From cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de Mon May 3 07:07:38 2010 From: cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de (Simone Cardoso de Oliveira) Date: Mon, 03 May 2010 13:07:38 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Bernstein Award for Computational Neuroscience 2010 Message-ID: <4BDEAE7A.1080604@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> Dear colleagues, I would like to bring to your attention that for the fifth time, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) has announced an open call for applications for a "Bernstein Award". The "Bernstein Award for Computational Neuroscience" is equipped with up to 1.25 Mio EUR for a period of five years and allows young scientists of all nationalities to establish an independent research group at a German university or research institution. The BMBF announcement can be found under the following links: * German version * English version Posters to announce the Bernstein Award locally can be downloaded from here: * German version * English version Application deadline is May 25th, 2010. Best regards, Simone Cardoso -- Dr. Simone Cardoso de Oliveira Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience Head of the Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Hansastr. 9A 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: +49-761-203-9583 fax: +49-761-203-9585 cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de www.nncn.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100503/e155bc4a/attachment.html From jcs77 at ufl.edu Tue May 4 01:38:00 2010 From: jcs77 at ufl.edu (Justin Sanchez) Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 07:38:00 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: =?windows-1252?q?Postdoctoral_Position_=96_In_Viv?= =?windows-1252?q?o_Neurophysiology_for_Brain-Machine_Interfaces?= Message-ID: <30ABF433-8717-4971-8B1D-A5413D1351D9@ufl.edu> A new position is available for a Postdoctoral Researcher to perform chronic neural electrophysiology in behaving animals in Brain-Machine Interface experiments. Applicants should have some experience in neuronal recording and surgery in animals. This project will provide a unique experience for candidates and offers many opportunities to interact with research and clinical faculty. Candidates will gain experience in systems neurophysiology, computational neuroscience, and applications in advanced therapies for disabled individuals. Justin C. Sanchez, Ph.D. jcs77 at ufl.edu Neuroprosthetics Research Group http://nrg.mbi.ufl.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100504/a4c7448c/attachment.html From mgiugliano at gmail.com Sat May 1 05:12:26 2010 From: mgiugliano at gmail.com (Michele Giugliano) Date: Sat, 01 May 2010 11:12:26 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: The 2010 Monte Verita' Workshop: Frontiers in Neuroengineering Message-ID: <4BDBF07A.5070901@gmail.com> Dear Colleagues, Michele Giugliano (U Antwerp), Henry Markram (EPFL), and Laura Ballerini (U Trieste) are organizing *The 2010 Monte Verita' Workshop: Frontiers in Neuroengineering* Ascona, Switzerland,*September 5-9th, 2010* http://www.neuroinf.org/meeting/meeting10/MonteVerita/ Neuroengineering is a rapidly growing discipline that takes its lymph from the increasing cross-fertilization of many areas of technology and science. By means of neuroengineering, advances in diverse technologies and in cellular and molecular biology converge into powerful tools to improve our understanding and treatment of neural (dis)functions. Recently such a discipline has gone beyond the concept of a simple application of engineering principles to central nervous system (CNS) comprehension, leading to the emergence of one of the more exciting interdisciplinary research fields in modern neurosciences. Neuroengineering applies novel approaches to the study of the brain by bringing together tools from computational neuroscience, information theory, electronics, electrophysiology, biomaterials, nanotechnologies and tissue engineering, towards *understanding, repairing, replacing, enhancing, and exploiting* the electrical properties of the nervous system. Understanding the brain is one of the key grand challenges of modern science. In Neuroengineering such challenge extends from fundamental research on computation in the central nervous system to new frontiers in neural prosthetics. Because of its cultural tradition and its special atmosphere, Monte Verita' is the ideal settings to bring together students, researchers, professionals and world- leaders of a discipline that is not any longer in its infancy and that is becoming fully mature. *== First Call for Papers == * We invite Authors to participate with contributions in all topics related to Neuroengineering, from novel (nano)materials interfacing the nervous system or as tools for basic research, to novel enabling technologies, and from basic neurobiology and electrophysiology to neuroprosthetics. We aim at covering topics across levels of investigations, from the single-neuron to the network- and the system levels. *The workshop will consist of invited speakers and registered participants, though it will be limited to a maximum of 100 people. * The workshop will include extra time for audience discussion of the presentations, allowing the group to have intense debates and creative discussions on the issues, challenges, and the new ideas in the field. Depending on the number and quality of the contributions, a special issue of a journal might be organized, and selected contributions invited after the workshop, conveying and summarizing the most important and relevant conclusions. We are in close contact with previous and new sponsors and we are trying to setup a number of student travel grants and best poster awards. We will keep the web site and the participants updated. We strongly encourage the participation of young researchers and their active and "disinhibited" participation to the scientific meeting, to honor the cultural and historical atmosphere of the meeting venue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Verit%C3%A0). Download the workshop flierhere !! *Invited speakers: * Gabriel A. Silva, UCSD, USA John Donoghue, Brown U, USA Micha E. Spira, Hebrew U, Israel Henry Markram, EPFL, Switzerland Shimon Marom, Technion, Israel Jessica Winter, Ohio State U, USA Vladimir Parpura, UAB, USA Laura Ballerini, Univ. Trieste, Italy Sophie Pautot, U Dresden, Germany Carmen Bartic, KULeuven, Belgium Yahel Hanein, Tel Aviv University, Israel Luca Berdondini, IIT, Italy Sandro Carrara, EPFL, Switzerland Eshel Ben-Jacob, Tel Aviv University, Israel Michele Giugliano, U Antwerpen, Belgium : (others to be announced) -- Important Dates -- *Early registration: June 5th, 2010 * -- Submission -- All abstract should be submitted following the template, the guidelines and the procedures indicated online, for publication in the workshop abstract book. *All participants are required to register online. * Looking forward to meeting you in Monte Verita'! The Workshop Organizers -- Michele Giugliano, PhD Dept. of Biomedical Sciences University of Antwerp Campus Drie Eiken (CDE) - D.T.532 Universiteitsplein 1 B-2610 Wilrijk (Belgium) email:michele.giugliano at ua.ac.be url:http://www.ua.ac.be/michele.giugliano -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100501/12d8b73c/attachment-0001.html From cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de Mon May 3 05:44:41 2010 From: cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de (Simone Cardoso de Oliveira) Date: Mon, 03 May 2010 11:44:41 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Call for applications: "Brains for Brains Junior Researchers' Award in Computational Neuroscience" Message-ID: <4BDE9B09.8080904@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> Dear colleagues, for the first time, the Bernstein Computational Neuroscience Association is announcing the "Brains for Brains Junior Researchers' Award in Computational Neuroscience". The call is open for researchers of any nationality who have contributed to a scientific paper or reviewed conference abstract that was accepted for publication or published in the years 2009 or 2010. The award comprises a 500 ? cash award, plus a travel fellowship of up to 1.500 ? to cover a one-week trip to Germany including a visit to three individually selected research institutions in Computational Neuroscience. Deadline for application is May 31, 2010. Detailed information about the application procedure can be found under: http://www.nncn.uni-freiburg.de/brains4brains-en Simone Cardoso -- Dr. Simone Cardoso de Oliveira Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience Head of the Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Hansastr. 9A 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: +49-761-203-9583 fax: +49-761-203-9585 cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de www.nncn.de From paul.cisek at umontreal.ca Tue May 4 18:42:00 2010 From: paul.cisek at umontreal.ca (Paul Cisek) Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 18:42:00 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Graduate studentship in cognitive neuroscience of decision-making Message-ID: <2025A18076C74638985DF90B226E9780@Homunculus> Title: Graduate studentship in decision-making: Dept. of physiology, University of Montr?al, laboratory of Paul Cisek. Applications are invited for a master's or doctoral studentship in cognitive neuroscience. The successful applicant will join a research group studying the cerebral cortical mechanisms of decision-making in humans and non-human primates using a combination of computational and experimental techniques. Research in our laboratory involves computational models of the nervous system as well as behavioral experiments, transcranial magnetic stimulation, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and multi-electrode recording from the cerebral cortex. Depending on the applicant's qualifications and interests, they will help to design and conduct behavioral and neurophysiological experiments, analyze data, develop theoretical models of neural systems, prepare manuscripts for publication, and participate in international conferences. See www.cisek.org/pavel for information on current projects and a list of sample publications. While students with a strong background in mathematics, computer science, or biological sciences are particularly encouraged to apply, all motivated students with an interest in understanding the brain will be considered. The successful applicant will receive a competitive salary in accordance with university guidelines. For further information, please contact Dr. Paul Cisek (paul.cisek at umontreal.ca). Applicants are asked to submit a curriculum vita, a transcript of previous studies, and the names and contact information of two references, to: Dr. Paul Cisek Department of physiology University of Montr?al C.P. 6128 Succursale Centre-ville Montr?al, QC H3C 3J7, CANADA Phone : 514-343-6111 x4355 Web : www.cisek.org/pavel email: paul.cisek at umontreal.ca Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. A preliminary interview at the FENS Forum in Amsterdam and the Society for Neuroscience meeting is possible. --------------- Montr?al is consistently rated as one of the world's most livable cities and has been called "Canada's Cultural Capital". It has the highest number of university students per capita in the entire continent. More than 17,000 foreign students from some 150 countries benefit from among the lowest tuition fees in North America. Compared to other cities of similar stature, the cost of living in Montr?al is very reasonable, particularly in terms of housing. Montr?al has a vibrant neuroscience community spanning four major universities (University of Montr?al, McGill University, Concordia University, and the University of Qu?bec at Montr?al) and the Montr?al Neurological Institute. The University of Montr?al, with its two affiliated schools, the ?cole Polytechnique and the HEC Montr?al, is the largest university in Qu?bec and the second largest in Canada, with over 55,000 students from around the world and some 10,000 employees. Deeply rooted in Montr?al and dedicated to its international mission, the Universit? de Montr?al is one of the top universities in the French-speaking world. The University of Montr?al is a French-speaking institution, and most of the courses are given in French. However, the master's or PhD thesis can be written in either French or English. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100504/a2d0386c/attachment.html From terry at salk.edu Sun May 2 20:27:10 2010 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Sun, 02 May 2010 17:27:10 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION - May, 2010 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Neural Computation - Contents - Volume 22, Number 5 - May 1, 2010 ARTICLE Optimal Decision Making on the Basis of Evidence Represented in Spike Trains Jiaxiang Zhang and Rafal Bogacz LETTERS Posterior Weighted Reinforcement Learning with State Uncertainty Tobias Larsen, David S. Leslie, Edmund J. Collins and Rafal Bogacz A Non-Markovian Random Walk Underlies a Stochastic Model of Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity Terry Elliott Nonconvergence in Logistic and Poisson Models for Neural Spiking Mengyuan Zhao and Satish Iyengar Decoding Poisson Spike Trains by Gaussian Filtering Sidney R. Lehky Connectivity, Dynamics, and Memory in Reservoir Computing with Binary and Analog Neurons Lars Busing, Benjamin Schrauwen and Robert Legenstein Representation Sharpening Can Explain Perceptual Priming Samat Moldakarimov, Maxim Bazhenov and Terrence J. Sejnowski A Gaussian Attractor Network for Memory and Recognition with Experience-Dependent Learning Xiaolin Hu and Bo Zhang Alteration of Ambient GABA by Phasic and Tonic Neuronal Activation Osamu Hoshino Roles of Roles of Inhibitory Neurons in Rewiring-Induced Synchronization in Pulse-Coupled Neural Networks Takashi Kanamaru and Kazuyuki Aihara ----- ON-LINE - http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/neco SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2010 - VOLUME 22 - 12 ISSUES USA Others Electronic only Student/Retired $65 $128 $60 Individual $115 $178 $107 Institution $962 $1,025 $860 Canada: Add 5% GST to USA prices 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 atolias at cns.bcm.edu Thu May 6 09:58:29 2010 From: atolias at cns.bcm.edu (Andreas Tolias) Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 08:58:29 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Position for Postdoctoral Fellow or Research Associate Message-ID: Position for Postdoctoral Fellow or Research Associate to study the neural circuits that govern visual processing and learning. Position at the level of postdoctoral fellow or research associate is available to study the neuronal mechanisms that govern perception and learning. Our focus is to understand the mechanisms of these processes at the circuit level in the visual system. To this end, we employ methods that allow us to study the properties of network of neurons in vivo during behavior. Specifically, we use chronic arrays of tetrodes and in vivo two-photon imaging combined with psychophysical and computational methods. We have developed the capability to record from the same individual neurons across multiple days in awake, behaving primates that gives us the unique opportunity to study how circuits reorganize in vivo during learning. Our lab has also strong interest to develop new technologies to record from interconnected neural circuits using novel imaging and multi- electrode recording methods and also to develop methods ? including optogenetic and electrical microstimulation tools - to manipulate the activity of circuits in vivo. The research scientist for this position will have the opportunity to study brain mechanisms of behavior using one or a combination of these methods. Baylor College of Medicine is an equal opportunity employer. Send inquiries and applications to: Andreas Tolias, Ph.D Assistant Professor Department of Neuroscience Baylor College of Medicine Suite S553 Houston, Texas 77030 atolias at cns.bcm.