From gaute.einevoll at umb.no Wed Apr 4 05:08:33 2012 From: gaute.einevoll at umb.no (Gaute Einevoll) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 09:08:33 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: PhD-position in Computational Neuroscience (biophysical modeling of LFP, EEG, MEG) in Norway Message-ID: <50AADEA29903F5469B8A51DA48B9D496220F30@A-EXCH-MBX2.ans.umb.no> PHD-POSITION IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE IN NORWAY A PhD-position in mathematical modeling is available at the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB). One possibility is to take the PhD in the Computational Neuroscience Group (http://compneuro.umb.no/) working on biophysical modeling of electrical and magnetic brain signals such as the local-field potential (LFP), EEG or MEG. For information about the position and how to apply, see http://compneuro.umb.no/wiki/Miscellaneous/Positions Application deadline: April 23rd 2012 Please contact Professor Gaute T. Einevoll (gaute.einevoll at umb.no) and/or Head of Section, Dr. Hans E. Plesser (hans.ekkehard.plesser at umb.no) for further information. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Professor Gaute T. Einevoll Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1432 Aas, Norway ph. +47-64965433, mobile: +47-95124536 email: Gaute.Einevoll at umb.no web: compneuro.umb.no, arken.umb.no/~gautei private address: Utsiktsveien 22A, 1369 Stabekk, Norway From kenneth.harris at imperial.ac.uk Mon Apr 2 16:11:54 2012 From: kenneth.harris at imperial.ac.uk (Harris, Kenneth D) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 20:11:54 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral vacancies in London Message-ID: <8C4CE022EFD76849835CC7C2E0DBF3B80880979D@icexch-m4.ic.ac.uk> Dear Connectionists, We are seeking applicants for 3 postdoctoral jobs at the interface of computational and experimental neuroscience, working with Profs. Kenneth Harris and Matteo Carandini. Position 1: Large-scale analysis of neocortical activity. Modern techniques allow for simultaneous recording of hundreds of neurons, providing an unprecedented opportunity to study how neuronal populations process information. However, turning this data into concrete conclusions about brain function requires advanced analyses to harness the very large data sets now available. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to study population coding and circuit function in mouse visual cortex, by working with data from massively parallel recordings from behaving animals. This position would suit an individual with a background in mathematics, physics or a related field, and strong interest and knowledge of neurobiology. Position 2: Large-scale simulation of cortical circuits. Recent years have seen the development of specialized hardware for simulating neural circuits, making it at last possible to model how cellular and synaptic properties determine cortical activity in circuits of realistic size. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to build large-scale models of recurrent spiking cortical networks using the spiNNaker system, in collaboration with Prof. Steve Furber of Manchester University. The models will be constrained by their ability to both reproduce patterns of population activity measured in vivo, and to perform real-world visual classification tasks. This project involves the use of with specialized hardware, and would suit a candidate with strong programming ability as well as neuroscience knowledge. Position 3: Experimental study of cortical population activity. Developments in electrophysiology, microscopy, and genetics now make it possible to measure the activity of large populations of cells in behaving animals, while identifying and controlling specific cell classes in real time with light. Combining these experimental technologies with large-scale informatics and computational analysis provides a tremendous tool to understand the function of cortical circuits. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to apply these tools to study network activity during a visual discrimination task in behaving mice. This project involves integrating multiple techniques currently in use in our lab, and would suit a candidate with a background in experimental neurobiology, engineering or experimental physics. About the lab The most exciting developments in science come from close interactions between scientists of different backgrounds and skill sets. We run a tightly integrated group that allows not only collaborative research but also the opportunity for computational scientists to train in experimental techniques and vice versa. Our location in London provides access to a strong research base of neuroscience, computation, engineering, and physics at Imperial and University Colleges, as well as a stimulating cultural environment. For more information Go to http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/employment, and click "Job Search for applicants not currently employed by Imperial College." On the next screen, enter keyword EN20120101FH, EN20120102FH, or EN20120103FH for the 3 positions. -- Prof. Kenneth D. Harris Departments of Bioengineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering Imperial College London SW7 2AZ Phone: +44 (0)20 7594 6370 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120402/3eb40ca9/attachment-0001.html From perfors at gmail.com Tue Apr 3 19:02:22 2012 From: perfors at gmail.com (Amy Perfors) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:32:22 +0930 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in