CNS graduate program

[mike@PARK.BU.EDU]

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         *                                             *
         *                 DEPARTMENT OF               *
         *      COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS (CNS)     *
         *              AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY           *
         *                                             *
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                    Stephen Grossberg, Chairman
         Gail A. Carpenter, Director of Graduate Studies

The Boston University Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems offers 
comprehensive graduate training in the neural and computational principles, 
mechanisms, and architectures that underlie human and animal behavior, and 
the application of neural network architectures to the solution of 
technological problems.

Applications for Fall, 1995 admission and financial aid are now being 
accepted for both the MA and PhD degree programs.

To obtain a brochure describing the CNS Program and a set of application
materials, write, telephone, or fax:

   Department of Cognitive & Neural Systems
   Boston University
   111 Cummington Street, Room 240
   Boston, MA 02215
   617/353-9481 (phone)
   617/353-7755 (fax)

or send via email your full name and mailing address to: 

   rll at cns.bu.edu

Applications for admission and financial aid should be received by the 
Graduate School Admissions Office no later than January 15.  Late 
applications will be considered until May 1; after that date applications 
will be considered only as special cases.

Applicants are required to submit undergraduate (and, if applicable, 
graduate) transcripts, three letters of recommendation, and Graduate Record 
Examination (GRE) scores. The Advanced Test should be in the candidate's area
of departmental specialization. GRE scores may be waived for MA candidates 
and, in exceptional cases, for PhD candidates, but absence of these scores 
may decrease an applicant's chances for admission and financial aid.

Non-degree students may also enroll in CNS courses on a part-time basis.

Description of the CNS Department:

The Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems (CNS) provides advanced
training and research experience for graduate students interested in the 
neural and computational principles, mechanisms, and architectures that 
underlie human and animal behavior, and the application of neural network 
architectures to the solution of technological problems. Students are trained
in a broad range of areas concerning cognitive and neural systems, including 
vision and image processing; speech and language understanding; adaptive 
pattern recognition; cognitive information processing; self-organization; 
associative learning and long-term memory; computational neuroscience; nerve 
cell biophysics; cooperative and competitive network dynamics and short-term 
memory; reinforcement, motivation, and attention; adaptive sensory-motor 
control and robotics; active vision; and biological rhythms; as well as the 
mathematical and computational methods needed to support advanced modeling 
research and applications. The CNS Department awards MA, PhD, and BA/MA 
degrees.

The CNS Department embodies a number of unique offerings. It has developed a 
curriculum that features twelve interdisciplinary graduate courses each of 
which integrates the psychological, neurobiological, mathematical, and 
computational information needed to theoretically investigate fundamental 
issues concerning mind and brain processes and the applications of neural 
networks to technology.  Each course is typically taught once a week in the 
evening to make the program available to qualified students, including 
working professionals, throughout the Boston area.  Nine additional research 
course are also offered.  In these courses, one or two students meet 
regularly with one or two professors to pursue advanced reading and 
collaborative research.  Students develop a coherent area of expertise by 
designing a program that includes courses in areas such as Biology, Computer 
Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Psychology, in addition to courses in 
the CNS Department.

The CNS Department prepares students for PhD thesis research with scientists 
in one of several Boston University research centers or groups, and with 
Boston-area scientists collaborating with these centers. The unit most 
closely linked to the department is the Center for Adaptive Systems (CAS). 
Students interested in neural network hardware work with researchers in CNS, 
the College of Engineering, and at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Other research 
resources include distinguished research groups in neurophysiology, 
neuroanatomy, and neuropharmacology at the Medical School and the Charles 
River campus; in sensory robotics, biomedical engineering, computer and 
systems engineering, and neuromuscular research within the Engineering 
School; in dynamical systems within the Mathematics Department; in 
theoretical computer science within the Computer Science Department; and in 
biophysics and computational physics within the Physics Department. 

In addition to its basic research and training program, the Department offers
a colloquium series, seminars, conferences, and special interest groups which
bring many additional scientists from both experimental and theoretical 
disciplines into contact with the students.

1994-95 CAS MEMBERS and CNS FACULTY:

Jelle Atema
Helen Barbas
Jacob Beck                
Daniel H. Bullock
Gail A. Carpenter
Laird Cermak
Michael A. Cohen 
H. Steven Colburn
William D. Eldred III
Paolo Gaudiano  
Jean Berko Gleason
Stephen Grossberg 
Frank H. Guenther         
Thomas G. Kincaid
Nancy Kopell
Ennio Mingolla
Alan Peters
Andrzej Przybyszewski
Adam Reeves
William D. Ross
Robert Savoy
Eric L. Schwartz
Robert Sekuler
Allen Waxman
Jeremy Wolfe