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100506/5f818aac/attachment-0001.html From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Thu May 6 10:44:37 2010 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 10:44:37 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: seats still available for the NEURON 2010 Summer Course Message-ID: <4BE2D5D5.1000107@yale.edu> Seats remain available for the NEURON 2010 Summer Course. In addition to providing a solid introduction to how to use NEURON for modeling individual neurons and networks, this year's course will include new information about how to use NEURON with Python, and how to speed up simulations by parallel computation on hardware that ranges from PCs and Macs to workstation clusters and parallel supercomputers. Registration is limited to 20, and the deadline for signing up is Tuesday, June 1, 2010. For more information, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nscsd2010/nscsd2010.html or contact Ted Carnevale Neurobiology Dept. Yale University School of Medicine PO Box 208001 New Haven, CT 06520-8001 phone 203-494-7381 email ted.carnevale at yale.edu Supported in part by: National Institutes of Health Institute for Neural Computation http://inc.ucsd.edu/ Contractual terms require inclusion of the following statement: This course is not sponsored by the University of California. From jose at psychology.rutgers.edu Thu May 6 11:32:17 2010 From: jose at psychology.rutgers.edu (Stephen =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jos=E9?= Hanson) Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 11:32:17 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Post Doc position RUMBA Lab- Rutgers University Message-ID: <1273159937.3527.18.camel@max> > POSTDOC POSITION: COMPUTATIONAL NEUROIMAGING -RUMBA We seek a postdoctoral applicant for a position at Rutgers University - Newark in New Jersey in the RUBMA Lab (Rutgers Brain/Mind Analysis; www.rumba.rutgers.edu) Applicants should have a background in one, and preferably several, of the following area: statistical learning methods, neural signal processing, neuroimaging (EEG and/or fMRI), , cognitive neuroscience. A Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience or Computational Neuroscience, Computer Science, Engineering is preferred. Our lab was one of the first development sites for new methods and techniques related to "brain reading" including premier tools such as pyMVPA. Our Cognitive/Perceptual research is focused on learning and memory, specifically in terms of language supporting functions and modularity: Categorization, representation (are there brain modules?), sequential learning, event cognition etc. Our Computational research areas includes multivariate classifiers for fMRI, graph modeling of large scale brain interactivity (Ramsey et al 2010; intrinsic/extrinsic networks) as well as spatial brain clustering (Dense Mode Clustering; Hanson et al 2008, MRI) and inter-brain synchrony metrics (Eigen-Value-Synchrony methods- Hanson et al, 2009, Comp. Neuroscience). We are located in beautiful downtown Newark, 13 miles outside of New York City. See http://www rumba.rutgers.edu for more information) Position could start in summer or fall of 2010. This is a two year postdoctoral position with possible third year renewal. Note: Applicants must be US Citizens or green card holders. Interested applicants should send a current CV, names of potential recommenders To jose at tractatus.rutgers.edu WITH SUBJECT HEADING: Postdoc Position Rutgers University is an equal opportunity employer. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100506/57a8d76e/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: sig.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 41099 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100506/57a8d76e/sig-0001.jpg From mail at mkaiser.de Thu May 6 06:34:02 2010 From: mail at mkaiser.de (Marcus Kaiser) Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 19:34:02 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: PostDoc position: modeling/electrophysiology in Movement Neuroscience Message-ID: Dear all, I post the advertisement below on behalf of my colleague Prof. Stuart Baker. Please pass the ad to potential applicants and contact Stuart for more information. Postdoctoral Research Associate in Movement Neuroscience Newcastle University SALARY: from ?27319 depending on experience . The successful applicant will investigate neural circuits involved in the production and reduction of tremor, in both the brain and spinal cord. You will use a range of methods, including in vivo single unit recording, computational modelling and non-invasive electrophysiology in human subjects. The ideal candidate has a strong background in systems neuroscience, preferably in the field of control of movement, and experience of electrophysiological methods. The post is funded until September 2013 in the first instance (Wellcome Trust). CLOSING DATE: Monday 14th June For further details and information on how to apply, please visit our web site at www. ncl.ac.uk/vacancies or send your CV/application to: Prof Stuart Baker, Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Medical School, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, or by e-mail to stuart.baker at ncl.ac.uk Best, Marcus -- For Spring Semester, 2010: Professor, Computational Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Rm 645 Bldg 220 599 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu Seoul National University Seoul 151-742 Korea Phone: +82 2 880 2862 School of Computing Science Newcastle University Claremont Tower Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, U.K. Phone: +44 191 222 8161 Fax: +44 191 222 8232 http://www.biological-networks.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100506/3c3f42e5/attachment-0001.html From bowlby at bu.edu Thu May 6 13:16:33 2010 From: bowlby at bu.edu (Brian Bowlby) Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 13:16:33 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: 14th ICCNS: Final Call for Registration and Confirmed Invited Speakers Message-ID: <8BC457D6-CF8B-4854-9AA3-804180E94AE3@bu.edu> FOURTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS May 19?22, 2010 Boston University 677 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA http://cns.bu.edu/meetings/ Sponsored by the Boston University Center for Adaptive Systems, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems (http://cns.bu.edu), and Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology (http://celest.bu.edu) with financial support from the National Science Foundation This interdisciplinary conference is aimed at researchers and students of computational neuroscience, cognitive science, neural networks, neuromorphic engineering, and artificial intelligence. It includes invited lectures and contributed lectures and posters by experts on how the brain and other intelligent systems adapt to a changing world. Single-track oral and poster sessions enable all presented work to be highly visible. CONFIRMED INVITED SPEAKERS Moshe Bar (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School) The proactive brain: Predictions in visual cognition Leon Chua (University of California, Berkeley) [Plenary Speaker] Memristor minds Carol Colby (University of Pittsburgh) Active vision Heiner Deubel (University of Munich) Attention before goal-directed actions Stephen Grossberg (Boston University) Linking What and Where in visual attention, recognition, navigation, and planning Earl Miller (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) [Plenary Speaker] The prefrontal cortex: Brain rhythms and cognition Anthony Movshon (New York University) Reading visual information from neuronal populations Steven Petersen (Washington University) Using network analysis tools to study the brain's control systems Russell Poldrack (UCLA) Stopping ourselves: The neural basis of response inhibition Josef Rauschecker (Georgetown University Medical Center) A functional and computational role for the dorsal stream in space and speech Barry Richmond (National Institutes of Health) Studies into the neurobiological basis of stimulus-outcome learning in monkeys Xiao-Jing Wang (Yale University) Computational neurobiology of decision making WORKSHOP ON ?TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM? Steffen Gais (Ludwig Maximilians University) Cholinergic and other neurotransmitter influences on memory processing during sleep Michael Hasselmo (Boston University) Modulation of grid cells and head direction cells during waking and sleep Bruce McNaughton (University of Lethbridge) Dynamics of memory and non-memory reactivation during slow-wave and REM sleep Cliff Saper (Harvard Medical School) Sleep switches Robert Stickgold (Harvard Medical School) Sleep, memory, and dreams: Beyond consolidation Erin Wamsley (Harvard Medical School) Memories in the sleeping brain: A function for our dreams? Matt Wilson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Hippocampal memory reactivation during sleep WORKSHOP ON ?NEUROMORPHIC COMPUTING: FROM BRAINS TO NANOCHIPS? Gail A. Carpenter (Boston University) The ART of neuromorphic computing Ralph Etienne-Cummings (Johns Hopkins University) Implementing a spike-based HMAX vision system with a silicon neural array Karlheinz Meier (University of Heidelberg) Neuromorphic computing ? Are we ready for a big step? Ennio Mingolla (Boston University) Neural designs for nanochip applications REGISTRATION FORM Fourteenth International Conference on Cognitive and Neural Systems May 19?22, 2010 Boston University Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems 677 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA Fax: +1 617 353 7755 Mr/Ms/Dr/Prof:_____________________________________________________ Affiliation:_________________________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________________________ City, State, Postal Code:______________________________________________ Phone and Fax:_____________________________________________________ Email:____________________________________________________________ The registration fee includes a copy of the conference proceedings volume, a reception on Friday night, and 3 coffee breaks each day. CHECK ONE: ( ) $95 Conference (Regular) ( ) $65 Conference (Student) METHOD OF PAYMENT: [ ] Enclosed is a check made payable to "Boston University" Checks must be made payable in US dollars and issued by a US correspondent bank. Each registrant is responsible for any and all bank charges. [ ] I wish to pay by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, or Discover Card only) Name as it appears on the card:___________________________________________ Type of card: _____________________________ Expiration date:________________ Account number: _______________________________________________________ Signature:____________________________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100506/12ee1e15/attachment-0001.html From alex.c.berg at gmail.com Fri May 7 11:29:53 2010 From: alex.c.berg at gmail.com (Alex Berg) Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 11:29:53 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Announcing the ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge (ILSVRC2010) Message-ID: Announcing the ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge (ILSVRC2010) Dear Colleagues, Come take advantage of our labeling effort to show off your algorithms for large scale hierarchical multi-class classification on images! The goal is to better understand performance of algorithms on hierarchical recognition at large scale with an eye toward image search and auto-annotation. In the first year, the challenge will focus on image categorization for images of 1000 object categories. This significant increase in the number of categories provides an interesting hierarchical structure and is meant to complement PASCAL VOC which concentrates on classification and detection for 20 categories. Training and validation data will be provided from ImageNet as well as from a dataset newly collected expressly for this challenge -- test data will come only from the newly collected set. In order to make the challenge accessible to the widest possible audience we are releasing a baseline recognition algorithm as well as precomputed descriptors for all images. Results will be presented at the PASCAL VOC workshop held at ECCV 2010. Prizes may indeed be won. Time-lines and more details are available here: http://www.image-net.org/challenges/LSVRC/2010/ Good Luck! The ILSVRC2010 team. From T.Nowotny at sussex.ac.uk Mon May 10 03:17:03 2010 From: T.Nowotny at sussex.ac.uk (Thomas Nowotny) Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 08:17:03 +0100 (BST) Subject: Connectionists: Workshop on Dynamical Olfaction, 30-06 to 02-07-2010, Brighton, UK Message-ID: Dear connectionists, we have still a few places available on our Workshop on Dynamical Olfaction 30 June to 2 July in Brighton, UK the registration is free of charge and will remain open until close to the workshop or until fully booked. Please do register early to secure participation (and help us plan catering) at http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/users/tn41/signupPhero2010/register Workshop outline: Animals are able to experience complexly structured plumes of different combinations of chemicals as individual olfactory percepts. It appears that the olfactory system utilizes rich temporal dynamics to achieve this goal but exactly how is still an open challenge for modern neuroscience. In the last few years rapid progress has been made in our understanding of olfactory information processing. In this focused workshop on Dynamical Olfaction we will share recent developments, both experimental and theoretical, between the active researchers in the field. Confirmed keynote speakers include Maxim Bazhenov, University of California Riverside, USA C. Giovanni Galizia, University of Konstanz, Germany Peter Kloppenburg, University of Koeln, Germany Hong Lei, The University of Arizona, USA Johannes Reisert, Monell Chemical Senses Center, USA Brian H. Smith, Arizona State University, USA Mark Stopfer, National Institutes of Health, USA Mark Stopfer, National Institutes of Health, USA Stephen Trowell, CSIRO, Australia Massimo Vergassola, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France Jan Wessnitzer, University of Edinburgh, UK The programme committee is formed by Jean-Pierre Rospars, INRA Versailles Dominique Martinez, LORIA Nancy & INRA Versailles Thomas Nowotny, University of Sussex Sylvia Anton, INRA Versailles The workshop is financed by the BBSRC in the framework of the PheroSys project, part of the ANR-BBSRC SysBio initiative. Registration IS FREE OF CHARGE but mandatory for our planning. Important Dates: June 30, 2010: The workshop starts Participation is limited to 100 participants. Contributors will have preferential treatment over other participants. To submit a late abstract (POSTERS ONLY), direct your browser to http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/users/tn41/signupPhero2010/abstract To register, go to http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/users/tn41/signupPhero2010/register Further information is available and will be updated regularly on the workshop website http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/tn41/PheroSys2010/index.html If you have additional questions, please contact the local organiser, Chris Buckley at C.L.Buckley at sussex.ac.uk . Regards, The PheroSys programme committee -- Dr. Thomas Nowotny RCUK Academic Fellow Phone: +44-1273-678593 CCNR, Informatics, Fax: +44-1273-877873 University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ http://sussex.ac.uk/informatics/tnowotny From tetiana.aksenova at cea.fr Mon May 10 05:26:35 2010 From: tetiana.aksenova at cea.fr (AKSENOVA Tetiana 218551) Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 11:26:35 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Research Fellow in Neural Engineering Message-ID: Research Fellow in Neural Engineering Young researchers are invited to apply for 3-years position in the field of neural engineering with the focus on Brain Computer Interface (BCI). The candidate should have a PhD in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics or Engineering and at least 2 years of experience as a postdoc researcher. The particular goal of the project is the development of self paced ECoG based BCI with multiple degrees of freedom. The successful applicant will perform research in the fields of signal processing, adaptive modeling, machine learning and fast calculations for real time applications. Young researchers will be integrated to the group of signal processing led by Dr.Tetiana Aksenova working in collaboration with researchers of Clinatec whose expertise spans mathematics, computer science, microelectronics, nanoscience and neuroscience with the goal of performing functional BCI system. Candidates with the experience in EEG/ECoG based BCI and/or computational approaches to the neuronal systems analyses will be preferred. Programming in Matlab and C/C++ will be the part of the project. The work will be performed at INSRM (GIN, team of Prof. F. Berger) and at Clinatec (scientific direction of Prof. A.