From terry at salk.edu Mon Jul 2 02:16:49 2007 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 23:16:49 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION - AUGUST 2007 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Neural Computation - Contents - Volume 19, Number 8 - August 1, 2007 Letters Models Wagging the Dog: Are Circuits Constructed with Disparate Parameters? Thomas Nowotny, Attila Szücs, Rafael Levi, and Allen I. Selverston Articles Multiplicative Updates for Nonnegative Quadratic Programming Fei Sha, Yuanqing Lin, Lawrence Saul, and Daniel Lee Critical Analysis of Dimension Reduction by a Moment Closure Method in a Population Density Approach to Neural Network Modeling Daniel Tranchina and Cheng Ly Letters Oscillatory Neural Networks with Self-Organized Segmentation of Overlapping Patterns Thomas Burwick Multistability in Spiking Neuron Models of Delayed Recurrent Inhibitory Loops Jianfu Ma and Jianhong Wu Analysis and Design of Associative Memories Based on Recurrent Neural Networks with Linear Saturation Activation Functions and Time-Varying Delays Zhigang Zeng and Jun Wang Robust Loss Functions for Boosting Takafumi Kanamori, Takashi Takenouchi, Shinto Eguchi, and Noboru Murata Reinforcement Learning, Spike-Time-Dependent Plasticity, and the BCM Rule Dorit Baras and Ron Meir ON-LINE - http://neco.mitpress.org/ SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2007 - VOLUME 19 - 12 ISSUES Electronic only USA Canada* Others USA Canada* Student/Retired $60 $63.60 $114 $54 $57.24 Individual $100 $106.00 $154 $90 $95.40 Institution $782 $828.92 $836 $704 $746.24 * includes 6% GST MIT Press Journals, 238 Main Street, Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-9902. Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-orders at mit.edu http://mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp ----- From l.wiskott at biologie.hu-berlin.de Tue Jul 3 05:37:54 2007 From: l.wiskott at biologie.hu-berlin.de (Laurenz Wiskott) Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 11:37:54 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: open postdoc position at the Humboldt-University Berlin Message-ID: <18058.6386.949508.55528@huxley.biologie.hu-berlin.de> Please forward this job advertisement to candidates who might be interested. Thanks, Laurenz Wiskott. ___________________________________________________________________________ Open Position for a Postdoc in Machine Learning and Medical Data Analysis at the Institute for Theoretical Biology, Berlin in the group of Prof. Dr. Laurenz Wiskott ___________________________________________________________________________ Institute: Institute for Theoretical Biology Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin Invalidenstra?e 43 D-10115 Berlin, Germany The Institute for Theoretical Biology is a young and dynamic lab with four full professors, three junior research groups, and about 60 students and researchers doing interdisciplinary and innovative research in different areas of theoretical biology. Research group: The position is available in the group of Prof. Dr. Laurenz Wiskott and is funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). Research topics: The goal of this project is to develop an algorithm for nonlinear blind source separation based on slow feature analysis and to apply it to medical data analysis. Some published preliminary work can be found at http://itb1.biologie.hu-berlin.de/~wiskott/Projects/ISFA.html. Teaching: There will be some duties as a teaching assistant, e.g. for the basic mathematics courses. Time: The position is available immediately. The appointment will be for 2(+1) years. Requirements: Candidates should have an education in physics, mathematics, electrical engineering or any related field. Required are strong mathematical and programming skills as well as the ability to communicate and work well in a team. Salary: Salary will be according to salary scale IIa of the wage settlement of the Humboldt University and will depend on age and family status, see below. Inquiries: Informal inquiries can be addressed to Prof. Dr. Laurenz Wiskott. Application: Complete applications should be sent to Prof. Dr. Laurenz Wiskott at the address given above. Please send only copies and not original documents, since the applications will not be sent back. You may also send applications via email, but please make sure they are complete and in a convenient format. Handicapped applicants with corresponding qualifications will be considered preferentially. To increase the proportion of female scientists, applications of qualified females are especially welcome. Deadline: None. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, as will be indicated on the web page below. WWW: http://itb.biologie.hu-berlin.de/~wiskott/Jobs/Job-DFG-BSS.html. FAQ: http://itb.biologie.hu-berlin.de/~wiskott/Jobs/Jobs-FAQ.html. From tobias at nld.ds.mpg.de Tue Jul 3 10:56:45 2007 From: tobias at nld.ds.mpg.de (Tobias Niemann) Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:56:45 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position in theoretical neurophysics Message-ID: <468A63AD.2010302@nld.ds.mpg.de> The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience G?ttingen invites applications for a PhD student position (BATIIa/2) in theoretical neurophysics. The successful candidate will use mathematical and computational modelling to characterize on the encoding of complex sounds in the auditory system. Key aspects of auditory encoding are determined by the first stage of auditory neuronal processing, the inner hair cell ribbon synapse that transforms sound information into neuronal impulse sequences. This synapse?s precision to code the temporal fine structure of acoustic stimuli is unparalleled. For example, our capacity to locate sound sources in space depends on interaural time differences in the arrival of sound of only a few hundreds of microseconds. Theoretical studies will address (1) the biophysical mechanisms that dynamically shape the synaptic encoding of sounds and (2) the resulting temporally precise coding schemes used by auditory processing stages in the brain. Modelling will be based on experimental data obtained by electrophysiological and imaging approaches. We are looking for applicants with a first degree in physics, preferably with prior experience in theoretical physics or theoretical neuroscience, good computational skills and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary research team. Prior knowledge of biophysics and neuroscience is welcome but not required. The candidate's PhD research will be supported the recently established Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) in G?ttingen. G?ttingen is a center of neuroscience in Europe hosting numerous internationally recognized neuroscience research institutions, including three Max Planck Institutes, the European Neuroscience Institute, the German Primate Research Center, and G?ttingen University's Centers for Systems Neuroscience (ZNV) and for the Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB). The BCCN integrates theoretical and experimental research groups from these institutions to foster interdisciplinary research in computational neuroscience specifically supporting close collaboration between theorists and experimental researchers. Please submit your application preferably in one single PDF-document, including cover letter, CV, list of publications, names of possible referees, relevant certificates to: jobs at bccn-goettingen.de (Subject: AuditoryTheoNeurohys PhD) While e-mail is preferred, applications may also be submitted in hardcopy to the following address: Dr. Fred Wolf Subject: AuditoryTheoNeurohys PhD Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) G?ttingen Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Bunsenstrasse 10 D - 37073 G?ttingen, Germany http://www.bccn-goettingen.de The MPIDS is an equal opportunity employer. From tobias at nld.ds.mpg.de Tue Jul 3 10:56:52 2007 From: tobias at nld.ds.mpg.de (Tobias Niemann) Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:56:52 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position in cellular neuroscience In-Reply-To: <461DE9BD.2060606@nld.ds.mpg.de> References: <461DE9BD.2060606@nld.ds.mpg.de> Message-ID: <468A63B4.4080902@nld.ds.mpg.de> The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience G?ttingen invites applications for a PhD student position (BATIIa/2) in cellular neuroscience. The successful candidate will use biophysical methods to characterize the