From d.polani at herts.ac.uk Sun Feb 6 13:25:01 2005 From: d.polani at herts.ac.uk (Daniel Polani) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 19:25:01 +0100 Subject: 2nd CFP: KES 2005 session on Evol. and Self-Organizing Sensors, Actuators, Processing Message-ID: <16902.24829.619856.829226@perm.feis.herts.ac.uk> Apologies if you receive this call twice. Please forward the call to all possible interested parties. Thank you very much in advance. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 2nd Call for Papers & Participation: Evolutionary and Self-Organizing Sensors, Actuators and Processing Hardware Invited Session at KES 2005 Ninth International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems 14-16. September 2005, Melbourne, Australia //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Program Chairs Daniel Polani (University of Hertfordshire, UK) Mikhail Prokopenko (CSIRO, Australia) Session website: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqdp1/kes_2005.html Conference website: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/kes/ _________________________________________________________________ Introduction Recent technology has witnessed the advent of cheap ubiquitous sensing, processing and actuating capabilities for isolated, distributed or collective robotic systems. These appear in the form of intelligent materials, nano-motors and -sensors, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), grid processors, Avogadro-scale digital circuits and similar structures. Established conventional AI computation paradigms do not harness the full potential of this new type of technological ability that includes dynamic reconfiguration, addition or removal of sensors, actuators or processing hardware. Classical AI paradigms are inadequate to deal with the requirements of these scenarios which require flexible and adaptive acquisition, manipulation and distribution of information as opposed to sterile off-line AI software designs detached from concrete usage scenarios. One is confronted with the necessity to adapt sensoric properties and/or configuration to a situation or task at hand, discovery of new sensoric modalities,the use of newly added actuators in novel ways, the necessity of reconfiguring computational hardware after being damaged, and much more. What all these requirements have in common is that, in general, there cannot be a full a priori appreciation of the possible scenarios that can occur during the lifetime of the involved hardware and software. On the other hand, biological systems are capable to tackle such problems on a regular basis. E.g. the recovery of functionality in experiments where sensoric or neural tissues are transplanted to other than the original locations show that biological systems have a powerful potential to reconfigure their "hardware" and "software" to suit the relevant situation. Biologically inspired approaches, e.g. evolutionary and neural methods, as well as self-organization to tackle these challenges, have been increasingly found to be fruitful. Evolutionary sensorics, self-organizing controllers, neural strategies have all provided new insights, methodologies, towards the achievement of self- and externally modified sensomotoric loops. Solving these problems has an enormous potential: it would allow the construction of robust, cheap autonomous vehicles, sensor/actuator networks consisting of a large number of autonomous sensor/actuator units ('agents') that interact with each other to obtain the best results. It would open the way to apply novel sensing/actuation materials for the construction of agents because the self-organized adaptation mechanisms would be able to deal with the novelty. _________________________________________________________________ Call for Contributions We solicit papers for poster or oral presentations (20 minute talk) reporting working in this exciting area. Talks should address an interdisciplinary audience, but may nevertheless deal with issues at the cutting edge of research. _________________________________________________________________ Topics Possible topics for the invited session are or involve (this is not an exhaustive list): * evolution or self-organization of physical sensors and actuators (artificial, bio-inspired, and biological) * abstract models for the evolution, self-organization and adaptation of sensors, actuators and processing, and for detection of emergent behaviour * evolution of controllers (including, but not limited to neural or cellular architectures) * self-monitoring and self-repair of damaged sensoric, computational and communication architectures * self-organization in sensomotoric loops * self-organized adaptive communication (e.g. mechanisms for the emergence of communication protocols) * evolution or self-organized modularity and hierarchies * identification of relevant information and features in sensoric input and of relevant behaviours and activities in actuatoric output If you are unsure whether your topic is adequate for submission to the session, please contact the program chairs. _________________________________________________________________ Important Dates Submission of papers: 4 March 2005 Notification of acceptance: 15 April 2005 Note: All presenting authors (both General and Special/Invited Sessions) must register with payment by 1 June 2005, for their papers to appear in the proceedings (see main KES 2005 Website, http://www.latrobe.edu.au/kes/). _________________________________________________________________ Format The conference proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in Lecture Notes in AI as part of the LNCS/LNAI series. Please refer to the Springer-Verlag web site for directions on the Paper Format which must be strictly followed. All oral and poster papers must be presented by one of the authors who must register and pay fees. Please note that papers should be no longer than 7 pages. Papers longer than this will be subject to an additional page charge. For more information, see the KES 2005 Submission page (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/kes/index.html#Submission_of_Papers). _________________________________________________________________ Program Committee Peter Dauscher University of Mainz, Germany Kerstin Dautenhahn University of Hertfordshire, UK Andrew Jennings RMIT, Australia Hod Lipson Cornell University, USA Julian Miller University of York, UK Chrystopher Nehaniv University of Hertfordshire, UK David Payton Hughes Research Labs, USA Don Price CSIRO, Australia William Prosser NASA LaRC, USA Claude Sammut UNSW, Australia Mary-Anne Williams UTS, Australia From eann05 at ensm-douai.fr Fri Feb 4 06:53:38 2005 From: eann05 at ensm-douai.fr (Eann05 Secretariat) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 12:53:38 +0100 Subject: CFP EANN05 - New Deadline Message-ID: <200502041149.j14Bncke013571@ecole.ensm-douai.fr> 3rd CFP Nineth International Conference on Engineering Applications of Neural Networks - 24-26 August 2005 Dear Colleagues, We remind you that the next EANN conference will be held in Lille, France. The submission deadline has been modified. Prospective authors are requested to send a paper or an extended abstract by March, 25th. Please do not hesitate to have a look at the conference website: http://www.ensm-douai.fr/eann05 to know who will be the plenary sessions speakers (to be announced next two weeks). We remind you that a selection of the best papers will be published in a Special Issue of the International Journal "Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence" (IFAC and Elsevier journal). Please refer to our website for formatting and submission requirements. If you have any question about the conference, please feel free to contact us at eann05 at ensm-douai.fr Sincerely yours, and looking forward to receiving a paper submission, Hope to seeing you in Lille at EANN'05 http : www.ensm-douai.fr/eann05 email : eann05 at ensm-douai.Fr From oby at cs.tu-berlin.de Mon Feb 7 07:29:46 2005 From: oby at cs.tu-berlin.de (Klaus Obermayer) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 13:29:46 +0100 (MET) Subject: tenured faculty position Message-ID: Dear All, below please find an announcement for an open faculty position (tenured) in the area of CNS / AI in our department (EE and CS) at the Berlin University of Technology (Berlin, Germany). The Berlin area has a high concentration of high quality research institutions (three universities, Max-Planck and Fraunhofer institutes, etc.) and a lively computational neuroscience and AI/machine learning scene. Besides that, it is a pleasant city to live in and Germany's most prominent place for cultural activities. There are no German language requirements, as teaching can be done in English at least for the first five years, but very likely also for the period after. Cheers Klaus ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Department for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of Berlin University of Technology (Berlin, Germany) solicits applications for a Tenured Faculty Position (W2) "Modeling of Cognitive Processes" We seek a scientist with a background in computational neuroscience, computational cognitive science, machine learning, or artificial intelligence. The candidate should develop quantitative models of higher brain functions as inferred, for example, from non-invasive brain signals, and should combine this modelling work with application oriented research in machine intelligence (e.g., autonomous agents, man-machine systems). The faculty position is also part of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin. A strong commitment to excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience is expected. Applications should include CV, summary of teaching and research experience, list of publications and funding, statement of research interests, and up to five selected publications. All applications received before 14. 02. 2005 will be given full consideration. Late applications, however, may still be considered until the position is filled. Applications should be sent to: Dekanat, FR 5-1, Fakultaet IV, Technische Universitaet Berlin, Franklinstrasse 28/29, 10587 Berlin, Germany. An electronic version should be sent to a.herz at biologie.hu-berlin.de (Andreas Herz) and oby at cs.tu-berlin.de (Klaus Obermayer) to speed up the search process. The Technical University of Berlin wants to increase the percentage of women on its faculty and strongly encourages applications from qualified individuals. Women will be preferred given equal qualifications. Handicapped persons will be preferred given equal qualifications. ======================================================================== Prof. Dr. Klaus Obermayer phone: 49-30-314-73442 FR2-1, NI, Informatik 49-30-314-73120 Technische Universitaet Berlin fax: 49-30-314-73121 Franklinstrasse 28/29 e-mail: oby at cs.tu-berlin.de 10587 Berlin, Germany http://ni.cs.tu-berlin.de/ From d.mareschal at bbk.ac.uk Mon Feb 7 12:14:20 2005 From: d.mareschal at bbk.ac.uk (Denis Mareschal) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:14:20 +0000 Subject: Phd Studentships Message-ID: The School of Psychology, Birkbeck University of London has a number of Phd Studentships on offer for Phds starting in October 2005. Birkbeck College is part of the University of London and is situated in the central Bloomsbury area of London, in close proximity to University College London, The Insitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, the Gatsby Computational Neurosciences Unit, the Institute of Child Health, and the Institute of Education. The School of Psychology has a very active internationally recognised research programme with particular interests in cognitive sciences, cognitive neurosciences, computational neuroscience, and cognitive and social development. However, the School welcomes applications for studentships in all areas of psychology For more information about the Schools research profile and studentships available, please visit our website: http://www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk OR contact: Ms Mina Daniel Postgraduate Administrator Tel.: 020 7631 6862 E-mail: s.daniel at psychology.bbk.ac.uk -- ================================================= Dr. Denis Mareschal Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development School of Psychology Birkbeck College University of London Malet St., London WC1E 7HX, UK tel +44 (0)20 7631-6582/6226 reception: 6207 fax +44 (0)20 7631-6312 http://www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk/people/academic/mareschal_d/ ================================================= From skremer at kremer.ca Mon Feb 7 15:26:39 2005 From: skremer at kremer.ca (Stefan C. Kremer) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:26:39 -0500 Subject: FINAL CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: Correlation Learning Workshop In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5e25e6b26a304f3f15bdbfaf17bfeb6f@kremer.ca> << Apologies for multiple copies of this message >> ********************************************************************* FINAL CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS (due in 11 days) Correlation Learning Workshop The Eighteenth Canadian Conference on Artificial Intelligence University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia May 8th, 2005 Workshop Website: http://www.kremer.ca/CorrelationLearning A.I. '05 Website: http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~ai05 The Correlation Learning Workshop invites participants to present original work in in Correlation Learning, defined as follows. Correlative learning is a paradigm for adaptive behaviour which uses correlations between neuronal activations, oscillations and/or changes in system energy to effect synaptic plasticity. Correlative learning has a long history in biological models of neoronal computation, and has recently garnered an increased amount of interest in the field of machine learning. The AI'05 Correlation Workshop is the opportunity for you to share, discuss and further develop ideas and techniques in correlative learning. It will bring together research from the biological community that focusses on explaining biological learning and combine it with correlative learning approaches from the machine learning community that focus on effectiveness for pattern recognition problems. Prospective participants are invited to submit a 2-page summary of a proposed 30 minute presentation by February 18th. Accepted speakers will be invited to give their presentation, participate in the workshop discussions and contribute an article for consideration in a special issue of the new, on-line (open access) journal: Canadian Journal of Natural Computation (ISSN 1703-7115). Proposals will be reviewed by the workshop organizers and judged according to their originality, technical merit and clarity of presentation. Proposal Submission: Authors are invited to submit proposals in plain text, PDF, Postscript, or MS-Word RTF via e-mail to skremer at uoguelph.ca. All e-mails must have a subject header of "AI2005 Workshop Submission" to be considered. Important Dates: Proposal submission due: February 18th, 2005 Notification of acceptance: February 28th, 2005 Workshop Date: May 8th,2005 Proposed CJNC Special Issue Publication Date: Fall, 2005 -- Dr. Stefan C. Kremer, Associate Prof., Reynolds Building, 106, Dept. of Computing & Info. Science University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 Tel: (519)824-4120 Ext.58913 E-mail: skremer at uoguelph.ca Fax: (519)837-0323 WWW: http://q.cis.uoguelph.ca/~skremer -- Dr. Stefan C. Kremer, Associate Prof., Reynolds Building, 106, Dept. of Computing & Info. Science University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 Tel: (519)824-4120 Ext.58913 E-mail: skremer at uoguelph.ca Fax: (519)837-0323 WWW: http://q.cis.uoguelph.ca/~skremer From hfiske at uwo.ca Mon Feb 7 10:22:35 2005 From: hfiske at uwo.ca (Harold Fiske) Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 10:22:35 -0500 Subject: Connectionist Models of Musical Thinking Message-ID: <420787BB.5CA86DCD@uwo.ca> I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest book, Connectionist Models of Musical Thinking. Briefly, the book explores a series of neural network models designed to represent music listening processes. Backpropagation, Adaptive Resonance Theory, and other connectionist procedures are used to model melodic perception, interpretation, and