-L. Benabid), Centre of Atomic Energy (CEA), Grenoble, France. For more information look at http://www.fondation-neurodis.org/fileadmin/pdf/Appel_d_offres/AO_2010_f inal_18_Projets.pdf http://www-leti.cea.fr/en/Discover-Leti/Innovation-platforms2/Clinatec CV, motivation letter and the names of two references must be sent electronically to Dr.Tetiana Aksenova (tetiana.aksenova at cea.fr ), Corinne Mestais (corinne.mestais at cea.fr). Application deadline : no later then May 25, 2010. In case of clarification needs please send us an email : tetiana.aksenova at cea.fr . Tetiana AKSENOVA Chair of excellence RTRA Foundation "Nanoscience at the limits of Nanoelectronics" 23 rue des Martyrs, F-38000 Grenoble France Tel : +33 4 38 78 03 20 Fax : +33 4 38 78 54 56 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100510/f008ddf5/attachment.html From redish at umn.edu Tue May 11 17:12:17 2010 From: redish at umn.edu (David Redish) Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 16:12:17 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral positions available: Redish Lab, University of Minnesota In-Reply-To: <4BE086C7.4000605@umn.edu> References: <4BE086C7.4000605@umn.edu> Message-ID: Several postdoctoral positions are available in my laboratory in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota starting this summer and early fall. ?Research interests include behavioral neuroscience, with specific interests in spatial cognition in rats. My laboratory does both experimental and computational work and postdocs would be expected to participate in both aspects. ?Primary research projects will be aimed at questions of decision-making, cognition, and neural representation in rats. Candidates should have recently completed (or be about to complete) their PhD and should have some experience in either computational or experimental neuroscience. Pay will be commensurate with NIH standards. ?Those interested should contact me via email. The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity employer. ------------------------------------------------------------------- A. David Redish ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? redish at umn.edu http://www.umn.edu/~redish ----------------------------- Associate Professor Department of Neuroscience University of Minnesota ------------------------------------------------------------------- From wsenn at cns.unibe.ch Mon May 10 09:27:39 2010 From: wsenn at cns.unibe.ch (Walter Senn) Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 15:27:39 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Biological Cybernetics: vol 102, issue 6 Message-ID: <4BE809CB.2020507@cns.unibe.ch> Biological Cybernetics: vol 102, issue 6 --- Table of Content Original papers: "Schema generation in recurrent neural nets for intercepting a moving target" Andreas G. Fleischer http://www.springerlink.com/content/g867u2v5229x7662/ "Center-of-mass alterations and visual illusion of extent" Aleksandr Bulatov, Algis Bertulis, Algirdas Gutauskas, Lina Mickiene & Gitana Kadziene http://www.springerlink.com/content/m087742526532181/ "Numerical simulation for a neurotransmitter transport model in the axon terminal of a presynaptic neuron" Andrzej Bielecki, Piotr Kalita, Marian Lewandowski & Bart?omiej Siwek http://www.springerlink.com/content/b5r236q6571256gh/ "Isometric force generated by locust skeletal muscle: responses to single stimuli" Emma Wilson, Emiliano Rustighi, Brian R. Mace & Philip L. Newland http://www.springerlink.com/content/t153muvt34127184/ "Reflexes and preflexes: on the role of sensory feedback on rhythmic patterns in insect locomotion" J. Proctor & P. Holmes http://www.springerlink.com/content/h1m427113324110t/ ---- Biological Cybernetics, all issues: http://www.springerlink.com/content/100465/ _______________________________________________ Comp-neuro mailing list Comp-neuro at neuroinf.org http://www.neuroinf.org/mailman/listinfo/comp-neuro From M.Loog at tudelft.nl Wed May 12 08:59:59 2010 From: M.Loog at tudelft.nl (Marco Loog - EWI) Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 14:59:59 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Ph.D. Project at Pattern Recognition Laboratory, Delft University of Technology Message-ID: Ph.D. Project in Dissimilarity-based Multiple Instance Learning Pattern Recognition Laboratory Delft University of Technology Delft, The Netherlands prlab.tudelft.nl The Pattern Recognition Laboratory invites applications for a Ph.D. position in pattern recognition at Delft University of Technology. Research Project Multiple-instance learning extends classical supervised learning so as to handle objects that are described by a set of instances, i.e., feature vectors, as opposed to a single feature vector only. Various classification routines have been devised to learn from a collection of such sets and their corresponding labels and to generalize to new and unseen examples. Dissimilarity-based approaches -- put forward by Pekalska and Duin [www.worldscibooks.com/compsci/5965.html] and further investigated in for instance the European SIMBAD [simbad-fp7.eu] project -- provide new opportunities to tackle multiple instance and related problems. Not necessarily relying on individual feature vectors, a dissimilarity approach opens up the novel possibility to compare sets in a direct, albeit potentially non-Euclidean, way. The principal focus of the research project is on developing tools and theories to carry out multiple instance learning via such dissimilarity representations. Additional investigation can, for example, be towards the potential benefits of non-Euclidean, or even non-metric, representations over [implicit] Euclidean representations like the well-known kernel matrices. This project is fundamental in nature and the aim is to gain knowledge and understanding applicable to a broad range of general multiple instance problems. There is no main application involved, but the project does link to various other research directions at the PRLab, some of which are more applied projects we are participating in. Qualifications The successful candidate should have an M.Sc. in physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, electrical engineering, or a related relevant discipline. A solid mathematical background, considerable experience with pattern recognition or machine learning techniques, and good programming skills in Matlab are definitely an advantage. Possibly more important are the skills and drive to tackle basic, fundamental, and/or conceptual problems. Creativity in finding solutions is thus essential, along with good communication skills. Applications Letters Applications must be submitted electronically to m.loog at tudelft.nl and be received no later than June 18, 2010. Your application should contain the following information. - A letter of motivation [one page maximum] - A curriculum vitae, including three references and, possibly, a list of publications - Documentation of completed degrees and graduate courses, including the marks obtained - Detailed information on your M.Sc. project and a copy of your M.Sc. thesis or a draft of it. It is optional to send along a sketch, no longer than one page, of a proposed, more detailed research direction that fits within the research project described above. Contact Person Marco Loog m.loog at tudelft.nl Pattern Recognition Laboratory Delft University of Technology Delft, the Netherlands From BS.Bhattacharya at ulster.ac.uk Thu May 13 06:51:35 2010 From: BS.Bhattacharya at ulster.ac.uk (Bhattacharya Basabdatta) Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 11:51:35 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Extended deadline - Second call for papers Special thematic session at BIC-TA 2010, Liverpool, Uk Message-ID: <5BEE8418A733624688A183865F7E22DC023E22BF@jnexc09.ad.ulster.ac.uk> ---------------------------------------- Second call for papers _________ (Paper submission deadline extended to 23rd May 2010)________________ Special Thematic Session at BIC-TA 2010 on Computational models of functional and dysfunctional brain circuitry 8th - 10th September, Liverpool, UK A Special Thematic Session will be held at the BIC-TA Conference 2010 on the area of modelling functional aspects of the brain with a view to developing a better understanding of the healthy and the dysfunctional brain. We would like to invite all interested authors to make full length paper submission to the session. Submission details are available at the conference website - http://www.hope.ac.uk/bicta2010 Background and Scope: Apart from knowledge discovery, computational models are contributing towards developing a better understanding of the functional, structural and dynamical aspects of different areas of the brain. This knowledge may have significant benefits for medical science. Furthermore, computational models are being used extensively to help develop and improve new bio-inspired technologies, information processing tools, control algorithms and brain-machine interfaces. Topics of interest are, but not limited to: * Psychological and neurological disorders * Cortical dynamics * Brain rhythms * Perceptual processing * Cognitive and emotional processing * Motor circuitry * Models to inform new technologies such as brain-machine interfaces, robot control Publication: The proceedings of BIC-TA 2010 will be published by the IEEE and indexed by EI and IEEEXplore. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the journal (SCI and Math Review indexed) "Natural Computing": a Springer publication. Important Dates: * Paper submissions due: Monday 10th May 2010 Extended to 23rd May 2010 * Notification of acceptance: Saturday 10th July 2010 * Revised manuscripts due: Friday 30th July 2010 * Conference: 8th - 10th September 2010 Keynote Speakers: * Prof. Steve Furber, University of Manchester, UK * Others to be announced soon. Please see the conference webpage for details. Orgainsers: Dr. Basabdatta Sen Bhattacharya (bs.bhattacharya at ulster.ac.uk) and Dr. Damien Coyle (dh.coyle at ulster.ac.uk), Intelligent Systems Research Centre, University of Ulster. Regards, Basabdatta Sen Bhattacharya RA, ISRC Magee Campus, University of Ulster Derry BT48 7JL Northern Ireland, UK tel(o): +44(0)28713 75449 web: http://isrc.ulster.ac.uk/staff/BBhattacharya/Contact.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100513/5ab1b468/attachment.html From sofmac at gmail.com Thu May 13 18:38:04 2010 From: sofmac at gmail.com (Sofus Macskassy) Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 15:38:04 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Participation: Eighth Workshop on Mining and Learning with Graphs 2010 (MLG-2010) Message-ID: ============================================================================= Call for Participation Eighth Workshop on Mining and Learning with Graphs 2010 (MLG-2010) http://www.cs.umd.edu/mlg2010 Washington, DC, July, 24-25 (co-located with SIG-KDD 2010 ) Key Dates Early registration deadline: May 15, 2010 Regular registration deadline: June 30, 2010 Registration: http://www.kdd.org/kdd2010/registration.shtml ============================================================================= This year's workshop on Mining and Learning with Graphs will be held in conjunction with the 16th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining that will take place in July 25-28, 2010 in Washington, DC. There is a great deal of interest in analyzing data that is best represented as a graph. Examples include the WWW, social networks, biological networks, communication networks, and many others. The importance of being able to effectively mine and learn from such data is growing, as more and more structured and semi-structured data is becoming available. This is a problem across widely different fields such as economics, statistics, social science, physics and computer science, and is studied within a variety of sub-disciplines of machine learning and data mining including graph mining, graphical models, kernel theory, statistical relational learning, etc. The objective of this workshop is to bring together researchers from a variety of these areas, and discuss commonality and differences in challenges faced, survey some of the different approaches, and provide a forum to present and learn about some of the most cutting edge research in this area. As an outcome, we expect participants to walk away with a better sense of the variety of different tools available for graph mining and learning, and an appreciation for some of the interesting emerging applications for mining and learning from graphs. The key challenge we address in this workshop is how to efficiently analyze large data sets that are relational in nature and hence easily represented as graphs. Such data are becoming ubiquitous in a plethora of application and research domains and now is the time to bring together people from these various fields to exchange ideas about how we can mine and learn from these large data sets. The goal of this workshop will be to explore the state-of-the-art algorithms and methods, leveraging existing knowledge from other sub-disciplines, to examine graph-based models in the context of real-world applications, and to identify future challenges and issues. In particular we are interested in the following topics: * Graph mining * Kernel methods for structured data * Probabilistic models for structured data * (Multi-)relational data mining * Methods for structured outputs * Network analysis * Large-scale learning and applications * Sampling issues in graph algorithms * Evaluation of graph algorithms * Relationships between mining and learning with graphs and statistical relational learning * Relationships between mining and learning with graphs and inductive logic programming * Semi-supervised learning * Active learning * Transductive inference * Transfer learning We invite researchers working on mining and learning with graphs to submit regular and position papers detailing the major points and/or results they would present during a talk. Regular papers are a maximum of 8 pages long in two-column format, position papers comprise 2 pages. Authors whose papers were accepted to the workshop will have the opportunity to give a short presentation at the workshop as well as present their work in a poster session to promote interaction and dialog. Please follow the submission link on the main workshop site (http://www.cs.umd.edu/mlg2010) to submit. We will not be doing double-blind reviews, so please include your name and affiliation. The workshop itself is a two-day workshop. Each day will consist of keynote speakers, short presentations showcasing accepted papers, discussions at end of sessions, and a poster session to promote dialog. Important Dates Early registration May 15, 2010 Regular registration June 30, 2010 Workshop July 24-25 Organizers * Ulf Brefeld (Yahoo! Research, Barcelona) * Lise Getoor (University of Maryland) * Sofus A. Macskassy (Fetch Technologies / USC) Program Committee * Edo Arioldi * Tanya Berger-Wolf * Hendrik Blockeel * Karsten Borgwardt * Chris Burges * Diane Cook * Tina Eliassi-Rad * Stephen Fienberg * Paolo Frasconi * Thomas Gaertner * Brian Gallagher * Aris Gionis * Marko Grobelnik * Jiawei Han * Susanne Hoche * Lawrence Holder * Jure Leskovec * George Karypis * Samuel Kaski * Kristian Kersting * Dunja Mladenic * Alessandro Moschitti * Jennifer Neville * Massimiliano Pontil * Foster Provost * Padhraic Smyth * Swapna Somasundaran * Eric Xing * Philip Yu * Mohammed Zaki * Fabio Massimo Zanzotto * Zhongfei (Mark) Zhang Contact Information Sofus A. Macskassy Fetch Technologies 841 Apollo Street Suite 400 El Segundo, CA 90245 http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~sofmac http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~macskass sofmac at fetch.