synaptic mechanisms that mediate the coding of sound intensity and timing by the first synapse in the auditory pathway. Recently, we found evidence that at the active zone of the inner hair cell the exocytosis of a given synaptic vesicle may be controlled by only one or few nearby Ca2+ channel(s). This Ca2+ nanodomain control of transmitter release implies that sound coding is determined by the stochastic gating of single Ca2+ channels. The successful candidate will study the relationship of Ca2+ channel opening and single vesicle exocytosis at the microscopic, single active zone level. This will be done by cell-attached patch-clamp recordings from inner hair cells and accompanying modelling of the synaptic signalling cascade. We are looking for applicants with a first degree in a natural science, preferably with prior experience in biophysics and neuroscience. The candidate's PhD research will be supported the recently established Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) in G?ttingen. G?ttingen is a center of neuroscience in Europe hosting numerous internationally recognized neuroscience research institutions, including three Max Planck Institutes, the European Neuroscience Institute, the German Primate Research Center, and G?ttingen University's Centers for Systems Neuroscience (ZNV) and for the Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB). The BCCN integrates theoretical and experimental research groups from these institutions to foster interdisciplinary research in computational neuroscience specifically supporting close collaboration between theorists and experimental researchers. Please submit your application preferably in one single PDF-document, including cover letter, CV, list of publications, names of possible referees, relevant certificates to: jobs at bccn-goettingen.de (Subject: BioPhAN PhD) While e-mail is preferred, applications may also be submitted in hardcopy to the following address: Dr. Andreas Neef Subject: BioPhAN PhD InnerEarLab Department of Otolaryngology University Clinics Goettingen D-37099 Goettingen Germany http://www.bccn-goettingen.de The BCCN is an equal opportunity employer. From ntcrook at brookes.ac.uk Wed Jul 4 09:13:39 2007 From: ntcrook at brookes.ac.uk (Nigel Crook) Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 14:13:39 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: IPCAT2007 call for participation Message-ID: <468B9D03.1060402@brookes.ac.uk> Apologies if you have received multiple copies of this message. ================================================================== C A L L F O R P A R T I C I P A T I O N ================================================================== - I P C A T 2 0 0 7 - Seventh International Workshop on INFORMATION PROCESSING IN CELLS AND TISSUES 29, 30, 31 August, Jesus College, Oxford, United Kingdom The conference is held in the historic and picturesque setting of Jesus College, Oxford (http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/). We are pleased to be able to offer you college-style accommodation in single bedrooms for the duration of IPCAT2007. Meals are served in the college dining hall, with its fine panelled walls and priceless antique paintings. The provisional programme for the workshop is given below. A discount is offered for early registration (the deadline for early registration is 19th July 2007). Conference Website: http://cms.brookes.ac.uk/computing/IPCAT Kindest regards, Nigel Crook (General Chair) ntcrook at brookes.ac.uk Tjeerd olde Scheper (Programme Chair) tvolde-scheper at brookes.ac.uk PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME WEDNESDAY 29TH AUGUST 2007 08:30 Registration 09:15 Opening SESSION 1: INFORMATION PROCESSING IN BIO-DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS 09:30 M-ary Modulation Signalling for Intercellular Communication J. Dilhac (France) 10:00 Emulation of Synchronous Automata Networks with Dynamically Changing Topologies by Asynchronous Automata Networks C.L. Nehaniv, P. Quick (UK) 10:30 Information Processing Functionality of Spiking Neurons for Image Feature Extraction Q. Wu, M. McGinnity, L. Maguire, B. Glackin, A. Belatreche (UK) 11:00 Coffee or Tea Break SESSION 2A: INFORMATION PROCESSING IN NEURAL AND NON-NEURAL BIOSYSTEMS 11:30 Sensitivity and stability: A signal propagation sweet spot in a sheet of recurrent centre crossing neurons C.L Buckley, S. Bullock (UK) 12:00 Towards Smart Biosensors: Hints From Deciphering the Enigma of Human Creativity F. Hong (USA) 12:30 Lunch SESSION 2B: INFORMATION PROCESSING IN NEURAL AND NON-NEURAL BIOSYSTEMS 13:30 Event-driven simulation of cerebellar granule cells R. Carrillo, E. Ros, S. Tolu (Spain), T. Nieus, E. D'Angelo (Italy) 14:00 A cerebellum-like spiking neural network for robot control R.R. Carrillo, E. Ros (Spain), C. Boucheny, O. J-M D Coenen (France) SESSION 3: EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS 14:30 Towards a parsimonious analysis of regeneration and self-repair in animal evolution G. Benenati, J.I. Montoya-Burgos, B. Galliot (Switzerland) 15:00 Coffee or Tea Break 15:30 An effective Immunological Algorithm with self-avoiding, penalty and repair heuristics for Protein Structure Prediction in 3DCubic Lattice G. Morelli, G. Nicosia (Italy) 16:00 Colouring graphs using a GRN/cell-based system M. Buck, C. Nehaniv (UK) 16:30 Natural Computation Inspired by Protein Binding S. Smith, S. Murant, J. Timmis (UK) THURSDAY 30TH AUGUST 2007 SESSION 4: AUTOMATA AND CELLULAR AUTOMATA 09:00 Hybrid Networks of Evolutionary Processors with Simple Splicing Rules A. Choudhary, K. Krithivasan (India) 09:30 A Cell Pattern Generation Model Based on an Extended Artificial Regulatory Network A. Chavoya (Mexico), Y. Duthen (France) 10:00 CrickBot: A mobile robot with a bio-mimetic control architecture M. Folgheraiter, G. Gini, A. Nava, V. Lumare (Italy) 10:30 Coffee or Tea Break SESSION 5: EVOLVING, ADAPTING, AND NEURAL HARDWARE 11:00 Learning to hear:The emergence of spectro-temporal response fields in a model of auditory cortex M. Coath, S. Denham, M. Denham (UK) 11:30 Unruly Motifs - No Convergent Evolution of Network Topologies J.F. Knabe, C.L. Nehaniv, M.J. Schilstra (UK) 12:00 Hormones for Extreme Temperatures D. Laketic, P. Haddow (Norway) 12:30 Lunch SESSION 6: MACHINE LEARNING 13:30 Novel embryonic arrays with neural network characteristics M. Samie (Iran), G. Dragffy (UK) 14:00 Neural Assembly Formation with Complementary Roles of Classical and Temporal Coding T. Burwick (Germany) 14:30 Optimal connection strategies in one- and two-dimensional associative memory models L. Calcraft, R. Adams, N. Davey (UK) 15:00 Coffee or Tea Break SESSION 7: NOVEL BIO-INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEMS 15:30 Confrontation between models and real data for DNA molecules space structure M. Essabbah, R. Gherbi, M. Mallem (France) 16:00 Pomitaxis: Computing with a Bacterial-Inspired Algorithm D. Nicolau, P. Maini (UK) 16:30 Nonlinear transient computation in cortical columns N.T. Crook, W.J. Goh (UK) 19:30 Conference Dinner FRIDAY 31ST AUGUST 2007 SESSION 8: ENZYME AND GENE NETWORKS 09:00 Positive circuits and two-dimensional spatial differentiation: Application to the formation of sense organs in Drosophila A. Crumiere (France) 09:30 Mathematical modeling and Sensitivity analysis of G1/S phase in the cell cycle including the DNA damage signal transduction pathway K. Iwamoto, Y. Tashima, H. Hamada, Y. Eguchi, M. Okamoto (Japan) 10:00 A network cell with molecular tokens that divides from centrosome signals H. Suzuki (Japan) 10:30 Coffee or Tea Break SESSION 9: MODELLING OF METABOLIC PATHWAYS AND RESPONSES 11:00 Algebraic Properties of Automata Associated to Petri Nets and Applications to Computation in Intermediary Metabolism A. Egri-Nagy, C. Nehaniv (UK) 11:30 Krohn-Rhodes Analysis of Computation in BioChemical Reactions A. Egri-Nagy, C. Nehaniv, M. Schilstra (UK), J. Rhodes (USA) 12:00 Why Biological Systems Are Rarely Chaotic T. olde Scheper (UK) 12:30 Lunch SESSION 10: SELF-ORGANISING, SELF-REPAIRING, AND SELF-REPLICATING SYSTEMS 13:30 Calcium signalling mechanisms as a biological rhythm: a theoretical study C. Santini, A. Tyrrell (UK) 14:00 Bio-inspired Self-organizing Cellular Systems A. Stauffer, D. Mange, J. Rossier, F. Vannel (Switzerland) 14:30 The Role of Body Wall Muscles in C. elegans Locomotion J. Boyle, N. Cohen (UK) 15:00 Coffee or Tea Break SESSION 11: SIMULATION OF GENETIC AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS 15:30 Modeling the fitness of plant morphologies across three levels of complexity J. Watson, J. Wiles (Australia) 16:00 Toward a formal expression of morphogenesis; a mechanical based integration of cell growth at tissue scale J. Chopard, C. Godin, J. Traas (France) 16:30 Dsweep: A lightweight tool for distributed parameter sweeps J. Watson, S. Maetschke, J. Wiles (Australia) -- Dr Nigel Crook Reader in Computing and Mathematical Sciences Department of Computing, School of Technology Oxford Brookes University Wheatley Campus, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1HX UK Email: ntcrook at brookes.