main meeting will be held in the historic Sheraton Gunter Hotel in central San Antonio, one block from San Antonio's Famous River Walk. San Antonio is home to several universities including the University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio and the University of Texas San Antonio, which are both sponsoring CNS*2010. As is traditional, the CNS banquet will be an interesting and culturally themed event, hosted at Sundance Ranch on July 28th. Submissions can include experimental, model-based, as well as more abstract theoretical approaches to understanding neurobiological computation. We especially encourage research that mixes experimental and theoretical studies. We also accept papers that describe new technical approaches to theoretical and experimental issues in computational neuroscience or relevant software packages. INVITED SPEAKERS: Miguel Nicolelis, Duke University, USA, Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience Lecturer Vivian Mushahwar, University of Alberta, Canada Jonathan Wolpaw, Wadsworth Center and SUNY, USA SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS: John Miller, Montana State University, "Analysis of invertebrate nervous systems as models for understanding complex function" Ron Calabrese, Emory University, "The more we look, the more biological variation we see: How has and should this influence modeling of small networks? Alain Destexhe, CNRS - France, "The Nervous System, still noisy after all these years?" Upinder Bhalla, NCBS- Bangalor India, "Still looking for the memories: molecules and synaptic plasticity." John Rinzel, NYU, ?Modeling neuronal dynamics - our trajectory?? Bruno Olshausen, University of California Berkeley, "Learning about vision: questions we've answered, questions we haven't answered, and questions we haven't yet asked.? Sharon Crook, Arizona State University, ?Learning from the past: Approaches for Reproducibility in Computational Neuroscience? Avrama Blackwell, George Mason University, "Calcium: the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything" Christiane Linster, Cornell University, ?The olfactory system, still computing, but how??? Michael Hasselmo, Boston University, ?20 years of oscillations and memory: The long and winding road linking cellular mechanisms to behavior.? TUTORIALS: Emery N. Brown, MIT: Neural Signal Processing Algorithms Astrid Prinz, Emory: Brute force exploration of high-dimensional conductance spaces Steven Schiff, Penn State: Neural control engineering Reza Shadmehr, Johns Hopkins: Computational Motor Control & OTHERS TBA WORKSHOPS: see www.cns.org/2010 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: Submissions to the meeting will take the form of a formatted abstract. Submission instructions, submission website, and a full description of the review process are at http://www.cnsorg.org/2010/submission.shtml. Authors wanting an oral presentation are required to also submit a 1-3-page summary (for the OCNS reviewers only) describing the nature, scope and main results of the work in more detail. The summaries will be reviewed to construct the oral program. All submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail. OPEN ACCESS, CITABLE ABSTRACT PUBLICATION: The formatted abstracts will again be published as a Supplement to the online journal BMC Neuroscience. The supplement is citable, indexed by PubMed, and open access. At least one author must register for CNS*2010 by the early registration deadline of May 15, 2010 for the abstract to be published and included in the program book. Last year's abstracts are available at the URLs: --http://www.cnsorg.org/meetings/archives/CNS2009.shtml --http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/10?issue=S. AWARDS: A limited number of travel grant awards, based on abstract review, will be available to students. Travel awards are also available for students and postdoctoral fellows attending Tutorials and for postdoctoral fellows presenting at Workshops through a National Science Foundation grant to Ranu Jung at the Center for Adaptive Neural Systems, Arizona State University. Women and underrepresented minorities in STEM are particularly encouraged to apply. See instructions for requesting travel awards at www.cnsorg.org. Recipients of travel grants will be notified by May 5, 2010. Student posters presented at CNS*2010 will also be judged for cash prizes awarded at the meeting. Please check www.cnsorg.org periodically for announcement of additional categories of awards for postdoctoral fellows. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: The CNS*2010 meeting is organized by the Organization for Computational Neurosciences, Inc. President: Erik De Schutter (U Antwerp, Belgium and OIST, Japan) Past President: Ranu Jung (Arizona State U, USA) Program chair: Don H. Johnson (Rice U, USA) Local organizers: James Bower, Charles Wilson, and Todd Troyer (U Texas, San Antonio, USA) Program Committee: Victoria Booth (U Michigan, USA) Hide Cateau (RIKEN, Japan) Gennady Cymbalyuk (Georgia State U, USA) Andrew Davison (UNIC, France) Jean-Marc Fellous (U Arizona, USA; Publication Chair) Boris Gutkin, (ENS, France) Jeanette Hellgren-Kotaleski (Royal Institute of Technology & Karolinska Institute, Sweden) Simon Schultz (Imperial College, UK) Harel Shouval (U Texas Medical School, USA) Volker Steuber (U Hertfordshire, UK) Miriam Zacksenhouse (Technion, Israel) ___________________________________________________________________________ OCNS - Organization for Computational Neurosciences, Inc. http://www.cnsorg.org From inaki.navarro at upm.es Mon Jan 18 22:19:40 2010 From: inaki.navarro at upm.es (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?I=F1aki_Navarro?=) Date: Tue Jan 19 15:30:24 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] (Last CFP - Deadline Extension) BICS 2010 Message-ID: <8cc3f3ce1001181319p37aafd1dpa7f59f6a119d8a52@mail.gmail.com> *We apologize if you receive multiple copies of this message. LAST CALL FOR PAPERS - Deadline Extended Due to several requests, the submission deadline for BICS 2010 has been extended to: January 31, 2010. (23.59 GMT+1) ============================================================================== ____ _____ _____ _____ ___ ___ __ ___ | _ \_ _/ ____|/ ____| |__ \ / _ \/_ |/ _ \ | |_) || || | | (___ ) | | | || | | | | | _ < | || | \___ \ / /| | | || | | | | | |_) || || |____ ____) | / /_| |_| || | |_| | |____/_____\_____|_____/ |____|\___/ |_|\___/ BRAIN-INSPIRED COGNITIVE SYSTEMS CONFERENCE Madrid, Spain, July 14-16, 2010 www.bicsconference.org Ricardo Sanz, General Chair Sponsored by ICSC ============================================================================== BICS 2010 is a multitrack conference organised around four strongly related symposia (NC 2010, BIS 2010, CNS 2010 and MoC 2010). The three previous BICS conferences were BICS 2008 (Sao Luis, Brasil), BICS 2006 (Lesbos, Greece) and BICS 2004 (Stirling, UK). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Conference Symposia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sixth International ICSC Symposium on Neural Computation (NC 2010) Fifth International ICSC Symposium on Biologically Inspired Systems (BIS 2010) Fourth International ICSC Symposium on Cognitive Neuroscience (CNS 2010) Third International ICSC Symposium on Models of Consciousness (MoC 2010) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Motivation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems - BICS 2010 aims to bring together leading scientists and engineers who use analytic and synthetic methods both to understand the astonishing processing properties of biological systems and, specifically those of the living brain, and to exploit such knowledge to advance engineering methods for building artificial systems with higher levels of cognitive competence. BICS 2010 is a meeting point of cognitive systems engineers and brain scientists where cross-domain ideas are fostered in the hope of getting new emerging insights on the nature, operation and extractable capabilities of brains. This multiple approach is necessary because the progressively more accurate data about brains is producing a growing need of both a quantitative and theoretical understanding and an associated capacity to manipulate this data and translate it into engineering applications rooted in sound theories. BICS 2010 is intended for both researchers that aim to build brain inspired systems with higher cognitive competences, and as well to life scientists who use and develop mathematical and engineering approaches for a better understanding of complex biological systems like the brain. BICS 2010 is organized around four major interlaced focal symposia that are organized into patterns that encourage cross-fertilization across the symposia topics. This emphasizes the role of BICS as a major meeting point for researchers and practitioners in the areas of biological and artificial cognitive systems. Debates across disciplines will enrich researchers with complementary perspectives from diverse scientific fields. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Call for Workshops and Tutorials ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Organizing Committee for BICS 2010 requests proposals for a full or half day workshop or tutorial, to be held on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at the Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. This day of workshops and tutorials will precede the main conference. The workshops and tutorials have consistently provided high-quality, topically-focused forums for researchers at the forefront of basic and applied research in brain inspired cognitive systems. Workshops should be focused on interactions of participants to exchange new ideas and explore new directions in research. Tutorials should provide self-contained descriptions of established research topics. The primary criteria for selection are anticipated level of interest, impact, novelty or creativity, and technical background of presenters. We request that workshop and tutorial organizers initially email a brief, single-paragraph description of the proposed topic and a list of organizers by January 31, 2010 to the BICS Program manager at ipc@bicsconference.org. A template for the final proposal of approximately 3 pages will be mailed to all interested parties. The full proposal submission should include a title, an abstract and a description of the proposed content, a tentative schedule, and the expected requirements for space and equipment. Full proposals for review will be due by January 31, 2010. All decisions will be made by February 15, 2010. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dates ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Conference: July 14-16, 2010 Workshops and tutorials: July 13, 2010 Paper submission Submission of contributions: January 31, 2010 Notification of acceptance: March 10, 2010 Final contributions due: May 15, 2010 Workshops and Tutorials submission Submission of proposals: January 31, 2010 Notification of acceptance: February 15, 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Conference Publications ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All accepted papers will be included in the Conference Proceedings, which will be published in electronic format. Attendant authors will receive a copy of them on CD. * BICS'10 book by Springer Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit an extended version of them after the conference, to be included as book chapters in the BICS'10 book to be published by Springer. * Special Issue of Cognitive Computation A post-conference Special Issue of the journal Cognitive Computation will also be published by Springer with extended versions of selected BICS'2010 papers chapters and invited contributions. * Special Issue of the International Journal of Machine Consciousness A post-conference Special Issue of the International Journal of Machine Consciousness will also be published with extended versions of selected contributions to the Symposium on Models of Consciousness of BICS'10. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Venue ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The conference will be held at the Escuela Superior de Ingenieros Industriales of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM ETSII). Address: Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2 28006 Madrid Spain Geo:lat=40.4404 lon=-3.6902 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Conference Scope ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Neural Computation (NC) NeuroComputational (NC) Systems ? NC Hybrid Systems ? NC Learning ? NC Control Systems ? NC Signal Processing ? NC Architectures ? NC Devices ? NC Perception and Pattern Classifiers ? Support Vector Machines ? Fuzzy or Neuro-Fuzzy Systems ? Evolutionary Neural Networks ? Biological Neural Network Models ? NC Applications Biologically Inspired Systems (BIS) Brain Inspired (BI) Systems ? BI Vision ? BI Audition and sound processing ? BI Other sensory modalities ? BI Motion processing ? BI Robotics ? BI Adaptive and Control systems ? BI Evolutionary systems ? BI Oscillatory systems ? BI Signal processing ? BI Learning ? Neuromorphic systems Cognitive Neuroscience (CNS) CN of vision ? CN of non-vision sensory modalities ? CN of volition ? Systems Neuroscience ? Attentional Mechanisms ? Affective Systems ? Language ? Cortical Models ? Sub-Cortical Models ? Cerebellar Models ? Neural correlates Models of consciousness (MoC) World awareness ? Self-awareness ? Imagination? Qualia models ? Virtual Machine Approaches ? Formal Models of Consciousness ? Control Theoretical Models ? Developmental/Infant Models ? Will and Volition ? Emotion and Affect Philosophical implications ? Neurophysiological Grounding ? Enactive approaches ? Heterophenomenology ? Analytic/Synthetic phenomenology ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Program Committee ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jaime G?mez (Technical University of Madrid), Chair of the PC Amir Hussain (University of Stirling, UK), NC Chair Leslie Smith (University of Stirling, UK), BIS Chair Igor Aleksander (Imperial College, UK), CNS Chair Antonio Chella (University of Palermo, UK), MoC Chair David Gamez (Imperial College, London, UK) Hugo Gravato Marques (University of Essex, UK) Alexei Samsonovich (George Mason University, VA, USA) Raul Arrabales (Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain) Pentti Haikonen (University of Illinois, Springfield, IL, USA) Tom Ziemke (University of Sk?vde, Sweden) David Balduzzi (University of Wisconsin, WI, USA) Riccardo Manzotti (IULM, Milan, Italy) James Albus (George Mason University, VA, USA) James Austin (Cybula Ltd, UK) Giacomo Indiveri (University of Zurich, Switzerland) Alister Hamilton (University of Edinburgh, UK) F. Claire Rind (Newcastle University, UK) Sue Denham (University of Plymouth, UK) Philip Hafliger (University of Oslo, Norway) David Windridge (University of Surrey, UK) Luis Rocha (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA) Shun-ichi Amari (RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan) Jose C. Principe (University of Florida, USA) Professor Ron Sun (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA) Anil K Seth (University of Sussex, UK) Bernard Widrow (Stanford University, USA) Stephen Grossberg (Boston University, USA) Umamaheshwari Ramamurthy (University of Memphis, TN, USA) Hans-Heinrich Bothe (Technical University of Denmark Lyngby, Denmark) Marcilio Souto (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil) Irene Macaluso (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland) Will Browne (University of Reading, UK) Petros A. M. Gelepithis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) Mark Humphries (University of Sheffield, UK) Robert Lowe (University of Sk?vde, Sweden) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Organizing Committee ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ramon Gal?n, Chair of the OC Carlos Hern?ndez I?aki Navarro Manuel Rodr?guez Pascual Campoy Paloma de la Puente Adolfo Hernando Miguel Olivares Guadalupe S?nchez ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ General requests: info@bicsconference.org Organization committee: oc@bicsconference.org Program committee: pc@bicsconference.org Conference website: www.bicsconference.org Conference mailist: http://lists.aslab.upm.es/mailman/listinfo/bics ============================================================================== From dimitri.ognibene at istc.cnr.it Tue Jan 19 15:37:22 2010 From: dimitri.ognibene at istc.cnr.it (Dimitri Ognibene) Date: Tue Jan 19 16:21:08 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] SWARM INTELLIGENCE JOURNAL: Special Issue on Swarm Cognitio Message-ID: ======================================================= CALL FOR PAPER SWARM INTELLIGENCE JOURNAL Special Issue on Swarm Cognition http://laral.istc.cnr.it/swarm-cognition/Main_Page ======================================================= ---------------------------------------- --------------- Topic --------------- ---------------------------------------- Swarm Cognition is the juxtaposition of two relatively unrelated concepts that evoke, on the one hand, the power of collective behaviours displayed by natural swarms, and on the other hand the complexity of cognitive processes in the vertebrate brain. In recent years, scientists from various disciplines have been suggesting that, at a certain level of description, operational principles used to account for the behaviour of natural swarms may turn out to be extremely powerful tools to identify the neuroscientic basis of cognition. Generally speaking, these studies claim that the massively parallel animal-to-animal interactions which operationally explain cognitive processes of natural swarms are functionally similar to neuron-to-neuron communication which underlie the cognitive abilities of living organisms, including humans. With this premise, research work in Swarm Cognition aims at identifying the operational principles of cognitive behaviour by calling upon the underlying mechanisms of self-organising systems, i.e., systems whose internal organisation changes without being guided by an outside source. We encourage submissions of innovative research work which highlights the importance of the mechanisms of self-organisation as operational principles to explain cognitive processes displayed by individuals or collectives, both natural and artificial. Particularly welcome are contributions focusing on the distributed mechanisms underlying cognitive processes, like, for instance, decision-making, attention, learning or memory. Topics of interest in relationship to the above issues include but are not limited to: ? Cognitive and computational neurosciences ? Cognitive and social ethology ? Swarm intelligence and swarm robotics ? Adaptive control ? Systems biology ? Neural computation and distributed representations ? Cultural evolution and Learning ? Cognitive sociology ? Bounded rationality ---------------------------------------- --------------- Editors --------------- ---------------------------------------- Dr. Vito Trianni, ISTC-CNR, Italy vito.trianni@istc.cnr.it Dr. Elio Tuci, ISTC-CNR, Italy elio.tuci@istc.cnr.it Prof. Kevin M. Passino, Ohio State University, OH passino@ece.osu.edu ---------------------------------------- ---- Instructions for authors ----- ---------------------------------------- All manuscripts must be prepared according to the publication guidelines of the Swarm Intelligence Journal that can be found at the journal web-site: http://www.springer.com/journal/11721 Prospective authors are invited to submit their papers using the online submission system of the journal at http://www.editorialmanager.com/swrm selecting "Special Issue on Swarm Cognition" as the article type. When submitting a paper, please send at the same time also an e-mail to Vito Trianni (vito.trianni@istc.cnr.it) with paper title and author list to inform about the submission. ---------------------------------------- -------------- Timeline -------------- ---------------------------------------- Manuscript due: March 15, 2010 Notication: May 31, 2010 Final manuscript due: July 19, 2010 ======================================================================== Elio Tuci, elio.tuci@(no_spam)istc.cnr.it CNR-ISTC http://laral.istc.cnr.it/elio.tuci via San Martino della Battaglia, 44 00185 Roma Tel: +39 06 44595 255 Italy Fax: +39 06 44595 243 ======================================================================== From rivestfr at iro.umontreal.ca Tue Jan 19 15:46:15 2010 From: rivestfr at iro.umontreal.ca (Francois Rivest) Date: Tue Jan 19 16:21:16 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Alternative Time Representation in Dopamine Models Message-ID: <009501ca9916$278fdbb0$76af9310$@umontreal.ca> I am glad to announce the publication of a new model of timing in TD models of dopamine (see abstract below). Feel free to e-mail me comments or questions at [rivestfr [at] iro.umontreal.ca]. Rivest, Kalaska, & Bengio (2009) Alternative time representation in dopamine models. Journal of Computational Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10827-009-0191-1 Abstract: Dopaminergic neuron activity has been modeled during learning and appetitive behavior, most commonly using the temporal-difference (TD) algorithm. However, a proper representation of elapsed time and of the exact task is usually required for the model to work. Most models use timing elements such as delay-line representations of time that are not biologically realistic for intervals in the range of seconds. The interval-timing literature provides several alternatives. One of them is that timing could emerge from general network dynamics, instead of coming from a dedicated circuit. Here, we present a general rate-based learning model based on long short-term memory (LSTM) networks that learns a time representation when needed. Using a na?ve network learning its environment in conjunction with TD, we reproduce dopamine activity in appetitive trace conditioning with a constant CS-US interval, including probe trials with unexpected delays. The proposed model learns a representation of the environment dynamics in an adaptive biologically plausible framework, without recourse to delay lines or other special-purpose circuits. Instead, the model predicts that the task-dependent representation of time is learned by experience, is encoded in ramp-like changes in single-neuron activity distributed across small neural networks, and reflects a temporal integration mechanism resulting from the inherent dynamics of recurrent loops within the network. The model also reproduces the known finding that trace conditioning is more difficult than delay conditioning and that the learned representation of the task can be highly dependent on the types of trials experienced during training. Finally, it suggests that the phasic dopaminergic signal could facilitate learning in the cortex. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Francois Rivest, M.Sc. Candidat au PhD en Informatique (w/Neuroscience) Laboratoire d?Informatique des Syst?mes Adaptatifs Groupe de Recherche sur le Syst?me Nerveux Central Universit? de Montr?al http://www-etud.iro.umontreal.ca/~rivestfr/wordpress/ From Pierre.Kornprobst at sophia.inria.fr Wed Jan 20 11:07:04 2010 From: Pierre.Kornprobst at sophia.inria.fr (Pierre Kornprobst) Date: Wed Jan 20 19:14:12 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Post-doctoral Position in Computational Neuroscience at INRIA Message-ID: <4B56D5C8.5080004@sophia.inria.fr> *Post-doctoral Position in Computational Neuroscience at INRIA* *Title: Bio-inspired image and video compression schemes* *Supervised by* Pierre Kornprobst, INRIA Researcher The INRIA, Neuromathcomp Project Team is looking for highly motivated candidates to work in the field of computational neuroscience with a focus on information theory. This work is to provide strong basis to conceive novel bio-inspired video compression schemes based on realistic spiking retinal simulators. It is a very challenging and motivating subject for two main reasons: The first is that video compression techniques are now essential for most standart equipments such as HDTV and DVD, and that recent technical progress allow us to imagine more elaborated coding schemes. The second is that neuroscience and recent discoveries about the nervous system could be a source of inspiration to propose new ideas, especially if one is able to better understand the statistics of spike trains. The first goal will be to better define for a spiking retinal simulator to be "realistic". To do so, we will start from the Virtual Retina simulator, which is a large-scale spiking simulator developed in the team (see [1]). Virtual Retina already proved its capacity to reproduce accurately several retinal cells behaviors such as contrast gain control. We want to extend this validation to additional retinal cells behaviors by comparing the statistics of simulated and real spike trains thanks to statistical tools developed in the team (see [2]). Based on these results and, we will consider to make the parameters of the simulator evolve according to plasticity rules (see [3]). The second goal will be to investigate decoding strategies based on simulated realistic spike trains obtained from the Virtual Retina. This work will start from some recent efforts from the team to understand how to "invert" retinal operations when still images are presented (see [4,5]) and it will be based on other related contribution not necessarily focus on the visual system such as [6]. Successful candidate is expected to interact with several researchers and PhD students coming from different disciplines and already working on the different aspects mentioned above. Mainly, the candidate will interact with Bruno Cessac (theoretical physics and mathematics), Marc Antonini (electrical engineering), and Pierre Kornprobst (mathematics and computational neuroscience). Also, other interactions corresponding to current proposals will be encouraged, for example with Adrian Palacios and Institut de la Vision. *Related references* [1] Virtual Retina: A biological retina model and simulator, with contrast gain control A. Wohrer and P. Kornprobst, Journal