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100513/b88e5f6a/attachment-0001.html From x.troncoso at neuralcorrelate.com Thu May 13 20:05:17 2010 From: x.troncoso at neuralcorrelate.com (Xoana G Troncoso) Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 17:05:17 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: 2010 Illusion Contest winners Message-ID: The TOP THREE winners of the 2010 "Best Illusion of the Year Contest" are: - 1st PRIZE: Koukichi Sugihara (Meiji Institute, Japan) -- "Impossible motion: magnet-like slopes" - 2nd PRIZE: Bart Anderson (University of Sydney, Australia) -- "Counter?intuitive illusory contours" - 3rd PRIZE: Jan Kremlacek (Charles University, Czech Republic)--" Two sinusoids: 6 ? 1 perceptions" Check out the WINNING ILLUSIONS, and all TOP TEN finalists at: http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com The winners took home a "Guido", a trophy designed by the renowned Italian sculptor Guido Moretti. The "Best Illusion of the Year Contest" Gala (sponsored by Scientific American and held on May 10th in Naples FL) was a huge success, drawing international coverage from Nature, Discover, Scientific American, Fox News, and many other media outlets. The winning illusion by Sugihara has moreover become YouTube?s spotlight video for Science & Technology! If you took PICTURES or VIDEOS of the event, please send them to us! The Contest is hosted by the Neural Correlate Society, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote public awareness of neuroscience research and discovery. We rely on your donations to maintain the Contest?s online illusion archive and to ensure that the Contest Gala remains free and open to the public. Please visit our website ( http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com) and make a Paypal donation to support the contest (all donations are tax deductible and every dollar helps!). Congratulations to the 2010 TOP 10 contestants and the TOP 3 winners for their fantastic illusions! Xoana Troncoso (Illusion Contest Coordinator) Susana Martinez-Conde (President, Neural Correlate Society) On behalf of the Executive Board of the Neural Correlate Society: Stephen Macknik, Jose-Manuel Alonso, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse -- Xoana G Troncoso, PhD Illusion Contest Coordinator http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/ Postdoctoral Scholar in Neuroscience Andersen Laboratory California Institute of Technology 1200 E California Blvd. M/C 216-76 Pasadena, California 91125, USA phone: +1-626-395-8337 email: x.troncoso at neuralcorrelate.com website: www.vis.caltech.edu/~xoana/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100513/05d4a80f/attachment.html From yokoy at brain.riken.jp Fri May 14 03:43:20 2010 From: yokoy at brain.riken.jp (Yoko YAMAGUCHI) Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 16:43:20 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: The 1st announcement and CFP , ICCN2011, Hokkaido Japan Message-ID: The 3rd International Conference on Cognitive Neurodynamics June 9-13, 2011 Hilton Niseko Village, Hokkaido, Japan URL: http://iccn2011.com The 1st Announcement and Call for Papers I. Aim II. Topics III. Invited Speakers IV. Important Dates V. Organizers and Sponsors VI. Organizing Committee VII. Paper Submission, Venue and Registration I. Aim Five decades of brain research have led to the emergence of a new field, which spans the entire spectrum of cognition from synaptic dynamics to social interactions, and which is combined by the conceptions of nonlinear neurodynamics operating simultaneously at and across all scales. A new kind of scientists is emerging, schooled in multiple academic disciplines, comfortable in working with data from different levels, and conversant with the mathematical and computational tools that are essential to cross boundaries. Cognition in its essence is dynamic and multilayered, and pursuit of new clues inevitably leads from one layer to the next, both reductionist and holistic. A trend to study cognition from the point of view of neurodynamics has emerged as a result of the current, rapid developments taking place in nonlinear dynamics and cognitive science. In order to promote the integration of cognitive science and neurodynamics as a whole, the 3rd International Conference on Cognitive Neurodynamics -2011 (ICCN2011) is held at Hilton Niseko Village, Hokkaido, Japan on June 9-13, 2011. The conference will provide a forum for scientists and engineers working in this exciting area and its related fields to review the latest progress and development, and to exchange their experience, progress and ideas. An Editorial Board Meeting of "Cognitive Neurodynamics" will also be held during the period. The conference will consist of three-day oral and poster presentation, discussion and social events. Within the days, a young researchers session will be organized in which internationally organized groups of young researchers discuss and plan their possible collaboration, and the plan will be commented by the senior researchers. The first day June 9 and the last day June 13 are set for reception and departure, respectively. II. Topics Topics include but are not limited to the following: 1. Microscopic cognitive neurodynamics 1.1 Molecular cognitive neurodynamics 1.2 Synaptic dynamics 1.3 Dynamic neural coding 1.4 Realistic Neural Network dynamics 2. Mesoscopic cognitive neurodynamics; Transitions between Levels 2.1 Population dynamics 2.2 Chaotic dynamics 2.3 Phase transitions in excitable media 2.4 Complexity theory applied to brain 2.5 Synergetics, metastability 2.6 Quantum Field Theory 2.7 Neuropercolation 2.8 Self-assembly, artificial life 3. Macroscopic cognitive neurodynamics 3.1 Brain imaging, EEG, MEG 3.2 Sensory Dynamics (including computational vision and audition) 3.3 Motor system dynamics 3.4 Navigation 3.5 Action planning and control 3.6 Learning and memory 3.7 Global cognitive functions (Object recognition, Attention, Intention, Language, neurolinguistics, semiotics, Decision Making, Reasoning and planning, Emotion, Consciousness etc.) 4. Applications 4.1 Neural Engineering 4.2 Neurocomputer 4.3 Neural computing 4.4 Neural robotics 4.5 Biomimetic 4.6 Behavior modeling and modification 4.7 Neuroinformatics 4.8 Cognitive function disorder III. Invited Speakers Plenary Talks Kay, Leslie M, University of Chicago, USA Mushiake, Hajime, Tohoku University, Japan Ohsumi, Noriko, Tohoku University, Japan Soo-Young Lee, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea (TBA) Invited Lectures Amari, Shun-Ichi, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), Japan Freeman, Walter J., University of California, Berkeley, USA Tsukada, Minoru, Tamagawa University, Japan VI. Important Dates Sep 1 ? Nov 1, 2010 Proposals for special session Dec 24 ? Jan 24, 2010 0ne Page Abstract Submission Mar 10, 2011 Decision Notification Apr 20, 2011 Final Abstract and Manuscript Submission Apr 25, 2011 On-line Registration Deadline May 15, 2011 Proposals for organizing the 4th ICCN 2013 May 20, 2011 Manuscript reviewing notification Jun 9-13, 2011 Conference Jun 30, 2011 Final Manuscript Submission Deadline Mar 30, 2012 Post-conference proceedings publication V. ORGANIZERS AND SPONSORS This conference is sponsored and organized by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas No. 4103 (Hokkaido University) RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI) Tamagawa University Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) Sponsored by Cognitive Neurodynamics, Springer Japanese Neural Network Society (JNNS) Organizing Committee Honorary Chairs Amari, Shun-ichi, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), Japan Freeman, Walter J., University of California, Berkeley, USA? Grossberg, Stephen, Boston University, USA Haken, Hermann, University of Stuttgart, Germany? Richmond, Barry J., NIMH/NIH/DHHS, USA Taylor, John G., King's College, UK?? Tsukada, Minoru, Tamagawa University, Japan? General Chair Yamaguchi, Yoko, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), Japan General Co-Chairs Tsuda, Ichiro, Hokkaido University, Japan Hans, Liljenstrom, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden Wang, Rubin, East China University of Science and Technology, P.R. China International Advisory Committee Chairs Aihara, Kazuyuki, Tokyo University, Japan Duch, Wlodzislaw, Nicolaus Coperinicus University, Poland Guo, Aike, Chinese Academy of Science, P.R. China Koetter, Rolf, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherland Schoener, Gregor, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany Wang, Deliang, The Ohio State University, USA Usui, Shiro, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), Japan Program Committee Chair Omori, Takashi, Tamagawa University, Japan Program Committee Co-chairs Gu, Fanji, Shanghai Society for Biophysics/ Fudan University, P.R. China Lauwereyns, Jan, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and Kyushu University, Japan Lee, Soo-Young, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea accept Li, Guang, Zhejiang University, P.R. China Nara, Shigetoshi, Okayama University, Japan Rapp, Paul E, Drexel University College of Medicine, USA Sakagami, Masamichi, Tamagawa University, Japan Villa, Alessandro, Universit? de Lausanne, Switzerland Wang, Lipo, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Publication Chair Sato, Naoyuki, Future University - Hakodate, Japan Chairperson of Financial Affairs Sakaguchi, Yutaka, The university of Electro-Communications, Japan? International Advisory Committee Borysyuk, Roman, Institute of Mathematical Problems in Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia/ University of Plymouth, UK Dress, Andreas, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. R. China Erdi, Peter, Center for Complex Systems Studies, Kalamazoo College, Michigan, USA/ Hungarian Academy of Science, Hungary Hayashi, Hatsuo, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan Hertz, John, NORDITA, Denmark Hojjat, Adeli, The Ohio State University, USA Jose C, Principe, University of Florida, USA Kopell, Nancy J., Boston University, USA Kamel, Mohamed, University of Waterloo, Canada Kaski, Samuel, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland Koenig, Peter, University Osnabr?ck, Germany Li, Chao-Yi, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. R. China Maass, Wofgang, Technische Universit?t Graz, Austria Olds, James L., George Mason University, USA Okada, Masato, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan Rabinovich, Mikhail I., University of California, San Diego, USA Shou, Tiande, Fudan University, P. R. China Siegei, Ralph Mitchell, Rutgers University, NJ Sporns, Olaf, Indiana University, USA Tang, Xiaowei, Zhejiang University, P. R. China Teich Malvin Carl, Boston University, USA Trappenberg, Thomas, Dalhousie University, Canada Van Leeuven, Cees, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan Ventriglia, Francesco, Institute of Cybernetics of CNR, Italy Wang, Xingyu, East China University of Science and Technology, P. R. China Wermter, Stefan, University of Hamburg, Germany Zhu, Weiqiu, Zhejiang University, P. R. China VII. Paper Submission, Venue and Registration Session proposal: Proposals for organizing special sessions are welcomed and encouraged by Nov. 1, 2010, in which the names and affiliations of the organizers, topic, and suggested speakers should be indicated. Papers suggested by the organizer must submitted on the same schedule with usual submission, and are also reviewed as usual. Proposals should be e-mailed to: iccn2011chair at brain.riken.jp Proposals for organizing the coming ICCN are welcomed and encouraged, in which the names and affiliations of the organizers, dates and venue should be indicated. Strong points and what the organizers can provide should also be indicated. All the financial problems should be solved and dealt with by the organizers. Proposals should also be e-mailed to: iccn2011chair at brain.riken.jp The final decision will be voted by the Editorial Board of ?Cognitive Neurodynamics? and announced at the conference ICCN2011. Paper Submission: Prospective authors are invited to submit high-quality manuscripts written in English. The submission of a paper implies that the paper is original and has not been submitted elsewhere for possible publication. All submissions will be peer-reviewed by experts in the field based on originality, significance, quality and clarity. Each paper must include an abstract and a manuscript. The abstract is reviewed to appear in the conference program. The manuscript is to appear in post-conference proceedings, if accepted. Submitted manuscripts should be no longer than four A4 pages (single spaced). Paper Format: Details about paper submission and paper format will be announced shortly. Publication of the proceedings: Proceedings will be published by Springer Science + Business Media B.V. Furthermore, a selected number of authors will be invited to expand and revise their papers for possible inclusions in "Cognitive Neurodynamics", a peer-reviewed international journal published by Springer. Registration fees: The registration fee is Japanese Yen (JY) \40,000 for regular participants and JY \20,000 for students before the pre-registration deadline (Apr. 25, 2011) by credit card (VISA, AMEX. MASTER, DINERS and JCB), which includes a copy of the proceedings, reception, coffee break, daily meals, banquet, and social events. All registration fee will be JY 50,000 after the deadline. Each paper must have 1 dedicated on-line registration with full payment for the paper to be included in the proceedings before the dead line. Otherwise, the submitted paper will not be included in the proceedings and the conference program. Venue: The conference is held at Hilton Niseko Village, Hokkaido, Japan. Niseko Town is located in the west of central Hokkaido, about two hours by car from Sapporo / New Chitose International Airport and also from Sapporo. It lies in a gently undulating basin with the 1,898m Mt. Yotei in the national park to the east and the 1,309m Mt. Niseko-Annupuri in the Quasi-National Park to the north. ?Niseko (nisekoan)? is an Ainu word meaning ?