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1865 484526 Fax: +44 (0) 1865 484545 From announce at ccnconference.org Wed Jul 4 09:37:46 2007 From: announce at ccnconference.org (announce@ccnconference.org) Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 07:37:46 -0600 Subject: Connectionists: CCNC 2007 Abstract submission website now operational Message-ID: <200707040737.46978.announce@ccnconference.org> IMPORTANT UPDATES: * The website for submitting is now operational: http://www.ccnconference.org/page6.html * Like last year, we are planning another special issue of Brain Research for selected papers from this meeting -- no need to indicate interest with your abstract submission at the present time * Also like last year, we plan to award a limited number of competitive travel fellowships for students -- look for a notice by late summer * 2007 registration fee: $175 ($75 student) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Call-for-Abstracts ~ 3RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE www.ccnconference.org To be held in conjunction with Dynamical Neuroscience XV immediately prior to the 2007 SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE (SfN) meeting, November 3-7, 2007 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA. * CONFERENCE DATES: Thu-Fri November 1 & 2, 2007 The inaugural CCNC 2005 meeting held prior to Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in Washington, DC (also in conjunction with the Dynamical Neuroscience satellite) was a great success, with approximately 250 attendees, 60 presented posters, and strongly positive reviews. For 2006, we went to Houston for the much smaller Psychonomics meeting and still had over 100 attendees and almost 50 posters. In future years, we will continue to rotate among different neuroscience and psychology meetings. ____________________________________________________________________________ * DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: Friday, July 27, 2007 (NEW DATE!) Abstracts are to be submitted online via the website: www.ccnconference.org/page6.html As in past years, there will be two categories of submissions: -Poster only -Poster, plus short talk (15 min) to highlight the poster Abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Women and underrepresented minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Reviewing of posters will be inclusive and only to ensure appropriateness to the meeting. Short talks will be selected on the basis of research quality, relevance to conference theme, and expected accessibility in a talk format. Abstracts not selected for short talks will still be accepted as posters as long as they meet appropriateness criteria. * NOTIFICATION OF POSTER ACCEPTANCE: Approx. August 15, 2007 * CONTRIBUTED SHORT TALK SELECTION: Approx. September 15, 2007 __________________________________________________________________________ Program: * 2007 Keynote Speakers: Alex Pouget, University of Rochester Read Montague, Baylor College of Medicine * 3 Symposia, each including a mixture of modelers and non-modelers and focused on a common theme or issue: ** Use of computational and cognitive models in functional brain-imaging Moderator: Todd Braver, Washington University - St. Louis ** Sequential structure learning Moderator: TBA ** Hippocampal neurogenesis in learning and memory Moderator: Janet Wiles, University of Queensland * Approximately 12 short talks will be chosen featuring selected posters * Poster sessions ____________________________________________________________________________ 2007 Planning Committee: Suzanna Becker, McMaster University Jonathan Cohen, Princeton University Nathaniel Daw, New York University David Noelle, University of California, Merced Maximilian Riesenhuber, Georgetown University Medical Center Randall O'Reilly, University of Colorado, Boulder (ex officio) Executive Organizer: Thomas Hazy, University of Colorado, Boulder For more information and to sign up for the mailing list visit: www.ccnconference.org _______________________________________________ From yokoy at brain.riken.jp Wed Jul 4 23:29:06 2007 From: yokoy at brain.riken.jp (Yoko YAMAGUCHI) Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 12:29:06 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: Call for participation: Caianiello School 2007 Dec Message-ID: ***** CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ***** International School on Neural Nets "E. R. Caianiello" 12th Course Dynamic Brain ? This school is held for graduate students and researchers with various backgrounds who wish to study computational neuroscience with the emphasis on recent experimental and theoretical studies of neural dynamics in the brain. The course is organized as a series of lectures from the fundamental to the cutting-edge of theoretical and experimental topics, complemented by participants' short presentations. We aim to promote informal interactions between all participants hopefully will lead to new professional relationships lasting beyond the school. Date: from Dec. 5-12, 2007 Place: the Ettore Majorana Center in Erice, Italy Co-Directors Yoko Yamaguchi, RIKEN BSI Maria Marinaro, University of Salerno Silvia Scarpetta, University of Salerno Jointly organized by RIKEN Brain Science Institute(BSI) Dept. of Physics ?E.R.Caianiello?, University of Salerno, Italy Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for Scientific Culture (EMFCSC) Sponsored by RIKEN Brain Science Institute International Institute for Advanced Scientific Studies (IIASS) Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for Scientific Culture (EMFCSC) Lectures Markus Diesmann, RIKEN BSI Sonja Gruen, RIKEN BSI Michael Hasselmo, Boston University Leslie M. Kay, University of Chicago Maria Marinaro, University of Salerno Bruce McNaughton, University of Arizona John O'Keefe, University College London, Naoyuki Sato, RIKEN BSI Silvia Scarpetta, University of Salerno Wolf Singer, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research Nachum Ulanovsky, University of Maryland Yoko Yamaguchi, RIKEN BSI Important Dates: Application deadline: Sept 30 2007 Notification of acceptance: Oct 25 2007 Registration fee payment deadline: Nov 10 2007 Arrival Dec 5 2007 Departure Dec 12 2007 Please visit the web page for application details. http://www.physics.unisa.it/dynamicbrain/ -- Yoko Yamaguchi Lab for Dynamics of Emergent Intelligence RIKEN Brain Science Institute http://www.dei.brain.riken.jp/~yokoy/ From arjen.van.ooyen at falw.vu.nl Wed Jul 4 03:47:49 2007 From: arjen.van.ooyen at falw.vu.nl (Arjen van Ooyen) Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 09:47:49 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral Position in Theoretical Neuroscience at CNCR, Amsterdam Message-ID: <468B50A5.1090403@falw.vu.nl> Applications are invited for a 3-year postdoctoral research position in the Neuroinformatics Group of the Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The position is funded by a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Exact Sciences (EW). The project, which is a collaboration between CNCR and the Vision and Cognition Group of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), will investigate a novel, biologically inspired learning algorithm called attention-gated reinforcement learning (AGREL; Roelfsema and Van Ooyen, Neural Computation 17 (2005): 2176-2214). The computational power of the new learning scheme derives from two factors known to influence synaptic plasticity: a global reward-related signal and an attentional signal that is fed back from the network?s output layer to earlier processing levels. For simple deterministic categorization tasks, we have previously shown that AGREL is both biologically plausible and as powerful as the widely used but biologically implausible error-backpropagation algorithm for training artificial neural networks. The present project will explore whether AGREL can serve as a general learning algorithm in complex input-output