of Computational Neuroscience, Volume 26:2, pp. 219-249 (2009) [2] ENAS: Event neural assembly Simulation [3] How Gibbs distributions may naturally arise from synaptic adaptation mechanisms, B. Cessac, H. Rostro, J.C. Vasquez, T. Vi?ville, Journal of Statistical Physics, 136, (3), 565-602 (2009). [4] Retinal filtering and image reconstruction, A. Wohrer, P. Kornprobst and M. Antonini, INRIA Research report no 6960, 2009 [5] A novel bio-inspired static image compression scheme for noisy data transmission over low-bandwidth channels, K. Masmoudi, M. Antonini, P. Kornprobst and L. Perrinet, ICASSP 2010, to appear. [6] Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code. F Rieke, D Warland, R de Ruyter van Steveninck & W Bialek (MIT Press, Cambridge, 1997) *Deadline to apply: February, 20* *To know more*, please check job offers in the Neuromathcomp project team website [http://www-sop.inria.fr/neuromathcomp] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100120/e365a0bd/attachment-0001.html From retienne at jhu.edu Wed Jan 20 16:50:39 2010 From: retienne at jhu.edu (retienne) Date: Wed Jan 20 19:14:44 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] 2010 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop Announcement Message-ID: <4B57264F.5090202@jhu.edu> Forgive us if you get this announcement more than once --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEUROMORPHIC COGNITION ENGINEERING WORKSHOP www.ine-web.org Sunday June 27th - Saturday July 17th, 2010, Telluride, Colorado Organizers: Ralph Etienne-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University Timothy Horiuchi, University of Maryland, College Park Tobi Delbruck, Institute for Neuroinformatics, Zurich 2010 Topic Leaders: Ernst Niebur & Malcolm Slaney - Attention and Selection Jorg Conradt & Matt Cook ? Spike-based Robotics/Navigation in Spikes Bert Shi & Patrick Kanold ? Multimodal Sensory Fusion/Self 0rganization John Harris & Shih-Chii Liu? Spike-based Computation Chuck Higgins & Justin Sanchez ? Brain-Machine Interfacing Ralph Etienne-Cummings ? Education/Tutorials/Methods Terry Sejnowski ? Computational Neuroscience (mini-workshop) Workshop Advisory Board: Andreas ANDREOU (The Johns Hopkins University) Andre van SCHAIK (University of Sydney) Avis COHEN (University of Maryland) Barbara SHINN-CUNNINGHAM (Boston University) Giacomo INDIVERI (Institute of Neuroinformatics, UNI/ETH Zurich, Switzerland) Jonathan TAPSON (University of Cape Town) Rodney DOUGLAS (Institute of Neuroinformatics, UNI/ETH Zurich, Switzerland) Shihab SHAMMA (University of Maryland) We invite applications for a three-week summer workshop that will be held in Telluride, Colorado from Sunday June 27th - Saturday July 17th, 2010. The application deadline is *Friday, March 1st* and application instructions are described at the bottom of this document. The 2010 Workshop and Summer School on Neuromorphic Engineering is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Institute of Neuromorphic Engineering, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Institute for Neuroinformatics - University and ETH Zurich, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Maryland - College Park, Johns Hopkins University, Boston University, University of Sydney, and the Salk Institute. Previous year workshop can be found at: http://ine-web.org/workshops/workshops-overview/index.html and last year's wiki is https://neuromorphs.net/ws2009/ . GOALS: Neuromorphic engineers design and fabricate artificial neural systems whose organizing principles are based on those of biological nervous systems. Over the past 13 years, this research community has focused on the understanding of low-level sensory processing and systems infrastructure; efforts are now expanding to apply this knowledge and infrastructure to addressing higher-level problems in perception, cognition, and learning. In this 3-week intensive workshop and through the Institute for Neuromorphic Engineering (INE), the mission is to promote interaction between senior and junior researchers; to educate new members of the community; to introduce new enabling fields and applications to the community; to promote on-going collaborative activities emerging from the Workshop, and to promote a self-sustaining research field. FORMAT: The three week summer workshop will include background lectures on systems and cognitive neuroscience (in particular sensory processing, learning and memory, motor systems and attention), practical tutorials on analog VLSI design, mobile robots, hands-on projects, and special interest groups. Participants are required to take part and possibly complete at least one of the projects proposed. They are furthermore encouraged to become involved in as many of the other activities proposed as interest and time allow. There will be two lectures in the morning that cover issues that are important to the community in general. Because of the diverse range of backgrounds among the participants, some of these lectures will be tutorials, rather than detailed reports of current research. These lectures will be given by invited speakers. Projects and interest groups meet in the late afternoons, and after dinner. In the early afternoon there will be tutorials on a wide spectrum of topics, including analog VLSI, mobile robotics, auditory systems, central-pattern-generators, selective attention mechanisms, cognitive systems, etc. LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENTS: The summer school will take place in the small town of Telluride, 9000 feet high in Southwest Colorado, about 6 hours drive away from Denver (350 miles). Great Lakes Aviation and America West Express airlines provide daily flights directly into Telluride. All facilities within the beautifully renovated public school building are fully accessible to participants with disabilities. Participants will be housed in ski condominiums, within walking distance of the school. Participants are expected to share condominiums. The workshop is intended to be very informal and hands-on. Participants are not required to have had previous experience in analog VLSI circuit design, computational or machine vision, systems level neurophysiology or modeling the brain at the systems level. However, we strongly encourage active researchers with relevant backgrounds from academia, industry and national laboratories to apply, in particular if they are prepared to work on specific projects, talk about their own work or bring demonstrations to Telluride (e.g. robots, chips, software). Wireless internet access will be provided. Technical staff present throughout the workshops will assist with software and hardware issues. We will have a network of PCs running LINUX and Microsoft Windows for the workshop projects. We encourage participants to bring along their personal laptop. No cars are required. Given the small size of the town, we recommend that you do not rent a car. Bring hiking boots, warm clothes, rain gear, and a backpack, since Telluride is surrounded by beautiful mountains. Unless otherwise arranged with one of the organizers, we expect participants to stay for the entire duration of this three week workshop. ------ FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS: ------ Notification of acceptances will be mailed out around mid March 2009. The Workshop covers all your accommodations and facilities costs. You are responsible for your own travel to the Workshop. For expenses not covered by federal funds, a Workshop registration fee is required. The fee is $550 per participant, however, due to the difference in travel cost, we offer a discount to non-US participants. European registration fees will be reduced to $300; non-US/non-European registration fees will be reduced to $150. The cost of a shared condominium will be covered for all academic participants but upgrades to a private room will cost extra. Participants from National Laboratories and Industry are expected to pay for these condominiums. ------ HOW TO APPLY: ------- Applicants should be at the level of graduate students or above (i.e. postdoctoral fellows, faculty, research and engineering staff and the equivalent positions in industry and national laboratories). We actively encourage women and minority candidates to apply. Anyone interested in proposing specific projects should contact the appropriate topic leaders directly. The application website is (after January 1st, 2010): http://ine-web.org/telluride-conference-2010/apply-info Application will include: * First name, Last name, Affiliation, valid e-mail address. * Curriculum Vitae. * One page summary of background and interests relevant to the workshop, including possible ideas for workshop projects. * Two letters of recommendation (uploaded directly by references). The application deadline is March 1, 2010. Applicants will be notified by e-mail. 1 January, 2010 - Applications accepted on website 1 March, 2010 - Applications Due mid-March - Notification of Acceptance (v6-20.1.2010) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Etienne-Cummings Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering 105 Barton Hall/3400 N. Charles St. Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 21218 Email: retienne@jhu.edu E URL: http://etienne.ece.jhu.edu/~etienne Tel: 410 - 516 - 3494 Fax: 410 - 516 - 5566 From joshjacobs at alum.mit.edu Thu Jan 21 04:15:01 2010 From: joshjacobs at alum.mit.edu (Joshua Jacobs) Date: Thu Jan 21 12:10:02 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Summer Program in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania Message-ID: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010 Summer Program in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania June 1 ? August 13, 2010 Applications now accepted at: compneurosci@psych.upenn.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Applications are invited for an intensive summer program of hands-on training to introduce undergraduate students to the principles and techniques of computational neuroscience. The summer program will be directed by Drs. Michael Kahana and Joshua Jacobs of the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with over 25 Neuroscience faculty from Penn and allied institutions. An initial short course will introduce students to the basic methods of using computational techniques to model and analyze neuronal activity. After the course, students will carry out a research internship in a Penn laboratory under faculty supervision. Lectures and chalk talks will continue throughout the summer, and participants present their research at a Symposium at the close of the program. All undergraduates with an interest in Computational Neuroscience are encouraged to apply. Students seeking an introduction to more quantitative approaches and greater exposure to Neuroscience are encouraged to apply, regardless of background. The goal of the program is to foster training that integrates experimental and theoretical approaches to understanding neural function. Housing is available, if needed, on the Penn campus. A $5,000 stipend will be provided to all participants for living expenses, including housing. Please see our website for program information, including application instructions and a link to the application: http://www.ircs.upenn.edu/compneuro/summer/ The application deadline is March 1, 2010; admission is on a rolling basis. Earlier submissions are preferred. Questions? Contact us at: compneurosci@psych.upenn.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100120/4ff54a67/attachment.html From x.troncoso at neuralcorrelate.com Wed Jan 20 20:41:19 2010 From: x.troncoso at neuralcorrelate.com (Xoana G Troncoso) Date: Thu Jan 21 12:10:23 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Illusion Submissions: 6th annual Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest Message-ID: <5099dbe71001201141w74ce5b1eqb82f6dea94f85422@mail.gmail.com> ****CALL FOR ILLUSION SUBMISSIONS: THE 6TH ANNUAL BEST VISUAL ILLUSION OF THE YEAR CONTEST**** http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com *** We are happy to announce the world's 6th annual Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest!!*** The deadline for illusion submissions is February 15th, 2010! The 2010 contest will be held in Naples, Florida (Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts, http://www.thephil.org/) on Monday, May 10th, 2010, as an official satellite of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS) conference. The Naples Philharmonic Center is an 8-minute walk from the main VSS headquarters hotel in Naples, and is thus central to the VSS conference. Past contests have been highly successful in drawing public attention to vision research, with over ***FOUR MILLION*** website hits from viewers all over the world, as well as hundreds of international media stories. The First, Second and Third Prize winners at the 2009 contest were Arthur Shapiro, Zhong-Lin Lu, Emily Knight, & Robert Ennis (American University, University of Southern California, Dartmouth College, SUNY College of Optometry, USA), Yuval Barkan & Hedva Spitzer (Tel-Aviv University, Israel), and Richard Russel (Harvard University, USA). To see the illusions, photo galleries and other highlights from the 2009 and previous contests, go to http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com Illusion submissions can be novel visual, cognitive, or multimodal illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2009) in standard image, movie or html formats. Exciting new variants of classic or known illusions are also admissible. An international panel of impartial judges will rate the submissions and narrow them to the TOP TEN. Then, at the Contest Gala in Naples, the TOP TEN illusionists will present their contributions and the attendees of the event (that means you!) will vote to pick the TOP THREE WINNERS! Illusions submitted to previous editions of the contest can be re-submitted to the 2010 contest, so long as they meet the above requirements and were not among the TOP THREE winners in previous years. Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the panel of judges and the authors/creators will retain full copyright. No illusions will be posted on the illusion contest's website without the creators' explicit permission. As with submitting your work to any scientific conference, participating in to the Best Illusion of the Year Contest does not preclude you from also submitting your work for publication elsewhere. Submissions can be made to Dr. Xoana Troncoso (Illusion Contest Coordinator, Neural Correlate Society) via email (x.troncoso@neuralcorrelate.com) until February 15, 2010. Illusion submissions should come with a (no more than) one-page description of the illusion and its theoretical underpinnings (if known). Illusions will be rated according to: . Significance to our understanding of the visual system . Simplicity of the description . Sheer beauty . Counterintuitive quality . Spectacularity Visit the illusion contest website for further information and to see last year's illusions: http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com Submit your ideas now and take home this prestigious award! Xoana Troncoso (Illusion Contest Coordinator) Susana Martinez-Conde (President, Neural Correlate Society) On behalf of the Executive Board of the Neural Correlate Society: Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse -- Xoana G Troncoso, PhD Postdoctoral Scholar in Neuroscience Andersen Laboratory California Institute of Technology 1200 E California Blvd. M/C 216-76 Pasadena, California 91125, USA phone: +1-626-395-8337 email: x.troncoso@neuralcorrelate.com website: www.vis.caltech.edu/~xoana/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100120/fd870531/attachment.html From aspence at rvc.ac.uk Thu Jan 21 14:14:55 2010 From: aspence at rvc.ac.uk (Spence, Andrew) Date: Thu Jan 21 15:24:08 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] PhD Studentship in Neuromechanics Message-ID: We have a PhD studentship opportunity within the dynamic and rapidly expanding Structure and Motion Group at the Royal Veterinary College near London, UK. Details of the PhD follow. Funding is available for EU/EEA and UK citizens only, and the deadline for applications is Feb 12, 2010. Information and applications are available at http://www.rvc.ac.uk/Postgraduate/PhD/2010PhD_LS_SensoryBiomechanics.cfm Thank you for your time, Andrew Spence Title: Comparative sensory biomechanics of locomotion in horses, dogs, and insects Supervisors: Dr Andrew Spence (aspence@rvc.ac.uk), Dr John Hutchinson, Dr Monica Daley and Dr Thomas Witte Department: Veterinary Basic Sciences This PhD will examine how sensory input is used by the nervous system to control legged locomotion. It will take a comparative approach that focuses on animals with four or more legs, and will include dogs, horses, and insects. This research has benefits in basic and applied neuroscience (how does ataxia result in unstable locomotion, and how can we better diagnose and rehabilitate patients with neurological problems?), engineering (how do we build more agile robots?), and basic biology (how has evolution shaped animal locomotion?). Past research has found that the locomotor neural control architecture is hierarchical, with different aspects of control handled by the brain, spinal networks, muscles, and physics of the limbs in interaction with the environment. Recent computer modeling studies have proposed that the goal achieved by this hierarchy may be for a running animal's legs to act like springs that are controlled at the hip, such that the feet match the desired speed of locomotion. This studentship will investigate this and other competing mechanistic control hypotheses, using data from clinical gait analysis, basic neuroscience, computer modeling, and novel experiments. Larger animals (dogs, horses) will provide systems in which diagnosed neurological conditions can be used to elucidate healthy control mechanisms and to understand the effects of damage to the control architecture. Insects will provide a model system in which the nervous system can be experimentally manipulated and large perturbations to the moving animal are possible. Data from these systems will be compared and integrated. The project will involve capturing kinetic, kinematic, and electrophysiological data from moving animals using animal mounted backpacks, optical motion capture, force plates, and electromyography (EMG), in addition to computer modeling. A technical background is not essential but a good degree in a biological, engineering, veterinary or allied discipline, coupled with enthusiasm, are. References: 1. Ishihara, A., S. M. Reed, et al. (2009). Use of kinetic gait analysis for detection, quantification, and differentiation of hind limb lameness and spinal ataxia in horses. J Am Vet Med Assoc 234(5): 644-651. 2. Prochazka, A., Yakovenko, S. and Cisek, T.D. (2007) The neuromechanical tuning hypothesis. In: Progress in Brain Research, Elsevier. pp 255-265. 3. Herr, H.M., Huang, G.T. and McMahon, T.A. (2002) A model of scale effects in mammalian quadrupedal running. Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 959-967. The deadline for applications is Friday 12th February 2010. From aapo.hyvarinen at helsinki.fi Fri Jan 22 11:34:03 2010 From: aapo.hyvarinen at helsinki.fi (Aapo Hyvarinen) Date: Fri Jan 22 12:58:01 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoc positions in brain imaging signal analysis Message-ID: <4B597F1B.3030705@helsinki.fi> Applications are invited for *** Two postdoctoral positions *** in the project "Computational analysis of complex brain imaging data" in Helsinki, Finland. This is a joint project with Aapo Hyvarinen (Univ of Helsinki) and Riitta Hari (Aalto University, formerly called Helsinki Univ of Technology). The postdoctoral training consists of developing new models, methods, and paradigms for brain imaging experiments using MEG and EEG. Almost all brain imaging data are currently analyzed by simple methods which constrain the experiments to simple laboratory situations. We develop new methods with which we can analyze brain activity in situations closer to everyday-life. An important example is the setting of two-person neuroscience, in which two subjects are in social interaction with each other, while both of their brains are scanned. Another example is when the subject is in resting state and we only observe the internal dynamics of the brain. One of the post-doc positions has a more computational-mathematical orientation and is concentrated on development of new data analysis methods for MEG and EEG. It is located in Hyvarinen's group at the University of Helsinki, which is one of the world's leading groups in unsupervised machine learning and its applications in neuroscience. The other position combines experimental work with methods development and is in Hari's group at the Brain Research Unit of the Aalto University (Helsinki University of Technology), well-known world-wide for its work in the development of MEG. The selected candidates will receive world-class post-doctoral training in a highly multidisciplinary and paradigm-shifting project. Applications from candidates with a PhD degree in computer science, neuroscience, statistics, psychology, signal processing, or similar, are welcome. Candidates with experience in neuroscience are preferred but exceptionally strong candidates with a strong future commitment to neuroscience are also eligible. Candidates who are likely to obtain a PhD degree in the next few months can also apply. The starting date and the duration are flexible. Please send your application to: aapo.hyvarinen@helsinki.fi . Attach at least: CV, publication list, short statement of research interests, and names and email addresses of 2-3 people willing to give their opinion on your competence. Review of applications will start on 15th February and continue until the positions are filled. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aapo Hyvarinen Dept of Mathematics and Statistics & Dept of Computer Science University of Helsinki www.cs.helsinki.fi/aapo.hyvarinen/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From s.p.wilson at sheffield.ac.uk Fri Jan 22 15:35:54 2010 From: s.p.wilson at sheffield.ac.uk (Stuart Wilson) Date: Fri Jan 22 18:17:58 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] New paper: Modeling the Emergence of Whisker Direction Maps in Rat Barrel Cortex Message-ID: <30E8AD5C-0988-46E7-9319-3827DFAD9FF0@sheffield.ac.uk> Dear colleagues, We are delighted to announce the publication of the following research article: Wilson SP, Law JS, Mitchinson B, Prescott TJ, Bednar JA (2010) Modeling the Emergence of Whisker Direction Maps in Rat Barrel Cortex. PLoS ONE 5(1): e8778. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008778 http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008778 Abstract Based on measuring responses to rat whiskers as they are mechanically stimulated, one recent study suggests that barrel-related areas in layer 2/3 rat primary somatosensory cortex (S1) contain a pinwheel map of whisker motion directions. Because this map is reminiscent of topographic organization for visual direction in primary visual cortex (V1) of higher mammals, we asked whether the S1 pinwheels could be explained by an input-driven developmental process as is often suggested for V1. We developed a computational model to capture how whisker stimuli are conveyed to supragranular S1, and simulate lateral cortical interactions using an established self-organizing algorithm. Inputs to the model each represent the deflection of a subset of 25 whiskers as they are contacted by a moving stimulus object. The subset of deflected whiskers corresponds with the shape of the stimulus, and the deflection direction corresponds with the movement direction of the stimulus. If these two features of the inputs are correlated during the training of the model, a somatotopically aligned map of direction emerges for each whisker in S1. Predictions of the model that are immediately testable include (1) that somatotopic pinwheel maps of whisker direction exist in adult layer 2/3 barrel cortex for every large whisker on the rat's face, even peripheral whiskers; and (2) in the adult, neurons with similar directional tuning are interconnected by a network of horizontal connections, spanning distances of many whisker representations. We also propose specific experiments for testing the predictions of the model by manipulating patterns of whisker inputs experienced during early development. The results suggest that similar intracortical mechanisms guide the development of primate V1 and rat S1. I would like to encourage you to add comments, notes and ratings on the article via the link above, Yours sincerely Stuart P. Wilson, Judith S. Law, Ben Mitchinson, Tony J. Prescott, James A. Bednar. Stuart Wilson (PhD Student) Adaptive Behaviour Research Group Department of Psychology The University of Sheffield Western Bank Sheffield S10 2TN UK s.p.wilson@sheffield.ac.uk www.abrg.group.shef.ac.uk/people/stuart/ http://stuartwilson.postgrad.shef.ac.uk/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100122/e2b14884/attachment.html From xuhuan_1984715 at yahoo.com.cn Fri Jan 22 23:58:19 2010 From: xuhuan_1984715 at yahoo.com.cn (=?utf-8?B?5qyiIOW+kA==?