expression. the history and theory of neural network research is presented and development and construction of the music models is discussed in sufficient detail to interest both specialists and non-specialists. A series of listening experiments involving human participants demonstrates the models' validity. The book considers how neural network models can be used to bridge bottom-up and top-down theories of music perception and cognition in addressing questions such as musical imagery, memory and learning, lateral thinking and understanding. The book is intended for music researchers and graduate students in the fields of music psychology, artificial intelligence and neural network theory, music theory, music cognitive philosophy, and music education. For more information go to: www.mellenpress.com Order information: The Edwin Mellen Press, Order Fulfillment Dept., PO Box 450, Lewiston, NY, 14092-0450 e-mail: cservice at mellenpress.com Tel: (716)754-2788 Fax: (716)754-1860 Regards to all, Harold Fiske Faculty of Music University of Western Ontario London, Ontario N6A 3K7 CANADA From dh20 at ohm.york.ac.uk Tue Feb 8 10:23:53 2005 From: dh20 at ohm.york.ac.uk (David Halliday) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 15:23:53 +0000 Subject: IPCAT 2005 Call for papers Message-ID: <4208D989.7000904@ohm.york.ac.uk> Dear Colleague, IPCAT 2005 (Information Processing in Cells and Tissues) 30 August to 1 September 2005, York, UK We are hosting the Sixth International Workshop on Information Processing in Cells and Tissues in York, UK from 30th August to 1st September 2005. This is the 10th Anniversary of the first IPCAT and we hope to make it the best Workshop ever. IPCAT has a unique place within the biology and computing communities and we hope very much that you will be able to assist us in making IPCAT 2005 a great success. Paper submission deadline is 18th February 2005. Full details can be found at: http://www.elec.york.ac.uk/intsys/events/ipcat2005/ Please do not hesitate contact us if you require any further information. We look forward to your participation. Best regards, Andy Tyrrell General Chair Stephen Smith Programme Chair From soeren.lorenz at uni-bielefeld.de Thu Feb 10 12:06:26 2005 From: soeren.lorenz at uni-bielefeld.de (Soeren Lorenz) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 18:06:26 +0100 Subject: "Brains, Minds and Media" -- open access eJournal -- call for submission Message-ID: <420B9492.1060207@uni-bielefeld.de> ******** Apologies for multiple postings ******** ____________________________________________________________ --------------- CALL FOR SUBMISSION --------------- --------- eJournal Brains, Minds & Media ---------- ------------- Journal of New Media in ------------- ----- Neural and Cognitive Science Education ------ -------- http://www.brains-minds-media.org -------- -- Deadline for inaugural issue: March 31, 2005 -- ____________________________________________________________ Dear Colleague, you are invited to submit contributions to the novel open-access online Journal 'Brains, Minds & Media' (BMM). The concept of BMM is novel, because it allows authors not only to publish articles, but also high-quality media, such as visualizations, simulations or tutorials in the neural and cognitive sciences. The main focus of BMM is in the field of teaching and education technology. BMM is not only free for recipients but currently also free for contributors (no author fees). We are currently preparing the inaugural issue of BMM and invite interesting contributions. Deadline is March 31st. SPECIFIC AIMS OF BMM: - promote an intelligible and thorough understanding of neural and cognitive concepts - adequately represent knowledge beyond papers and textbooks with visualizations and interactive media - assure citability, content quality and technology standards with professional review and publication systems - assure fast peer-review and publication process (< 3 months) We encourage combined submission of a mandatory short paper and (optional) elaborated, high-quality media (visualizations, simulations, tutorials and the like), which may be browser-ready, but can also be proprietary. Papers on the use and effect of new media in the neural and cognitive sciences and reviews are also welcome. Theoretical and empirical contributions complement the scope. THE THEMATIC RANGE of the journal spans neural, cognitive or behavioural phenomena or their software and hardware models. SECTIONS - MATERIALS. Tried and tested topical material and corresponding educational scenarios (e.g. visualizations, simulations, content packages, tutorials) - TOOLS. Generic software tools designed for the neural and cognitive sciences or widely applied and their use in education - STUDIES. Empirical or theoretical (formal) studies either on education in the neural and cognitive sciences or on the neural and cognitive basis of learning - THEORY. Texts on foundations of either of the forenamed issues (including reviews and viewpoints) - NEWS. Announcements, Reports, Material Reviews, Commentaries EDITORIAL BOARD * Martin Egelhaaf (in chief), Dept. of Neurobiology, Bielefeld University. * Robert Cannon, Inst. for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh. * Stephen Grossberg, Dept. of Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University. * Jeff Yoshimi, School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, University of Carlifornia, Merced. * Johannes Zanker, Dept. of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London. MORE INFORMATION about the journal as well as preview articles can be found at http://www.brains-minds-media.org Submissions can be sent to editors at brains-minds-media.org. Submission deadline for the inaugural issue: March 31, 2005. If you have any questions, please contact info at brains-minds-media.org. Thank you! Your organizational team, Soeren Lorenz and Wolfram Horstmann Bielefeld University Department of Neurobiology P/O-Box 100131 33501 Bielefeld Germany FURTHER PARTNERS * Bielefeld University Library * Academic Library Centre "HBZ" of State NRW, Germany * Initiative "Digital Peer Publishing" State Government NRW, Germany (funding) From auke.ijspeert at epfl.ch Thu Feb 10 05:53:08 2005 From: auke.ijspeert at epfl.ch (Auke Ijspeert) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:53:08 +0100 Subject: 2nd CFP: AMAM2005 Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines Message-ID: <420B3D14.3070201@epfl.ch> Dear Connectionists, Researchers working on any aspect related to the adaptive control of movement and locomotion in animals and robots, might be interested in AMAM2005, the Third International Symposium on Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines (see the CFP below). The two previous symposia in Montreal and Kyoto, which brought together researchers in neurobiology, biomechanics, neural computation, and robotics, were very exciting and fruitful events. Best regards, Auke Ijspeert ****************Second Call for Papers**************** 3rd International Symposium on Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines AMAM 2005 will take place at Technische Universitt Ilmenau, Germany, September 25th - September 30th, 2005. Deadline for abstract submission: February 28^th , 2005. Please find details and the first Call for Papers at: http://www.tu-ilmenau.de/amam On behalf of the International Organizing Committee under the guidance of Prof. Kazuo Tsuchiya (Kyoto, Japan), it is our pleasure to cordially invite you to take part in this symposium. It is our dream to understand principles of animals' surprising abilities in adaptive motion and to transfer such abilities on a robot. However, principles of adaptation to various environments have not yet been clarified, and autonomous adaptation is left unsolved as a seriously difficult problem in robotics. Apparently, the adaptation ability shown by animals and needed by robots in a real world can not be explained or realized by one single function in the control system. That is, adaptation is induced at multiple levels in a wide spectrum from the central neural system to the musculo-skeletal system. We are organizing AMAM 2005 for scientists and engineers concerned with adaptation on various levels to be brought in contact, to discuss principles on each level and to investigate principles governing total systems. Some topics of particular interest to guide prospective contributors are: * Visual Adaptation Mechanisms of Systems in Locomotion * Sensory-Motor Coordination in Locomotion * Neuro-Mechanics * Locomotion of Animals * Behaviour (Locomotion and Idiomotion) of Mammals, esp. Primates, esp. Humans and Humanoids * Embodied Intelligence in Locomotion * Non-linear Dynamics in Locomotion * Adaptive Mechanics * Modeling and Analysis of Motion * Prostheses, Ortheses and Rehabilitation * Evolution of Adaptive Motion (Phylogenesis) * Ontogenesis of Adaptive Motion (from Learning to De-learning, Development and Ageing) * Technical Development of Mechanism and Control for Adaptive Motion Prof. H. Kimura, Tokyo (Japan) Prof. A.J. Ijspeert, Lausanne (Switzerland) Prof. Hartmut Witte, Ilmenau (Germany) *************************************************************************************************** From bassis at dsi.unimi.it Fri Feb 11 10:58:13 2005 From: bassis at dsi.unimi.it (Simone Bassis) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:58:13 +0100 Subject: First Call for Paper WIRN 2005 Message-ID: <200502111658.13095.bassis@dsi.unimi.it> Apologies if you receive this more than once. ========= Call for Papers XV Italian Workshop on Neural Networks (WIRN 2005) Vietri sul Mare, Salerno, Italy, June 8-11, 2005 http://siren.dsi.unimi.it/conferences/WIRN05/html/index.html * Venue International Institute For Advanced Scientific Studies (IIASS), "E.R.Caianiello", Vietri sul Mare, (SA) Italy. http://www.iiassvietri.it/index.html http://www.iiassvietri.it/school2004/ * Important Dates Submission deadline: April 11, 2005 Acceptance/Rejection notification: May 9, 2005 Camera-ready copy of papers: June 6, 2005 Workshop Date: June 8-11, 2005 * Aims and Scope The four-days Conference will articulate in - one regular session, on June 8th, - a satellite International Workshop on Natural and Artificial Immune Systems (http://siren.dsi.unimi.it/conferences/IMMUNE05/html/index.html), on June 9th and 10th, and - one special session on Fuzzy and Neurofuzzy Systems jointly organized with University of Girona, within a cooperation program between Spain and Italy, on June 11th. The conference is organized by I.I.A.S.S.(http://iiassvietri.it). During the Conference the "Premio E.R. Caianiello" will be assigned to the best PhD Thesis proposed by Italian researchers in the Neural Networks fields or in correlated ones. The prize is of 1,000 Euros. The interested researchers (who have obtained the PhD after January 1st, 2004 and before April 30th, 2005) must send 3 copies of c.v. and of their Thesis to "Premio Caianiello" WIRN 2005 c/o IIASS, to the subsequent address, before May 1st, 2005. Each candidate can compete for the prize at most two times. Only SIREN members are admitted (the application forms can be downloaded from the SIREN site (http://siren.dsi.unimi.it)). Possible topics include, but are not limited to: # Mathematical Models # Architectures and Algorithms # Hardware and Software Design # Hybrid Systems # Pattern Recognition and Signal Processing # Industrial and Commercial Applications # Fuzzy Techniques for Neural Networks * Conference Proceedings The conference will feature both introductory tutorials and original refereed papers, to be published by an international publisher. See details of electronic submission on the bottom of the web page: http://siren.dsi.unimi.it/conferences/WIRN05/html/index.html Organizing - Scientific Committee: - Bruno Apolloni (Univ. Milano), - Alberto Bertoni (Univ. Milano), - Nunzio Alberto Borghese (Univ. Milano), - Daniele Caviglia (Univ. Genova), - Paola Campadelli (Univ. Milano), - Antonio Chella (Univ. Palermo), - Anna Maria Colla (ELSAG Genova), - Anna Esposito (Univ. Napoli II), - Fabio Massimo Frattale Mascioli (Univ. Roma "La Sapienza"), - Cesare Furlanello (ITC-IRST Trento), - Silvio Giove (Univ. Venezia), - Marco Gori (Univ. Siena), - Maria Marinaro (Univ. Salerno), - Francesco Masulli (Univ. Pisa), - Carlo Morabito (Univ. Reggio Calabria), - Piero Morasso (Univ. Genova), - Gianni Orlandi (Univ. Roma "La Sapienza"), - Thomas Parisini (Univ. Trieste), - Eros Pasero (Politecnico Torino), - Alfredo Petrosino (CNR Napoli), - Vincenzo Piuri (Univ. Milano), - Roberto Serra (Universit? di Modena e Reggio Emilia), - Fabio Agatino Sorbello (Univ. Palermo), - Alessandro Sperduti (Univ. Padova), - Roberto Tagliaferri (Univ. Salerno) * Getting Vietri Sul Mare http://www.iiassvietri.it/school2004/getting_vietri.htm * WIRN 2005 Conference Secretariats: - Dip. di Scienze Dell'Informazione. University of Milano Via Comelico, 39 20125 Milano, Italy Email: bassis at dsi.unimi.it Phone: +39-02-50316335 Fax: +39-02-50316228 or - IIASS "E.R. Caianiello", Via G. Pellegrino, 19, 84019 Vietri Sul Mare (SA), ITALY. Email: robtag at unisa.it Tel. +39 089 761167, Fax. +39 089 761189, * For additional information or questions, contact Roberto Tagliaferri, University of Salerno, Italy, robtag at unisa.it From michael at jupiter.chaos.gwdg.de Wed Feb 16 07:46:48 2005 From: michael at jupiter.chaos.gwdg.de (Michael Herrmann) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 13:46:48 +0100 (CET) Subject: Neuroscience position: Junior research group Message-ID: HEAD OF JUNIOR RESEARCH GROUP IN SYSTEMS/COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Göttingen will establish an experimental research group in systems and computational neuroscience. The group will be headed by a scientist with several years of postdoctoral training, who has been working competitively in an area of systems and computational neuroscience, complementing the activities of the Bernstein Center Göttingen (http://www.bccn-goettingen.de). Potential research topics may include but are not limited to neuro-prosthetics and motor control, multi-neuronal activity in vivo or in vitro as assessed by optical or multi-electrode recording techniques, and computational aspects of single neuron dynamics. Funding is available for 5 years and will include, in addition to the position of the group leader (BAT Ia), positions for pre- and postdoctoral fellows, technical support, and funds for consumables and instruments. Göttingen is a center of neuroscience in Europe hosting numerous internationally recognized neuroscience research institutions, including three Max Planck Institutes, the European Neuroscience Institute, the German Primate Research Center, and Göttingen University's Centers for Systems Neuroscience (ZNV) and for the Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB). The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) integrates theoretical and experimental research groups from these institutions to foster interdisciplinary research in computational neuroscience specifically supporting close collaboration between theorists and experimental researchers. The institutions comprising the Bernstein Center Göttingen are equal opportunity employers and seek to increase the proportion of female scientists in leading positions. Thus qualified women are especially encouraged to apply. If equally qualified, candidates with disabilities will be preferentially considered. The search will remain open until an appointment is made, but complete applications should be received by March 11, 2005, to ensure full consideration. Candidates with an interest in the group leader position should send a CV, list of publications, 3 references, and an outline of current and future research to the chairman of the Bernstein Center, Prof. Dr. Theo Geisel, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Bunsenstrasse 10, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, Keyword: 'Junior Research Group', email: jobs at bccn-goettingen.de . ********************************************************************* * Dr. J. Michael Herrmann Georg August University Goettingen * * Tel. : +49 (0)551 5176424 Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics * * Fax : +49 (0)551 5176439 Bunsenstrasse 10 * * mobil: 0176 2800 4268 D-37073 Goettingen, Germany * * EMail: michael at chaos.gwdg.de http://www.chaos.gwdg.de * ********************************************************************* From jkroger at nmsu.edu Wed Feb 16 13:16:56 2005 From: jkroger at nmsu.edu (Jim Kroger) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 11:16:56 -0700 Subject: Ph.D. and Masters Studentships in EEG Brain-Computer Interfaces & Neural Attention Mechanisms Message-ID: <6.1.2.0.2.20050216104808.022b0d38@pop.nmsu.edu> (Apologies for multiple postings) The Mind and Brain Laboratory at NMSU is seeking graduate students at the Ph.D. and Masters level who are interested in research on Brain-Computer Interfaces, as well as on the neural mechanisms underlying attention and control of attention. Our Brain-Computer Interface work is currently funded by the U.S. Air Force, and is a joint project between Jim Kroger in the Mind and Brain Laboratory, and Dr. Joseph Lakey in Mathematical Sciences, and Dr. Kwong Ng in Electrical Engineering. We focus on developing algorithms for interpreting mental activity as control signals, with an emphasis on algorithms to increase speed, accuracy, and decrease training in the interest of making Brain-Computer Interfaces practical. The NMSU Psychology Department, in conjunction with the NMSU Physical Sciences Laboratory and the NMSU Computing Research Laboratory are participating in building a multi-million dollar Human Performance Research Center that will include an emphasis on future research on BCIs. Dr. Kroger is also a professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and connected to the MIND Institute there. We are also looking at how neural mechanisms operate during reasoning and other higher cognition, with an emphasis on the functional organization and interaction of frontal and parietal cortices. It is possible for students to work in both the BCI and Attention areas. Research is also being conducted on developing superior head models for source localization. We have a state of the art, high-density 128-channel electrophysiology laboratory using a Biosemi Active-2 system, with IBM Intellistation A Pro dual 64-bit Opteron processor workstations running the EMSE EEG analysis suite, as well as Matlab and EEGLAB and other Matlab EEG analysis packages. We have access to MRI locally for anatomical brain scans, a 32-processor Opteron cluster for high-speed data analysis, and access to fMRI and MEG facilities at the Mind Institute in Albuquerque. We are also in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratories scientists on fMRI, EEG, MEG, source localization, and computational models of neural processing. Students traditionally receive full support. Additionally, there are opportunities to spend time at Los Alamos National Laboratories. Interested students with backgrounds in psychology, neuroscience, biology, mathematics, engineering, physical sciences, or related disciplines, are encouraged to apply. Students must submit 3 letters of recommendation, their GPA (official transcripts), and their GRE scores. However, though the deadline is in March, we will accept promising students soon, so please contact Dr. Kroger by email if you have an interest in these positions. Please visit our laboratory website below for further information. http://www.psych.nmsu.edu/~jkroger/lab/index.html This website has our application information: http://www-psych.nmsu.edu/grad_admission.html Sincerely, Jim Kroger -------------------------------------------- Jim Kroger Department of Psychology 220 Science Hall, MSC 3452 Williams Street New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 USA http://www.psych.nmsu.edu/~jkroger/lab/index.html Tel: (505) 646 2243 Fax: (505) 646 6212 -------------------------------------------- From idan at lobster.ls.huji.ac.il Thu Feb 17 04:47:46 2005 From: idan at lobster.ls.huji.ac.il (Idan Segev) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 10:47:46 +0100 Subject: "School of dendrites" 10-14/April 2005 Jerusalem Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, I would like to encourage Ph.D students and young faculty to register to an the interesting "School of Dendrites" - that will take place at the "school of advance studies", the Hebrew University, Jerusalem Israel - between 10-14/April 2005. The focus of the school is on 1. Biophysics of dendrites; 2. Plasticity of dendrites and their synapses and 3. The computational role of dendrites. There is financial help for foreign students. Program and details for registration can be found at: (www.as.huji.ac.il/schools.html) Speakers: Alon Korngreen (Bar-Ilan Univ.); Axel Borst (MPI, Munich); Bill Ross (NY Medical College); Dan Johnston (Baylor College); Ed White (Ben-Gurion Univ.); Fritjof Helmchen (MPI, Heidelberg); Haim Sompolinsky (Hebrew Univ.); Jackie Schiller (Technion Univ.); Mel Bartlett (USC, Los An geles); Menachem Segal (Weizmann Inst.); Adi Mizrachi (Hebrew Univ.); Mu-ming Poo (Berkley Univ.); Sacha Nelson (Brandeis Univ.); Wilfrid Rall (NIH); Bert Sakmann (Heidelberg); Idan Segev (Heb. University) All the best Yours Idan Segev Institute of Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology and Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation The Hebrew University Edmond Safra Campus, Givat Ram Jerusalem, 91904, Israel. Tel: (972)- 2- 6585984 (lab.) Fax: (972)- 2- 6586296 (lab.) email: idan at lobster.ls.huji.ac.il http://lobster.ls.huji.ac.il/idan/ http://icnc.huji.ac.il (Center for Neural Computation) From geos at etf.ukim.edu.mk Thu Feb 17 16:49:26 2005 From: geos at etf.ukim.edu.mk (geos@etf.ukim.edu.mk) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 22:49:26 +0100 Subject: CfP ISI 2005, September 19-23, 2005, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA Message-ID: <006301c5153a$e52c2850$bc9095c2@toshibauser> -------------------------------------------------- Interactivist Summer Institute 2005 September 19-23, 2005 Madren Conference Center Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA http://www.lehigh.edu/~interact/isi2005/index.htm -------------------------------------------------- Join us in exploring the frontiers of understanding of life, mind, and cognition. There is a growing recognition - across many disciplines - that phenomena of life and mind, including cognition and representation, are emergents of far-from-equilibrium, interactive, autonomous systems. Mind and biology, mind and agent, are being re-united. The classical treatment of cognition and representation within a formalist framework of encodingist assumptions is widely recognized as a fruitless maze of blind alleys. From neurobiology to robotics, from cognitive science to philosophy of mind and language, dynamic and interactive alternatives are being explored. Dynamic systems approaches and autonomous agent research join in the effort. The interactivist model offers a theoretical approach to matters of life and mind, ranging from evolutionary- and neuro-biology - including the emergence of biological function - through representation, perception, motivation, memory, learning and development, emotions, consciousness, language, rationality, sociality, personality and psychopathology. This work has developed interfaces with studies of central nervous system functioning, the ontology of process, autonomous agents, philosophy of science, and all areas of psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science that address the person. The conference will involve both tutorials addressing central parts and aspects of the interactive model, and papers addressing current work of relevance to this general approach. This will be our third Summer Institute; the first was in 2001 at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA, and the second was in 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The intention is for this Summer Institute to become a traditional biennial meeting where those sharing the core ideas of interactivism will meet and discuss their work, try to reconstruct its historical roots, put forward current research in different fields that fits the interactivist framework, and define research topics for prospective graduate students. People working in philosophy of mind, linguistics, social sciences, artificial intelligence, cognitive robotics, theoretical biology, and other fields related to the sciences of mind are invited to send their paper submission or statement of interest for participation to the organizers. http://www.lehigh.edu/~interact/isi2005/index.htm ------------------------------------ Georgi Stojanov, PhD Assistant Professor Computer Science Institute Electrical Engineering Faculty Sts Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje Macedonia T ++389 2 3099154 F ++389 2 3064262 E geos at etf.ukim.edu.mk ------------------------------------ From oreilly at psych.colorado.edu Wed Feb 16 12:30:39 2005 From: oreilly at psych.colorado.edu (Randall C. O'Reilly) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 10:30:39 -0700 Subject: 1st Annual Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Conference Message-ID: <200502161030.39696.oreilly@psych.colorado.edu> 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE WWW.CCNCONFERENCE.ORG To be held in conjunction with the Dynamical Neuroscience Satellite Symposium of the 2005 Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Washington, D.C., and in subsequent years on a rotating basis with other meetings, such as (tentative list): CNS (Cognitive Neuroscience Society), HBM (Organization for Human Brain Mapping), CogSci (Cognitive Science Society), Psychonomic Society, NIPS (Neural Information Processing Systems), and COSYNE (Computational and Systems Neuroscience). Dates: Thu-Fri November 10 & 11, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AGENDA: * Featured Keynote Speakers: James L. McClelland, Carnegie Mellon University Daniel M. Wolpert, University College London * Discussion-focused symposia on: *Decision Making* *Developmental Disorders* *Category Learning* *Episodic Memory* Symposia panels will include a mixture of modelers and non-modelers and will be held at non-overlapping times, so researchers can attend as many as they wish. * Contributed presentations (talks and posters) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Submission deadline for *early-decision* talks and posters will be May 1, 2005. Details, including the *regular* submission deadline, will follow in a formal Call for Abstracts, in March. The field of cognitive neuroscience has flourished due to advances using multiple methodologies such as anatomy, physiology, imaging, and behavior. Given the progress that has been made in each of these areas, the time is ripe for strong theoretical frameworks that can relate different levels of analysis, moving beyond basic brain/behavior correlations. The emerging field of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN) is ideally suited to help fill this need through the use of explicit computational models that bridge the gap between biological mechanisms and cognitive function. This meeting focuses on research at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and computational modeling, where neuroscience-based computational models are used to simulate and understand cognitive functions such as perception, attention, learning and memory, language, and higher-level cognitive functions. CCN research benefits greatly from collaboration with various non-modeling researchers for developing and interpreting relevant empirical data. A major goal for this conference is to create fruitful opportunities for modelers and non-modelers to interact. Planning Committee: Todd Braver, Washington University, St Louis; Carlos Brody, Cold Spring Harbor; Jonathan Cohen, Princeton University; Dennis Glanzman, NIMH; Yuko Munakata, University of Colorado, Boulder; David Noelle, Vanderbilt University; and Randall O'Reilly, University of Colorado, Boulder (Chair) For more information and to sign up for the mailing list visit: WWW.CCNCONFERENCE.ORG From biehl at cs.rug.nl Mon Feb 21 04:53:55 2005 From: biehl at cs.rug.nl (Michael Biehl) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 10:53:55 +0100 Subject: preprint and report available Message-ID: <200502211053.56777.biehl@cs.rug.nl> Dear colleagues, the following preprint and a related technical report are now available on-line at http://www.cs.rug.nl/~biehl/prepneuro.html The dynamics of Learning Vector Quantization M. Biehl, A. Ghosh, and B. Hammer accepted contribution to the European Symposium on Artificial Neural Networks, Bruges, 2005 A theoretical framework for analysing the dynamics of LVQ M. Biehl, A. Freking, A. Ghosh, and G. Reents Technical Rep. 2004-9-02, Mathematics and Computing Science Univ. Groningen, P.O. 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract of the preprint: Winnter Takes All (WTA) algorithms offer intuitive and powerful learning schemes such as Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) and variations thereof, most of which are heuristically motivated. In this article we investigate in an exact mathematical way the dynamics of different Vector Quantization (VQ) schemes including standard LVQ. We consider the training from high-dimensional data generated according to a mixture of overlapping Gaussians and the case of two prototypes. Simplifying assumptions allow for an exact description of the on-line learning dynamics of the learning processes and the achievable generalization error. ------------------------------------------------------ Michael Biehl Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Wiskunde & Informatica Blauwborgje 3, 9747 AC Groningen The Netherlands e-mail biehl at cs.rug.nl web www.cs.rug.nl/~biehl From vitorino.ramos at alfa.ist.utl.pt Sun Feb 20 14:21:10 2005 From: vitorino.ramos at alfa.ist.utl.pt (Vitorino RAMOS) Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 19:21:10 +0000 Subject: Social Cognitive Maps and Swarm Perception Message-ID: <6.1.1.1.1.20050220192029.02bb4368@mail.ist.utl.pt> Social Cognitive Maps, Swarm Perception and Distributed Search on Dynamic Landscapes, CVRM-IST 127E-2005 technical report, final draft submitted to Brains, Minds & Media, Journal of New Media in Neural and Cognitive Science, NRW, Germany, 2005. http://alfa.ist.utl.pt/~cvrm/staff/vramos/Vramos-BMM.pdf ABSTRACT: Swarm Intelligence (SI) is the property of a systems whereby the collective behaviors of (unsophisticated) entities interacting locally with their environment cause coherent functional global patterns to emerge. SI provides a basis with which it is possible to explore collective (or distributed) problem solving without centralized control or the provision of a global model. To tackle the formation of a coherent social collective intelligence from individual behaviors, we discuss several concepts related to self-organization, stigmergy and social foraging in animals. Then, in a more abstract level we suggest and stress the role played not only by the environmental media as a driving force for societal learning, as well as by positive and negative feedbacks produced by the many interactions among agents. Finally, presenting a simple model based on the above features, we will address the collective adaptation of a social community to a cultural (environmental, contextual) or media informational dynamical landscape, represented here - for the purpose of different experiments - by several three-dimensional mathematical functions that suddenly change over time. Results indicate that the collective intelligence is able to cope and quickly adapt to unforeseen situations even when over the same cooperative foraging period, the community is requested to deal with two different and contradictory purposes. KEYWORDS: Swarm Intelligence and Perception, Social Cognitive Maps, Social Foraging, Self-Organization, Distributed Search and Optimization. hope u could enjoy it. best, v. ~ v. ramos [http://alfa.ist.utl.pt/~cvrm/staff/vramos/] From usuishiro at riken.jp Mon Feb 21 21:33:20 2005 From: usuishiro at riken.jp (usuishiro@riken.jp) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 11:33:20 +0900 Subject: Call for positions (team leader of RIKEN BSI) Message-ID: Laboratory Head and Unit Leader Positions in the Area of ?Creating the Brain? The RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), Japan?s largest international neuroscience institute, is seeking outstanding applicants for several fulltime laboratory head and unit leader positions to develop its interdisciplinary research area of ?Creating the Brain?. This area comprises a ?Computational Neuroscience Group? that will focus on developing computational theories that elucidate brain functions and mechanisms, and a ?Brain-Style Computing Group? that