mappings, regression tasks, and delayed and sequential decision tasks. Applicants should have a PhD degree, a strong background in machine learning, neural networks or computational neuroscience, excellent computer skills, and a good command of written and spoken English. A good general knowledge of neuroscience would be an advantage. For further information about this position, please contact Dr. Arjen van Ooyen (CNCR), arjen.van.ooyen at falw.vu.nl, or Prof. Dr. Roelfsema (NIN), p.roelfsema at nin.knaw.nl. Application letters including a CV, research experience, a short statement of research interests, and contact details of two referees should be sent by email to Dr. Arjen van Ooyen. Dr. Arjen van Ooyen Department of Experimental Neurophysiology Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1085 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands E-mail: arjen.van.ooyen at falw.vu.nl Phone: +31.20.5987090 Fax: +31.20.5987112 Room: C454 Web: http://www.bio.vu.nl/enf/vanooyen From joyboseroy at gmail.com Fri Jul 6 08:42:55 2007 From: joyboseroy at gmail.com (Joy Bose) Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 13:42:55 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD thesis available: predictive sequence learning with spiking neurons using rank order coding Message-ID: Dear connectionists, This is to announce that my PhD dissertation on the topic of sequence learning is available for download. Title: Engineering a sequence machine out of spiking neurons employing rank order codes Download URL: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~bosej/JoyBose_PhD.pdf (216 pages, 5.23 MB) With regards, Joy Bose APT Research Group Computer Science The University of Manchester Email: bosejATcs.man.ac.uk, joyboseroyATgmail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract: Sequence memories play an important role in biological systems. For example, the mammalian brain continuously processes, learns and predicts spatio-temporal sequences of sensory inputs. The work described in this dissertation demonstrates how a sequence memory may be built from biologically plausible spiking neural components. The memory is incorporated in a sequence machine, an automaton that can perform on-line learning and prediction of sequences of symbols. The sequence machine comprises an associative memory which is a variant of Pentti Kanerva's Sparse Distributed Memory, together with a separate memory for storing the sequence context or history. The associative memory has at its core a scalable correlation matrix memory employing a localised learning rule which can be implemented with spiking neurons. The symbols constituting a sequence are encoded as rank-ordered N-of-M codes, each code being implemented as a burst of spikes emitted by a layer of neurons. When appropriate neural structures are used the spike bursts maintain coherence and stability as they pass through successive neural layers. The system is modelled using a representation of order that abstracts time, and the abstracted system is shown to perform equivalently to a low-level spiking neural system. The spiking neural implementation of the sequence memory model highlights issues that arise when engineering high-level systems with asynchronous spiking neurons as building blocks. Finally, the sequence learning framework is used to simulate different sequence machine models. The new model proposed here is tested under varied parameters to characterise its performance in terms of the accuracy of its sequence predictions. From awhite at cs.ualberta.ca Fri Jul 6 17:45:58 2007 From: awhite at cs.ualberta.ca (Adam White) Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 15:45:58 -0600 Subject: Connectionists: RL-Glue and the RL-Library News Message-ID: <005B5429-1B9E-4FAC-BC05-EE3C514C1C32@cs.ualberta.ca> ************************************************************************ ************************** RL-Glue and the RL-Library News ************************************************************************ ************************** 1. RL-Glue 2.0 release 2. RL-Glue project has moved to Google Code 3. RL-Glue support for teachers ************************************************************************ ************************** ************************************************* RL-Glue 2.0 release ************************************************* I are pleased to announce the release of RL-Glue 2.0. The new release offers both new features and a more stable code base: - network communication to make multi-language communication simpler - support for running learning experiments over the Internet - a new types system to make it easier to write flexible agents that can run on a variety of environments - support for separating the testing and training phases of a learning experiment - a message system to allow the user to pass messages to agent and environment programs - the documentation has been completely rewritten to make it easier for users to quickly understand and use RL-Glue Agents and environments written for RL-Glue 1.0 will need to be updated to work with RL-Glue 2.0. See the documentation site for instructions on how to update your agents and environments. The RL- Library is in the process of being updated to RL-Glue 2.0. ************************************************* RL-Glue project has moved to Google Code ************************************************* I have changed the host of the RL-Glue project from Sourceforge to Google Code. The open source project page can be found at: http:// code.google.com/p/rl-glue/ ************************************************* RL-Glue support for teachers ************************************************* Are you teaching reinforcement learning this coming fall? Then I would like to talk to you! I am interested in speaking to instructors about using RL-Glue for teaching reinforcement learning. I will work with instructors to help them use RL-Glue in their classes. Send email to awhite at cs.ualberta.ca ************************************************************************ ************************** Cheers, Adam White RL-Glue website: http://rlai.cs.ualberta.ca/RLBB/top.html From dayan at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk Sun Jul 8 19:02:20 2007 From: dayan at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk (Peter Dayan) Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 00:02:20 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Gatsby Postdoc Training Fellowships In-Reply-To: <20061013122857.GA10331@flies.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> References: <20061013122857.GA10331@flies.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> Message-ID: <20070708230220.GA2602@crick.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> Postdoctoral Training Fellowships - Theoretical Neuroscience Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL, UK http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/ The Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit invites applications for postdoctoral training fellowships in theoretical neuroscience and related areas. The Gatsby Unit is a world-class centre for theoretical neuroscience and machine learning, focusing on the interpretation of neural data, population coding, perceptual processing, neural dynamics, neuromodulation, and learning. The Unit also has significant interests across a range of areas in machine learning. For further details of our research please see: http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/research.html The Unit provides a unique environment in which a critical mass of theoreticians interact closely with each other and with other world-class research groups in related departments at UCL, including Anatomy, Computer Science, Functional Imaging, Physics, Physiology, Psychology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, and Statistics, and the new cross-faculty Centre for Computational Statistics and Machine Learning. The Unit's visitor and seminar programmes enable staff and students to engage with leading researchers from across the world. Candidates must have a strong analytical background and demonstrable interest and expertise in theoretical neuroscience. Salaries are competitive, based on experience and achievement. Funding for the positions is available for an initial period of between one and two years. Applicants should send in pdf, plain text or Word format a CV, a statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details (including e-mail addresses) of three referees to: asstadmin