(river which runs around the bottom of) a sheer cliff?. http://www.niseko-ta.jp/index.php?id=157 Sapporo is the capitol as well as the economic center of Hokkaido. Hokkaido university lies near JR Sapporo station. http://www.welcome.city.sapporo.jp/english/ Bus between Sapporo international airport and the hotel on June 9 for arrival and June 13 for departure will be prepared. Train, JR Hokkaido from Niseko town to Sapporo and to the international airport is also available. Accommodation: Hilton Niseko Village offers accommodation with special discount price for the participants. Details will be announced later. Awards: Young researcher awards and student travel awards will be announced later. Contact Us Payment methods for your registration fee and accommodation will be announced shortly. Please check our website from time to time to get the necessary information in time. Its address is: http://iccn2011.com Anyone who is interested in obtaining more information about ICCN2011 or has questions, please contact: Iccn2011 at ec-pro.co.jp From opossumnano at gmail.com Fri May 14 13:41:57 2010 From: opossumnano at gmail.com (Tiziano Zito) Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 19:41:57 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: MDP release 2.6 and MDP Sprint 2010 Message-ID: <20100514174157.GB29048@multivac.zonafranca> We are glad to announce release 2.6 of the Modular toolkit for Data Processing (MDP). MDP is a Python library of widely used data processing algorithms that can be combined according to a pipeline analogy to build more complex data processing software. The base of available algorithms includes, to name but the most common, Principal Component Analysis (PCA and NIPALS), several Independent Component Analysis algorithms (CuBICA, FastICA, TDSEP, JADE, and XSFA), Slow Feature Analysis, Restricted Boltzmann Machine, and Locally Linear Embedding. What's new in version 2.6? -------------------------- - Several new classifier nodes have been added. - A new node extension mechanism makes it possible to dynamically add methods or attributes for specific features to node classes, enabling aspect-oriented programming in MDP. Several MDP features (like parallelization) are now based on this mechanism, and users can add their own custom node extensions. - BiMDP is a large new package in MDP that introduces bidirectional data flows to MDP, including backpropagation and even loops. BiMDP also enables the transportation of additional data in flows via messages. - BiMDP includes a new flow inspection tool, that runs as as a graphical debugger in the webrowser to step through complex flows. It can be extended by users for the analysis and visualization of intermediate data. - As usual, tons of bug fixes The new additions in the library have been thoroughly tested but, as usual after a public release, we especially welcome user's feedback and bug reports. MDP Sprint 2010 --------------- Following our tradition of sprint-driven development, the team of the core developers decided to organize a programming sprint open to external participants. We invite in particular all users who implemented new algorithms and would like to see them integrated in MDP: you will work together with a core developer! More info: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/mdp-toolkit/index.php?title=MDP_Sprint_2010 Resources --------- Download: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mdp-toolkit/files Homepage: http://mdp-toolkit.sourceforge.net Mailing list: http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/mdp-toolkit-users -- Pietro Berkes Volen Center for Complex Systems Brandeis University Waltham, MA, USA Rike-Benjamin Schuppner Berlin, Germany Niko Wilbert Institute for Theoretical Biology Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany Tiziano Zito Modelling of Cognitive Processes Berlin Institute of Technology and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Germany From mail at jan-peters.net Fri May 14 21:01:51 2010 From: mail at jan-peters.net (Jan Peters) Date: Sat, 15 May 2010 03:01:51 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: CfP: RSS10 Workshop Towards Closing the Loop: Active Learning for Robotics References: Message-ID: <43EF0438-12EA-483B-B94C-64771B9BDA54@jan-peters.net> ---------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS - RSS WORKSHOP Towards Closing the Loop: Active Learning for Robotics Zaragoza, Spain, June 27, 2010 http://www.isr.ist.utl.pt/~rmcantin/rss2010.php ---------------------------------------------------------------- Important Dates: ---------------- * Submission of extended abstracts: May 19, 2010 (later submission might not be considered for review) * Notification of acceptance: May 28, 2010 * Workshop date: June 27, 2010 Overview: --------- The ability to adapt to changing environment autonomously will be essential for future robots. While this need is well-recognized, most machine learning research focuses largely on perception and static data sets. Instead, future robots need to interact with the environment to generate the data that is needed to foster real-time adaptation based on all information collected in previous interactions and observations. In other words, we need to close the loop between the robot acting, robot sensing and robot learning. Novel active methods need to outperform passive methods by a margin that compensates the potential the extra computational burden and the cost of the active data sampling. During the last years, there has been an increasing interest in related techniques that could potentially become applicable in this context. These include techniques from statistics such as adaptive sensing or sequential experimental design as well novel reinforcement learning methods that have the potential to scale into robotics. In this context, we would like to bring together researchers from both the robotics and active machine learning in order to discuss for which problems the autonomous learning loop can be closed using learning, and to identify the machine learning methods that can be used to close it. Invited speakers: ----------------- * Mark Coates, McGill University * Andrew Davison, Imperial College London * Manuel Lopes, University of Plymouth * Pierre-Yves Oudeyers, INRIA * Nick Roy, MIT * Jo-Ann Ting, UBC * John K. Tsotsos, York University Submission instructions: ------------------------ We invite submission of extended abstracts to the workshop. Extended abstracts should be up to 2 pages in length, formatted in according to RSS style. However, submissions should not be blind. Extended abstracts should be sent in PDF or PS file format by email to alrss10 at gmail.com The selected submission may be accepted either as an oral presentation or as a poster presentation. We encourage participants who can contribute in the following areas: * Active learning * Active filtering * Sequential experimental design * Adaptive sensing * Optimal information gathering * Autonomous exploration * Bayesian optimization * Active cognitive development * Attention systems or gaze control * Sensor placement * Active vision * Online decision making * Selection criteria/Utility functions * Information theoretic metrics in the context of robotics. The above list is not exhaustive, and we welcome submissions on highly related topics too. Accepted extended abstracts will be made available online at the workshop website. Steering Committee: ------------------- * Florence d'Alch?-Buc * Jun Morimoto * Nick Roy * Marc Toussaint Organizers: ----------- * Ruben Martinez-Cantin, Instituto Superior Tecnico * Jan Peters, Max Plank Institute for Biological Cybernetics * Andreas Krause, Caltech Contact: -------- mailto:alrss10 at gmail.com http://www.isr.ist.utl.pt/~rmcantin/rss2010.php From ctf20 at sussex.ac.uk Mon May 17 07:01:07 2010 From: ctf20 at sussex.ac.uk (Chrisantha Fernando) Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 12:01:07 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Post-doc available. Message-ID: <8421AD95-0010-43F2-A8FD-D077F061E0BB@sussex.ac.uk> Dear Connectionists, ------------------- Research Fellow in Computational Biology (Fixed term) Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics School of Informatics Ref 870 Salary: ?29,853 per annum Fixed term for 10 months Expected start date: June 2010 or as soon as possible after Applications are invited for the post of Research Fellow to work on computational models of the evolution of molecular circuits capable of associative learning. In particular, in silico evolution of ribozyme based circuits will be studied as part of an EU FP7 FET project on Evolutionary Microfluidix (eFlux). The project involves a collaboration between Sussex University and Parmenides Foundation, Universit? Pierre et Marie Curie Paris VI, Universit? Louis Pasteur, Universitat Aut?noma de Barcelona, Wageningen University, University of Thessaly. The successful applicant will work with project partners who will synthesize real molecular circuits based on the computational modelling. The research fellow will work with Dr. Chrisantha Fernando and Prof. Phil Husbands. Applicants should have significant experience in computational biology, preferably of ribozyme modelling or similar, with strong analytic and programming skills. For further details and hiow to apply see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/staffing/personnl/vacs/vac870.shtml ------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100517/57960f6c/attachment.html From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Tue May 18 22:01:20 2010 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 22:01:20 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: deadline for NEURON 2010 Summer Course approaching Message-ID: <4BF34670.60704@yale.edu> A very few seats remain open for the NEURON 2010 Summer Course, and the deadline for signing up is June 1, so if you are interested, you should act quickly. Topics to be covered in this course include key features of NEURON's GUI (CellBuilder, Network Builder, Import3D, ModelView, Channel Builder), programming NEURON in hoc and Python, modeling of individual neurons and networks, and speeding up simulations on multicore PCs and Macs as well as on parallel hardware from workstation clusters to parallel supercomputers. For more information and an on-line registration form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nscsd2010/nscsd2010.html or contact Ted Carnevale Neurobiology Dept. Yale University School of Medicine PO Box 208001 New Haven, CT 06520-8001 phone 203-494-7381 email ted.carnevale at yale.edu Supported in part by: National Institutes of Health Institute for Neural Computation http://inc.ucsd.edu/ Contractual terms require inclusion of the following statement: This course is not sponsored by the University of California. From Yaochu.Jin at honda-ri.de Wed May 19 06:06:35 2010 From: Yaochu.Jin at honda-ri.de (Yaochu.Jin@honda-ri.de) Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 12:06:35 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: CFP: IEEE TAMD Special Issue on "Computational Modeling of Neural and Brain Development" In-Reply-To: <43EF0438-12EA-483B-B94C-64771B9BDA54@jan-peters.net> Message-ID: Call for Papers IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development Special Issue on "Computational Modeling of Neural and Brain Development" http://www.soft-computing.de/CFP_TAMD_CMNBD.html ==== Objective and Scope ==== Neural and brain development include mitosis, cell differentiation, neuron migration, axon and dendrite growth and guidance, spine growth, synapse maintenance, role determination, neuro-modulation and various levels of plasticity, synaptic, neuronal, circuit and system. These processes are shaped by underpinning principles of genome functions and activities. These principles are essential for the brain to display capabilities in perception, cognition, behaviors and emotion. Perceptual, cognitive, behavioral and emotional models tend to have major flaws and are computationally less efficient, less plastic and less systematic if they are not informed by such underpinning principles. Research efforts devoted to the computational modeling of neural and system development have been made already at the beginning of 1990s. Recently, new findings are quickly growing in neuroscience, psychology, genetics and systems biology, which provides new impetus for research on understanding neural and brain development using computational approaches. This special issue aims at presenting research efforts that reflect the state-of-the-art in computational modeling of neural and brain development. The results reported in this special issue papers are expected to be of great relevance and importance to all the readers who are interested in autonomous development of mental capabilities, such as perception, cognition, emotion, motivation and behaviors. The topics of this special issue include but are not limited to: o Genetic, biochemical and cellular mechanisms in neural development o Model of neural, circuit, system and brain plasticity o Neuro-modulation and its roles o Bio-inspired learning rules and methods o Structure, connectivity and neural dynamics o Cellular mechanisms for perceptual, cognitive, behavioral and emotional development o Age dependent neurogenesis and death o Computational neuro-genetic modeling: Methods and applications ==== Tentative Schedule ==== o Deadline for submissions: October 31, 2010 o Decision of the first round of review: December 31, 2010 o Final decision: February 15th, 2011 o Expected publication date: April 2011 (online), June 2011 (print) ==== Submission Procedure ==== Two kinds of submissions are possible: Regular papers, up to 15 double column pages; Correspondence papers either presenting a perspective that includes insights into issues of wider scope than a regular paper but without being highly computational in style or presenting concise description of recent technical results, up to 8 double column pages. Instructions for authors: http://ieee-cis.org/pubs/tamd/authors/ We are accepting submissions through Manuscript Central at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tamd-ieee (please select "Computational Modeling" as the submission type) When submitting your manuscript, please also cc to yaochu.jin at surrey.ac.uk. ==== Guest Editors ==== Yaochu Jin, University of Surrey, UK Yan Meng, Stevens Institute of Technology, USA John Weng, Michigan State University, USA Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand -- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100519/3a407f18/attachment.html From yokoy at brain.riken.jp Wed May 19 22:53:46 2010 From: yokoy at brain.riken.jp (Yoko YAMAGUCHI) Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 11:53:46 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Siimposia /Workhshops IBRO 2011, July, Florence Italy Message-ID: Dear Everyone, 8th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience is held as follows. Submission of call for symposia and workshop is now open with extended deadline May 30, 2010. Your proposal especially in the theme of neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience is welcomed and encouraged. ------------------------------------------------------ 8th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience International Brain Research Organization Florence - Italy July 14-18, 2011 Call for Symposia/Workshops - NEW EXTENDED DEADLINE: May 31, 2010 Proposals should indicate the title of the Symposium/Workshop, the name of 1 Chairperson and 4 Speakers, and should be filed under one of the Themes of the Congress. Submission of the proposal implies that the Chairman and all Speakers have agreed to participate. Notification will be sent by e-mail to all proponents. Acceptance of the proposal is subject to evaluation and decision by the International Programme Committee. The Committee will decide whether the accepted proposal should be a Symposium (4 speakers, 2 h) or a Workshop (4 speakers, 1.5 h). Financial Support for Chairmen/Speakers of Symposia/Workshops information and further details are available at the website: http://www.ibro2011.org/ ------------------------------------------------------ Thank you for your attention. With best regards, IBRO Committee member on neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience Yoko YAMAGUCHI Lab. for Dynamics of Emergent Intelligence & BTCC Rhythm-based Brain Computation Unit, RIKEN Brain Science Institute From chiestand at salk.edu Wed May 19 17:22:15 2010 From: chiestand at salk.edu (Chris Hiestand) Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 14:22:15 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: NIPS 2010: Call For Workshops Message-ID: CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS http://nips.cc/Conferences/2010/CallForWorkshops Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) --- Natural and Synthetic NIPS*2010 Post-Conference Workshops --- December 10 and 11, 2010 Whistler Resort & Spa and Westin Hilton, BC, CANADA Following the regular program of the Neural Information Processing Systems 2010 conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada, workshops on a variety of current topics in neural information processing will be held on December 10 and 11, 2010, in Whistler, BC, Canada. We invite researchers interested in chairing one of these workshops to submit proposals for workshops. The goal of the workshops is to provide an informal forum for researchers to discuss important research questions and challenges. Controversial issues, open problems, and comparisons of competing approaches are not only encouraged but preferred as workshop topics. Representation of alternative viewpoints and panel-style discussions are also particularly encouraged. Potential workshop topics include, but are not limited to: Active Learning, Attention, Audition, Bayesian Networks, Bayesian Statistics, Benchmarking, Biophysics, Brain-Machine Interfaces, Brain Imaging, Cognitive Neuroscience, Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Computational Complexity, Control, Genetic/Evolutionary Algorithms, Graphical Models, Hippocampus and Memory, Human-Computer Interfaces, Implementations, Kernel Methods, Mean-Field Methods, Music, Network Dynamics, Neural