will aim towards establishing new brain-style information technologies that utilize computational theories modeling brain function. The two groups will work in close collaboration, including joint research projects where beneficial. The research topics of the new laboratories and units may include, for example, computational neuroscience, brain-style robotics, neuro-linguistics, neuromorphic engineering and mathematical neuroscience. Applicants are encouraged to submit unique and creative research proposals that fit within this research context. New laboratory heads will be provided generous subsidies to organize teams of?around 6 researchers and technical staff. Units will also be provided subsidies to build teams of around 3 members, and can be promoted to full laboratory status based on successful review. Employment contracts are renewed annually though full support will be provided for the initial 5 years, after which renewal will depend on the results of a progress review conducted by an international review committee. Attractive remuneration packages will be available for suitably qualified and experienced candidates with a record of achievement. A benefits package including health, pension, and subsidies for housing and relocation expenses, is also provided. Applicants living outside Japan are highly encouraged to apply. Successful candidates will be able to develop and direct research plans that match the research objectives of the Creating the Brain area, as well as possess a strong desire for interdisciplinary research work. Excellent leadership, interpersonal, communication and team-building skills are essential, in addition to a strong capacity for working in multicultural environments. More information about the institute can be obtained at www.brain.riken.jp. Inquiries can be directed to the e-mail address below. Applicants should send, fax or e-mail 1) research interests and project proposal for work at BSI (max 2000 words), 2) a full curriculum vitae, 3) publication list, 4) a statement highlighting main accomplishments, and 5) names and addresses of three references to the address below. Search Committee 22 RIKEN Brain Science Institute 2-1 Hirosawa Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan FAX: +81-48-462-4796 E-mail: search22 at brain.riken.jp Closing date: May 31, 2005 Shun-ichi Amari Director, RIKEN Brain Science Institute Laboratory for Mathematical Neuroscience Hirosawa 2-1, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan +81-48-467-9669 fax +81-48-467-9687 amari at brain.riken.go.jp http://www.bsis.brain.riken.go.jp/ From R.Bogacz at bristol.ac.uk Wed Feb 23 04:29:57 2005 From: R.Bogacz at bristol.ac.uk (Rafal Bogacz) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:29:57 +0000 Subject: PhD studentship: recognition memory Message-ID: <421C4D15.7040702@bristol.ac.uk> An interdisciplinary PhD studentship is available in mathematical modeling of familiarity discrimination in the brain. The study will investigate how the brain reaches a decision concerning whether a stimulus is novel or familiar, and will involve analysis of available neurophysiological data, development of a mathematical model and simulations. The student will be jointly supervised by Prof. Malcolm W. Brown, FRS (MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity, Department of Anatomy) and Dr. Rafal Bogacz (Department of Computer Science). The MRC Centre is internationally renowned for its research into synaptic plasticity mechanisms and the Department of Anatomy in Bristol has been ranked 1st in UK in a recent Times Ranking (above Oxford and Cambridge) and the Department of Computer Science has been ranked 3rd in UK (above Oxford). Bristol has one of the largest neuroscience communities in Europe. Applications are welcome from outstanding candidates holding a first or upper second class degree in mathematics, computer science, physics, neurophysiology or psychology, and an interest in computational neuroscience. These 3-year studentships include a scholarship of around 12,000 per year and cover University fees of around 3,085 per year. Applicants must hold UK citizenship to be eligible for the studentship. Prospective applicants should contact Dr. Rafal Bogacz (address below) with their CV and a motivation letter explaining what skills and experience make them particularly suitable for this project. Applications are invited as soon as possible. Dr. Rafal Bogacz Department of Computer Science University of Bristol Bristol, BS8 1UB United Kingdom e-mail: R.Bogacz at bristol.ac.uk For background on familiarity discrimination in the brain, see: [1] Brown MW, Aggleton JP. 2001. Recognition memory: what are the roles of the perirhinal cortex and hippocampus? Nature Review Neuroscience 2:51-62. [2] http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/home/rafal/familiar/ From ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de Thu Feb 24 14:46:37 2005 From: ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de (Ulrike von Luxburg) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 20:46:37 +0100 Subject: two phd/postdoc positions Message-ID: <421E2F1D.8000505@ipsi.fraunhofer.de> At Fraunhofer IPSI, Darmstadt, Germany, we are forming a new data mining group and have *** two open positions *** for either PhD candidates or postdocs. Our goal is to develop machine learning algorithms which can deal with real world data (very large data sets, continuously arriving data streams). This requires both a sound understanding of the underlying mathematical and algorithmic problems and expertise in efficient implementations. Our basic methods come from the areas of machine learning and statistical learning (e.g., semi-supervised learning, active learning, probabilistic relational models, Bayes nets) and applied mathematics (statistical models, graph theory, optimization). Some of the applications we have in mind are learning in data streams, clustering for large data sets, data cleaning (duplicate detection, learning of missing values, discovering erroneous data points). Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the major organization for applied research in Germany, partly funded by the government and partly by industry projects. The academic environment in Darmstadt includes several Fraunhofer Institutes, the Technical University of Darmstadt, and a number of other research institutes. In particular we have close connections to the Intelligent Systems Group of Thomas Hofmann at the computer science faculty of the TU Darmstadt. Formal requirements for both positions are at least a Master's degree or equivalent in computer science or mathematics (or related areas) and good programming skills. Experience in the research areas mentioned above is a plus. As we want to build an interdisciplinary and international group, strong commitment to team work and good English skills are necessary. The positions start in April 2005 or later, the salary is according to the German BAT scale. Initially, the positions are for three years, with possible extension for another three years. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is an equal opportunity employer. Women are especially encouraged to apply. Qualified handicapped applicants will be treated preferentially. Please send your applications with reference to job number IPSI-117-05-004 to Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V. Hauptabteilung Personal Dolivostr. 15 64293 Darmstadt Germany or by email (with pdf attachments) to ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de. The application deadline is March 31. -- ------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Ulrike von Luxburg Fraunhofer IPSI Dolivostrasse 15, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany Phone: +49 6151 869-844, Fax: +49 6151 869-898 E-mail: ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de http://www.ipsi.fraunhofer.de/~ule ------------------------------------------------------ From s.crone at neural-forecasting.com Fri Feb 25 11:00:40 2005 From: s.crone at neural-forecasting.com (s.crone@neural-forecasting.com) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:00:40 -0000 Subject: CfP ISF05 - Forecasting with Neural Networks Message-ID: <7F332A8009EE5D4CB62C87717A3498A10BC7DDFD@exchange-be1.lancs.ac.uk> ============================================================= NEURAL FORECASTING - CfP DEADLINE EXTENSION @ ISF 2005 ============================================================= 25th International Symposium on Forecasting 2005, June 12-15, 2005 Hyatt Regency Hotel, San Antonio, Texas, USA http://www.isf2005.org Special Track on "Forecasting with Artificial Neural Networks" http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/isf05/isf05_cfp.htm ============================================================= The deadline for the 2005 ISF is approaching ... Deadline extension for neural forecasting competition: March 14th 2005 Please still submit abstracts until Febuary 28th 2005 to ISF05 website!!! The ISF05 will offer three distinct sessions on neural forecasting, including - a full tutorial by Dr. H-G. Zimmermann of Siemens Research - a neural network forecasting competition - a regular research track on theory and applications of neural networks & soft computing methods for forecasting! ================================================================= PLUS 2 ADDITIONAL CONFERENCES ON NEURAL PREDICTION BACK TO BACK! ================================================================= The 2005 International Conference for Data Mining DMIN'05 and the 2005 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence - both featuring dedicated sessions on applications in the business domain - begin right after the ISF2005. Both are part of two Multiconferences in Las Vegas, constituting the largest gathering of researchers in Computer Science, Engineering engineering, applied computing and information systems and only a short flight away from San Antonio often at no additional costs, as international airplane tickets allow 2 free stopovers). This offers you the unique opportunity to present you research and abstract at the ISF, publish the full IEEE style paper (7 pages) in the conference proceedings of the DMIN or ICAI and still be considered for publication in selected journals (e.g. IJF) as their policy does not consider prior conference publications. Additional Info: http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/ic-ai05/cfp_ic-ai05.htm http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/DMIN05/cfp_dmin05.htm ================================================================= ATTEND 3 conferences in Neural Nets for Predictive Analytics in 3 weeks! GIVE 3 presentations & PUBLISH 2 conference papers in less than 3 weeks! ================================================================= Don't miss out on this event ... No other conference this year will offer this intense focus on the topic of neural forecasting! Not to mention keynote speeches from nobel price laureates, sessions on all aspects of forecasting methods and applications and the opportunity to network! Full call for papers & the datasets for the forecasting competition at http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/isf05/isf05_cfp.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- Important Dates ------------------------------------------------------------------- February 28th, 2005 - Abstracts due March 14th, 2005 - Forecasting competition due March 31st, 2005 - Notification of acceptance June 21-24, 2005 - 25th International Symposium on Forecasting 2005 July 2005 - Post-conference proceedings & publications ------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Information - Neural network track chair ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sven F. Crone Lancaster University Dept. of Management Science Centre for Forecasting s.crone at neural-forecasting.com From kamps at in.tum.de Mon Feb 28 11:59:57 2005 From: kamps at in.tum.de (Marc de Kamps) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:59:57 +0100 Subject: 3rd European Neuro-IT and Neuroengineering School Message-ID: <000901c51db6$eeb7bf40$383c9f83@atknoll3> 3rd European Neuro-IT and Neuroengineering School ? Neuroengineering of Cognitive Functions ? June 18-25, 2005 Venice (Italy) Organizers Andreas K. Engel (Hamburg, Germany) Alois Knoll (M?nchen, Germany) Guy Orban (Leuven, Belgium) Peter K?nig (Osnabr?ck, Germany) Gulio Sandini (Genua, Italy) Fabrizio Davide (Rome, Italy) Marc de Kamps (M?nchen, Germany) Goals The school will focus on a new and rapidly growing field ? the area of ?Neuro-IT? and ?neuroengineering? where neuroscience, information technology and robotics are approaching each other and starting to merge in interdisciplinary projects. The school is organized and funded by Neuro-IT.net, an EU Thematic Network, which aims at building a critical mass of new interdisciplinary research excellence at the interface between neurosciences and information technologies within the European Union and its associated states. The 2005 school will thematically focus on the neuroenginering of cognitive functions. Venue The school will be hosted by the Telecom Italia Learning Services SpA. It will take place at the Future Centre of the Telecom Italia, located in San Marco, Campo San Salvador (http://www.futurecentre.telecomitalia.it/eng/index.htm), a beautiful historical site near the famous Rialto Bridge in the heart of Venice. The Future Centre provides state-of-the-art meeting facilities as well as accomodation for part of the attendants. Programme The school will have a duration of 8 days in total. While the first and the last day are used for travel, welcome and organizational matters, 6 days will be devoted to teaching. The school will be organized in two parts. The first two days will feature advanced tutorials with the goal of providing background knowledge for students from different disciplines. These tutorials will focus on background materials directly relevant to the topic of the summer school, that will improve understanding of the expert presentations that will follow in subsequent days of the school. One day will be devoted to presenting important concepts and data from neuroscience for students from technical disciplines, the second day will be reserved for presenting topics in neuroengineering and robotics. The other four days of the school feature expert lectures on key topics in the Neuro-IT field, with a focus on cognitive functions and their technical realization in artificial systems. All issues will be dealt with, in an interdisciplinary way, both from the biological and the IT/engineering perspective. Topics The topics for tutorials and lectures will include: ? Sensory integration ? multimodal interaction ? attention ? awareness ? Sensorimotor interaction ? action planning ? decision making ? Learning ? memory ? development ? Neuroprosthetics ? brain-machine interfaces ? Biologically inspired robots ? evolutionary approaches ? architectures Participants The school is intended for junior and senior researchers and other professionals working in the field of Neuro-IT, as well as for students of engineering, physics, medicine, biology, or psychology. A total of 50 PhD students or postdocs will be admitted. Selection will be on a competitive basis. Faculty Igor Aleksander (London, UK) Helder Araujo (Coimbra, Portugal) Christian B?chel (Hamburg, Germany) Gabriel Curio (Berlin, Germany) Andreas Engel (Hamburg, Germany) Wolfram Erlhagen (Guimaraes, Portugal) Eduardo Fernandez (Alicante, Spain) Pascal Fries (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) Vittorio Gallese (Parma, Italy) Rainer Goebel (Maastricht, The Netherlands) Auke Ijspeert (Lausanne, Switzerland) Alois Knoll (M?nchen, Germany) Peter K?nig (Osnabr?ck, Germany) Andrej Kral (Hamburg, Germany) Henry Markram (Lausanne, Switzerland) Klaus-Robert M?ller (Berlin, Germany) Miguel Nicolelis (Durham, USA) Guy Orban (Leuven, Belgium) Frank Pasemann (St. Augustin, Germany) Tim Pearce (Leicester, UK) Rolf Pfeifer (Z?rich, Switzerland) Gulio Sandini (Genua, Italy) Vittorio Sanguineti (Genua, Italy) J?rgen Schmidhuber (M?nchen, Germany) Paul Verschure (Z?rich, Switzerland) Barbara Webb (Edinburgh, UK) Mathew Wilson (Boston, USA) Jonathan Wolpaw (Albany, USA) Registration Conditions for acceptance of student applications and registration fees, as well as accomodation details will be posted on this website soon. Applications can be submitted through this website starting March 18. Application deadline will be April 15. From d.polani at herts.ac.uk Sun Feb 6 13:25:01 2005 From: d.polani at herts.ac.uk (Daniel Polani) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 19:25:01 +0100 Subject: 2nd CFP: KES 2005 session on Evol. and Self-Organizing Sensors, Actuators, Processing Message-ID: <16902.24829.619856.829226@perm.feis.herts.ac.uk> Apologies if you receive this call twice. Please forward the call to all possible interested parties. Thank you very much in advance. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 2nd Call for Papers & Participation: Evolutionary and Self-Organizing Sensors, Actuators and Processing Hardware Invited Session at KES 2005 Ninth International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems 14-16. September 2005, Melbourne, Australia //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Program Chairs Daniel Polani (University of Hertfordshire, UK) Mikhail Prokopenko (CSIRO, Australia) Session website: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqdp1/kes_2005.html Conference website: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/kes/ _________________________________________________________________ Introduction Recent technology has witnessed the advent of cheap ubiquitous sensing, processing and actuating capabilities for isolated, distributed or collective robotic systems. These appear in the form of intelligent materials, nano-motors and -sensors, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), grid processors, Avogadro-scale digital circuits and similar structures. Established conventional AI computation paradigms do not harness the full potential of this new type of technological ability that includes dynamic reconfiguration, addition or removal of sensors, actuators or processing hardware. Classical AI paradigms are inadequate to deal with the requirements of these scenarios which require flexible and adaptive acquisition, manipulation and distribution of information as opposed to sterile off-line AI software designs detached from concrete usage scenarios. One is confronted with the necessity to adapt sensoric properties and/or configuration to a situation or task at hand, discovery of new sensoric modalities,the use of newly added actuators in novel ways, the necessity of reconfiguring computational hardware after being damaged, and much more. What all these requirements have in common is that, in general, there cannot be a full a priori appreciation of the possible scenarios that can occur during the lifetime of the involved hardware and software. On the other hand, biological systems are capable to tackle such problems on a regular basis. E.g. the recovery of functionality in experiments where sensoric or neural tissues are transplanted to other than the original locations show that biological systems have a powerful potential to reconfigure their "hardware" and "software" to suit the relevant situation. Biologically inspired approaches, e.g. evolutionary and neural methods, as well as self-organization to tackle these challenges, have been increasingly found to be fruitful. Evolutionary sensorics, self-organizing controllers, neural strategies have all provided new insights, methodologies, towards the achievement of self- and externally modified sensomotoric loops. Solving these problems has an enormous potential: it would allow the construction of robust, cheap autonomous vehicles, sensor/actuator networks consisting of a large number of autonomous sensor/actuator units ('agents') that interact with each other to obtain the best results. It would open the way to apply novel sensing/actuation materials for the construction of agents because the self-organized adaptation mechanisms would be able to deal with the novelty. _________________________________________________________________ Call for Contributions We solicit papers for poster or oral presentations (20 minute talk) reporting working in this exciting area. Talks should address an interdisciplinary audience, but may nevertheless deal with issues at the cutting edge of research. _________________________________________________________________ Topics Possible topics for the invited session are or involve (this is not an exhaustive list): * evolution or self-organization of physical sensors and actuators (artificial, bio-inspired, and biological) * abstract models for the evolution, self-organization and adaptation of sensors, actuators and processing, and for detection of emergent behaviour * evolution of controllers (including, but not limited to neural or cellular architectures) * self-monitoring and self-repair of damaged sensoric, computational and communication architectures * self-organization in sensomotoric loops * self-organized adaptive communication (e.g. mechanisms for the emergence of communication protocols) * evolution or self-organized modularity and hierarchies * identification of relevant information and features in sensoric input and of relevant behaviours and activities in actuatoric output If you are unsure whether your topic is adequate for submission to the session, please contact the program chairs. _________________________________________________________________ Important Dates Submission of papers: 4 March 2005 Notification of acceptance: 15 April 2005 Note: All presenting authors (both General and Special/Invited Sessions) must register with payment by 1 June 2005, for their papers to appear in the proceedings (see main KES 2005 Website, http://www.latrobe.edu.au/kes/). _________________________________________________________________ Format The conference proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in Lecture Notes in AI as part of the LNCS/LNAI series. Please refer to the Springer-Verlag web site for directions on the Paper Format which must be strictly followed. All oral and poster papers must be presented by one of the authors who must register and pay fees. Please note that papers should be no longer than 7 pages. Papers longer than this will be subject to an additional page charge. For more information, see the KES 2005 Submission page (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/kes/index.html#Submission_of_Papers). _________________________________________________________________ Program Committee Peter Dauscher University of Mainz, Germany Kerstin Dautenhahn University of Hertfordshire, UK Andrew Jennings RMIT, Australia Hod Lipson Cornell University, USA Julian Miller University of York, UK Chrystopher Nehaniv University of Hertfordshire, UK David Payton Hughes Research Labs, USA Don Price CSIRO, Australia William Prosser NASA LaRC, USA Claude Sammut UNSW, Australia Mary-Anne Williams UTS, Australia From eann05 at ensm-douai.fr Fri Feb 4 06:53:38 2005 From: eann05 at ensm-douai.fr (Eann05 Secretariat) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 12:53:38 +0100 Subject: CFP EANN05 - New Deadline Message-ID: <200502041149.j14Bncke013571@ecole.ensm-douai.fr> 3rd CFP Nineth International Conference on Engineering Applications of Neural Networks - 24-26 August 2005 Dear Colleagues, We remind you that the next EANN conference will be held in Lille, France. The submission deadline has been modified. Prospective authors are requested to send a paper or an extended abstract by March, 25th. Please do not hesitate to have a look at the conference website: http://www.ensm-douai.fr/eann05 to know who will be the plenary sessions speakers (to be announced next two weeks). We remind you that a selection of the best papers will be published in a Special Issue of the International Journal "Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence" (IFAC and Elsevier journal). Please refer to our website for formatting and submission requirements. If you have any question about the conference, please feel free to contact us at eann05 at ensm-douai.fr Sincerely yours, and looking forward to receiving a paper submission, Hope to seeing you in Lille at EANN'05 http : www.ensm-douai.fr/eann05 email : eann05 at ensm-douai.Fr From oby at cs.tu-berlin.de Mon Feb 7 07:29:46 2005 From: oby at cs.tu-berlin.de (Klaus Obermayer) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 13:29:46 +0100 (MET) Subject: tenured faculty position Message-ID: Dear All, below please find an announcement for an open faculty position (tenured) in the area of CNS / AI in our department (EE and CS) at the Berlin University of Technology (Berlin, Germany). The Berlin area has a high concentration of high quality research institutions (three universities, Max-Planck and Fraunhofer institutes, etc.) and a lively computational neuroscience and AI/machine learning scene. Besides that, it is a pleasant city to live in and Germany's most prominent place for cultural activities. There are no German language requirements, as teaching can be done in English at least for the first five years, but very likely also for the period after. Cheers Klaus ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Department for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of Berlin University of Technology (Berlin, Germany) solicits applications for a Tenured Faculty Position (W2) "Modeling of Cognitive Processes" We seek a scientist with a background in computational neuroscience, computational cognitive science, machine learning, or artificial intelligence. The candidate should develop quantitative models of higher brain functions as inferred, for example, from non-invasive brain signals, and should combine this modelling work with application oriented research in machine intelligence (e.g., autonomous agents, man-machine systems). The faculty position is also part of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin. A strong commitment to excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience is expected. Applications should include CV, summary of teaching and research experience, list of publications and funding, statement of research interests, and up to five selected publications. All applications received before 14. 02. 2005 will be given full consideration. Late applications, however, may still be considered until the position is filled. Applications should be sent to: Dekanat, FR 5-1, Fakultaet IV, Technische Universitaet Berlin, Franklinstrasse 28/29, 10587 Berlin, Germany. An electronic version should be sent to a.herz at biologie.hu-berlin.de (Andreas Herz) and oby at cs.tu-berlin.de (Klaus Obermayer) to speed up the search process. The Technical University of Berlin wants to increase the percentage of women on its faculty and strongly encourages applications from qualified individuals. Women will be preferred given equal qualifications. Handicapped persons will be preferred given equal qualifications. ======================================================================== Prof. Dr. Klaus Obermayer phone: 49-30-314-73442 FR2-1, NI, Informatik 49-30-314-73120 Technische Universitaet Berlin fax: 49-30-314-73121 Franklinstrasse 28/29 e-mail: oby at cs.tu-berlin.de 10587 Berlin, Germany http://ni.cs.tu-berlin.de/ From d.mareschal at bbk.ac.uk Mon Feb 7 12:14:20 2005 From: d.mareschal at bbk.ac.uk (Denis Mareschal) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 17:14:20 +0000 Subject: Phd Studentships Message-ID: The School of Psychology, Birkbeck University of London has a number of Phd Studentships on offer for Phds starting in October 2005. Birkbeck College is part of the University of London and is situated in the central Bloomsbury area of London, in close proximity to University College London, The Insitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, the Gatsby Computational Neurosciences Unit, the Institute of Child Health, and the Institute of Education. The School of Psychology has a very active internationally recognised research programme with particular interests in cognitive sciences, cognitive neurosciences, computational neuroscience, and cognitive and social development. However, the School welcomes applications for studentships in all areas of psychology For more information about the Schools research profile and studentships available, please visit our website: http://www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk OR contact: Ms Mina Daniel Postgraduate Administrator Tel.: 020 7631 6862 E-mail: s.daniel at psychology.bbk.ac.uk -- ================================================= Dr. Denis Mareschal Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development School of Psychology Birkbeck College University of London Malet St., London WC1E 7HX, UK tel +44 (0)20 7631-6582/6226 reception: 6207 fax +44 (0)20 7631-6312 http://www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk/people/academic/mareschal_d/ ================================================= From skremer at kremer.ca Mon Feb 7 15:26:39 2005 From: skremer at kremer.ca (Stefan C. Kremer) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:26:39 -0500 Subject: FINAL CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: Correlation Learning Workshop In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5e25e6b26a304f3f15bdbfaf17bfeb6f@kremer.ca> << Apologies for multiple copies of this message >> ********************************************************************* FINAL CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS (due in 11 days) Correlation Learning Workshop The Eighteenth Canadian Conference on Artificial Intelligence University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia May 8th, 2005 Workshop Website: http://www.kremer.ca/CorrelationLearning A.I. '05 Website: http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~ai05 The Correlation Learning Workshop invites participants to present original work in in Correlation Learning, defined as follows. Correlative learning is a paradigm for adaptive behaviour which uses correlations between neuronal activations, oscillations and/or changes in system energy to effect synaptic plasticity. Correlative learning has a long history in biological models of neoronal computation, and has recently garnered an increased amount of interest in the field of machine learning. The AI'05 Correlation Workshop is the opportunity for you to share, discuss and further develop ideas and techniques in correlative learning. It will bring together research from the biological community that focusses on explaining biological learning and combine it with correlative learning approaches from the machine learning community that focus on effectiveness for pattern recognition problems. Prospective participants are invited to submit a 2-page summary of a proposed 30 minute presentation by February 18th. Accepted speakers will be invited to give their presentation, participate in the workshop discussions and contribute an article for consideration in a special issue of the new, on-line (open access) journal: Canadian Journal of Natural Computation (ISSN 1703-7115). Proposals will be reviewed by the workshop organizers and judged according to their originality, technical merit and clarity of presentation. Proposal Submission: Authors are invited to submit proposals in plain text, PDF, Postscript, or MS-Word RTF via e-mail to skremer at uoguelph.ca. All e-mails must have a subject header of "AI2005 Workshop Submission" to be considered. Important Dates: Proposal submission due: February 18th, 2005 Notification of acceptance: February 28th, 2005 Workshop Date: May 8th,2005 Proposed CJNC Special Issue Publication Date: Fall, 2005 -- Dr. Stefan C. Kremer, Associate Prof., Reynolds Building, 106, Dept. of Computing & Info. Science University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 Tel: (519)824-4120 Ext.58913 E-mail: skremer at uoguelph.ca Fax: (519)837-0323 WWW: http://q.cis.uoguelph.ca/~skremer -- Dr. Stefan C. Kremer, Associate Prof., Reynolds Building, 106, Dept. of Computing & Info. Science University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 Tel: (519)824-4120 Ext.58913 E-mail: skremer at uoguelph.ca Fax: (519)837-0323 WWW: http://q.cis.uoguelph.ca/~skremer From hfiske at uwo.ca Mon Feb 7 10:22:35 2005 From: hfiske at uwo.ca (Harold Fiske) Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 10:22:35 -0500 Subject: Connectionist Models of Musical Thinking Message-ID: <420787BB.5CA86DCD@uwo.ca> I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest book, Connectionist Models of Musical Thinking. Briefly, the book explores a series of neural network models designed to represent music listening processes. Backpropagation, Adaptive Resonance Theory, and other connectionist procedures are used to model melodic