at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk Applicants are directed to further particulars about the positions available from: http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/vacancies The closing date for applications is 6 August 2007. From R.Borisyuk at plymouth.ac.uk Thu Jul 26 09:05:37 2007 From: R.Borisyuk at plymouth.ac.uk (Roman Borisyuk) Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:05:37 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position in multiple spike train data analysis In-Reply-To: <468A63B4.4080902@nld.ds.mpg.de> Message-ID: <52A8091888A23F47A013223014B6E9FE0A2450E9@03-CSEXCH.uopnet.plymouth.ac.uk> Applications are invited for 3 year PhD studentship in the Centre for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Plymouth, UK, starting from the 1st of October 2007. The studentship will cover a stipend of ?12,600 per year and tuition fees at the home rate (?3,250 per year), overseas candidates will be liable for the difference between 'home student fees' and 'foreign student fees'. PhD student will participate in development of new mathematical and statistical methods, numerical algorithms and software for analysing multiple spike train data (simultaneously recorded activities of several neurons). These new methods will lead to better understanding the relations between brain functions and spiking activity of neurons. This interdisciplinary project is exciting and challenging. The studentship is funded as a part of CARMEN project grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). CARMEN (Code Analysis, Repository and Modelling for e-Neuroscience) is a neuroinformatics project coordinated by the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University (www.ncl.ac.uk/ion/) which brings together a consortium of 11 UK Universities with expertise in experimental neuroscience, computing science and statistical data analysis. Some information on CARMEN may be found at http://bioinf.ncl.ac.uk/carmen/index.php/Main_Page. We are looking for a strong candidate with a good knowledge of mathematical and statistical methods for data analysis. Applicants must normally hold a first or upper second class honours degree or equivalent qualification, or a masters degree, in an appropriate discipline (maths, statistics, computer science, physics, engineering), and have a strong interest in studying information processing in the brain and experimental data analysis. Knowledge/experience in neuroscience and good programming skills will be an advantage. Requests for further particulars and informal enquires may be made to Prof Roman Borisyuk (roman.borisyuk at plymouth.ac.uk ). General information about applying for a research degree at the University of Plymouth and application forms are available at http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pghowtoapply or by contacting Ann Treeby (ann.treeby at plymouth.ac.uk ). Applications should be sent direct to Mrs Ann Treeby (ann.treeby at plymouth.ac.uk ) Research Admin Assistant, Faculty of Science, University of Plymouth, PL4 8AA. The closing date for applications is 17th August, 2007, noon. Decisions will be made in September 2007. From alexwade at gmail.com Tue Jul 31 15:27:54 2007 From: alexwade at gmail.com (Alex Wade) Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:27:54 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: Cosyne 2008 Meeting Announcement Message-ID: <76eaaa9a0707311227v7776b38fjadd5a9a3f8c4e14@mail.gmail.com> =================================== Computational and Sytems Neuroscience (Cosyne) MAIN MEETING WORKSHOPS 28 Feb - 2 Mar, 2008 3 - 4 Mar, 2008 Salt Lake City, Utah Snow Bird Ski Resort, Utah http://cosyne.org ==================================== Cosyne is an annual meeting providing an inclusive forum for the exchange of experimental and theoretical approaches to problems in systems neuroscience. The meeting is expected to draw about 350-400 researchers from a wide variety of disciplines. The MAIN MEETING is organized in a single track, and consists of both oral and poster sessions. Some oral presentations are invited (see below), while others are selected based on short submitted abstracts. Poster presentations are also selected from the submitted abstracts. The WORKSHOPS are held in 6-10 parallel sessions, allowing for more in-depth discussion of specialized topics. A Call for Workshop Proposals will be sent out shortly. 2008 INVITED SPEAKERS (confirmed): John Assad (Harvard U.) Gyuri Buzsaki (Rutgers U.) Dimitri Chklovskii (Janelia Farm, HHMI) Karl Deisseroth (Stanford U.) Mitra Hartmann (Northestern U.) Michael Hausser (UCL) David Heeger (NYU) Sabine Kastner (Princeton U.) Mitsuo Kawato (ATR) David McAlpine (UCL) Tomaso Poggio (MIT) Krishna Shenoy (Stanford U.) Wendy Suzuki (NYU) Rachel Wilson (Harvard U.) ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 30 Nov 2007 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Tony Zador (CSHL) Alex Pouget (U Rochester) Zach Mainen (CSHL) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: General Chair: Eero Simoncelli (NYU) Program Chair: Matteo Carandini (Smith-Kettlewell) Workshop Chair: Fritz Sommer (UC Berkeley) Publicity Chair: Alex Wade (Smith-Kettlewell) From michael at chaos.gwdg.de Tue Jul 17 09:49:24 2007 From: michael at chaos.gwdg.de (Michael Herrmann) Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:49:24 +0200 (CEST) Subject: Connectionists: 5th Course on Computational Neuroscience at Goettingen Message-ID: <10044.134.76.220.136.1184680164.squirrel@mailer.nld.ds.mpg.de> Applications are invited for the fifth fall course on COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE at Goettingen, Germany September 18 - 23, 2007 organized by Hecke Schrobsdorff and J. Michael Herrmann The course is intended to provide graduate students and young researchers from all parts of neuroscience with working knowledge of theoretical and computational methods in neuroscience and to acquaint them with recent developments in this field. The course includes tutorials and lectures on the following topics: Active sensing and neuronal signaling in the vibrissa system David Kleinfeld Dynamics of neuronal excitability: spike generation, neuromodulation, oscillation Boris Gutkin Synaptic integration in single neurons* Michael Hausser Neural activity patterns in premotor brain areas of the songbird Richard Hahnloser Plasticity and compositionality in cortical networks Markus Diesmann The course takes place at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Goettingen and is located at the Department of Nonlinear Dynamics of the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Selforganization, Bunsenstr. 10, D-37073 Goettingen, Germany. A course fee of 100 Euros includes participation in the tutorials, study materials, and part of the social events. The number of participants is limited to about 32. Course language is English. To apply please fill in the application form at: http://www.bccn-goettingen.de/events-1/cns-course by August 8, 2007 For further information please use the contact form at this webpage. A limited number of travel grants has been made available generously by OTTO BOCK HealthCare GmbH. In order to apply for a travel grant please have a recommendation letter by your supervisor or employer being sent directly to us. In addition please send a short report on your background and interests and an estimate of the travel expenses. Best wishes and looking forward to see you at Goettingen Hecke and Michael *title to be confirmed ~ ************************************************** * Dr J Michael Herrmann Universitaet Goettingen * * Tel : +49 551 5176424 Bernstein Center & Inst * * Fax : +49 551 5176439 for Nonlinear Dynamics * * cell: 0176 2800 4268 MPIDS, Bunsenstrasse 10 * * michael at nld.ds.mpg.de D-37073 Goettingen, BRD * ************************************************** From j.odoherty at fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk Thu Jul 12 17:04:30 2007 From: j.odoherty at fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk (John O'Doherty) Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:04:30 -0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral positions in fMRI at Caltech Message-ID: <4696974F.4040403@fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk> Invitation for Applications: Postdoctoral Position in direct Conditioning of neural activity using real-time fMRI A post-doctoral position is available to investigate direct conditioning of neural activity in the human brain using real-time fMRI procedures. The aim of this research project is to determine the efficacy of real-time feedback procedures in modulating neural plasticity. We are looking for a motivated researcher to take on this research project in collaboration with Professors John O?Doherty and Shinsuke Shimojo at Caltech, using a 3T Siemens Trio MR scanner based at the Caltech Broad Center for Biological Sciences. The position will be based at Caltech but will also involve collaboration with research programs being conducted at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and in Japan. The candidate should ideally have experience of fMRI design and analysis techniques with a background in neuroscience, computer science, physics or engineering. Ability to program in Matlab and familiarity with SPM or other fMRI analysis packages would be an advantage. The position is available for 2 years. Start date: As soon as is practicable. Interested candidates should send a CV, brief statement of research interests, and contact details for three referees to Edith Quintanilla: edith at caltech.edu. For informal queries please contact John O?Doherty: jdoherty at caltech.edu. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. California Institute of Technology is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and encourages the applications of qualified women, minorities, veterans and disabled persons. Post-doctoral Position in the Neural Basis of Decision Making using fMRI, TMS and lesion study approaches in humans. A post-doctoral position is available to investigate the neural mechanisms of reward-learning, choice and decision making in the human brain. The post will involve the design and conduct of fMRI, TMS and lesion studies, and the application of computational models of choice and decision making to behavioral and neural data. The project will be carried out using facilities at the Broad Center for the Biological Sciences, and in the Shimojo and O?Doherty labs at Caltech. The position will be based at Caltech but will also involve collaboration with research programs being conducted at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and in Japan. A background in cognitive or behavioral neuroscience is essential, and some experience of or interest in computational neuroscience, particularly relating to reinforcement learning or decision making would be an advantage. The candidate should be familiar with either fMRI or TMS techniques or both. Familiarity with SPM or other fMRI analysis packages would be an advantage. The position is available for 2 years. Start date: As soon as is practicable. Interested candidates should send a CV, brief statement of research interests, and contact details for three referees to Edith Quintanilla: edith at caltech.edu. For informal queries please contact John O?Doherty: jdoherty at caltech.edu. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. California Institute of Technology is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and encourages the applications of qualified women, minorities, veterans and disabled persons. From mtoussai at inf.ed.ac.uk Fri Jul 13 03:36:54 2007 From: mtoussai at inf.ed.ac.uk (Marc Toussaint) Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:36:54 -0000 Subject: Connectionists: PhD & PostDoc positions, Machine Learning & Robotics, TU Berlin Message-ID: <46972B76.40406@inf.ed.ac.uk> The Machine Learning and Robotics group at TU Berlin has 2 openings, one for PhD candidates, one for a PostDoc. Salary will be a full BAT IIa for up to 4 years. The group, headed by Dr. Marc Toussaint, is funded by the Emmy Noether excellence program and is embedded in Prof. Klaus-Robert M?llers' Machine Learning group at the TU Berlin. The group's research focuses on the intersection between the fields of Machine Learning and Robotics, in particular Reinforcement Learning, probabilistic inference methods, and learning appropriate representations for the interaction with real world environments. We seek for excellent candidates with a strong own interest in Machine Learning, autonomous robotics, or natural and artificial intelligence in general. Concerning the PhD position, the project goal are robotic systems that are able to control and manipulate objects in a physical environment in a planned manner. We are interested in both theoretical and application-driven approaches (e.g. ``probabilistic inference and planning in structured MDPs'', ``relational models of interactive environments with objects'', ``motor primitives and dynamics systems as abstract representations for movement planning''). Collaborations to demonstrate principles on high performance robotic systems (e.g., Honda's Asimo humanoid robot) are possible. Precondition is a masters (or Dipoma) degree in any of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering. A strong mathematical background is highly desirable. Advantageous is experience in Machine Learning, applied statistics, robotics, excellent programming skills (Matlab or C). Concerning the PostDoc position, precondition is a PhD in computer science or related. Candidates should demonstrate innovative ideas and research either in the field of Machine Learning or Robotics, preferably in relation to some of the topics mentioned above. Please see http://ml.cs.tu-berlin.de/~mtoussai/bmr/ for more information. Application Deadline: 12th August 2007 Applying: Please send applications via email, including the regular CV, your research interests, and list of publications, preferably in a single pdf. Links to download publications and thesis are also welcome. Applications are send to Cc: mtoussai at inf.ed.ac.uk To: sekr at ml.cs.tu-berlin.de subject: application BMR -- Marc Toussaint, Ph.D. TU Berlin Franklinstr. 28/29 10587 Berlin, Germany +49 (0)30 314 24470 http://ml.cs.tu-berlin.de/~mtoussai/ From steve at cns.bu.edu Thu Jul 19 19:33:07 2007 From: steve at cns.bu.edu (Stephen Grossberg) Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:33:07 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: texture segregation, grouping, attention, learning, painting Message-ID: The following two articles are now available at http://www.cns.bu.edu/Profiles/Grossberg : Grossberg, S. The Art of Seeing and Painting. Spatial Vision, in press, special issue on Art and Neuroscience ABSTRACT The human urge to represent the three-dimensional world using two-dimensional pictorial representations dates back at least to Paleolithic times. Artists from ancient to modern times have struggled to understand how a few contours or color patches on a flat surface can induce mental representations of a three-dimensional scene. This article summarizes some of the recent breakthroughs in scientifically understanding how the brain sees that shed light on these struggles. These breakthroughs illustrate how various artists have intuitively understand paradoxical properties about how the brain sees, and have used that understanding to create great art. These paradoxical properties arise from how the brain forms the units of conscious visual perception; namely, representations of three-dimensional boundaries and surfaces. Boundaries and surfaces are computed in parallel cortical processing streams that obey computationally complementary properties. These streams interact at multiple levels to overcome their complementary weaknesses and to transform their complementary properties into consistent percepts. The article describes how properties of complementary consistency have guided the creation of many great works of art. Keywords: complementary computing, visual cortex, perceptual grouping, surface filling-in, figure-ground perception, amodal boundaries, perspective, T-junctions, opponent colors, neon color spreading, watercolor illusion, chiaoscuro, complementary consistency, Impressionism, Fauvism, Matisse, Monet, Hawthorne, Hensche, Leonardo da Vinci ****************************************** Bhatt, R., Carpenter, G., and Grossberg, S. Texture segregation by visual cortex: Perceptual grouping, attention, and learning. Vision Research, in press ABSTRACT A neural model called dARTEX is proposed of how laminar interactions in the visual cortex may learn and recognize object texture and form boundaries. The model unifies five interacting processes: region-based texture classification, contour-based boundary grouping, surface filling-in, spatial attention, and object attention. The model shows how form boundaries can determine regions in which surface filling-in occurs; how surface filling-in interacts with spatial attention to generate a form-fitting