=) Date: Sat Jan 23 18:04:16 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for paper ---Special Issue on Image Segmentation Message-ID: <892726.43230.qm@web15208.mail.cnb.yahoo.com> Tentative Special Sessions/Workshops 2010 International Conference on Intelligent Computing (ICIC?10) (http://www.ic-ic.org/2010/index.htm) August 18-21, 2010 Changsha, China 2. Special Session on Recent Advances in Image Segmentation ? Organizers: Lei Zhang Assistant Professor Dept. of Computing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Tel: 852-27667355 Fax: 852-27740842 Email: cslzhang@comp.polyu.edu.hk http://www4.comp.polyu.edu.hk/~cslzhang/ ? Xiao-Feng Wang PhD, Research Associate Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences Tel?0551-5591108 E-mail?xfwang@iim.ac.cn http://www.intelengine.cn/English/people/wxf.htm ? The rapid development of image acquisition device makes an increasing number of image data available for scientific and industrial purpose, such as object recognition, tracking, image retrieval and so on. Image segmentation is a fundamental and important processing step in many of these applications. There is no comprehensive theory of image segmentation, because the object of interest in the image is largely depended on the application. Although extensive research has been conducted over the last several decades, it is still difficult to find an efficient algorithm for general purpose segmentation.? ? The ever expanding applications of image data demand for the higher quality of image segmentation. In recent years, new techniques and theories have emerged in image segmentation communities. For example, energy minimization methods represent a fundamental methodology in computer vision, its application in image segmentation leads to several well-known methods, such as level set, active contour, graph cuts and so on. ? This special session provides a forum for researchers and engineers to present and discuss the latest research results, to summarize recent advances, and to timely identify and address emerging problems and challenges with regard to image segmentation techniques. We invite the submission of high-quality, original and unpublished research papers. Methods of interest for image segmentation include but are not limited to: l? Discrete and Continuous Optimization l? Graph Theoretic Methods l? Markov Random Fields l? Variational Methods l? Partial Differential Equations and Level Set Methods l? Statistical Methods, Learning and Inference l? Region Merging and Splitting Methods l? Differential Geometry l? Applications of Image Segmentation ? A special issue in an international journal (SCI or EI indexed) with selected papers from this special session is being planned. ___________________________________________________________ ????????????????? http://card.mail.cn.yahoo.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100123/f5e24196/attachment-0001.html From kenneth.harris at imperial.ac.uk Sat Jan 23 21:00:39 2010 From: kenneth.harris at imperial.ac.uk (Harris, Kenneth D) Date: Mon Jan 25 14:16:20 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Faculty job at Imperial College London Message-ID: <8999CAFBA2D8184FB90E4727AEC81E5DD632921B@icexm6.ic.ac.uk> Dear Computational Neuroscientists, I'm writing to advertise a faculty job opening at Imperial College London. Imperial is one of the world's top engineering schools, with a growing and highly collaborative neuroscience community as well as strengths in related disciplines such as robotics, computing, photonics, cell biology, and nanotechnology, The job is a joint appointment between the Departments of Bioengineering and Electrical and Electronic Engineering. We are looking for an experimental or computational neuroscientist with a strong record of academic achievement, able to direct an exciting and independent research programme in an area that synergises with our current activities. Details of the job are here: https://www4.ad.ic.ac.uk/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc=IRC_VIS_VAC_DISPLAY&p_svid=15155&p_spid=785011 All the best, Kenneth Harris. -- Kenneth D. Harris, Ph.D. Reader Departments of Bioengineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering Imperial College London SW7 2AZ Phone: +44 (0)20 7594 6370 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100123/70711566/attachment.html From josic at math.uh.edu Mon Jan 25 16:17:41 2010 From: josic at math.uh.edu (Kresimir Josic) Date: Mon Jan 25 17:15:01 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Second announcement of REU in computational neuroscience in Houston Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, The Gulf Coast Consortium for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience is accepting applications, through February 15, for 12 summer 2010 undergraduate internships. The program runs June 1 through August 6, 2010 and includes * $4650 stipend plus $800 travel allowance * Free Housing in Rice University Graduate Apartments * 1 week of tutorials on Mathematical and Computational Methods in Neuroscience * 9 weeks of research in a Neuroscience Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University or the University of Texas Medical School at Houston This program is funded by the NSF and the University of Texas. For further details and application info please visit http://www.neurotheory.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100125/433ba0bd/attachment.html From pierre-yves.oudeyer at inria.fr Mon Jan 25 17:34:47 2010 From: pierre-yves.oudeyer at inria.fr (Pierre-Yves Oudeyer) Date: Mon Jan 25 18:31:00 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] [CFP IEEE TAMD, Deadline extension] Special issue on Active Learning and Intrinsically Motivated Exploration in Robots Message-ID: <4B5DC827.1020802@inria.fr> Due to many requests, the deadline of the following IEEE TAMD special issue has been extended to 15th february. ======================================================= CALL FOR PAPER IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development, Special Issue on Active Learning and Intrinsically Motivated Exploration in Robots Deadline extension: 15th february ======================================================= http://www.ieee-cis.org/pubs/tamd// /http://flowers.inria.fr/tamd-activeLearningIntrinsicMotivation.htm/ / This special issue is jointly supported by the IEEE CIS Technical committee on Autonomous Mental Development, http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/zhang/amdtc/ and the IEEE RAS Technical committee on Robot Learning, http://www.learning-robots.de/ === Topic Learning techniques are increasingly being used in todays' complex robotic system. Robots are expected to deal with a large variety of tasks, using their high-dimensional and complex bodies, to interact with objects and humans in an intuitive and friendly way. In this new setting, not all relevant information is available at design time, thus self-experimentation and learning by interacting with the physical and social world is very important to acquire knowledge. A major obstacle, in high and complex sensorimotor space, is that learning can become extremely slow or even impossible without adequate exploration strategies. To solve this problem, two main approaches are now converging. Active learning, from statistical learning theory, where the learner actively chooses experiments in order to collect highly informative examples, and where expected information gain can be evaluated with either theoretically optimal criteria or various computationally efficient heuristics. The second approach, intrinsically motivated exploration, from developmental psychology and recently operationalized in the developmental robotics community, aims at building robots capable of open-ended cumulative learning through task-independent efficient exploration of their sensorimotor space and to refine our understanding of how children learn and develop. Although similar in some aspects, these two approaches differ in some of the underlying assumptions. Active learning implicitly assumes that samples with high uncertainty are the most informative and focuses on single tasks. On the contrary, Intrinsic motivation has been identified by psychologists as an innate incentive that pushes organisms to spontaneously explore activities or situations for the sole reason that they have a certain degree of novelty, challenge or surprise, hence the term curiosity-driven learning sometimes used. Several open problems exist still and the goal of this special issue is to show state-of-the-art approaches to these problems and open new directions. Papers should address the following, non-exhaustive, topics applied to robotics or animal cognitive model: . How can traditional active learning heuristics be applied to robotics problems such as motor learning, affordance learning or interaction learning? . How to select an active strategy ? Are there general purpose methods or are they task dependent? . How can active and intrinsic motivated exploration enable long-life, task-independent learning and development? . Is there a unified formalism to both approaches? . How precisely do they model human active learning and exploration and its role in development? . Can these approaches be used for social tasks, e.g. joint-work and human-robot interaction ? === Editors: Manuel Lopes, University of Plymouth, http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/mlopes Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, INRIA, http://www.pyoudeyer.com === Two kinds of submissions are possible: . Regular papers, up to 15 double column pages ; . Correspondence papers either presenting a "perspective" that includes insights into issues of wider scope than a regular paper but without being highly computational in style or presenting concise description of recent technical results, up to 8 double column pages ; === Instructions for authors : http://ieee-cis.org/pubs/tamd/authors/ We are accepting submissions through Manuscript Central at : http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tamd-ieee (please select "Active Learning and Intrinsic Motivation" as the submission type) When submitting your manuscript, please also send an email to manuelcabidolopes@gmail.com and pierre-yves.oudeyer@inria.fr with the title and name of the authors of the manuscript. === Timeline : 15th Feb 2010 -- Deadline for paper submission 15 March -- Notification 15 April -- Final version 20 April -- Electronic publication 15 June -- Printed publication -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100125/be23291d/attachment.html From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Tue Jan 26 03:39:19 2010 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Tue Jan 26 10:45:50 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Talks, tutorials, and workshops at the 2010 NEURON Simulator Meeting Message-ID: <4B5E55D7.5010804@yale.edu> Here are the titles of the three most recent additions to the list of talks, tutorials, and workshops that are planned for the 2010 NEURON Simulator Meeting, March 22-23 at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ: Title: Computational Neuro-Matrimony: Dealing with Failures to Communicate Format: Talk Speaker: Jean-Marc Fellous, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Title: A Practical Introduction to NEURON Format: Tutorial Speaker: Ted Carnevale Title: Hacking NEURON Format: Workshop Moderators: Ted Carnevale and Bill Lytton This thread in The NEURON Forum https://www.neuron.yale.edu/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1863 contains the growing list of abstracts of these and other presentations that will be given at the Meeting. If you are interested in attending the 2010 NEURON Simulator Meeting, or the "Course on Parallelizing Network Models with NEURON" which will follow it on March 24-26, there is still time to sign up for either or both. But it would be a good idea to act quickly because 1. the registration deadline for both events is Feb. 26--less than 5 weeks from now, and 2. the network parallelization course is likely to fill up well before Feb. 26 because of the limited number of seats that are available. --Ted From esalinas at wfubmc.edu Mon Jan 25 23:37:01 2010 From: esalinas at wfubmc.edu (Emilio Salinas) Date: Tue Jan 26 10:46:35 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] new paper available Message-ID: <4CCFAF32FB7B2C449A189C82198E426533D88DAE@EXCHVS1.medctr.ad.wfubmc.edu> Dear Colleagues, Just to alert you about a recent paper that may be of interest to the readers of this list. Perceptual decision making in less than 30 milliseconds Terrence R Stanford, Swetha Shankar, Dino P Massoglia, M Gabriela Costello & Emilio Salinas Nature Neuroscience, published online: 24 January 2010 | doi:10.1038/nn.2485 It is hard to dissociate the time taken for purely perceptual processes from motor reaction times when making responses to stimuli. Using a combination of a novel task design and computational modeling, this study dissociates these two processes and finds that monkeys can discriminate perceptual color information in as little time as 30 ms. http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nn.2485.pdf If someone does not have access to the journal, I'll be happy to send the pdf reprint directly to him or her. Comments or questions are most welcome. Best regards, Emilio ----------------------------------------- Emilio Salinas Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy Wake Forest University School of Medicine Winston-Salem NC 27157 Phone: (336) 713-5176 Fax: (336) 716-4534 e-mail: esalinas@wfubmc.edu http://www.wfubmc.edu/nba/faculty/salinas ----------------------------------------- From sabes at phy.ucsf.edu Tue Jan 26 08:40:08 2010 From: sabes at phy.ucsf.edu (Philip N. Sabes) Date: Tue Jan 26 10:46:47 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral positions in systems neurophysiology and computational modeling at UCSF Message-ID: <4B5E9C58.6030904@phy.ucsf.edu> POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS in SYSTEMS NEUROPHYSIOLOGY and COMPUTATIONAL MODELING Philip N. Sabes (PI) Keck Center for Integrative Neurobiology Department of Physiology University of California, San Francisco Postdoctoral positions are currently available in the laboratory of Philip Sabes in the Keck Center for Integrative Neurobiology at UCSF. Our laboratory uses a combination of primate cortical physiology, human psychophysics, and computational modeling to study how the brain flexibly and adaptively integrates information for movement control. We focus on the physiological mechanisms and computational principles by which information is processed in cortical sensorimotor circuits and how experience continually reshapes these circuits. We are looking for postdoctoral fellows to participate in three new projects: 1. Circuit neurophysiology and modeling of sensorimotor learning 2. Causal studies of the cortical basis of sensorimotor learning 3. Development of optogenetic tools for studying learning in primate cortex For details about the lab and open positions, please visit our website, http://keck.ucsf.edu/~sabes. Interested candidates should send a CV, research statement, and relevant publications/preprints to Dr. Philip Sabes, sabes@phy.ucsf.edu. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Philip N. Sabes Associate Professor Department of Physiology | office: HSE 816 513 Parnassus Ave., Room HSE-816 | phone: (415) 476-0364 University of California | fax: (415) 502-4848 San Francisco, CA 94143-0444 | email: sabes@phy.ucsf.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------ From sabes at phy.ucsf.edu Tue Jan 26 08:40:09 2010 From: sabes at phy.ucsf.edu (Philip N. Sabes) Date: Tue Jan 26 10:46:52 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Scientific programmer or hardware/software engineer needed at UCSF Message-ID: <4B5E9C59.2090308@phy.ucsf.edu> SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMER OR HARDWARE/SOFTWARE ENGINEER Philip N. Sabes (PI) Keck Center for Integrative Neurobiology Department of Physiology University of California, San Francisco A scientific programmer or hardware/software engineer is needed in the laboratory of Philip Sabes in the Keck Center for Integrative Neurobiology at UCSF. Primary responsibilities will be the ongoing development, testing, and maintenance of our systems for behavioral control, high channel-count electrophysiological recording and stimulation, and in-vivo multichannel optical stimulation. We are looking for a candidate who can help design new technological solutions to expand our experimental capabilities. Applicants must meet the following requirements: bachelor?s degree in a relevant engineering or science discipline, with an advanced degree preferred; strong programming skills; experience in hardware/software interfacing and/or optical or electronic circuit design; communication skills to work effectively with lab members during design and implementation phases. Applicants with the following will be preferred: experience working in scientific lab environment; experience dealing with high-volume data processing and analysis. Salary is commensurate with experience. For details about the lab and open positions, please visit our website, http://keck.ucsf.edu/~sabes/Positions.html. Interested candidates should send a CV and a cover letter describing their relevant experience and interests to Philip Sabes, sabes@phy.ucsf.edu. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Philip N. Sabes Associate Professor Department of Physiology | office: HSE 816 513 Parnassus Ave., Room HSE-816 | phone: (415) 476-0364 University of California | fax: (415) 502-4848 San Francisco, CA 94143-0444 | email: sabes@phy.ucsf.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------ From ilafiete at mail.clm.utexas.edu Tue Jan 26 17:55:08 2010 From: ilafiete at mail.clm.utexas.edu (Ila Fiete) Date: Tue Jan 26 18:02:46 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral fellowship in computational neuroscience (UT Austin, Fiete group) Message-ID: <4B5F1E6C.5070101@mail.clm.utexas.edu> Postdoctoral fellowship in computational neuroscience --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fiete group at UT Austitn is seeking a highly motivated and accomplished individual for a postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience. The general interests of the group are in neural coding and dynamics. Collaborations with the greater neuroscience community are strongly encouraged. The initial appointment is 1 year, with a possibility of extension to 3 years. Environment: Neuroscience research at Austin spans the range from molecular to systems to quantitative psychology, and includes several computational neuroscience groups. For more information about our research and the neuroscience community at UT Austin, please visit http://www.clm.utexas.edu/~fiete/, http://clm.utexas.edu/index.html, http://www.cps.utexas.edu/Research/index.html, and http://neuroscience.utexas.edu/ Austin is the 16th-largest US city, and is home to the highest density of high-tech companies outside of Silicon valley. To Apply: Applicants must have a quantitative background (e.g. Ph.D. in Physics, Mathematics, Computational Neuroscience, Computer Science, or Engineering). Enthusiasm for and a strong record in research are musts. Experience with Matlab or C and some knowledge of neuroscience is desirable but not necessary. Please email me with 1) a copy of your CV or resume, 2) a statement of research interests, and 3) please arrange to have 3 letters of recommendation sent to me by email. I will review applications immediately on receiving all requested information. Please apply by February 10 for full consideration. Best regards, Ila Fiete From sen.cheng at rub.de Wed Jan 27 23:28:03 2010 From: sen.cheng at rub.de (Sen Cheng) Date: Thu Jan 28 10:38:54 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Three PhD positions in Computational Neuroscience In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Applications are invited for Three PhD positions in Computational Neuroscience in the research unit of Prof. Sen Cheng at the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. Our unit investigates the theoretical basis for learning and memory processes at the neuronal circuit level. A special emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the learning process, which largely has been neglected up to date. Access to experimental data such as electrophysiological and EEG recordings and behavioral data can be facilitated through collaboration with experimental groups both on campus and at other institutions worldwide. The Ruhr University Bochum is home to a vibrant research community in neuroscience. Students will be encouraged to join the International Graduate School of Neuroscience and interact with the Institute of Neuroinformatics. Our unit is one of three units in the newly formed Mercator Research Group "Structure of Memory". The group is funded by the Stiftung Mercator and investigates episodic and semantic memory processes and their relation to other cognitive functions. It comprises a diverse and interdisciplinary team of philosophers and experimental as well as theoretical neuroscientists. The main language of communication in the group is English. The successful applicants will have a background in either neuroscience or a quantitative science such as physics, mathematics, or engineering. Experience in computational neuroscience is not required, but a familiarity with quantitative data analysis methods and/or mathematical or computer models will be an asset. For further information see www.rub.de/cns. To apply please send a letter stating your motivation and your research interests, a complete CV, and the names and email addresses of at least two referees to mrg1@rub.de by March 7th, 2010. The Ruhr University Bochum is committed to equal opportunity. We strongly encourage applications from qualified women and persons with disabilities. --- Stiftung Mercator, one of Germany's largest foundations, initiates and funds projects that promote better educational opportunities in schools and universities. In the spirit of Gerhard Mercator, it supports initiatives that embody the idea of open-mindedness and tolerance through intercultural encounters, sharing of knowledge and culture. The foundation provides a platform for new ideas to enable people ? regardless of their national, cultural or social background ? to develop their personality, become involved in society and make the most of the opportunities available to them. --- The Ruhr University Bochum is one of Germany?s leading research universities. The University draws its strengths from both the diversity and the proximity of scientific and engineering disciplines on a single, coherent campus. This highly dynamic setting enables students and researchers to work across traditional boundaries of academic subjects and faculties. Host to 32,600 students and 4,700 staff, the Ruhr University is a vital institution in the Ruhr area, which has been selected as European Capital of Culture for the year 2010. From vcut at bu.edu Thu Jan 28 03:00:56 2010 From: vcut at bu.edu (Vassilis Cutsuridis) Date: Thu Jan 28 10:39:26 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] 3rd CfP for the special Issue "Saliency, attention, active visual search and picture scanning" of the Cognitive Computation journal References: Message-ID: <953C27FB8C8C43E18AF3EFA8E0EC491F@Zeus> ======================== THIRD CALL FOR PAPERS ======================== ---------------------------------------------------------------- Special Issue of the Cognitive Computation Journal (Springer) on "Saliency, attention, active visual search and picture scanning" ---------------------------------------------------------------- Guest Editors John G. Taylor, King's College, London, U.K. (john.g.taylor@kcl.ac.uk) Vassilis Cutsuridis, Boston University, USA (vcut@bu.edu) -------- Scope -------- How is a complex visual scene processed? How is the selection of one particular location in a visual scene accomplished? Does it involve bottom-up, sensory driven cues or top-down world knowledge expectations or both? How is the decision made when to terminate a fixation and move the gaze? How is the decision made where to direct the gaze in order to take the next sample? The goal of the special issue is to advance our understanding of the state-of-the-art on bottom-up and top-down approaches to active visual search and picture scanning. Neurocomputational, computer vision and experimental review papers on perceptual saliency, attention, learning and memory, decision making and gaze control are welcome. The manner in which attention is involved is considered a highly relevant topic to the special issue. ----------------- Important dates ---------------- Submission deadline: April 1, 2010 Review deadline: July 1, 2010 Author notification: July 2, 2010 Author?s response: August 1, 2010 Publication by journal: ~November/December, 2010 ----------- Submission ----------- Electronic submissions for the Cognitive Computation journal can be found under http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/12559 Please indicate in your cover letter that your article is for the special issue "Computational models of saliency, attention, active visual search and picture scanning". ------------- Contact ------------- Dr. Vassilis Cutsuridis Center for Memory and Brain Psychology Department Boston University Boston, MA USA Email: vcut@bu.edu Web: http://people.bu.edu/vcut/ From jpezaris at gmail.com Thu Jan 28 01:47:07 2010 From: jpezaris at gmail.com (John Pezaris) Date: Thu Jan 28 10:39:52 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] AREADNE 2010 Conference Announcement and Call for Abstracts Message-ID: CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT -- and -- CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AREADNE 2010 Research in Encoding and Decoding of Neural Ensembles June 17 - 20, 2010 Nomikos Conference Center Santorini, Greece http://www.areadne.org info@areadne.org INTRODUCTION One of the fundamental problems in neuroscience today is to understand how the activation of large populations of neurons give rise to higher order functions of the brain including learning, memory, cognition, perception, action and ultimately conscious awareness. Electrophysiological recordings in behaving animals over the past forty years have revealed considerable information about what the firing patterns of single neurons encode in isolation, but it remains largely a mystery how collections of neurons interact to perform these functions. Recent technological advances have provided a glimpse into the global functioning of the brain. These technologies include functional magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging methods including intrinsic, voltage-sensitive dye, and two-photon imaging, high-density electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography, and multi-microelectrode array electrophysiology. These technologies have expanded our knowledge of brain functioning beyond the single neuron level. At the same time, our understanding of how neuronal ensembles carry information has allowed the development of brain-machine interfaces (BMI) to enhance the