perception, interpretation, and expression. the history and theory of neural network research is presented and development and construction of the music models is discussed in sufficient detail to interest both specialists and non-specialists. A series of listening experiments involving human participants demonstrates the models' validity. The book considers how neural network models can be used to bridge bottom-up and top-down theories of music perception and cognition in addressing questions such as musical imagery, memory and learning, lateral thinking and understanding. The book is intended for music researchers and graduate students in the fields of music psychology, artificial intelligence and neural network theory, music theory, music cognitive philosophy, and music education. For more information go to: www.mellenpress.com Order information: The Edwin Mellen Press, Order Fulfillment Dept., PO Box 450, Lewiston, NY, 14092-0450 e-mail: cservice at mellenpress.com Tel: (716)754-2788 Fax: (716)754-1860 Regards to all, Harold Fiske Faculty of Music University of Western Ontario London, Ontario N6A 3K7 CANADA From dh20 at ohm.york.ac.uk Tue Feb 8 10:23:53 2005 From: dh20 at ohm.york.ac.uk (David Halliday) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 15:23:53 +0000 Subject: IPCAT 2005 Call for papers Message-ID: <4208D989.7000904@ohm.york.ac.uk> Dear Colleague, IPCAT 2005 (Information Processing in Cells and Tissues) 30 August to 1 September 2005, York, UK We are hosting the Sixth International Workshop on Information Processing in Cells and Tissues in York, UK from 30th August to 1st September 2005. This is the 10th Anniversary of the first IPCAT and we hope to make it the best Workshop ever. IPCAT has a unique place within the biology and computing communities and we hope very much that you will be able to assist us in making IPCAT 2005 a great success. Paper submission deadline is 18th February 2005. Full details can be found at: http://www.elec.york.ac.uk/intsys/events/ipcat2005/ Please do not hesitate contact us if you require any further information. We look forward to your participation. Best regards, Andy Tyrrell General Chair Stephen Smith Programme Chair From soeren.lorenz at uni-bielefeld.de Thu Feb 10 12:06:26 2005 From: soeren.lorenz at uni-bielefeld.de (Soeren Lorenz) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 18:06:26 +0100 Subject: "Brains, Minds and Media" -- open access eJournal -- call for submission Message-ID: <420B9492.1060207@uni-bielefeld.de> ******** Apologies for multiple postings ******** ____________________________________________________________ --------------- CALL FOR SUBMISSION --------------- --------- eJournal Brains, Minds & Media ---------- ------------- Journal of New Media in ------------- ----- Neural and Cognitive Science Education ------ -------- http://www.brains-minds-media.org -------- -- Deadline for inaugural issue: March 31, 2005 -- ____________________________________________________________ Dear Colleague, you are invited to submit contributions to the novel open-access online Journal 'Brains, Minds & Media' (BMM). The concept of BMM is novel, because it allows authors not only to publish articles, but also high-quality media, such as visualizations, simulations or tutorials in the neural and cognitive sciences. The main focus of BMM is in the field of teaching and education technology. BMM is not only free for recipients but currently also free for contributors (no author fees). We are currently preparing the inaugural issue of BMM and invite interesting contributions. Deadline is March 31st. SPECIFIC AIMS OF BMM: - promote an intelligible and thorough understanding of neural and cognitive concepts - adequately represent knowledge beyond papers and textbooks with visualizations and interactive media - assure citability, content quality and technology standards with professional review and publication systems - assure fast peer-review and publication process (< 3 months) We encourage combined submission of a mandatory short paper and (optional) elaborated, high-quality media (visualizations, simulations, tutorials and the like), which may be browser-ready, but can also be proprietary. Papers on the use and effect of new media in the neural and cognitive sciences and reviews are also welcome. Theoretical and empirical contributions complement the scope. THE THEMATIC RANGE of the journal spans neural, cognitive or behavioural phenomena or their software and hardware models. SECTIONS - MATERIALS. Tried and tested topical material and corresponding educational scenarios (e.g. visualizations, simulations, content packages, tutorials) - TOOLS. Generic software tools designed for the neural and cognitive sciences or widely applied and their use in education - STUDIES. Empirical or theoretical (formal) studies either on education in the neural and cognitive sciences or on the neural and cognitive basis of learning - THEORY. Texts on foundations of either of the forenamed issues (including reviews and viewpoints) - NEWS. Announcements, Reports, Material Reviews, Commentaries EDITORIAL BOARD * Martin Egelhaaf (in chief), Dept. of Neurobiology, Bielefeld University. * Robert Cannon, Inst. for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh. * Stephen Grossberg, Dept. of Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University. * Jeff Yoshimi, School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, University of Carlifornia, Merced. * Johannes Zanker, Dept. of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London. MORE INFORMATION about the journal as well as preview articles can be found at http://www.brains-minds-media.org Submissions can be sent to editors at brains-minds-media.org. Submission deadline for the inaugural issue: March 31, 2005. If you have any questions, please contact info at brains-minds-media.org. Thank you! Your organizational team, Soeren Lorenz and Wolfram Horstmann Bielefeld University Department of Neurobiology P/O-Box 100131 33501 Bielefeld Germany FURTHER PARTNERS * Bielefeld University Library * Academic Library Centre "HBZ" of State NRW, Germany * Initiative "Digital Peer Publishing" State Government NRW, Germany (funding) From auke.ijspeert at epfl.ch Thu Feb 10 05:53:08 2005 From: auke.ijspeert at epfl.ch (Auke Ijspeert) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:53:08 +0100 Subject: 2nd CFP: AMAM2005 Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines Message-ID: <420B3D14.3070201@epfl.ch> Dear Connectionists, Researchers working on any aspect related to the adaptive control of movement and locomotion in animals and robots, might be interested in AMAM2005, the Third International Symposium on Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines (see the CFP below). The two previous symposia in Montreal and Kyoto, which brought together researchers in neurobiology, biomechanics, neural computation, and robotics, were very exciting and fruitful events. Best regards, Auke Ijspeert ****************Second Call for Papers**************** 3rd International Symposium on Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines AMAM 2005 will take place at Technische Universitt Ilmenau, Germany, September 25th - September 30th, 2005. Deadline for abstract submission: February 28^th , 2005. Please find details and the first Call for Papers at: http://www.tu-ilmenau.de/amam On behalf of the International Organizing Committee under the guidance of Prof. Kazuo Tsuchiya (Kyoto, Japan), it is our pleasure to cordially invite you to take part in this symposium. It is our dream to understand principles of animals' surprising abilities in adaptive motion and to transfer such abilities on a robot. However, principles of adaptation to various environments have not yet been clarified, and autonomous adaptation is left unsolved as a seriously difficult problem in robotics. Apparently, the adaptation ability shown by animals and needed by robots in a real world can not be explained or realized by one single function in the control system. That is, adaptation is induced at multiple levels in a wide spectrum from the central neural system to the musculo-skeletal system. We are organizing AMAM 2005 for scientists and engineers concerned with adaptation on various levels to be brought in contact, to discuss principles on each level and to investigate principles governing total systems. Some topics of particular interest to guide prospective contributors are: * Visual Adaptation Mechanisms of Systems in Locomotion * Sensory-Motor Coordination in Locomotion * Neuro-Mechanics * Locomotion of Animals * Behaviour (Locomotion and Idiomotion) of Mammals, esp. Primates, esp. Humans and Humanoids * Embodied Intelligence in Locomotion * Non-linear Dynamics in Locomotion * Adaptive Mechanics * Modeling and Analysis of Motion * Prostheses, Ortheses and Rehabilitation * Evolution of Adaptive Motion (Phylogenesis) * Ontogenesis of Adaptive Motion (from Learning to De-learning, Development and Ageing) * Technical Development of Mechanism and Control for Adaptive Motion Prof. H. Kimura, Tokyo (Japan) Prof. A.J. Ijspeert, Lausanne (Switzerland) Prof. Hartmut Witte, Ilmenau (Germany) *************************************************************************************************** From bassis at dsi.unimi.it Fri Feb 11 10:58:13 2005 From: bassis at dsi.unimi.it (Simone Bassis) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:58:13 +0100 Subject: First Call for Paper WIRN 2005 Message-ID: <200502111658.13095.bassis@dsi.unimi.it> Apologies if you receive this more than once. ========= Call for Papers XV Italian Workshop on Neural Networks (WIRN 2005) Vietri sul Mare, Salerno, Italy, June 8-11, 2005 http://siren.dsi.unimi.it/conferences/WIRN05/html/index.html * Venue International Institute For Advanced Scientific Studies (IIASS), "E.R.Caianiello", Vietri sul Mare, (SA) Italy. http://www.iiassvietri.it/index.html http://www.iiassvietri.it/school2004/ * Important Dates Submission deadline: April 11, 2005 Acceptance/Rejection notification: May 9, 2005 Camera-ready copy of papers: June 6, 2005 Workshop Date: June 8-11, 2005 * Aims and Scope The four-days Conference will articulate in - one regular session, on June 8th, - a satellite International Workshop on Natural and Artificial Immune Systems (http://siren.dsi.unimi.it/conferences/IMMUNE05/html/index.html), on June 9th and 10th, and - one special session on Fuzzy and Neurofuzzy Systems jointly organized with University of Girona, within a cooperation program between Spain and Italy, on June 11th. The conference is organized by I.I.A.S.S.(http://iiassvietri.it). During the Conference the "Premio E.R. Caianiello" will be assigned to the best PhD Thesis proposed by Italian researchers in the Neural Networks fields or in correlated ones. The prize is of 1,000 Euros. The interested researchers (who have obtained the PhD after January 1st, 2004 and before April 30th, 2005) must send 3 copies of c.v. and of their Thesis to "Premio Caianiello" WIRN 2005 c/o IIASS, to the subsequent address, before May 1st, 2005. Each candidate can compete for the prize at most two times. Only SIREN members are admitted (the application forms can be downloaded from the SIREN site (http://siren.dsi.unimi.it)). Possible topics include, but are not limited to: # Mathematical Models # Architectures and Algorithms # Hardware and Software Design # Hybrid Systems # Pattern Recognition and Signal Processing # Industrial and Commercial Applications # Fuzzy Techniques for Neural Networks * Conference Proceedings The conference will feature both introductory tutorials and original refereed papers, to be published by an international publisher. See details of electronic submission on the bottom of the web page: http://siren.dsi.unimi.it/conferences/WIRN05/html/index.html Organizing - Scientific Committee: - Bruno Apolloni (Univ. Milano), - Alberto Bertoni (Univ. Milano), - Nunzio Alberto Borghese (Univ. Milano), - Daniele Caviglia (Univ. Genova), - Paola Campadelli (Univ. Milano), - Antonio Chella (Univ. Palermo), - Anna Maria Colla (ELSAG Genova), - Anna Esposito (Univ. Napoli II), - Fabio Massimo Frattale Mascioli (Univ. Roma "La Sapienza"), - Cesare Furlanello (ITC-IRST Trento), - Silvio Giove (Univ. Venezia), - Marco Gori (Univ. Siena), - Maria Marinaro (Univ. Salerno), - Francesco Masulli (Univ. Pisa), - Carlo Morabito (Univ. Reggio Calabria), - Piero Morasso (Univ. Genova), - Gianni Orlandi (Univ. Roma "La Sapienza"), - Thomas Parisini (Univ. Trieste), - Eros Pasero (Politecnico Torino), - Alfredo Petrosino (CNR Napoli), - Vincenzo Piuri (Univ. Milano), - Roberto Serra (Universit? di Modena e Reggio Emilia), - Fabio Agatino Sorbello (Univ. Palermo), - Alessandro Sperduti (Univ. Padova), - Roberto Tagliaferri (Univ. Salerno) * Getting Vietri Sul Mare http://www.iiassvietri.it/school2004/getting_vietri.htm * WIRN 2005 Conference Secretariats: - Dip. di Scienze Dell'Informazione. University of Milano Via Comelico, 39 20125 Milano, Italy Email: bassis at dsi.unimi.it Phone: +39-02-50316335 Fax: +39-02-50316228 or - IIASS "E.R. Caianiello", Via G. Pellegrino, 19, 84019 Vietri Sul Mare (SA), ITALY. Email: robtag at unisa.it Tel. +39 089 761167, Fax. +39 089 761189, * For additional information or questions, contact Roberto Tagliaferri, University of Salerno, Italy, robtag at unisa.it From michael at jupiter.chaos.gwdg.de Wed Feb 16 07:46:48 2005 From: michael at jupiter.chaos.gwdg.de (Michael Herrmann) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 13:46:48 +0100 (CET) Subject: Neuroscience position: Junior research group Message-ID: HEAD OF JUNIOR RESEARCH GROUP IN SYSTEMS/COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Göttingen will establish an experimental research group in systems and computational neuroscience. The group will be headed by a scientist with several years of postdoctoral training, who has been working competitively in an area of systems and computational neuroscience, complementing the activities of the Bernstein Center Göttingen (http://www.bccn-goettingen.de). Potential research topics may include but are not limited to neuro-prosthetics and motor control, multi-neuronal activity in vivo or in vitro as assessed by optical or multi-electrode recording techniques, and computational aspects of single neuron dynamics. Funding is available for 5 years and will include, in addition to the position of the group leader (BAT Ia), positions for pre- and postdoctoral fellows, technical support, and funds for consumables and instruments. Göttingen is a center of neuroscience in Europe hosting numerous internationally recognized neuroscience research institutions, including three Max Planck Institutes, the European Neuroscience Institute, the German Primate Research Center, and Göttingen University's Centers for Systems Neuroscience (ZNV) and for the Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB). The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) integrates theoretical and experimental research groups from these institutions to foster interdisciplinary research in computational neuroscience specifically supporting close collaboration between theorists and experimental researchers. The institutions comprising the Bernstein Center Göttingen are equal opportunity employers and seek to increase the proportion of female scientists in leading positions. Thus qualified women are especially encouraged to apply. If equally qualified, candidates with disabilities will be preferentially considered. The search will remain open until an appointment is made, but complete applications should be received by March 11, 2005, to ensure full consideration. Candidates with an interest in the group leader position should send a CV, list of publications, 3 references, and an outline of current and future research to the chairman of the Bernstein Center, Prof. Dr. Theo Geisel, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Bunsenstrasse 10, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, Keyword: 'Junior Research Group', email: jobs at bccn-goettingen.de . ********************************************************************* * Dr. J. Michael Herrmann Georg August University Goettingen * * Tel. : +49 (0)551 5176424 Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics * * Fax : +49 (0)551 5176439 Bunsenstrasse 10 * * mobil: 0176 2800 4268 D-37073 Goettingen, Germany * * EMail: michael at chaos.gwdg.de http://www.chaos.gwdg.de * ********************************************************************* From jkroger at nmsu.edu Wed Feb 16 