Coding, Neural Plasticity, Neuromorphic Systems, On-Line Learning, Optimization, Perceptual Learning, Robotics, Rule Extraction, Self-Organization, Signal Processing, Spike Timing, Speech, Supervised/Unsupervised Learning, Time Series, Topological Maps, and Vision. Detailed descriptions of previous workshops may be found at: http://nips.cc/Conferences/2009/Program/schedule.php?Session=Workshops There will be six hours of workshop meetings per day, split into morning and afternoon sessions, with free time between the sessions for ongoing individual exchange or outdoor activities. Selected workshops may be invited to submit proceedings for publication in the post-NIPS workshops monographs series published by the MIT Press. Workshop organizers have several responsibilities, including: * Coordinating workshop participation and content, including arranging short informal presentations by experts, arranging for expert commentators to sit on discussion panels, formulating discussion topics, etc. * Providing the program for the workshop in a timely manner for the workshop booklet. * Moderating the discussion, and reporting its findings and conclusions to the group during the evening plenary sessions. * Writing a brief summary and/or coordinating submitted material for post-conference electronic dissemination. Submission Instructions A nips.cc account is required to submit the Workshops application. Please follow the url below and check the required format for the application well before the deadline for workshop proposals. You can edit your application online right up until the deadline. Interested parties must submit a proposal by 23:59 UTC on July 2, 2010 (note that this deadline is earlier than previous years, to allow workshops more time for their calls for submissions). Proposals should be submitted electronically at the following url: https://nips.cc/Workshops Preference will be given to workshops that reserve a significant portion of time for open discussion or panel discussion, as opposed to a pure "mini-conference" format. We suggest that organizers allocate at least 50% of the workshop schedule to questions, discussion, and breaks. Past experience suggests that workshops otherwise degrade into mini-conferences as talks begin to run over. For the same reason, we strongly recommend that each workshop include no more than 12 talks per day. NIPS does not provide travel funding for workshop speakers. In the past, some workshops have sought and received funding from external sources to bring in outside speakers. In any case, the organizers of each accepted workshop can name two individuals to receive free registration for the workshop program. Neil D. Lawrence University of Manchester NIPS*2010 Workshops Chair From aburkitt at unimelb.edu.au Wed May 19 19:01:38 2010 From: aburkitt at unimelb.edu.au (Anthony Burkitt) Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 09:01:38 +1000 Subject: Connectionists: Post-doc positions at University of Melbourne Message-ID: <02CCB54E3164DF408BD2A304EED5277808217EEF@IS-EX-BEV1.unimelb.edu.au> Four positions are available in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Melbourne. Three of these positions are in the "Bionic Eye" (retinal implant) project of Bionic Vision Australia (www.bioinicvision.org.au) and the fourth is in the Neuro-engineering Group (www.neuroeng.unimelb.edu.au). The three Bionic Eye positions are in the Stimulation Strategy Development Program, whose goal is to develop algorithms for transforming the visual scene into patterns of electrical stimulation on the electrodes of the implanted retinal electrode array. Computational models will be used to develop suitable stimulation algorithms required to create and control excitation patterns in retinal ganglion cells and the visual cortex. These studies will assist in investigating aspects of neural stimulation that are difficult or impossible to investigate experimentally. The fourth Neuro-Engineering position is in mathematical and computational neuroscience. The project involves an analysis of both the network activity and the network structure that results from this activity through spike-dependent learning. The methods of dynamical systems theory and control theory will be used to study both the spiking activity and emergent network structure. The project will also investigate signal processing performed within neural circuits, such as the auditory brainstem. Melbourne is one of the most liveable cities in the world (currently rated number three in the Economist's list of the World's Most Liveable Cities 2010) and has a long established international reputation for excellence in biomedical research (along with London and Boston, it is one of only three cities in the world with two universities in the global top 20 biomedicine rankings). The positions are: - Job No. 0023796: A research position in the development of a 3-dimensional finite-element (FE) model of the eye that will be used to model the response of the retina to electrical stimulation. Appointment at Level B (AUD$73,863 - 87,710 p.a.) or Level C (AUD$90,480 - 104,329 p.a.) plus employer superannuation contributions of 9%. Position details are contained on the following website, where the Position Description pdf-document can also be obtained: http://tinyurl.com/PN0023796). Closing date is 7 June 2010. - Job No. 0023805: A research position in the development of signal processing strategies for a high-resolution retinal prosthesis. Appointment at Level B (AUD$73,863 - 87,710 p.a.) or Level C (AUD$90,480 - 104,329 p.a.) plus employer superannuation contributions of 9%. Position details are contained on the following website, where the Position Description pdf-document can also be obtained: http://tinyurl.com/PN0023805). Closing date is 7 June 2010. - Job No. 0023804: A research position in programming and building computational models of electrical stimulation of the retina and electrical stimulation algorithms. Appointment at Level A (AUD$51,707 - 70,167 p.a.) plus employer superannuation contributions of 9%. Position details are contained on the following website, where the Position Description pdf-document can also be obtained: http://tinyurl.com/PN0023804). Closing date is 7 June 2010. - Job No. 0023729: A research position in mathematical and computational neuroscience. This is a Level A (AUD$51,707 - 70,167 p.a.) or Level B (AUD$73,863 - 87,710 p.a.) position. Position details are contained on the following website, where the Position Description pdf-document can also be obtained: http://tinyurl.com/PN0023729). Closing date is 31 May 2010. For further information contact Tony Burkitt (aburkitt at unimelb.edu.au). ====================ooOOOoo==================== Professor Anthony N. Burkitt Director, Bionic Vision Australia Chair of Bio-Signals and Bio-Systems Dept of Electrical & Electronic Engineering The University of Melbourne Victoria 3010 Australia Email: aburkitt at unimelb.edu.au http://www.ee.unimelb.edu.au/people/aburkitt/ Phone: +61 3 8344 9725 Fax: +61 3 8344 7412 Building: 193 Room: 3.3 =====================ooOOOoo=================== From T.Heida at ewi.utwente.nl Fri May 21 02:26:31 2010 From: T.Heida at ewi.utwente.nl (T.Heida@ewi.utwente.nl) Date: Fri, 21 May 2010 08:26:31 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: 2nd Call for Papers - Special issue on "Neural models of brain disorders" References: <5FE32CF75A28C74CBFD57A57B8A3EF0D0234AFEC@EWIEX12.dynamic.ewi.utwente.nl> Message-ID: ----------------------------------- ==================== 2nd CALL FOR PAPERS ==================== ---------------------------------------------------------------- Special Issue of the Neural Networks Journal (Elsevier) on "Neural models of brain disorders" ---------------------------------------------------------------- Guest Editors Vassilis Cutsuridis, Boston University, USA (vcut at bu.edu) Ciska Heida, University of Twente, The Netherlands (t.heida at utwente.nl) Wlodek Duch, Nicolaos Copernicus University, Poland (wduch at is.umk.pl) Kenji Doya, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan (doya at oist.jp) -------- Scope -------- Recent decades have witnessed dramatic accumulation of knowledge about the genetic, molecular, pharmacological, neurophysiological, anatomical, imaging and psychological characteristics of brain disorders. Despite these advances, however, experimental brain science has offered very little insight into the theoretical framework for integrating neurobiological and psychological data. Surgical treatment of neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, dystonia and epilepsy were until recently mainly based on applying lesions at specific parts of the brain. While these procedures nowadays have been replaced by more reversible neurostimulation methods, most therapies for brain disorders are still based on trial-and-error and effective mechanisms remain unknown. Mathematical and neurocomputational models play an instrumental role in bridging the gap between the brain and behavior, and may help to unravel the underlying mechanisms of therapy and to simulate and test new therapeutic strategies. The goal of the special issue is to provide a snapshot and a resume of the current state-of-the-art of the ongoing research avenues concerning the neural basis of brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, dementia, psychosis, affective disorders, anxiety, autism, dyslexia, Altzheimer's disease, epilepsy, etc. The emphasis will be on computational models that are tightly grounded on experimental data. --------------- Specific Aims --------------- The special issue specifically aims at providing insights in neuronal network processes and interactions underlying normal and abnormal behavior based on computational models. These models may describe network behavior at a microscopic (cellular) or macroscopic (system) level. The usefulness of the models in understanding neural organization and behavior will be emphasized. The neuroanatomical and neurophysiological principles that are included in the models are clearly stated including the simplifications that are adopted. Experimental data is presented that form the basis for the acceptance of the model and its reductions both in describing normal and abnormal behaviour. Therapeutic methods based on medication as well as targeted electrical or magnetic stimulation of the brain may be explored using these models. Existing therapeutic methods may be challenged while the outcome of novel (neurostimulation) methods may be predicted. ----------------- Important dates ---------------- Submission deadline: September 1st, 2010 Review deadline: December 1, 2010 Revised submission deadline: February 1, 2011 Final decision: March 1, 2011 Appearance in journal: ~April, 2011 ----------- Submission ----------- Electronic submission instructions for the Neural Networks journal can be found under http://ees.elsevier.com/neunet/ Please indicate in your cover letter that your article is for the special issue "Neural Models of Brain Disorders". From mpotter at mit.edu Fri May 21 10:56:28 2010 From: mpotter at mit.edu (Mary C Potter) Date: Fri, 21 May 2010 10:56:28 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Connectionists: Research Assistant--MIT Message-ID: Please post. From: "Mary C. Potter" RESEARCH ASSISTANT IN COGNITION/PERCEPTION AT MIT Mary C. Potter is seeking a research assistant (Technical Assistant) starting as soon as possible. A commitment of at least one year is required. My current research is on conceptual short-term attention and memory, including the attentional blink, picture encoding and memory, the interaction between sentence processing and picture processing, and the influence of sentence context on visual word perception and selection. For more about the lab, see http://mollylab-1.mit.edu/lab/ The Technical Assistant will have primary responsibility for running the lab, including supervising undergraduate research assistants, programming and running experiments, and analyzing data. The research community in our department provides an excellent, stimulating work environment, with opportunities to become acquainted with the work of students and faculty. Requirements for this research-oriented position include a B.A. or B.S degree, some experience in experimental research (preferably in cognition, language, or perception), and experience with programming. Experience with Matlab, Python, or the equivalent is essential. To apply, either go to the MIT jobs website and apply for mit-00006970, or email or write me, enclosing a resume and the names and telephone numbers/email addresses of at least two people as references. I'll be happy to answer any questions about the position. Unfortunately, because of difficulties getting visas, I am unable to consider applications from people without a work permit. MIT is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, and minority and women applicants are encouraged to apply. Mary C. Potter (Molly) Professor of Psychology Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences 46-4125 MIT Cambridge MA 02139 mpotter at mit.edu (617)253-5526. From thomas.wennekers at plymouth.ac.uk Sun May 23 13:26:59 2010 From: thomas.wennekers at plymouth.ac.uk (Thomas Wennekers) Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 18:26:59 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: COLAMN-2010 Message-ID: <201005231826.59464.thomas.wennekers@plymouth.ac.uk> COLAMN 2010 >From Cortical Microcircuits to Brain-Inspired Computing Hardware 1/2 September 2010 in Plymouth/UK http://helen.pion.ac.uk/colamn2010 This workshop is an open meeting of the UK-wide research cluster COLAMN. COLAMN aims at exploring novel computing architectures for cognitive systems based on the laminar microcircuitry of the neocortex. This serves two major goals: Firstly, to understand better the structure and functioning of cortical circuits, and, secondly, to exploit computational principles found in the brain in cognitive software and neuromorphic hardware. These challenges require an interdisciplinary approach integrating scientists across different disciplines -- experimental neuroscience, computational modeling, and electrical engineering. Accordingly, at the workshop we will have a mix of presentations regarding Neuroanatomy of the laminar cortical architecture Neurophysiology of cortical microcircuits Advanced data analysis methods Large-scale computer models of cortical function Models of synaptic plasticity and learning Cognitive modeling using large-scale spiking neuron networks Neuromorphic hardware design Speakers (mostly confirmed) Vincenzo Crunelli (University of Cardiff) Sue Denham (University of Plymouth) Rodney Douglas (University of Zurich) Piotr Dudek (University of Manchester) Yves Fregnac (UNIC CNRS) Steve Furber (University of Manchester) Michael Haeusser / Arnd Roth (Wolfson Institute, UCL) Marcelo Montemurro / John Giggs (University of Manchester) David Willshaw / Mark van Rossum (University of Edinburgh) Jan Schnupp (University of Oxford) Alex Thomson (University of London) Thomas Wennekers / Gleb Basalyga (University of Plymouth) Further Details Date and time 1 Sept 2010 9:00 to 2. Sept 1 17:00 Venue The University of Plymouth, United Kingdom http://www.plymouth.ac.uk Registration fee There will a fee of 100 GBP for this meeting which will cover morning and afternoon refreshments, buffet lunch on both days, and the workshop dinner Registration To register, please send an email to thomas.wennekers at plymouth.ac.uk For further information regarding registration, travel, and accomodation please see the workshop website http://helen.pion.ac.uk/colamn2010 Contact: Thomas Wennekers Centre for Robotic and Neural Systems The University of Plymouth PL4 8AA Plymouth, United Kingdom Tel: +44 1752 584917 Email: thomas.wennekers at plymouth.ac.uk Support: This workshop is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC. From t.heskes at science.ru.nl Mon May 24 15:36:31 2010 From: t.heskes at science.ru.nl (Tom Heskes) Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 21:36:31 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Neurocomputing volume 73 (issues 10-12) Message-ID: <4BFAD53F.4010606@science.ru.nl> Connectionists: Neurocomputing volume 73 (issues 10-12) ----------- SPECIAL PAPERS (Subspace Learning) Subspace Learning (editorial) Xuelong Li, Dacheng Tao Maximum