Connectionists: Santa Fe Institute Workshop on Perception and Action

[Bruno Olshausen]

Workshop announcement:
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  Perception & Action - an Interdisciplinary Approach to Cognitive Systems Theory


  September 14-16, 2010
  Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico


Organizers: 

  Nihat Ay, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences
  Ray Guillery, Oxford University
  Bruno Olshausen, University of California, Berkeley
  Murray Sherman, University of Chicago
  Fritz Sommer, University of California, Berkeley

Invited speakers:

  Ehud Ahissar, Weizmann Institute of Science
  Andy Clark, University of Edinburgh
  Ralf Der, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences
  Carol Colby, University of Pittsburgh
  Keyan Ghazi-Zahedi, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences
  Jeff Hawkins, Numenta
  Yasuo Kuniyoshi, University of Tokyo
  Christopher Moore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Rolf Pfeifer, University of Zurich
  Daniel Polani, University of Hertfordshire
  Kevin O'Regan, CNRS Paris
  Marc Sommer, Duke University
  Naftali Tishby, The Hebrew University


The goal of this workshop is to bring together an interdisciplinary group of theorists, roboticists, and neuroscientists to focus on sensorimotor integration as an important basis of cognition.  The workshop will consider three particular themes:  1) thalamo-cortical relationships and their role in sensorimotor integration, 2) robotics and the far-reaching implications of the fact that cognitive systems are embodied and situated agents, and  3) systems-theoretic aspects of sensorimotor integration in the context of theory and philosophy (representation, relevance of information, prediction, regulation, and control).  

We invite applications from students and postdocs interested in attending the meeting.   A small number of travel grants may be available to defray costs, but participants are otherwise responsible for covering expenses for travel and accommodations.  Applications consist of a CV, statement of interest (less than 500 words), and reference letter from the research supervisor and should be sent to Murray Sherman (msherman at bsd.uchicago.edu) by August 15.



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Bruno A. Olshausen
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute & School of Optometry
Director, Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience
UC Berkeley 
575A Evans hall, MC 3198
Berkeley, CA 94720-3198
(510) 642-7250 / 2-7206 (fax)
http://redwood.berkeley.edu/bruno