13:16:56 2005 From: jkroger at nmsu.edu (Jim Kroger) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 11:16:56 -0700 Subject: Ph.D. and Masters Studentships in EEG Brain-Computer Interfaces & Neural Attention Mechanisms Message-ID: <6.1.2.0.2.20050216104808.022b0d38@pop.nmsu.edu> (Apologies for multiple postings) The Mind and Brain Laboratory at NMSU is seeking graduate students at the Ph.D. and Masters level who are interested in research on Brain-Computer Interfaces, as well as on the neural mechanisms underlying attention and control of attention. Our Brain-Computer Interface work is currently funded by the U.S. Air Force, and is a joint project between Jim Kroger in the Mind and Brain Laboratory, and Dr. Joseph Lakey in Mathematical Sciences, and Dr. Kwong Ng in Electrical Engineering. We focus on developing algorithms for interpreting mental activity as control signals, with an emphasis on algorithms to increase speed, accuracy, and decrease training in the interest of making Brain-Computer Interfaces practical. The NMSU Psychology Department, in conjunction with the NMSU Physical Sciences Laboratory and the NMSU Computing Research Laboratory are participating in building a multi-million dollar Human Performance Research Center that will include an emphasis on future research on BCIs. Dr. Kroger is also a professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and connected to the MIND Institute there. We are also looking at how neural mechanisms operate during reasoning and other higher cognition, with an emphasis on the functional organization and interaction of frontal and parietal cortices. It is possible for students to work in both the BCI and Attention areas. Research is also being conducted on developing superior head models for source localization. We have a state of the art, high-density 128-channel electrophysiology laboratory using a Biosemi Active-2 system, with IBM Intellistation A Pro dual 64-bit Opteron processor workstations running the EMSE EEG analysis suite, as well as Matlab and EEGLAB and other Matlab EEG analysis packages. We have access to MRI locally for anatomical brain scans, a 32-processor Opteron cluster for high-speed data analysis, and access to fMRI and MEG facilities at the Mind Institute in Albuquerque. We are also in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratories scientists on fMRI, EEG, MEG, source localization, and computational models of neural processing. Students traditionally receive full support. Additionally, there are opportunities to spend time at Los Alamos National Laboratories. Interested students with backgrounds in psychology, neuroscience, biology, mathematics, engineering, physical sciences, or related disciplines, are encouraged to apply. Students must submit 3 letters of recommendation, their GPA (official transcripts), and their GRE scores. However, though the deadline is in March, we will accept promising students soon, so please contact Dr. Kroger by email if you have an interest in these positions. Please visit our laboratory website below for further information. http://www.psych.nmsu.edu/~jkroger/lab/index.html This website has our application information: http://www-psych.nmsu.edu/grad_admission.html Sincerely, Jim Kroger -------------------------------------------- Jim Kroger Department of Psychology 220 Science Hall, MSC 3452 Williams Street New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 USA http://www.psych.nmsu.edu/~jkroger/lab/index.html Tel: (505) 646 2243 Fax: (505) 646 6212 -------------------------------------------- From idan at lobster.ls.huji.ac.il Thu Feb 17 04:47:46 2005 From: idan at lobster.ls.huji.ac.il (Idan Segev) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 10:47:46 +0100 Subject: "School of dendrites" 10-14/April 2005 Jerusalem Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, I would like to encourage Ph.D students and young faculty to register to an the interesting "School of Dendrites" - that will take place at the "school of advance studies", the Hebrew University, Jerusalem Israel - between 10-14/April 2005. The focus of the school is on 1. Biophysics of dendrites; 2. Plasticity of dendrites and their synapses and 3. The computational role of dendrites. There is financial help for foreign students. Program and details for registration can be found at: (www.as.huji.ac.il/schools.html) Speakers: Alon Korngreen (Bar-Ilan Univ.); Axel Borst (MPI, Munich); Bill Ross (NY Medical College); Dan Johnston (Baylor College); Ed White (Ben-Gurion Univ.); Fritjof Helmchen (MPI, Heidelberg); Haim Sompolinsky (Hebrew Univ.); Jackie Schiller (Technion Univ.); Mel Bartlett (USC, Los An geles); Menachem Segal (Weizmann Inst.); Adi Mizrachi (Hebrew Univ.); Mu-ming Poo (Berkley Univ.); Sacha Nelson (Brandeis Univ.); Wilfrid Rall (NIH); Bert Sakmann (Heidelberg); Idan Segev (Heb. University) All the best Yours Idan Segev Institute of Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology and Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation The Hebrew University Edmond Safra Campus, Givat Ram Jerusalem, 91904, Israel. Tel: (972)- 2- 6585984 (lab.) Fax: (972)- 2- 6586296 (lab.) email: idan at lobster.ls.huji.ac.il http://lobster.ls.huji.ac.il/idan/ http://icnc.huji.ac.il (Center for Neural Computation) From geos at etf.ukim.edu.mk Thu Feb 17 16:49:26 2005 From: geos at etf.ukim.edu.mk (geos@etf.ukim.edu.mk) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 22:49:26 +0100 Subject: CfP ISI 2005, September 19-23, 2005, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA Message-ID: <006301c5153a$e52c2850$bc9095c2@toshibauser> -------------------------------------------------- Interactivist Summer Institute 2005 September 19-23, 2005 Madren Conference Center Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA http://www.lehigh.edu/~interact/isi2005/index.htm -------------------------------------------------- Join us in exploring the frontiers of understanding of life, mind, and cognition. There is a growing recognition - across many disciplines - that phenomena of life and mind, including cognition and representation, are emergents of far-from-equilibrium, interactive, autonomous systems. Mind and biology, mind and agent, are being re-united. The classical treatment of cognition and representation within a formalist framework of encodingist assumptions is widely recognized as a fruitless maze of blind alleys. From neurobiology to robotics, from cognitive science to philosophy of mind and language, dynamic and interactive alternatives are being explored. Dynamic systems approaches and autonomous agent research join in the effort. The interactivist model offers a theoretical approach to matters of life and mind, ranging from evolutionary- and neuro-biology - including the emergence of biological function - through representation, perception, motivation, memory, learning and development, emotions, consciousness, language, rationality, sociality, personality and psychopathology. This work has developed interfaces with studies of central nervous system functioning, the ontology of process, autonomous agents, philosophy of science, and all areas of psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science that address the person. The conference will involve both tutorials addressing central parts and aspects of the interactive model, and papers addressing current work of relevance to this general approach. This will be our third Summer Institute; the first was in 2001 at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA, and the second was in 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The intention is for this Summer Institute to become a traditional biennial meeting where those sharing the core ideas of interactivism will meet and discuss their work, try to reconstruct its historical roots, put forward current research in different fields that fits the interactivist framework, and define research topics for prospective graduate students. People working in philosophy of mind, linguistics, social sciences, artificial intelligence, cognitive robotics, theoretical biology, and other fields related to the sciences of mind are invited to send their paper submission or statement of interest for participation to the organizers. http://www.lehigh.edu/~interact/isi2005/index.htm ------------------------------------ Georgi Stojanov, PhD Assistant Professor Computer Science Institute Electrical Engineering Faculty Sts Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje Macedonia T ++389 2 3099154 F ++389 2 3064262 E geos at etf.ukim.edu.mk ------------------------------------ From oreilly at psych.colorado.edu Wed Feb 16 12:30:39 2005 From: oreilly at psych.colorado.edu (Randall C. O'Reilly) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 10:30:39 -0700 Subject: 1st Annual Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Conference Message-ID: <200502161030.39696.oreilly@psych.colorado.edu> 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE WWW.CCNCONFERENCE.ORG To be held in conjunction with the Dynamical Neuroscience Satellite Symposium of the 2005 Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Washington, D.C., and in subsequent years on a rotating basis with other meetings, such as (tentative list): CNS (Cognitive Neuroscience Society), HBM (Organization for Human Brain Mapping), CogSci (Cognitive Science Society), Psychonomic Society, NIPS (Neural Information Processing Systems), and COSYNE (Computational and Systems Neuroscience). Dates: Thu-Fri November 10 & 11, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AGENDA: * Featured Keynote Speakers: James L. McClelland, Carnegie Mellon University Daniel M. Wolpert, University College London * Discussion-focused symposia on: *Decision Making* *Developmental Disorders* *Category Learning* *Episodic Memory* Symposia panels will include a mixture of modelers and non-modelers and will be held at non-overlapping times, so researchers can attend as many as they wish. * Contributed presentations (talks and posters) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Submission deadline for *early-decision* talks and posters will be May 1, 2005. Details, including the *regular* submission deadline, will follow in a formal Call for Abstracts, in March. The field of cognitive neuroscience has flourished due to advances using multiple methodologies such as anatomy, physiology, imaging, and behavior. Given the progress that has been made in each of these areas, the time is ripe for strong theoretical frameworks that can relate different levels of analysis, moving beyond basic brain/behavior correlations. The emerging field of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN) is ideally suited to help fill this need through the use of explicit computational models that bridge the gap between biological mechanisms and cognitive function. This meeting focuses on research at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and computational modeling, where neuroscience-based computational models are used to simulate and understand cognitive functions such as perception, attention, learning and memory, language, and higher-level cognitive functions. CCN research benefits greatly from collaboration with various non-modeling researchers for developing and interpreting relevant empirical data. A major goal for this conference is to create fruitful opportunities for modelers and non-modelers to interact. Planning Committee: Todd Braver, Washington University, St Louis; Carlos Brody, Cold Spring Harbor; Jonathan Cohen, Princeton University; Dennis Glanzman, NIMH; Yuko Munakata, University of Colorado, Boulder; David Noelle, Vanderbilt University; and Randall O'Reilly, University of Colorado, Boulder (Chair) For more information and to sign up for the mailing list visit: WWW.CCNCONFERENCE.ORG From biehl at cs.rug.nl Mon Feb 21 04:53:55 2005 From: biehl at cs.rug.nl (Michael Biehl) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 10:53:55 +0100 Subject: preprint and report available Message-ID: <200502211053.56777.biehl@cs.rug.nl> Dear colleagues, the following preprint and a related technical report are now available on-line at http://www.cs.rug.nl/~biehl/prepneuro.html The dynamics of Learning Vector Quantization M. Biehl, A. Ghosh, and B. Hammer accepted contribution to the European Symposium on Artificial Neural Networks, Bruges, 2005 A theoretical framework for analysing the dynamics of LVQ M. Biehl, A. Freking, A. Ghosh, and G. Reents Technical Rep. 2004-9-02, Mathematics and Computing Science Univ. Groningen, P.O. 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract of the preprint: Winnter Takes All (WTA) algorithms offer intuitive and powerful learning schemes such as Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) and variations thereof, most of which are heuristically motivated. In this article we investigate in an exact mathematical way the dynamics of different Vector Quantization (VQ) schemes including standard LVQ. We consider the training from high-dimensional data generated according to a mixture of overlapping Gaussians and the case of two prototypes. Simplifying assumptions allow for an exact description of the on-line learning dynamics of the learning processes and the achievable generalization error. ------------------------------------------------------ Michael Biehl Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Wiskunde & Informatica Blauwborgje 3, 9747 AC Groningen The Netherlands e-mail biehl at cs.rug.nl web www.cs.rug.nl/~biehl From vitorino.ramos at alfa.ist.utl.pt Sun Feb 20 14:21:10 2005 From: vitorino.ramos at alfa.ist.utl.pt (Vitorino RAMOS) Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 19:21:10 +0000 Subject: Social Cognitive Maps and Swarm Perception Message-ID: <6.1.1.1.1.20050220192029.02bb4368@mail.ist.utl.pt> Social Cognitive Maps, Swarm Perception and Distributed Search on Dynamic Landscapes, CVRM-IST 127E-2005 technical report, final draft submitted to Brains, Minds & Media, Journal of New Media in Neural and Cognitive Science, NRW, Germany, 2005. http://alfa.ist.utl.pt/~cvrm/staff/vramos/Vramos-BMM.pdf ABSTRACT: Swarm Intelligence (SI) is the property of a systems whereby the collective behaviors of (unsophisticated) entities interacting locally with their environment cause coherent functional global patterns to emerge. SI provides a basis with which it is possible to explore collective (or distributed) problem solving without centralized control or the provision of a global model. To tackle the formation of a coherent social collective intelligence from individual behaviors, we discuss several concepts related to self-organization, stigmergy and social foraging in animals. Then, in a more abstract level we suggest and stress the role played not only by the environmental media as a driving force for societal learning, as well as by positive and negative feedbacks produced by the many interactions among agents. Finally, presenting a simple model based on the above features, we will address the collective adaptation of a social community to a cultural (environmental, contextual) or media informational dynamical landscape, represented here - for the purpose of different experiments - by several three-dimensional mathematical functions that suddenly change over time. Results indicate that the collective intelligence is able to cope and quickly adapt to unforeseen situations even when over the same cooperative foraging period, the community is requested to deal with two different and contradictory purposes. KEYWORDS: Swarm Intelligence and Perception, Social Cognitive Maps, Social Foraging, Self-Organization, Distributed Search and Optimization. hope u could enjoy it. best, v. ~ v. ramos [http://alfa.ist.utl.pt/~cvrm/staff/vramos/] From usuishiro at riken.jp Mon Feb 21 21:33:20 2005 From: usuishiro at riken.jp (usuishiro@riken.jp) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 11:33:20 +0900 Subject: Call for positions (team leader of RIKEN BSI) Message-ID: Laboratory Head and Unit Leader Positions in the Area of ?Creating the Brain? The RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), Japan?s largest international neuroscience institute, is seeking outstanding applicants for several fulltime laboratory head and unit leader positions to develop its interdisciplinary research area of ?Creating the Brain?. This area comprises a ?Computational Neuroscience Group? that will focus on developing computational theories that elucidate brain functions and mechanisms, and a ?Brain-Style