capabilities of patients with sensory and motor deficits. Knowledge of how neuronal ensembles encode sensory stimuli has made it possible to develop perceptual BMIs for the hearing and visually impaired. Likewise, research in how neuronal ensembles decode motor intentions has resulted in motor BMIs by which people with severe motor disabilities can control external devices. CONFERENCE MISSION First and foremost, this conference is intended to bring scientific leaders from around the world to present their recent findings on the functioning of neuronal ensembles. Second, the meeting will provide an informal yet spectacular setting on Santorini in which attendees can discuss and share ideas outside of the presentations at the conference center. Third, this conference continues our long term project to form a systems neuroscience research institute within Greece to conduct state-of-the-art research, offer meetings and courses, and provide a center for visiting scientists from around the world to interact with Greek researchers and students. FORMAT AND SPEAKERS The conference will span four days, in morning and early evening sessions. Confirmed speakers include experts in the field of multi-neuron experiment and analysis (in alphabetic order): David Anderson (Caltech), Helen Barbas (Boston University), Carlos Brody (Princeton University), Matteo Carandini (University College London), Jose Carmena (University of California Berkeley), Bob Desimone (MIT), Tim Ebner (University of Minnesota), Adrienne Fairhall (University of Washington), Eb Fetz (University of Washington), Tamar Flash (The Weizmann Institute of Science), David Freeman (University of Chicago), Georgia Gregoriou (University of Crete), Melina Hale (University of Chicago), Michael Hausser (University College London), Jeff Lichtman (Harvard University), Nikos Logothetis (Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics), John O'Keefe (University College London), Cathy Ojakangas (University of Chicago), Bijan Pesaran (New York University), Hans Scherberger (German Primate Center), Maneesh Sahani (UCL Gatsby Institute), Alcino Silva (University of California Los Angeles), Wolf Singer (Max Planck Institute for Brain Research ), Mike Shadlen (University of Washington), Irini Skaliora (Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas). CALL FOR ABSTRACTS We are currently soliciting abstracts for poster presentation. Submissions will be accepted electronically, and must be received by March 12, 2010. Automated email acknowledgment of submission will be provided, and manual verification will be made a few days after submission. Notification of acceptance will be provided by March 30, 2010. Please see our on-line Call for Abstracts at http://areadne.org/call-for-abstracts.html for additional details. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Nicho Hatsopoulos, Co-Chair John Pezaris, Co-Chair Catherine Ojakangas Yiota Poirazi Thanos Siapas Andreas Tolias FOR FURTHER INFORMATION For further information please see the conference web site http://www.areadne.org or send email to info@areadne.org. -- Dr. J. S. Pezaris AREADNE 2010 Co-Chair Massachusetts General Hospital 55 Fruit Street Boston, MA 02114, USA john@areadne.org From steffen.wischmann at unil.ch Thu Jan 28 16:32:03 2010 From: steffen.wischmann at unil.ch (Steffen Wischmann) Date: Thu Jan 28 16:39:23 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] IEEE CEC 2010 - Special Session on "Evolutionary Robotics" - EXTENDED DEADLINE Message-ID: <4B61ADF3.2010608@unil.ch> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IEEE CEC 2010 - Special Session on "Evolutionary Robotics" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barcelona, Spain, 18th-23rd of July, 2010 FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS *** DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 07th of February ORGANISERS: Patricia A. Vargas (Heriot-Watt University) Steffen Wischmann (EPFL - Lausanne) Dario Floreano (EPFL - Lausanne) Phil Husbands (University of Sussex) WEBSITE: http://lis.epfl.ch/specialsessions/CEC10/ Evolutionary Robotics (ER) aims to apply evolutionary computation techniques, inspired by darwinian selection, to automatically design the control and/or hardware of both real and simulated autonomous robots. Having an intrinsic interdisciplinary character, ER is being employed towards the development of many fields of research, among which we can highlight neuroscience, cognitive science, evolutionary biology and robotics. Hence the objective of this special session is to assemble a set of high-quality original contributions that reflect and advance the state-of-the-art in the area of Evolutionary Robotics, with an emphasis on the cross-fertilization between ER and the aforementioned research areas, ranging from theoretical analysis to real-life applications. POST CONFERENCE PUBLICATION: Depending on the quality of the submissions, authors will be asked to contribute to a journal special issue on the topic of "Evolutionary Robotics". PAPER SUBMISSION: Submissions should follow the guidance given on the main conference website for the IEEE CEC 2010 conference.: http://www.wcci2010.org/submission. When submitting, please select as the main research topic the Special Session on ?Evolutionary Robotics? (S089). All submissions will be peer-reviewed with the same criteria used for other contributed papers. All accepted papers will be included and published in the conference proceedings. TOPICS OF INTEREST INCLUDE (but are not restricted to): . Evolution of robots which display minimal cognitive behaviour, learning, memory, spatial cognition, adaptation or homeostasis. . Evolution of neural controllers for robots, aimed at giving an insight to neuroscientists or advancing control structures. . Evolution of communication, cooperation and competition, using robots as a research platform. . Co-evolution and the evolution of collective behaviour. . Evolution of morphology in close interaction with the environment, giving rise to self-reconfigurable, self-designing, self-healing and self-reproducing robots. . Evolution of robot systems aimed at real-world applications as in aerial robotics, space exploration, industry, search and rescue, robot companions, entertainment and games. . Evolution of controllers on board real robots or the real time evolution of robot hardware. . Novel or improved algorithms for the evolution or robot systems. . The use of evolution for the artistic exploration of robot design. IMPORTANT DATES: NEW Paper Submission: February 07, 2010 Notification of Acceptance: March 15, 2010 Camera-Ready Submission: May 2, 2010 CONTACTS: Dr. Patricia A. Vargas School of Maths and Computer Science Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, Scotland EH14 4AS, United Kingdom http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~pav1 p.a.vargas@hw.ac.uk Dr. Steffen Wischmann Laboratory of Intelligent Systems Ecole Polytechnique F?d?rale de Lausanne (EPFL) EPFL-STI-IMT-LIS, Station 11, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland http://lis.epfl.ch/183247 steffen.wischmann@epfl.ch From bower at uthscsa.edu Fri Jan 29 03:01:24 2010 From: bower at uthscsa.edu (james bower) Date: Fri Jan 29 09:03:52 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Special Symposium at CNS*2010 in San Antonio Texas Message-ID: <06C4F4AF-E69A-4999-9BE8-1B427E1B818F@uthscsa.edu> Special Symposium Announcement Computational Neuroscience: What have we learned in 20 years and what do we still need to know? As part of the main program at: CNS *2010 July 24th - 30th San Antonio Texas http://www.cnsorg.org/ Abstract Submission Deadline for CNS*2010: Feb. 14th ABSTRACT SUBMISSION WEBSITE: http://www.cnsorg.org/2010/submission.shtml It has been 20 years since plans were made to organize the worlds first open international meeting in computational neuroscience. Quoting from the introduction to the proceedings of the first meeting in 1990, "Sensing that recent leaps in computational power and knowledge of the nervous system may have set the state for a revolution in theoretical neurobiology, our motive was to organize a conference focused on emerging modeling tools and emerging neurobiological concepts". As part of CNS*2010, we have invited key participants in the last 20 years of CNS meetings to present their views on where computational neuroscience has been and where it is going. This special symposium will allow for both reflection and predictions on the future of our computational approach to understanding how brains work. We hope to see you in San Antonio: Jim Bower, Charles Wilson, Todd Troyer (local CNS*2010 organizers) Invited Speakers Dr. John Miller (Montana State University) ?Analysis of invertebrate nervous systems as models for understanding complex function? Dr. Ron Calabrese (Emory University) ?The more we look, the more biological variation we see: How has and should this influence modeling of small networks?? Dr. Alain Destexhe (CNRS - France) The Nervous System, still noisy after all these years? Dr. Upinder Bhalla (NCBS- Bangalore India) "Still looking for the memories: molecules and synaptic plasticity." Dr. John Rinzel (NYU) ?Modeling neuronal dynamics - our trajectory?? Dr. Bruno Olshausen (University of California Berkeley) ?Learning about vision: questions we've answered, questions we haven't answered, and questions we haven't yet asked.? Dr. Sharon Crook (Arizona State University) ?Learning from the past: Approaches for Reproducibility in Computational Neuroscience? Dr. Avrama Blackwell (George Mason University) Calcium: the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything Dr. Christiane Linster (Cornell University) ?The olfactory system, still computing, but how??? Dr. Michael Hasselmo (Boston University) ?20 years of oscillations and memory: The long and winding road linking cellular mechanisms to behavior.? Dr. James M. Bower Professor of Computational Neurobiology Research Imaging Center University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Texas Department of Biology University of Texas - San Antonio Phone: 210 382 0553 Email: bower@uthscsa.edu Web: www.bower-lab.org CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments to it may be privileged or contain privileged and confidential information. This information is only for the viewing or use of the intended recipient. If you have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of, or the taking of any action in reliance upon, any of the information contained in this e- mail, or any of the attachments to this e-mail, is strictly prohibited and that this e-mail and all of the attachments to this e-mail, if any, must be immediately returned to the sender or destroyed and, in either case, this e-mail and all attachments to this e-mail must be immediately deleted from your computer without making any copies hereof and any and all hard copies made must be destroyed. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by e-mail immediately. -------------- next part -------------- Skipped content of type multipart/related From Amedeo_Dangiulli at carleton.ca Fri Jan 29 21:38:47 2010 From: Amedeo_Dangiulli at carleton.ca (Amedeo D'Angiulli) Date: Sat Jan 30 13:44:40 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] PhD position, Neurocognitive imaging lab Carleton U., Ottawa - deadline Feb 15 Message-ID: <001701caa123$0f7789a0$2e669ce0$@ca> Description Short-notice, fast-track turn around/response applications are invited for a 4-year funded ($30,000 CDN/yr) special PhD position in the Neurocognitive Imaging lab at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada (http://www.carleton.ca/nci/Home.html) starting in September 2010. The candidate is expected to contribute to a multi-method research program focusing on converging EEG/ERP, behavioral and subjective judgment/decision correlates of imagery-based spatial reasoning as applied to real-life decision procedures (i.e., medical/health). A component of this research includes building simple explanatory computational and/or simulation models; thus, expertise in one or both of the latter research approaches is an asset. Eligibility requirements Candidates for this PhD student position should have a Master?s degree in cognitive science, computer science, engineering, experimental/cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, or any related cognitive neuroscience fields (including MD or Epidemiology degrees). Candidates are expected to have an undergraduate GPA equivalent to A or A+ and a graduate GPA equivalent to A+. In addition, they are expected to have advanced research competencies in one or more of the following areas: 1) strong computer and programming skills (e.g., E-Prime; Matlab); 2) experience with EEG data collection and analysis (past experience with Neuroscan systems is a plus); 3) strong, documented (via courses or research products) applied mathematical skills; 4) able to work in a team. Outstanding students already graduated with an undergraduate honours degree may also be considered especially if ?mature? students with past relevant work experience in research institutions that may be deemed as an ?equivalent? to advanced research competencies as specified above, however their admission is conditional on institutional and departmental approval (if one such student was selected, will be required to take 2-3 integrative methods/stats advanced courses at MA or Msc level). Process The candidate will be appointed as a PhD student (1.0 FTE) for a period of four years. The candidate?s performance will be evaluated after 18 months. By that time, students are expected to have applied for external funding to major granting agencies. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2? years. R.A. salary top-ups are planned pending other incoming extramural funding to the lab or directly to the student. Although the position is open to Canadian and international students of any nationality, only individuals with demonstrated written and verbal proficiency in English will be considered. (For details on the required proficiency level please see Carleton?s PhD general requirements: http://www.carleton.ca/psychology/graduate/phd/admission_requirements.html). How to apply: Candidates should submit a detailed up to date CV, a list of university courses and grades obtained (via official electronic transcripts), as well as the names, full contact coordinates, and e-mail addresses of two scientists who may be contacted for confidential references. (International students must submit copies of English proficiency exams or equivalent documentation). Submission of copies of GRE scores (general and/or discipline, e.g., psychology) are very welcome but optional. Please send the above materials by February 15, 2010 to: amedeo@connect.carleton.ca Although all applications will be given serious consideration, only selected individuals will be invited for a Skype interview by February 20, 2010 For additional information: Amedeo D'Angiulli, PhD, Carleton University, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies & Department of Psychology, 1125 Colonel BY Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Room 2202A Dunton Tower, (613) 520-2600, ext. 2954; Fax: (613) 520-3985; amedeo@connect.carleton.ca -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100129/970806f0/attachment.html From castellano at di.uniba.it Thu Jan 28 10:58:34 2010 From: castellano at di.uniba.it (Giovanna Castellano) Date: Sat Jan 30 13:46:17 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] CFP: KES2010 - INVITED SESSION ON EMERGENT INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES IN MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION RETRIEVAL (IMIR) Message-ID: <004301caa000$74bdf250$5e39d6f0$@uniba.it> [Apologies for possible multiple copies] --------------------------------------------------------------- KES2010 14th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems 8-10 September 2010, Cardiff, Wales, UK Call for Papers : Invited Session on Emergent Intelligent Technologies in Multimedia Information Retrieval (IMIR) SCOPE OF THE SESSION With the rapid diffusion of new ways of communication and information sharing, huge collections of multimedia data are increasingly available on the Web. The search of multimedia content has become a crucial task in different activities of Web users who often feel lost when they have to retrieve a specific content among the enormous amount of contents available online. This has led to the pressing need for effective and intelligent systems that enable users to retrieve the right information at the right time in the right way. Fairly consolidated results were obtained in the traditional text-based retrieval. However, the information retrieval from a multimedia database can be made more efficient by including in search queries not only textual descriptions but also multimedia contents reflecting the nature of information to be searched such as colours, sounds, shapes, etc.. Encouraging results were achieved within the research field of content-based multimedia retrieval, but still many challenges and open problems have to be addressed so that users may obtain search results that appropriately satisfy requirements of their queries. Among these, the difficulty of users to express their interests in the form of a well defined query, the development of effective methods for the extraction of relevant features from multimedia objects, the definition of problem-specific similarity measures. Moreover, new techniques for indexing multimedia contents and their automatic annotation with semantic concepts that are natural to the user could be useful to develop intelligent multimedia information retrieval systems able to improve the overall satisfaction of users. The session will focus on the exploration of the fundamental roles as well as practical impacts of emergent intelligent technologies in the field of multimedia retrieval, with special focus on content-based multimedia retrieval. TOPICS We invite prospective authors to submit papers that propose the use of intelligent technologies in the field of Multimedia retrieval. Original contributions are solicited in the following topics (but are not limited to): - Indexing multimedia objects - Similarity measures between multimedia objects - Semi-automatic and automatic methods for multimedia annotation - Semantic automatic annotation of multimedia objects - Semantic-based search and integration of multimedia and digital content - Relevance feedback for semantic semi-automatic annotation - Multimedia data modeling, indexing, and mining - Statistical modeling of multimedia data - Semantic analysis of multimedia data - Context and content-based approaches to multimedia retrieval - Learning, personalization and relevance feedback in multimedia retrieval INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS Please note that the required paper length is eight pages in Springer format. Papers longer than this will be subject to a penalty charge. Papers very much longer or shorter than the required length may be rejected. Authors must submit their papers to the Invited Sessions PROSE portal available on the conference web site (note that there is a different portal for General Track papers, and authors must ensure that they submit to the correct portal). When authors submit a paper, they will be presented with a drop-down box which has the Invited Sessions listed. They will be required to select the appropriate Invited Session. The paper will then be automatically allocated to the appropriate Invited Session Chair, who will receive an email notifying them that the paper is awaiting their attention. PUBBLICATION The conference proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in Lecture Notes in AI as part of the LNCS/LNAI series. IMPORTANT DATES . Submission of papers : March 1, 2010 . Notification of acceptance : April 1, 2010 . Camera-ready papers to be received by : May 1, 2010 CONTACT DETAILS . Name of Chairs: Giovanna Castellano, Maria Alessandra Torsello . Address: Department of Computer Science, University of Bari, v. E. Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari (Italy) . Phone: +39 080 544 2456 . Email: castellano@di.uniba.it - torsello@di.uniba.it Dr. Giovanna Castellano Assistant Professor, PhD Department of Informatics University of Bari Via Orabona, 4 - 70125 Bari - Italy phone: +39 080 5442456 fax: +39 080 5443196 URL: www.di.uniba.it/~castellano/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100128/5e4313eb/attachment.html From pkoenig at uos.de Fri Jan 29 17:46:37 2010 From: pkoenig at uos.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Peter_K=F6nig?=) Date: Sat Jan 30 13:48:41 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Full Professor of Neuroinformatics (salary level W3) Message-ID: <4B6310ED.1070401@uos.de> Skipped content of type multipart/mixed-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: smime.p7s Type: application/pkcs7-signature Size: 3744 bytes Desc: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature Url : http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20100129/880ac90c/smime.bin From bernabe at imse-cnm.csic.es Sat Jan 30 20:52:40 2010 From: bernabe at imse-cnm.csic.es (bernabe) Date: Mon Feb 1 10:31:10 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] 3 brief papers on STDP and memristance Message-ID: <4B648E08.5090000@imse-cnm.csic.es> Readers of this list might be interested in the following three brief communications, which can be downloaded from http://www.imse-cnm.csic.es/~bernabe/nano-neuro The communications relate to the natural appearance of STDP (spike-time-dependent-plasticity) when combining a given class of action potential waveforms with synapses obeying a memristive type of behavior. The memristor was postulated in 1971 as a missing 2-terminal circuit element (like resistors, capacitors, or inductors) from pure circuit theoretic considerations. In 2008 the HP labs announced the construction of the memristor as a new nano scale device, and showed that memristance appears naturally when electric fields control the motion of substances at the nano scale. In [1] we show that the synaptic learning rule named STDP, measured on real neural synapses and characterized by a given mathematical learning function, appears in an exact manner when combining memristance with action potentials of a specific shape. This suggests that some kind of nano-scale electric-field-driven motion of substances might be responsible for synaptic STDP learning. If readers of this list have further hints on this issue, we would greatly appreciate any feedback. In [2] we provide memristive architectural topologies combined with specific neuron circuits that yield to asynchronous STDP systems, like in biology. We also show that the STDP function can be modulated by shaping the action potential waveforms. In [3], using a memristor macromodel for circuit simulations, we demonstrate through electrical circuit simulations that such architectures are scalable to arbitrary size. And we use such computing principles on pattern recognition systems of the type of feed forward spiking convolutional neural networks. Feedback, comments, criticisms, etc. are greatly welcome. [1] B. Linares-Barranco and T. Serrano-Gotarredona, ?Memristance can explain Spike-Time-Dependent-Plasticity in Neural Synapses,? Nature Precedings 31st March, 2009. [2] B. Linares-Barranco and T. Serrano-Gotarredona, ?Exploiting Memristance in Adaptive Asynchronous Spiking Neuromorphic Nanotechnology Systems,? Proc. IEEE NANO, July 2009. [3] J. A. P?rez-Carrasco, C. Zamarre?o-Ramos, T. Serrano-Gotarredona, and B. Linares-Barranco, "On Neuromorphic Spiking Architectures for Asynchronous STDP Memristive Systems," accepted for presentation at the 2010 IEEE Symp. on Circuits and Systems, Special Session on "Neuromorphic Nano Devices Adaptive Sensing & Processing Systems". (www.iscas2010.org) -- -- ATTENTION!!!!! ATTENTION: NEW DOMAIN. We moved from imse.cnm.es to imse-cnm.csic.es ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bernabe Linares-Barranco, PhD Full Professor (Profesor de Investigacion) CSIC Instituto Microelectronica Sevilla (IMSE) Phone: 34-954-466643/66 National Microelectronics Center, CNM-CSIC Fax: 34-954-466600 Av. Americo Vespucio s/n E-mail: Bernabe.Linares(AT)imse-cnm.csic.es 41092 Sevilla, SPAIN URL: http://www.imse-cnm.csic.es/~bernabe ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From wsenn at cns.unibe.ch Fri Jan 8 16:46:31 2010 From: wsenn at cns.unibe.ch (Walter Senn) Date: Thu Feb 4 12:16:07 2010 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Biological Cybernetics: vol 102, issue 1 --- Table of Content Message-ID: <4B474E0F.20702@cns.unibe.ch> Biological Cybernetics: vol 102, issue 1 --- Table of Content Original papers: "Unfolding an electronic integrate-and-fire circuit" Humberto Carrillo & Frank Hoppensteadt http://www.springerlink.com/content/t602v33644104l51/ "Phase-linking and the perceived motion during off-vertical axis rotation" Jan E. Holly, Scott J. Wood & Gin McCollum http://www.springerlink.com/content/2858360vq6420716/ "Concurrent adaptation of force and impedance in the redundant muscle system" Keng Peng Tee, David W. Franklin, Mitsuo Kawato, Theodore E. Milner & Etienne Burdet http://www.springerlink.com/content/523307705623q652/ "A neural mechanism of synergy formation for whole body reaching" Pietro Morasso, Maura Casadio, Vishwanathan Mohan & Jacopo Zenzeri http://www.springerlink.com/content/a4x62613220w6765/ "Evaluating the effective connectivity of resting state networks using conditional Granger causality" Wei Liao, Dante Mantini, Zhiqiang Zhang, Zhengyong Pan, Jurong Ding, Qiyong Gong, Yihong Yang & Huafu Chen http://www.springerlink.com/content/v09lx5324v688388/ "Density-dependence of functional development in spiking cortical networks grown in vitro" Michael I. Ham, Vadas Gintautas, Marko A. Rodriguez, Ryan A. Bennett, Cara L. Santa Maria & Lu?s M. A. Bettencourt http://www.springerlink.com/content/r4w751w07523nnr6/ "Parameters for a model of an oscillating neuronal network in the cochlear nucleus defined by genetic algorithms" Andreas Bahmer & Gerald Langner http://www.springerlink.com/content/e8270k5432712334/ ---- Biological Cybernetics, all issues: http://www.springerlink.com/content/100465/