margin criterion with tensor representation Rong-Xiang Hu, Wei Jia, De-Shuang Huang, Ying-Ke Lei Multilinear principal component analysis for face recognition with fewer features Jin Wang, Armando Barreto, Lu Wang, Yu Chen, Naphtali Rishe, Jean Andrian, Malek Adjouadi Feature extraction based on fuzzy 2DLDA Wankou Yang, Xiaoyong Yan, Lei Zhang, Changyin Sun Metric learning with feature decomposition for image categorization Meng Wang, Bo Liu, Jinhui Tang, Xian-Sheng Hua A new kernelization framework for Mahalanobis distance learning algorithms Ratthachat Chatpatanasiri, Teesid Korsrilabutr, Pasakorn Tangchanachaianan, Boonserm Kijsirikul Semi-supervised learning with varifold Laplacians Lei Ding, Peibiao Zhao An empirical study of two typical locality preserving linear discriminant analysis methods Lishan Qiao, Limei Zhang, Songcan Chen Regularization parameter choice in locally linear embedding Genaro Daza-Santacoloma, Carlos D. Acosta-Medina, Germ?n Castellanos-Dom?nguez Manifold embedding for shape analysis Bai Xiao, Edwin Hancock, Hang Yu Incremental learning of LDA model for Chinese writer adaptation Lianwen Jin, Kai Ding, Zhibin Huang Online subspace learning using a misalignment detection for tracking a talking face in video sequence Quoc Dinh Nguyen, Maurice Milgram A unified semi-supervised dimensionality reduction framework for manifold learning Ratthachat Chatpatanasiri, Boonserm Kijsirikul Classification by semi-supervised discriminative regularization Fei Wu, Wenhua Wang, Yi Yang, Yueting Zhuang, Feiping Nie Co-training with relevant random subspaces Yusuf Yaslan, Zehra Cataltepe Building topographic subspace model with transfer learning for sparse representation Yang Liu, Jian Cheng, Changsheng Xu, Hanqing Lu Discriminant analysis via support vectors Suicheng Gu, Ying Tan, Xingui He Study and evaluation of a multi-class SVM classifier using diminishing learning technique J. Manikandan, B. Venkataramani Hybrid SVMR-GPR for modeling of chaotic time series systems with noise and outliers Jin-Tsong Jeng, Chen-Chia Chuang, Chin-Wang Tao Supervised learning of local projection kernels Mehmet G?nen, Ethem Alpayd?n Spectral clustering with eigenvector selection based on entropy ranking Feng Zhao, Licheng Jiao, Hanqiang Liu, Xinbo Gao, Maoguo Gong Feature extraction and clustering for dynamic video summarisation Huiyu Zhou, Abdul H. Sadka, Mohammad R. Swash, Jawid Azizi, Umar A. Sadiq Model-based subspace clustering of non-Gaussian data Sabri Boutemedjet, Djemel Ziou, Nizar Bouguila Feature extraction based on subspace methods for regression problems Nojun Kwak, Jung-Won Lee Feature modeling using polynomial classifiers and stepwise regression T. Shanableh, K. Assaleh Weighted feature extraction with a functional data extension Luis Gonzalo S?nchez Giraldo, Germ?n Castellanos Dom?nguez Improving image annotation via representative feature vector selection Wei-Chao Lin, Michael Oakes, John Tait Normalized dimensionality reduction using nonnegative matrix factorization Zhenfeng Zhu, Yue-Fei Guo, Xingquan Zhu, Xiangyang Xue Fast Hopfield neural networks using subspace projections Daniel Calabuig, Sonia Gimenez, Jose E. Roman, Jose F. Monserrat A two-step framework for highly nonlinear data unfolding Mingming Sun, ChuanCai Liu, Jian Yang, Zhong Jin, Jingyu Yang Quotient vs. difference: Comparison between the two discriminant criteria Yuting Tao, Jian Yang Unifying perceptual and behavioral learning with a correlative subspace learning rule Armin Duff, Paul F.M.J. Verschure A fast recognition framework based on extreme learning machine using hybrid object information Rashid Minhas, Abdul Adeel Mohammed, Q.M. Jonathan Wu Principal component analysis based on non-parametric maximum entropy Ran He, Baogang Hu, XiaoTong Yuan, Wei-Shi Zheng Binary SIPPER plankton image classification using random subspace Feng Zhao, Feng Lin, Hock Soon Seah Modeling radiation-induced lung injury risk with an ensemble of support vector machines Todd W. Schiller, Yixin Chen, Issam El Naqa, Joseph O. Deasy Pose invariant virtual classifiers from single training image using novel hybrid-eigenfaces Abhishek Sharma, Anamika Dubey, Pushkar Tripathi, Vinod Kumar Event monitoring via local motion abnormality detection in non-linear subspace Ioannis Tziakos, Andrea Cavallaro, Li-Qun Xu Recursive spatiotemporal subspace learning for gait recognition Rong Hu, Wei Shen, Hongyuan Wang View-based 3D model retrieval with probabilistic graph model Yue Gao, Jinhui Tang, Haojie Li, Qionghai Dai, Naiyao Zhang Human action recognition using extreme learning machine based on visual vocabularies Rashid Minhas, Aryaz Baradarani, Sepideh Seifzadeh, Q.M. Jonathan Wu ----------- SPECIAL PAPERS (European Symposium on Time Series Prediction) European Symposium on Times Series Prediction (editorial) Amaury Lendasse, Timo Honkela, Olli Simula Feature selection for time series prediction ? A combined filter and wrapper approach for neural networks Sven F. Crone, Nikolaos Kourentzes Automatic clustering-based identification of autoregressive fuzzy inference models for time series Federico Montesino Pouzols, Angel Barriga Barros Multiple-output modeling for multi-step-ahead time series forecasting Souhaib Ben Taieb, Antti Sorjamaa, Gianluca Bontempi A comparative study of Reservoir Computing strategies for monthly time series prediction F. Wyffels, B. Schrauwen Design of specific-to-problem kernels and use of kernel weighted K-nearest neighbours for time series modelling Gin?s Rubio, Luis Javier Herrera, H?ctor Pomares, Ignacio Rojas, Alberto Guill?n OPELM and OPKNN in long-term prediction of time series using projected input data Du?an Sovilj, Antti Sorjamaa, Qi Yu, Yoan Miche, Eric S?verin Fault detection and other time series opportunities in the petroleum industry Roar Nyb? On building local models for inverse system identification with vector quantization algorithms Lu?s Gustavo M. Souza, Guilherme A. Barreto Meta-learning for time series forecasting and forecast combination Christiane Lemke, Bogdan Gabrys Approximate k-NN delta test minimization method using genetic algorithms: Application to time series Fernando Mateo, Du?an Sovilj, Rafael Gadea New method for instance or prototype selection using mutual information in time series prediction A. Guillen, L.J. Herrera, G. Rubio, H. Pomares, A. Lendasse, I. Rojas Automatic detection of onset and cessation of tree stem radius increase using dendrometer data Mikko Korpela, Harri M?kinen, Pekka N?jd, Jaakko Hollm?n, Mika Sulkava Predicting bankruptcy using neural networks and other classification methods: The influence of variable selection techniques on model accuracy Philippe du Jardin Self organizing maps in corporate finance: Quantitative and qualitative analysis of debt and leasing Eric S?verin -------------- REGULAR PAPERS Global exponential system of projection neural networks for system of generalized variational inequalities and related nonlinear minimax problems Qingshan Liu, Yongqing Yang Evolutionary algorithms for the selection of time lags for time series forecasting by fuzzy inference systems Kristina Lukoseviciute, Minvydas Ragulskis Tuning SVM parameters by using a hybrid CLPSO?BFGS algorithm Shutao Li, Mingkui Tan Support vector machines based neuro-fuzzy control of nonlinear systems S. Iplikci Dynamics of solution for a class of delayed diffusive neural networks with mixed boundary conditions Jianghong Bai, Zhidong Teng, Haijun Jiang Feature evaluation and selection based on neighborhood soft margin Qinghua Hu, Xunjian Che, Lei Zhang, Daren Yu FPGA implementation of genetic vector quantizers Chien-Min Ou Impulsive pinning synchronization of stochastic discrete-time networks Yang Tang, S.Y.S. Leung, W.K. Wong, Jian-an Fang What kind of color spaces is suitable for color face recognition? Jian Yang, Chengjun Liu, Jing-yu Yang CQoCO: A measure for comparative quality of coverage and organization for self-organizing maps Derek Beaton, Iren Valova, Daniel MacLean Intelligent approaches using support vector machine and extreme learning machine for transmission line protection V. Malathi, N.S. Marimuthu, S. Baskar An efficient method for computing orthogonal discriminant vectors Jinghua Wang, Yong Xu, David Zhang, Jane You Effects of connectivity structure of complex echo state network on its prediction performance for nonlinear time series Qingsong Song, Zuren Feng Semi-supervised Gaussian process latent variable model with pairwise constraints Xiumei Wang, Xinbo Gao, Yuan Yuan, Dacheng Tao, Jie Li A fast multi-output RBF neural network construction method Dajun Du, Kang Li, Minrui Fei Manifold regularization based semisupervised semiparametric regression Zhe Sun, Zengke Zhang, Huangang Wang Robust face recognition based on illumination invariant in nonsubsampled contourlet transform domain Yong Cheng, Yingkun Hou, Chunxia Zhao, Zuoyong Li, Yong Hu, Cailing Wang First and second order sensitivity analysis of MLP I-Cheng Yeh, Wei-Lun Cheng Kernel subclass convex hull sample selection method for SVM on face recognition Xiaofei Zhou, Wenhan Jiang, Yingjie Tian, Yong Shi State estimation for discrete Markovian jumping neural networks with time delay Zhengguang Wu, Hongye Su, Jian Chu Discriminant analysis approach using fuzzy fourfold subspaces model Xiaoning Song, Xibei Yang, Jingyu Yang, Xiaojun Wu, Yujie Zheng Delayed Lagrangian neural networks for solving convex programming problems Fen Li ------------- BRIEF PAPERS Robust adaptive neural tracking control for a class of switched affine nonlinear systems Lei Yu, Shumin Fei, Xun Li Some novel double-scroll chaotic attractors in Hopfield networks Pengsheng Zheng, Wansheng Tang, Jianxiong Zhang Effects of ?rich-gets-richer? rule on small-world networks Hongwei Dai, Shangce Gao, Yu Yang, Zheng Tang ------------ JOURNAL SITE: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/neucom SCIENCE DIRECT: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/issue/5660-2010-999269989-1955695 From terry at salk.edu Tue May 25 01:40:01 2010 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 22:40:01 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION - June, 2010 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Neural Computation - Contents - Volume 22, Number 6 - June 1, 2010 ARTICLE Reward-Modulated Hebbian Learning of Decision Making Michael Pfeiffer, Bernhard Nessler, Rodney J. Douglas, and Wolfgang Maass NOTES General Poisson Exact Breakdown of the Mutual Information to Study the Role of Correlations in Populations of Neurons A. Scaglione, K. A. Moxon, and G. Foffani Fast and Exact Simulation Methods Applied on a Broad Range of Neuron Models Michiel D'Haene and Benjamin Schrauwen LETTERS Learning to Represent Spatial Transformations with Factored Higher-Order Boltzmann Machines Roland Memisevic and Geoffrey Hinton Timescale-Invariant Pattern Recognition by Feedforward Inhibition and Parallel Signal Processing Felix Creutzig, Jan Benda, Sandra Wohlgemuth, Andreas Stumpner, Bernhard Ronacher and Andreas Herz Hyperbolically Discounted Temporal Difference Learning William H. Alexander and Joshua W. Brown Response of Integrate-and-Fire Neurons to Noisy Inputs Filtered by Synapses with Arbitrary Timescales: Firing Rate and Correlations Ruben Moreno-Bote and Nestor Parga Bayesian Inference Based on Stationary Fokker-Planck Sampling Arturo Berrones Efficient Continuous-Time Asymmetric Hopfield Networks for Memory Retrieval Pengsheng Zheng, Wansheng Tang, and Jianxiong Zhang Learning the Dynamical System Behind Sensory Data Jaehyung Lee and Soo-Young Lee Independent Vector Analysis for Source Separation using a Mixture of Gaussians Prior Jiucang Hao, Intae Lee, Te-Won Lee and Terrence Sejnowski ----- ON-LINE - http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/neco SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2010 - VOLUME 22 - 12 ISSUES USA Others Electronic only Student/Retired $65 $128 $60 Individual $115 $178 $107 Institution $962 $1,025 $860 Canada: Add 5% GST to USA prices 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 hecke at nld.ds.mpg.de Tue May 25 06:47:42 2010 From: hecke at nld.ds.mpg.de (hecke) Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 12:47:42 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: =?iso-8859-1?q?Fall_Course_on_Computational_Neuro?= =?iso-8859-1?q?science_in_G=F6ttingen=2C_Germany?= Message-ID: <4BFBAACE.1030204@nld.ds.mpg.de> Applications are invited for the eighth fall course on COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE in G?ttingen, Germany September 20th - 24th, 2010 organized by Hecke Schrobsdorff 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 of the following researchers: * Sophie Deneve, Ecole Normale Superieur, Paris * Jeremy Niven, Dean Selwyn College, Cambridge * Hansj?rg Scherberger, German Primate Center, G?ttingen * Elad Schneidman, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot * Susanne Still, University of Hawaii The course takes place at the Department of Nonlinear Dynamics of the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Bunsenstr. 10, D-37073 G?ttingen. A course fee of 100 Euro includes participation in the tutorials, study materials, and part of the social events. The number of participants is limited to about 30. Course language is English. To apply please fill out the application form at: http://www.bccn-goettingen.de/events-1/cns-course by August 10, 2010. Best wishes and looking forward to seeing you in G?ttingen Hecke From etienne.roesch at gmail.com Tue May 25 08:02:47 2010 From: etienne.roesch at gmail.com (Etienne B. Roesch) Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 13:02:47 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: CINN Summer School, University of Reading, UK Message-ID: [Apologies for cross-posting..] Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce the second edition of the CINN Summer School. The summer school is directed at graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, computational neuroscience, mathematics, computer sciences and engineering, who wish to combine a theoretical approach to neurodynamics with practical experience in neuroimaging (MRI, EEG, TMS, fMRI-EEG, & EEG-TMS). We are very excited to announce a guest tutorial by Prof. Walter Freeman, and practical demonstrations of combined fMRI-EEG and combined EEG-TMS by Brain Products (http://www.brainproducts.com). More will soon be posted here: http://www.reading.ac.uk/cinn/cinn-summerschool.aspx Objective A successful approach to cognitive neuroscience and neurodynamics requires knowledge of both modelling and neuroimaging techniques. The objective of the CINN Summer School is to bridge the gaps between these fields, and to provide students with a practical understanding of both the brain and some of the cutting-edge methods to investigate it. Programme The summer school is organised from the 7th to the 16th of July. It will start with a 2-day course delivered in partnership with Brain Products (http://www.brainproducts.com) on combined fMRI-EEG, and combined EEG-TMS, including theoretical lectures and practical demonstrations using the facilities in CINN. The third day will provide boot strap sessions aimed at bringing all students up to speed with basic concepts in cognition, cognitive neuroscience and mathematics. In the following week, students will be given the opportunity to attend a series of lectures and tutorials by some of the leading personalities in their fields, including a guest tutorial by Prof. Walter Freeman. Classes will touch upon the following themes: emotion, inverse models, language, neural synchrony, neurodynamics and non-linear dynamics. Detailed program to be announced soon. More on the practical fMRI-EEG and EEG-TMS demonstrations here: http://www.brainproducts.com/filedownload.php?path=workshops/WS_Reading_Program.pdf Registration Registration to the summer school is now open. Attendance is free. Participants will be selected on the basis of the expected gain from the summer school. Registration for practical demonstrations (fMRI-EEG, and EEG-TMS) is limited. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer any grant for travel or accommodation. To apply, send to cinn at reading.ac.uk by 15th of June, midnight GMT: your curriculum vitae and a one-page pdf document describing a) your research interests, b) your experience in neuroscience, computational neuroscience and mathematics, and c) your motivation to apply and how the summer school could help you in your research. Applications will be reviewed by the steering committee, and students who have not been selected will be given the opportunity to enter a waiting list. Venue Classes will be hosted at the University of Reading. Practicals using MRI, EEG and TMS will be hosted in the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN). The CINN is an interdisciplinary research facility where cutting-edge research meets world-class facilities: a research-dedicated 3T Siemens Trio MRI scanner, MR-compatible EEG recording systems (Brain Products), and a MR-compatible TMS delivery system (Mag & More, and Brain Products). --- Dr. Etienne B. Roesch Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics University of Reading, UK From h.jaeger at jacobs-university.de Tue May 25 11:40:27 2010 From: h.jaeger at jacobs-university.de (Herbert Jaeger) Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 17:40:27 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Cognitive Systems and Processes (COSYP): New Integrated PhD Program, Jacobs University Bremen Message-ID: <4BFBEF6B.4020900@jacobs-university.de> Jacobs University Bremen (www.jacobs-university.de) invites applications to a newly founded interdisciplinary PhD program at the intersection between the cognitive neurosciences, robotics, and machine learning, see the following short official announcement with a link to a more detailed website: ================================================================= Cognitive Systems and Processes (COSYP) Integrated PhD Program at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany ================================================================= The Cognitive Systems and Processes (COSYP) graduate program addresses the fundamental question of which processes form natural cognition and how they can be transformed into artificial systems. The program is strongly interdisciplinary, offering a research-oriented education by faculty from - Computer Science, especially robotics, automation, and machine learning - Psychology, especially cognitive and social psychology - Neuroscience, especially computational neuroscience and neurobiology COSYP is an integrated PhD program, i.e., both students with a Master or a Bachelor degree may apply. Students who have an M.Sc. engage in 3 years of regular PhD studies. Students with a B.Sc. first do a qualification phase - typically for 2 years - where they take a set of courses - which is chosen together with their supervisors according to the student's interests and research plans - while already engaging in research. The option to obtain a Master exists. Courses, especially for students holding a B.Sc., start on September 1st. The deadline for applications for the coming academic year is June 15, 2010. The program is strongly interdisciplinary and research oriented. Applications have to include a motivational letter describing academic interests and research plans that should be related to ongoing activities of the COSYP faculty. Candidates who intend to engage in interdisciplinary activities will be given high priority. Further information about the COSYP Research Center, the involved faculty, and possible course options can be found at Applications have to be submitted via the Jacobs University admission webpage: -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Herbert Jaeger Professor for Computational Science Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH Campus Ring 28759 Bremen, Germany Phone (+49) 421 200 3215 Fax (+49) 421 200 49 3215 email h.jaeger at jacobs-university.de http://www.faculty.jacobs-university.de/hjaeger/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ From hiro at brain.riken.jp Thu May 27 05:35:39 2010 From: hiro at brain.riken.jp (hiro@brain.riken.jp) Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 18:35:39 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: opening positions at RIKEN Brain Science Institute Message-ID: <20100527183528.E061.HIRO@brain.riken.jp> Dear colleagues, For your information, I forward an opening PI position at RIKEN Brain Science Institute in the field of computational neuroscience. FACULTY POSITION AT THE RIKEN BRAIN SCIENCE INSTITUTE The Brain Science Institute (BSI) of RIKEN in Wako, Japan, invites applications from candidates for a tenure-track Team Leader position (equivalent to a U.S. Assistant or Associate Professor) in Computational Neuroscience. Candidates must have earned a doctorate in a related field and demonstrated research expertise in any of the broad areas related to computational neuroscience, such as mathematical neuroscience, models for neural information processing, mathematical analysis of neural data, simulation of large-scale neural systems, and brain-inspired technology for real-world applicants. The candidate will be expected to conduct an independent research program. A generous annual research fund and start-up package will be provided, in addition to an apartment/condo rental allowance and other employee benefits. The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications immediately. The search will continue until the position is filled. Interested applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a summary of current and proposed research, and arrange for three letters of recommendation, all to be sent to: Search Committee 2, RIKEN Brain Science Institute 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan Fax: +81-48-467-9683; Email: image http://www.brain.riken.jp RIKEN-BSI is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Women are strongly encouraged to apply. Note: The above information is a copy of the following URL: http://www.brain.riken.jp/en/work/positions/20100514_2.html There is another PI position opening which is described at another URL: http://www.brain.riken.jp/en/work/positions/20100514_1.html Best wishes, Hiro Hiroyuki Nakahara Lab for Integrated Theoretical Neuroscience RIKEN Brain Science Institute 2-1 Hirosawa Wako Saitama, 351-0198, Japan http://www.itn.brain.riken.jp -- hiroyuki nakahara http://www.itn.brain.riken.jp From kirsch at bcf.uni-freiburg.de Wed May 26 12:59:26 2010 From: kirsch at bcf.uni-freiburg.de (Janina Kirsch) Date: Wed, 26 May 2010 18:59:26 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: NWG-Course: Analysis and Models in Neurophysiology, Freiburg, Germany Message-ID: <00b601cafcf4$cd20d060$67627120$@uni-freiburg.de> NWG-Course: Analysis and Models in Neurophysiology October 10-15, 2010 Application deadline: June 30, 2010 Aim of the course The course is intended to provide advanced Diploma/Masters and PhD students, as well as young researchers from the neurosciences with approaches for the analysis of electrophysiological data and the theoretical concepts behind them. http://www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de/events/conferences/101010-nwgcourse The course includes various topics such as * Neuron models and spike train statistics * Point processes and correlation measures * Systems and signals * Local field potentials and synaptic plasticity * FIND: New tools and developments The course will consist of lectures in the morning and and matching exercises using Matlab and Mathematica. Experience with these software packages will be helpful but is not required for registration. The participants should have a basic understanding of scientific programming. This course is designated especially for advanced diploma/master-students and PhD-students (preferentially in their first year). Organisation and teaching * Dr. Stefan Rotter, Bernstein Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, rotter at bcf.uni-freiburg.de * Dr. Sonja Gruen, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, gruen at brain.riken.jp * Dr. Ulrich Egert, Biomicrotechnology, Department of Microsystems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Freiburg, egert at imtek.uni-freiburg.de * Dr. Ad Aertsen, Neurobiology & Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, aertsen at biologie.uni-freiburg.de Contact Dr. Janina Kirsch, Bernstein Center Freiburg, Germany Tel: +49 761 203 9575, Fax: +49 761 203 9559 Email: nwg-course at bcf.uni-freiburg.de Application Please apply by sending an email containing your CV and a letter of motivation to nwg-course at bcf.uni-freiburg.de. The course is limited to 20 participants. Course fees: NWG members: 50 Euro others: 125 Euro Course venue Bernstein Center Freiburg, Computerlab (ground floor), Hansastr. 9a, 79104 Freiburg, Germany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20100526/0a4cc39a/attachment-0001.html From wermter at informatik.uni-hamburg.de Thu May 27 12:43:58 2010 From: wermter at informatik.uni-hamburg.de (Stefan Wermter) Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 18:43:58 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: 4 PhD scholarships available - neural crossmodal interaction robotics Message-ID: <4BFEA14E.5020408@informatik.uni-hamburg.de> UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG The International Research Training Group Hamburg/Germany ? Beijing/China (IRTG-CINACS, Internationales Graduiertenkolleg) Cross-modal Interaction in Natural and Artificial Cognitive Systems funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), the State of Hamburg, and the Ministry of Education of the People?s Republic of China, is seeking highly qualified and motivated candidates for 4 Doctoral Student Positions at the University of Hamburg beginning June 1st, 2010, or later The IRTG-CINACS offers a 3-year doctoral programme based at the University of Hamburg and at Tsinghua University, Beijing. The dissertation projects will be carried out at the University of Hamburg. A part (up to 6 months) of the studies will be performed at Tsinghua University. The interdisciplinary programme provides exciting research opportunities for research on multisensory perception and cross-modal information processing. Three of the positions are available at the Department of Informatics of the University of Hamburg: One of them concerns a research project on cognitively plausible architectures of language comprehension and language production in a multi-modal environment. Special emphasis is placed on multimodal communication and representation for human-computer interaction. The required qualifications are: comprehensive knowledge of artificial intelligence, (computational) linguistics or human-computer interaction, being interested in interdisciplinary research with the computer scientists, linguists, psychologists and neuro-scientists. The two other positions at the Department of Informatics focus on projects in neural network robotics. We are particularly interested in working towards 1) multimodal integration and 2) sound localisation within an attractive humanoid robot scenario where humanoid robots interact with humans based on multimodal information. The required qualifications are: knowledge of artificial intelligence, neural networks or robotics and an interest to work in an interdisciplinary neuroscience, computing and robotics environment. One position is available at the Department of Psychology of the University of Hamburg. It concerns multimodal integration in perception and action. The required qualifications are: comprehensive knowledge and interests in experimental psychology and cognitive neurosciences. Programming skills (Matlab / C) are of advantage. You should have a degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Computational Linguistics, Psychology, Cognitive Sciences or Biology ). A good command of English is essential. The university intends to increase the number of women amongst its academic personnel and encourages qualified women to apply. In compliance with the Hamburg Equal Opportunity Law, preference will be given to qualified female applicants. Applicants should submit a CV, a statement of prior studies and research experience (with respect to CINACS, particularly the chosen topic above), a letter of reference and an outline for realizing the project by e-mail to cinacs at informatik.uni-hamburg.de . Further information can be obtained at: http://www.cinacs.org/ Contact: Prof. Dr. Jianwei Zhang, TAMS, Department of Informatics, University of Hamburg, 22527 Hamburg, Germany, Tel.: +494042883-2430 Please forward to interested staff/students best wishes Stefan Wermter *********************************************** Professor Dr. Stefan Wermter Head of Knowledge Technology Department of Informatics University of Hamburg Vogt Koelln Str. 30 22527 Hamburg, Germany Secretary: +49 40 42883 2433 Phone: +49 40 42883 2434 Fax : +49 40 42883 2515 Email: wermter (at) informatik.uni-hamburg.de http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~wermter/ http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/WTM/ *********************************************** From rsun at rpi.edu Fri May 28 00:52:23 2010 From: rsun at rpi.edu (Professor Ron Sun) Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 00:52:23 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: FW: 2010 INNS Awards Message-ID: As the chair of the Awards Committee of the INNS, I am pleased and proud to announce the recipients of the 2010 INNS Awards: 2009 Hebb Award goes to: Erkki Oja 2010 Helmholtz Award goes to: Robert Desimone 2010 Gabor Award goes to: Shun-ichi Amari 2010 INNS Young Investigator Award goes to: Kenji Morita These awards were decided after careful deliberations by the Awards Committee and the Board of Governors. Erkki Oja, the Hebb Award recipient, is recognized for his long- standing contribution and achievements in biological and computational learning. Robert Desimone, the Helmholtz Award recipient, is recognized for his many years of contribution and achievements in understanding sensation/ perception. Shun-ichi Amari, the Gabor Award recipient, is recognized for his achievements in engineering/application of neural networks. Kenji Morita, the Young Investigator Award recipient, is recognized for significant contributions in the field of Neural Networks by a young person (with no more than five years postdoctoral experience and who are under forty years of age). These awards will be presented at IJCNN 2010 in Barcelona. Leonid Perlovsky, Ph.D Chair of the Awards Committee of the INNS ======================================================== Professor Ron Sun President-Elect, International Neural Network Society Cognitive Science Department Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 110 Eighth Street, Carnegie 302A Troy, NY 12180, USA phone: 518-276-3409 fax: 518-276-3017 email: rsun at rpi.edu web: http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/~rsun ======================================================= From h.jaeger at jacobs-university.de Sun May 30 15:00:15 2010 From: h.jaeger at jacobs-university.de (Herbert Jaeger) Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 21:00:15 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD stipend: fundamental research in machine learning and stochastic systems Message-ID: <4C02B5BF.5000907@jacobs-university.de> In the Machine Learning Group of Herbert Jaeger at Jacobs University Bremen, funding is available for a 3-year PhD stipend, starting in August 2010 or later. The stipend amounts to 1000 Euro / month. -->> This stipend offers great freedom, because it is not tied to a funded project. <<-- It is expected that the research under this stipend aims at fundamental and rigorous innovations in the modeling of stochastic dynamics. Indicative topics and further details can be found at http://www.faculty.jacobs-university.de/hjaeger/Temp/stipend_May2010.html The successful applicant should have a dedicated analytical inclination and training. A suitable background would be, for instance, mathematics, theoretical (especially statistical) physics, machine learning, or signal processing and control. Exceptional BSc degree holders are encouraged to apply; they would be entered into an integrated PhD program with a Master option after two years. Dr. Herbert Jaeger Professor for Computational Science Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH Campus Ring 28759 Bremen, Germany Phone (+49) 421 200 3215 email h.jaeger at jacobs-university.de http://www.faculty.jacobs-university.de/hjaeger/ ------------------------------------------------------------------