Computing Group? that will aim towards establishing new brain-style information technologies that utilize computational theories modeling brain function. The two groups will work in close collaboration, including joint research projects where beneficial. The research topics of the new laboratories and units may include, for example, computational neuroscience, brain-style robotics, neuro-linguistics, neuromorphic engineering and mathematical neuroscience. Applicants are encouraged to submit unique and creative research proposals that fit within this research context. New laboratory heads will be provided generous subsidies to organize teams of?around 6 researchers and technical staff. Units will also be provided subsidies to build teams of around 3 members, and can be promoted to full laboratory status based on successful review. Employment contracts are renewed annually though full support will be provided for the initial 5 years, after which renewal will depend on the results of a progress review conducted by an international review committee. Attractive remuneration packages will be available for suitably qualified and experienced candidates with a record of achievement. A benefits package including health, pension, and subsidies for housing and relocation expenses, is also provided. Applicants living outside Japan are highly encouraged to apply. Successful candidates will be able to develop and direct research plans that match the research objectives of the Creating the Brain area, as well as possess a strong desire for interdisciplinary research work. Excellent leadership, interpersonal, communication and team-building skills are essential, in addition to a strong capacity for working in multicultural environments. More information about the institute can be obtained at www.brain.riken.jp. Inquiries can be directed to the e-mail address below. Applicants should send, fax or e-mail 1) research interests and project proposal for work at BSI (max 2000 words), 2) a full curriculum vitae, 3) publication list, 4) a statement highlighting main accomplishments, and 5) names and addresses of three references to the address below. Search Committee 22 RIKEN Brain Science Institute 2-1 Hirosawa Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan FAX: +81-48-462-4796 E-mail: search22 at brain.riken.jp Closing date: May 31, 2005 Shun-ichi Amari Director, RIKEN Brain Science Institute Laboratory for Mathematical Neuroscience Hirosawa 2-1, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan +81-48-467-9669 fax +81-48-467-9687 amari at brain.riken.go.jp http://www.bsis.brain.riken.go.jp/ From R.Bogacz at bristol.ac.uk Wed Feb 23 04:29:57 2005 From: R.Bogacz at bristol.ac.uk (Rafal Bogacz) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:29:57 +0000 Subject: PhD studentship: recognition memory Message-ID: <421C4D15.7040702@bristol.ac.uk> An interdisciplinary PhD studentship is available in mathematical modeling of familiarity discrimination in the brain. The study will investigate how the brain reaches a decision concerning whether a stimulus is novel or familiar, and will involve analysis of available neurophysiological data, development of a mathematical model and simulations. The student will be jointly supervised by Prof. Malcolm W. Brown, FRS (MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity, Department of Anatomy) and Dr. Rafal Bogacz (Department of Computer Science). The MRC Centre is internationally renowned for its research into synaptic plasticity mechanisms and the Department of Anatomy in Bristol has been ranked 1st in UK in a recent Times Ranking (above Oxford and Cambridge) and the Department of Computer Science has been ranked 3rd in UK (above Oxford). Bristol has one of the largest neuroscience communities in Europe. Applications are welcome from outstanding candidates holding a first or upper second class degree in mathematics, computer science, physics, neurophysiology or psychology, and an interest in computational neuroscience. These 3-year studentships include a scholarship of around 12,000 per year and cover University fees of around 3,085 per year. Applicants must hold UK citizenship to be eligible for the studentship. Prospective applicants should contact Dr. Rafal Bogacz (address below) with their CV and a motivation letter explaining what skills and experience make them particularly suitable for this project. Applications are invited as soon as possible. Dr. Rafal Bogacz Department of Computer Science University of Bristol Bristol, BS8 1UB United Kingdom e-mail: R.Bogacz at bristol.ac.uk For background on familiarity discrimination in the brain, see: [1] Brown MW, Aggleton JP. 2001. Recognition memory: what are the roles of the perirhinal cortex and hippocampus? Nature Review Neuroscience 2:51-62. [2] http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/home/rafal/familiar/ From ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de Thu Feb 24 14:46:37 2005 From: ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de (Ulrike von Luxburg) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 20:46:37 +0100 Subject: two phd/postdoc positions Message-ID: <421E2F1D.8000505@ipsi.fraunhofer.de> At Fraunhofer IPSI, Darmstadt, Germany, we are forming a new data mining group and have *** two open positions *** for either PhD candidates or postdocs. Our goal is to develop machine learning algorithms which can deal with real world data (very large data sets, continuously arriving data streams). This requires both a sound understanding of the underlying mathematical and algorithmic problems and expertise in efficient implementations. Our basic methods come from the areas of machine learning and statistical learning (e.g., semi-supervised learning, active learning, probabilistic relational models, Bayes nets) and applied mathematics (statistical models, graph theory, optimization). Some of the applications we have in mind are learning in data streams, clustering for large data sets, data cleaning (duplicate detection, learning of missing values, discovering erroneous data points). Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the major organization for applied research in Germany, partly funded by the government and partly by industry projects. The academic environment in Darmstadt includes several Fraunhofer Institutes, the Technical University of Darmstadt, and a number of other research institutes. In particular we have close connections to the Intelligent Systems Group of Thomas Hofmann at the computer science faculty of the TU Darmstadt. Formal requirements for both positions are at least a Master's degree or equivalent in computer science or mathematics (or related areas) and good programming skills. Experience in the research areas mentioned above is a plus. As we want to build an interdisciplinary and international group, strong commitment to team work and good English skills are necessary. The positions start in April 2005 or later, the salary is according to the German BAT scale. Initially, the positions are for three years, with possible extension for another three years. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is an equal opportunity employer. Women are especially encouraged to apply. Qualified handicapped applicants will be treated preferentially. Please send your applications with reference to job number IPSI-117-05-004 to Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V. Hauptabteilung Personal Dolivostr. 15 64293 Darmstadt Germany or by email (with pdf attachments) to ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de. The application deadline is March 31. -- ------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Ulrike von Luxburg Fraunhofer IPSI Dolivostrasse 15, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany Phone: +49 6151 869-844, Fax: +49 6151 869-898 E-mail: ulrike.luxburg at ipsi.fraunhofer.de http://www.ipsi.fraunhofer.de/~ule ------------------------------------------------------ From s.crone at neural-forecasting.com Fri Feb 25 11:00:40 2005 From: s.crone at neural-forecasting.com (s.crone@neural-forecasting.com) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:00:40 -0000 Subject: CfP ISF05 - Forecasting with Neural Networks Message-ID: <7F332A8009EE5D4CB62C87717A3498A10BC7DDFD@exchange-be1.lancs.ac.uk> ============================================================= NEURAL FORECASTING - CfP DEADLINE EXTENSION @ ISF 2005 ============================================================= 25th International Symposium on Forecasting 2005, June 12-15, 2005 Hyatt Regency Hotel, San Antonio, Texas, USA http://www.isf2005.org Special Track on "Forecasting with Artificial Neural Networks" http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/isf05/isf05_cfp.htm ============================================================= The deadline for the 2005 ISF is approaching ... Deadline extension for neural forecasting competition: March 14th 2005 Please still submit abstracts until Febuary 28th 2005 to ISF05 website!!! The ISF05 will offer three distinct sessions on neural forecasting, including - a full tutorial by Dr. H-G. Zimmermann of Siemens Research - a neural network forecasting competition - a regular research track on theory and applications of neural networks & soft computing methods for forecasting! ================================================================= PLUS 2 ADDITIONAL CONFERENCES ON NEURAL PREDICTION BACK TO BACK! ================================================================= The 2005 International Conference for Data Mining DMIN'05 and the 2005 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence - both featuring dedicated sessions on applications in the business domain - begin right after the ISF2005. Both are part of two Multiconferences in Las Vegas, constituting the largest gathering of researchers in Computer Science, Engineering engineering, applied computing and information systems and only a short flight away from San Antonio often at no additional costs, as international airplane tickets allow 2 free stopovers). This offers you the unique opportunity to present you research and abstract at the ISF, publish the full IEEE style paper (7 pages) in the conference proceedings of the DMIN or ICAI and still be considered for publication in selected journals (e.g. IJF) as their policy does not consider prior conference publications. Additional Info: http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/ic-ai05/cfp_ic-ai05.htm http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/DMIN05/cfp_dmin05.htm ================================================================= ATTEND 3 conferences in Neural Nets for Predictive Analytics in 3 weeks! GIVE 3 presentations & PUBLISH 2 conference papers in less than 3 weeks! ================================================================= Don't miss out on this event ... No other conference this year will offer this intense focus on the topic of neural forecasting! Not to mention keynote speeches from nobel price laureates, sessions on all aspects of forecasting methods and applications and the opportunity to network! Full call for papers & the datasets for the forecasting competition at http://www.neural-forecasting.com/conferences/isf05/isf05_cfp.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- Important Dates ------------------------------------------------------------------- February 28th, 2005 - Abstracts due March 14th, 2005 - Forecasting competition due March 31st, 2005 - Notification of acceptance June 21-24, 2005 - 25th International Symposium on Forecasting 2005 July 2005 - Post-conference proceedings & publications ------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Information - Neural network track chair ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sven F. Crone Lancaster University Dept. of Management Science Centre for Forecasting s.crone at neural-forecasting.com From kamps at in.tum.de Mon Feb 28 11:59:57 2005 From: kamps at in.tum.de (Marc de Kamps) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:59:57 +0100 Subject: 3rd European Neuro-IT and Neuroengineering School Message-ID: <000901c51db6$eeb7bf40$383c9f83@atknoll3> 3rd European Neuro-IT and Neuroengineering School ? Neuroengineering of Cognitive Functions ? June 18-25, 2005 Venice (Italy) Organizers Andreas K. Engel (Hamburg, Germany) Alois Knoll (M?nchen, Germany) Guy Orban (Leuven, Belgium) Peter K?nig (Osnabr?ck, Germany) Gulio Sandini (Genua, Italy) Fabrizio Davide (Rome, Italy) Marc de Kamps (M?nchen, Germany) Goals The school will focus on a new and rapidly growing field ? the area of ?Neuro-IT? and ?neuroengineering? where neuroscience, information technology and robotics are approaching each other and starting to merge in interdisciplinary projects. The school is organized and funded by Neuro-IT.net, an EU Thematic Network, which aims at building a critical mass of new interdisciplinary research excellence at the interface between neurosciences and information technologies within the European Union and its associated states. The 2005 school will thematically focus on the neuroenginering of cognitive functions. Venue The school will be hosted by the Telecom Italia Learning Services SpA. It will take place at the Future Centre of the Telecom Italia, located in San Marco, Campo San Salvador (http://www.futurecentre.telecomitalia.it/eng/index.htm), a beautiful historical site near the famous Rialto Bridge in the heart of Venice. The Future Centre provides state-of-the-art meeting facilities as well as accomodation for part of the attendants. Programme The school will have a duration of 8 days in total. While the first and the last day are used for travel, welcome and organizational matters, 6 days will be devoted to teaching. The school will be organized in two parts. The first two days will feature advanced tutorials with the goal of providing background knowledge for students from different disciplines. These tutorials will focus on background materials directly relevant to the topic of the summer school, that will improve understanding of the expert presentations that will follow in subsequent days of the school. One day will be devoted to presenting important concepts and data from neuroscience for students from technical disciplines, the second day will be reserved for presenting topics in neuroengineering and robotics. The other four days of the school feature expert lectures on key topics in the Neuro-IT field, with a focus on cognitive functions and their technical realization in artificial systems. All issues will be dealt with, in an interdisciplinary way, both from the biological and the IT/engineering perspective. Topics The topics for tutorials and lectures will include: ? Sensory integration ? multimodal interaction ? attention ? awareness ? Sensorimotor interaction ? action planning ? decision making ? Learning ? memory ? development ? Neuroprosthetics ? brain-machine interfaces ? Biologically inspired robots ? evolutionary approaches ? architectures Participants The school is intended for junior and senior researchers and other professionals working in the field of Neuro-IT, as well as for students of engineering, physics, medicine, biology, or psychology. A total of 50 PhD students or postdocs will be admitted. Selection will be on a competitive basis. Faculty Igor Aleksander (London, UK) Helder Araujo (Coimbra, Portugal) Christian B?chel (Hamburg, Germany) Gabriel Curio (Berlin, Germany) Andreas Engel (Hamburg, Germany) Wolfram Erlhagen (Guimaraes, Portugal) Eduardo Fernandez (Alicante, Spain) Pascal Fries (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) Vittorio Gallese (Parma, Italy) Rainer Goebel (Maastricht, The Netherlands) Auke Ijspeert (Lausanne, Switzerland) Alois Knoll (M?nchen, Germany) Peter K?nig (Osnabr?ck, Germany) Andrej Kral (Hamburg, Germany) Henry Markram (Lausanne, Switzerland) Klaus-Robert M?ller (Berlin, Germany) Miguel Nicolelis (Durham, USA) Guy Orban (Leuven, Belgium) Frank Pasemann (St. Augustin, Germany) Tim Pearce (Leicester, UK) Rolf Pfeifer (Z?rich, Switzerland) Gulio Sandini (Genua, Italy) Vittorio Sanguineti (Genua, Italy) J?rgen Schmidhuber (M?nchen, Germany) Paul Verschure (Z?rich, Switzerland) Barbara Webb (Edinburgh, UK) Mathew Wilson (Boston, USA) Jonathan Wolpaw (Albany, USA) Registration Conditions for acceptance of student applications and registration fees, as well as accomodation details will be posted on this website soon. Applications can be submitted through this website starting March 18. Application deadline will be April 15.