Connectionists: FIAS Summer School - Theoretical Neuroscience & Complex Systems (05-27. Aug. 2006, Frankfurt/Main, Germany)

[J.Triesch@fias.uni-frankfurt.de]

(apologies for multiple postigns)


Announcement and Call for Applications:

Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) Summer School:

Theoretical Neuroscience & Complex Systems

We invite applications for a three-week summer workshop that will be
held in Frankfurt, Germany from Saturday, August 5 to Sunday, August
27, 2006. The application deadline is Saturday, April 15, and
application instructions are described at the bottom of this document.


FACULTY:

Larry ABBOTT, Columbia University, USA
Ad AERTSEN, University of Freiburg, Germany
Dana BALLARD, University of Rochester, USA
Emery BROWN, Harvard and MIT, USA
Gyrgy BUZSKI, Rutgers University, USA
Yves FRGNAC, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Wulfram GERSTNER*, cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, France
Rainer Goebel, Maastricht University, Netherlands
Claudius GROS, Goethe University, Germany
Wolfgang MAASS, FIAS, Germany and Technische Universitt Graz, Austria
Bartlett MEL, University of South California, USA
Gordon PIPA, FIAS and Max-Planck Institute, Germany
John RINZEL*, New York University, USA
Wolf SINGER, FIAS and Max-Planck Institute, Germany
Andrey SOLOV'YOV, FIAS, Germany
Jochen TRIESCH, FIAS, Germany and UC San Diego, USA
Christoph VON DER MALSBURG, FIAS, Germany
Carl VAN VREESWIJK, Ren Descartes University, France

*invited


GOALS:

There is a deficiency in the exchange of ideas between theoretical
physicists and experimental biologists.  This arises from different
background knowledge bases and viewpoints, even when addressing the
same problem.  The aim of the FIAS Summer School on Theoretical
Neuroscience and Complex Systems is to provide a bridge linking
experimentalists and theorists.  The school also addresses the
challenge of further developing theoretical sciences and transferring
existing concepts into the interdisciplinary field of neuroscience.
This transference will be highly dependent on the successful training
of students so that they can bridge the different fields.  Applicants
will work on projects that they themselves propose, and to promote
cross-disciplinary collaborations, each student will be assigned a
"working-group" comprising one experimental neuroscientist, one
theoretical neuroscientist, and one theoretical physicist.


FORMAT:

The three-week summer workshop will include a preschool that will take
place at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt.
During these three days, theoretical physicists will be trained in
basic concepts of neuroscience, experimental neuroscientists will be
trained in basic concepts of network theory and complex systems, and
theoretical neuroscientists will be trained in experimental
neuroscience.  The first two days of the summer school will be used to
introduce the main concepts of neuronal systems and information
processing.  The second week is devoted to the characterization and
analysis of neural recordings, as well as to the description and
modeling of neurons, synapses, and small networks. The third week
introduces approaches for modeling higher cognitive functions.
Throughout, participants work on projects that they themselves
propose, and this work will be carried out in collaboration with an
interdisciplinary working-group comprising one experimental
neuroscientist, one theoretical neuroscientist, and one theoretical
physicist.  Lectures will be held in the mornings from Monday-Friday,
while students will work on their projects in the afternoons from
Monday-Wednesday.  Intra-group progress reports will be presented on
Wednesday and Friday evenings.  A preview of the following week's
lectures will be provided on Thursday afternoons to ensure that all
participants are comfortable with the material to be discussed.
Saturdays will be devoted to "theory in practice" and participants
will have the chance to visit actual research laboratories: MPIH
(Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research) in Frankfurt and the Honda
Research Institute in Offenbach. Each Sunday will be reserved for
recreational opportunities, and on the final day of the summer school,
the projects will be presented.

The scientific program will cover the following areas:

- Neuroanatomy

- Neurophysiology 

- Basics in modeling of neurons 

- Realistic models of neural microcircuits

- Abstract models of higher-level functions

- Outlook to other complex systems


LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENTS:

FIAS is a Foundation of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University and is
located on the natural science campus, Riedberg, in Frankfurt am
Main. It also has close collaboration with the Faculty of Natural
Sciences at the J.W. Goethe-University and the Max Planck Institutes
for Brain Research and Biophysics.  The preschool will take place at
the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research.  Students and Lecturers
will stay in the Marriott Courtyard Frankfurt Nordwestzentrum. The
hotel is located very close to the FIAS Institute and has excellent
access to the public transport system.


FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENT:

FIAS organizes the summer school and covers the accommodation and the
cultural Program. Students have to pay a registration fee of 150 euro.
Students from Easter European countries or students in general who
need support for their travel expenses can apply for reimbursement and
a waiver for the registration fee.  Please indicate this in your
application if you are considering applying for reimbursement.  We
will also need an estimation of your travel expenses.


HOW TO APPLY:

Students who have a bachelor, a master, a Ph.D., or other equivalent
degrees can apply for this summer school.  To apply, please provide
two letters of recommendation, a curriculum vitae, as well as a one
page description of a small project she/he is planning to work on
during the course. The project proposal should outline the basic idea
as well as problems the student might have faced so far.  Based on the
proposal, the committee will group students to teams and assign
interdisciplinary faculty to each individual team.

Information about applying and the summer school in general can be
found at the website: http://www.fias.uni-frankfurt.de/neuro_school/

A copy of the summer school announcement can be downloaded from:
http://www.fias.uni-frankfurt.de/neuro_school/FIAS_summerschool_Poster_A2.pdf

Application will include:

- First name, last name, affiliation, valid e-mail address
- Two letters of recommendation
- Curriculum Vitae
- Project proposal (max. one page)
- Request for reimbursement of travel expenses (if applicable)

Please send your documents in an electronic format to:
neuro_school at fias.uni-frankfurt.de
    
The application deadline is Saturday, April 15, 2006.
Applicants will be notified by e-mail by May 1, 2006.

For further information, please contact: 

Denise Meixler (neuro_school at fias.uni-frankfurt.de)
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University
Max-von-Laue-Str. 1
60438 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

tel: +49 69 798 47601
fax: +49 69 798 47611