distribution of spatial attention, or attentional shroud; how the strongest shroud can inhibit weaker shrouds; and how the winning shroud regulates learning of texture categories, and thus the allocation of object attention. The model can discriminate abutted textures with blurred boundaries and is sensitive to texture boundary attributes like discontinuities in orientation and texture flow curvature as well as to relative orientations of texture elements. The model quantitatively fits the Ben-Shahar & Zucker (2004) human psychophysical data on orientation-based textures. Surface-based attentional shrouds improve texture learning and classification: Brodatz texture classification rate varies from 95.1% to 98.6% with correct attention, and from 74.1% to 75.5% without attention. Object boundary output of the model in response to photographic images is compared to computer vision algorithms and human segmentations. Keywords: Texture segregation, object recognition, image segmentation, perceptual grouping, spatial attention, object attention, attentional shroud, visual cortex, Adaptive Resonance Theory From chengsoon.ong at tuebingen.mpg.de Sat Jul 21 04:04:33 2007 From: chengsoon.ong at tuebingen.mpg.de (Cheng Soon Ong) Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:04:33 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: New JMLR track for machine learning open source software Message-ID: <0DF9F162-F1D5-45E3-BA60-ACC481E0F284@tuebingen.mpg.de> Apologies for cross posting. Announcement: New JMLR track for machine learning open source software ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To support the open source movement JMLR is proud to announce a new track. The aim of this special section is to provide, in parallel to theoretical advances in machine learning, a venue for collection and dissemination of open source software. Furthermore, we believe that a resource of peer reviewed software accompanied by short articles would be highly valuable to the machine learning community in general, helping to build a common repository of machine learning software. We encourage submissions (a 4 page description and the code) which are contributions related to implementations of non-trivial machine learning algorithms, toolboxes or even languages for scientific computing. As with the main JMLR papers, all published papers are freely available online. Submissions should clearly indicate that they are intended for this special track in the cover letter of the submission. For more information please see: http://jmlr.csail.mit.edu/mloss/ From krose at science.uva.nl Fri Jul 27 11:22:20 2007 From: krose at science.uva.nl (Ben Krose) Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:22:20 +0200 (CEST) Subject: Connectionists: postdoc position in Dynamic Bayesian Networks Message-ID: <62960.85.75.43.176.1185549740.squirrel@webmail.science.uva.nl> The IAS group at the Intelligent Systems Laboratory of the University of Amsterdam invites applications for a Postdoc position in the field of -------------------------------------------------- Dynamic Bayesian Networks for Activity Recognition -------------------------------------------------- The Intelligent Systems Laboratory is a outstanding research lab in processing pictorial, textual and time-based information, in which the Intelligent Autonomous Systems group focuses on intelligent systems like robots, smart cars and smart homes. vacancy number 07-1052 Tasks ----- In the context of various national and European research projects, our laboratory is looking for a postdoc who will work on learning and inference algorithms for DBN?s and vision algorithms and supervise ongoing work of Ph.D. students in the fields of: ? Multimodal sensory information processing ? Activity recognition and monitoring of elderly with simple sensors ? Personal robots in smart homes The results will be used in Multimedia and Ambient Intelligence settings, and enable the environment to recognize the activities of the users and to interact with them. There is some flexibility in which the focus of the work will be laid, and personal initiative is strongly encouraged. The research is carried out in an international context, which will enable the candidate to have regular interactions with other research teams in the fields of ambient intelligence, robotics throughout Europe and beyond. Requirements ------------ The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. or equivalent in Computer Science or Artificial Intelligence and has shown a track record in Computational Intelligence/Machine Learning by means of publications in the field. Candidates are expected to be experienced with programming in Matlab or C++. More information ---------------- The Intelligent Systems Laboratory Amsterdam is located in the Amsterdam Science Park. Amsterdam is a lively city that offers a great variety of cultural and recreational activities. English is both the main spoken language in the campus and broadly accepted in every day communication in the city. The IAS group strongly promotes interaction with the international community and research funds are available to sponsor travel, accommodation and personal expenses for conferences and scientific events. Further information can be obtained from dr. ir. Ben J. A. Kr?se, Informatics Institute, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, 1098 SJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; tel. +31 20 525 7461; email: krose at science.uva.nl. Appointment ----------- The appointment will be full time (38 hours a week) for a period of one year with a possible extension to two years. The gross monthly salary will be in accordance with the University regulations for academic personnel and will range from ? 2,279 up to a maximum of ? 3,597 (scale 10), based on a full-time appointment and depending on the number of years of professional experience. Job application ---------------- Applications should include a letter of motivation, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, and the names and contact information of two referees. Applications, quoting the vacancy number in the subject line, may be emailed to application at science.uva.nl. Closing date is 1 September 2007. Refer to web site Faculty of Science (English language) web site ?Working at the UvA? (for international staff members) web site Informatics Institute http://www.science.uva.nl/research/isla/ http://www.science.uva.nl/vacatures/vacatures.cfm http://www.english.uva.nl/vacancies/vacancies.cfm From almeidaecosta at ntlworld.com Fri Jul 27 13:07:26 2007 From: almeidaecosta at ntlworld.com (Fernando Almeida e Costa) Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:07:26 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: ECAL2007 Lisbon in September Message-ID: <000a01c7d070$9cd9c320$0210a8c0@salome> Dear all, The program of ECAL2007, 9th European Conference on Artificial Life, is now online in www.ecal2007.org. We invite you to have a look to the titles and authors of the 120 papers (talks and posters) to be presented to the main conference, plus twelve workshops and tutorials, and several associated events which include an Alife music concert. Each day will highlight a particular theme and will end with a panel discussion focusing on a particular controversial issue. Please visit the website for details. Every morning and afternoon will start with a keynote lecture. Keynote speakers include Dario Floreano, Rudolf Bannasch, Randall Beer, Antonio Coutinho, Janet Wiles, Peter Todd, Ezequiel Di Paolo, Ricard Sole and Brian Goodwin. The conference will close with a special session on the relation between Artificial Life and Biology. That session starts with a talk by Brian Goodwin and is followed by a panel discussion of similar format of the previous days. The conference will be held in the CCB - Centro Cultural de Belem (Belem Cultural Center, www.ccb.pt ) - a venue located on the Tagus riverside not far from its mouth, in a historic quarter of Lisbon. Its pleasant gardens and terraces, and the riverside prom, present opportunities for relaxation and chatting, and create the right atmosphere for a pleasant and hopefully fruitful academic meeting. Last but not least, Lisbon in September will certainly offer us the usual warm temperature and bright skies. Standard registrations will be open until the 31 of August. All welcome! On behalf of the organizing committee, Fernando Almeida e Costa From announce at ccnconference.org Mon Jul 30 00:17:34 2007 From: announce at ccnconference.org (announce@ccnconference.org) Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:17:34 -0600 Subject: Connectionists: CCNC 2007 --- Call-for-Abstracts DEADLINE EXTENDED to August 17, 2007 Message-ID: <200707292217.34512.announce@ccnconference.org> IMPORTANT UPDATE: Because of the recent time change moving the start of the conference to 1:30PM on Thursday, November 1, along with the fact that we have not yet opened the online registration website, we are extending the deadline for submitting poster abstracts to Friday August 17, 2007. The CCNC 2007 planning committee had recently been made aware that the first day of conference, November 1, is the day after Halloween. In an effort to be family friendly, the committee is planning for the conference to start at 1:30PM so as to allow attendees the possible option of flying in that morning. That will make for a rather late night on day one, but the committee feels that, on balance, the family friendly benefits of a late start will significantly outweigh that cost. OTHER UPDATES: * Our meeting has been officially assigned to the San Diego Convention Center by SfN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Call-for-Abstracts ~ 3RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE www.ccnconference.org To be held in conjunction with Dynamical Neuroscience XV immediately prior to the 2007 SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE (SfN) meeting, November 3-7, 2007 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA. * CONFERENCE DATES: Thu-Fri November 1 & 2, 2007 The inaugural CCNC 2005 meeting held prior to Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in Washington, DC (also in conjunction with the Dynamical Neuroscience satellite) was a great success, with approximately 250 attendees, 60 presented posters, and strongly positive reviews. For 2006, we went to Houston for the much smaller Psychonomics meeting and still had over 100 attendees and almost 50 posters. In future years, we will continue to rotate among different neuroscience and psychology meetings. ____________________________________________________________________________ * DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: Friday, August 17, 2007 (NEW DATE!) Abstracts are to be submitted online via the website: www.ccnconference.org/page6.html As in past years, there will be two categories of submissions: -Poster only -Poster, plus short talk (15 min) to highlight the poster Abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Women and underrepresented minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Reviewing of posters will be inclusive and only to ensure appropriateness to the meeting. Short talks will be selected on the basis of research quality, relevance to conference theme, and expected accessibility in a talk format. Abstracts not selected for short talks will still be accepted as posters as long as they meet appropriateness criteria. * NOTIFICATION OF POSTER ACCEPTANCE: Approx. September 5, 2007 * CONTRIBUTED SHORT TALK SELECTION: Approx. September 15, 2007 __________________________________________________________________________ Program: * 2007 Keynote Speakers: Alex Pouget, University of Rochester Read Montague, Baylor College of Medicine * 3 Symposia, each including a mixture of modelers and non-modelers and focused on a common theme or issue: ** Use of computational and cognitive models in functional brain-imaging Moderator: Todd Braver, Washington University - St. Louis ** Computational models in biological psychiatry Moderator: Michael Frank, University of Arizona ** Hippocampal neurogenesis in learning and memory Moderator: Janet Wiles, University of Queensland * Approximately 12 short talks will be chosen featuring selected posters * Poster sessions ____________________________________________________________________________ 2007 Planning Committee: Suzanna Becker, McMaster University Jonathan Cohen, Princeton University Nathaniel Daw, New York University David Noelle, University of California, Merced Maximilian Riesenhuber, Georgetown University Medical Center Randall O'Reilly, University of Colorado, Boulder (ex officio) Executive Staff: Thomas Hazy, University of Colorado, Boulder For more information and to sign up for the mailing list visit: www.ccnconference.org _______________________________________________ From thomas.j.palmeri at vanderbilt.edu Mon Jul 30 09:35:03 2007 From: thomas.j.palmeri at vanderbilt.edu (Thomas Palmeri) Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 08:35:03 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Vanderbilt University : Faculty Position in Cognition (with special emphasis on cognitive modeling or computational cognitive neuroscience) Message-ID: <004301c7d2ae$6f59d850$9b6fa8c0@PalmeriT60p> Vanderbilt University: The Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor faculty position in the area of cognitive psychology or cognitive neuroscience. We seek candidates who study higher-level cognitive processes such as memory, concept formation, cognitive control, reasoning, and decision making in a manner that complements the existing strengths in our program. Special consideration will be given to applicants with demonstrated expertise in cognitive modeling or computational cognitive neuroscience. We particularly welcome applications from women and minority scholars. The Department of Psychology partners with the Department of Psychology and Human Development, Peabody College, to offer a graduate program in Psychological Sciences with five programmatic areas: Clinical Science, Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, Neuroscience, and Quantitative Methods and Evaluation. We have excellent collaborative relations with a number of other allied departments and institutes, including the Learning Sciences Institute, the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, the Vanderbilt Institute of Imaging Sciences, the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, the Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience, the Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education, the John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, and several departments affiliated with the Vanderbilt Medical Center. Applicants should send vitae, copies of relevant publications, a letter describing research and teaching interests, and at least three letters of reference to: Thomas Palmeri, Ph.D. Chair, Cognitive Search Committee Department of Psychology 301 Wilson Hall 111 21st Avenue South Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37203 Informal inquiries may be sent via email to thomas.j.palmeri at vanderbilt.edu. Review of applications will begin immediately. To receive full consideration, applications should arrive by December 15, 2007. Vanderbilt University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. From jcs77 at ufl.edu Thu Jul 12 16:52:55 2007 From: jcs77 at ufl.edu (Justin Sanchez) Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:52:55 -0000 Subject: Connectionists: Workshop on Brain-Machine Interfaces Message-ID: <7972D393407B40779EE5AAA68F1CC1A1@Tranquility> Dear colleagues: We would like to invite you to attend a Workshop on Brain-Machine Interfaces to be held at the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks 2007. The workshop titled Innovation in Computational Approaches for Brain-Machine Interfaces will take place on Friday, Aug. 17, 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM in Orlando, Florida. The list of topics to be discussed includes: - Control feature extraction from spikes, LFPs, ECoG, and EEG - Data compression and representation of neural activity - Optimization of input-output models for mapping neural activity to behavior - Computing with spikes - Strategies for dealing with nonstationarities in real BMI applications - Techniques to analyze the spatio-temporal processes that activate behavior The program consists of nine speakers from leading laboratories in the field. Details can be found on the workshop website (http://nrg.mbi.ufl.edu/workshops/IJCNN2007BMI/index.htm ) or in the program attached. Registration information for the post-conference workshop can be found here: http://www.fulton.asu.edu/~ijcnn/registration.htm Best regards, Justin C. Sanchez, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Departments of Pediatrics, Neuroscience, and Biomedical Engineering P.O. Box 100296, JHMHSC Ph: 1-352-846-2180 Fax: 1-352-392-9802 Neuroprosthetics Research Group Lab: HD-410 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32610 www: http://nrg.mbi.ufl.edu/