computational cognitive science (University of Adelaide) Message-ID: The computational cognitive science group at the University of Adelaide (Australia) is seeking a post-doctoral researcher to contribute to a project focused on problems of inductive inference. Project PIs are Dan Navarro and Amy Perfors. The research project investigates how different assumptions about the nature and origin of data lead to different inferences, both in a normative sense and in human behaviour. From a modelling perspective the project is interested in developing Bayesian models of human induction, and in understanding how these relate to more traditional psychological models. *Position Requirements* *You should have:* - PhD in cognitive science, psychology, computer science, statistics, or other related discipline - Experience in implementing and interpreting probabilistic models (in particular, Bayesian modelling, MCMC techniques). *Additional desirable characteristics:* - Previous experience developing new cognitive models - Matlab or R skills (although other programming languages are also acceptable) - Experience in psychological experimental design and data analysis *Term of Position* This position is available from 1 July 2012 (although the starting date is flexible) for an initial period of 1 year with a further renewable period of 1 year. *Salary* Salary: $70,814 - $76,014 per annum. The successful applicant will be appointed at an appropriate level within this range depending on qualifications and relevant experience. An employer superannuation contribution of 9% also applies. *Applications* *Closing date: 1 May 2012 Please note: Applications received after this date will be accepted but cannot be guaranteed equal consideration.* Your application should: - include your r?sum?/Curriculum Vitae - address the selection criteria - quote the job reference number (17338) - include your Australian residency status (non-Australian candidates are fine) - include the names, addresses and/or email details of three referees. Email applications to Dr Dan Navarro daniel.navarro at adelaide.edu.au *Further Information* Feel free to email us with any questions! Lab website: www.compcogscilab.com Official posting: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/jobs/current/17338/ Dan Navarro: daniel.navarro at adelaide.edu.au Amy Perfors: amy.perfors at adelaide.edu.au Information about Adelaide and Australia: http://www.international.adelaide.edu.au/living/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120403/4dff42ce/attachment.html From rsun at rpi.edu Mon Apr 2 15:55:52 2012 From: rsun at rpi.edu (Professor Ron Sun) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 15:55:52 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: INNS Award Nominations References: Message-ID: > From: Linda Potchoiba > Date: April 2, 2012 3:16:38 PM EDT > > The International Neural Network Society's Awards Program is > established to recognize individuals who have made outstanding > contributions in the field of Neural Networks. Up to three awards, > at most one in each category, are presented annually to senior, > highly accomplished researchers for outstanding contributions made > in the field of Neural Networks. > > The Hebb, Helmholtz and Gabor Awards: > The Hebb Award - recognizes achievement in biological learning. > The Helmholtz Award - recognizes achievement in sensation/perception. > The Gabor Award - recognizes achievement in engineering/application. > > Young Investigator Awards: > Up to two awards are presented annually to individuals with no more > than five years postdoctoral experience and who are under forty > years of age, for significant contributions in the field of Neural > Networks. > > Nominations: > 1. The Awards Committee should receive nominations of no more than > two pages in length, specifying: > -The award category (Hebb, Helmholtz, Gabor, or Young Investigator) > for which the candidate is being nominated. > -The reasons for which the nominee should be considered for the award. > -A list of at least five of the nominee's important and published > papers. > 2. The curriculum vitae of both the nominee and the nominator must > be included with the nomination, including the name, address, > position/title, phone, fax, and e-mail address for both the nominee > and nominator. > 3. The nominator must be an INNS member in good standing. Nominees > do not have to be INNS members. If an award recipient is not an INNS > member, they shall receive a free one-year INNS membership. > 4. Nominators may not nominate themselves or their family members. > 5. Individuals may not receive the same INNS Award more than once > All nominations will be considered by the Awards Committee and > selected ones forwarded to the INNS Board of Governors, along with > the Committee's recommendations for award recipients. Voting shall > be performed by the entire BoG. > > Please email the 2013 nominations along with their attachments > directly to the chair of the Awards Committee at leonid at seas.harvard.edu > , with a copy to the Secretary of the Society at jonathan at sit.kmutt.ac.th > by June 1, 2012. Please use the following subject line in the > email: INNS award nomination. > > You may view this information at www.inns.org (under "Awards > Program"). ======================================================== Professor Ron Sun President, 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: dr.ron.sun [AT] gmail.com web: http://sites.google.com/site/drronsun ======================================================= From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Mon Apr 2 14:17:15 2012 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:17:15 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: NEURON 2012 Summer Course Message-ID: <4F79ED2B.2090801@yale.edu> Seats are still available in the 2012 NEURON summer course that will be presented June 23-27 at UC San Diego. The registration deadline is Friday, May 18, just a month and a half from now. For more information and the on-line application form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nscsd2012/nscsd2012.html --Ted From antoine.bordes at hds.utc.fr Mon Apr 9 18:13:14 2012 From: antoine.bordes at hds.utc.fr (Antoine Bordes) Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2012 18:13:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Connectionists: 2nd Call For Papers - Special Issue on Learning Semantics in Message-ID: <62392.31.34.21.122.1334009594.squirrel@webmail.iro.umontreal.ca> -------------------- 2nd Call For Papers - Special Issue on Learning Semantics in Machine Learning -------------------- **Overview** A key ambition of AI is to render computers able to evolve and interact with the real world. This can be made possible only if the machine is able to produce an interpretation of its available modalities (image, audio, text, etc.) which can be used to support reasoning and taking appropriate actions. Computational linguists use the term ?semantics? to refer to the possible interpretations of natural language expressions and there is recent work in ?learning semantics? ? finding (in an automated way) these interpretations. However, ?semantics? are not restricted to the natural language (and speech) modality, and are also pertinent to visual modalities. Hence, knowing visual concepts and common relationships between them would certainly provide a leap forward in scene analysis and in image parsing akin to the improvement that language phrase interpretations would bring to data mining, information extraction or automatic translation, to name a few. Progress in learning semantics has been slow mainly because this involves sophisticated models which are hard to train, especially since they seem to require large quantities of precisely annotated training data. However, recent advances in learning with weak, limited and indirect supervision led to the emergence of a new body of research in semantics based on multi-task/transfer learning, on learning with semi/ambiguous/indirect supervision or even with no supervision at all. Hence, this special issue invites paper submissions on recent work for learning semantics of natural language, vision, speech, etc. Papers should address at least some of the following questions: - How should meaning representations be structured to be easily interpretable by a computer and still express rich and complex knowledge? - What is a realistic supervision setting for learning semantics? - How can we learn sophisticated representations with limited supervision? - How can we jointly infer semantics from several modalities? **Dates** Submission deadline: May 1, 2012 First review results: July 30, 2012 Final drafts: September 30, 2012 **Submissions** Papers must be submitted online, selecting the article type that indicates this special issue. Peer reviews will follow the standard Machine Learning journal review process. It is the policy of the Machine Learning journal that no submission, or substantially overlapping submission, be published or be under review at another journal or conference at any time during the review process. Papers extending previously published conference papers are acceptable, as long as the journal submission provides a significant contribution beyond the conference paper, and the overlap is described clearly at the beginning of the journal submission. Complete manuscripts of full length are expected, following the MLJ guidelines in http://www.springer.com/computer/ai/journal/10994 . **Guest Editors** Antoine Bordes (antoine.bordes at utc.fr) L?on Bottou (leon at bottou.org) Ronan Collobert (ronan at collobert.com) Dan Roth (danr at illinois.edu) Jason Weston (jweston at google.com) Luke Zettlemoyer (lsz at cs.washington.edu) From fjaekel at uos.de Tue Apr 10 06:44:30 2012 From: fjaekel at uos.de (Frank =?ISO-8859-1?Q?J=E4kel?=) Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:44:30 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: OCCAM 2012 Workshop Message-ID: <1334054670.32551.5.camel@birke.ikw.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE> Workshop announcement (2nd call): (Apologies for duplicate postings) Dear Colleague, we would like to invite you to register for the 2nd +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Osnabrueck Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting (OCCAM 2012) on "The Brain as an Information Processing System" June 4-6 2012. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The workshop will take place in Osnabrueck, Germany, and will be hosted by the Institute of Cognitive Science (University of Osnabrueck). Details can be found below and on the following webpage: http://www.occam-os.de The registration deadline has been extended until April 23rd, 2012 (first come first served). The registration fee is 100,- Euros. This fee covers the workshop attendance incl. coffee, buffet on the first day, and the conference dinner. The goal of the OCCAM workshop series is to foster our understanding of mechanisms and principles of information processing in self-organized hierarchical and recurrent systems. Our knowledge of such systems is still very limited despite being a focus of research for many years. The OCCAM workshop series aims at understanding the principles of information processing with a particular focus on 3 major topics: 1. Neural coding and representation in hierarchical systems 2. Self-organisation in dynamic systems 3. Mechanisms for probabilistic inference The OCCAM 2012 theme is: "The Brain as an Information Processing System" List of invited speakers: Matthias Bethge, Tuebingen* Andreas Engel, Hamburg* Marc Ernst, Bielefeld* Rainer Goebel, Maastricht* Judith Hirsch, Los Angeles Siegrid Loewel, Goettingen* Klaus Obermayer, Berlin* Gordon Pipa, Osnabrueck* Stefano Panzeri, Genova* Natasha Sigala, Brighton* Gasper Tkacik, Klosterneuburg* Catherine Tallon-Baudry, Paris* Julia Trommershaeuser, New York* Eilon Vaadia, Jerusalem* Felix Wichmann, Tuebingen* (* confirmed) There will also be a poster session where conference participants will have the opportunity to present their work. Best regards, Frank Jaekel, Peter K?nig, Gordon Pipa (Organizing committee) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: smime.p7s Type: application/x-pkcs7-signature Size: 6204 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120410/6eee0294/smime.bin From grlmc at urv.cat Sun Apr 8 09:00:45 2012 From: grlmc at urv.cat (GRLMC) Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2012 15:00:45 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: TPNC 2012: 3rd call for papers Message-ID: *To be removed from our mailing list, please respond to this message with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject* ********************************************************************* 3rd Call for Papers 1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF NATURAL COMPUTING TPNC 2012 Tarragona, Spain October 1-5, 2012 http://grammars.grlmc.com/tpnc2012/ ********************************************************************* AIMS: TPNC is the first event in a series to cover the wide spectrum of computational principles, models and techniques inspired by information processing in nature. TPNC 2012 will reserve significant room for young scholars at the beginning of their career. It aims at attracting contributions about nature-inspired models of computation, synthesizing nature by means of computation, nature-inspired materials, and information processing in nature. VENUE: TPNC 2012 will take place in Tarragona, less than 100 kms. to the south of Barcelona. SCOPE: Topics of either theoretical, experimental or applied interest include, but are not limited to: * Nature-inspired models of computation: - amorphous computing - cellular automata - chaos and dynamical systems based computing - evolutionary computing - membrane computing - neural computing - optical computing - swarm intelligence * Synthesizing nature by means of computation: - artificial chemistry - artificial immune systems - artificial life * Nature-inspired materials: - computing with DNA - nanocomputing - physarum computing - quantum computing and quantum information - reaction-diffusion computing * Information processing in nature: - developmental systems - fractal geometry - gene assembly in unicellular organisms - rough/fuzzy computing in nature - synthetic biology - systems biology * Applications of natural computing to: algorithms, bioinformatics, control, cryptography, design, economy, graphics, hardware, learning, logistics, optimization, pattern recognition, programming, robotics, telecommunications etc. A flexible "theory to/from practice" approach would be the perfect focus for the expected contributions. STRUCTURE: TPNC 2012 will consist of: ? invited talks ? invited tutorials ? peer?reviewed contributions INVITED SPEAKERS: Christian Blum (Barcelona), tutorial tba Andrew Childs (Waterloo), tba Max H. Garzon (Memphis), A Geometric Approach to DNA Codeword Design and Applications Faustino G?mez (IDSIA, Manno-Lugano), Scalable Neuroevolution for Reinforcement Learning Ponnuthurai N. Suganthan (Singapore), Differential Evolution: Recent Advances Barbara M. Terhal (Aachen), tba Peter Ti?o (Birmingham), Computational Intelligence in Astronomy - Win-Win Situation PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: Ajith Abraham (Auburn) Selim G. Akl (Kingston CA) Enrique Alba (M?laga) Artiom Alhazov (Chi?in?u) Peter J. Bentley (London) Mauro Birattari (Brussels) Christian Blum (Barcelona) ?scar Castillo (Tijuana) Weng-Long Chang (Kaohsiung) Parimal Pal Chaudhuri (Calcutta) Carlos A. Coello Coello (Mexico DF) Kalyanmoy Deb (Kanpur) Peter Dittrich (Jena) Andries Petrus Engelbrecht (Pretoria) Toshio Fukuda (Nagoya) Enrique Herrera-Viedma (Granada) C?sar Herv?s-Mart?nez (C?rdoba) Julia Kempe (Paris) Elmar Wolfgang Lang (Regensburg) Pier Luca Lanzi (Milan) Vincenzo Manca (Verona) Maurice Margenstern (Metz) Carlos Mart?n-Vide (Tarragona, chair) Kaisa Miettinen (Jyv?skyl?) Michael O'Neill (Dublin) Ferdinand Peper (Kobe) Ion Petre (Turku) Carla Piazza (Udine) A.C. Cem Say (Istanbul) J?rgen Schmidhuber (Lugano) Moshe Sipper (Beer-Sheva) El-Ghazali Talbi (Lille) Kay Chen Tan (Singapore) Jir? Wiedermann (Prague) Takashi Yokomori (Tokyo) Ivan Zelinka (Ostrava) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Adrian Horia Dediu (Tarragona) Peter Leupold (Tarragona) Carlos Mart?n?Vide (Tarragona, chair) Bianca Truthe (Magdeburg) Florentina Lilica Voicu (Tarragona) SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit papers presenting original and unpublished research. Papers should not exceed 12 single?spaced pages (including eventual appendices) and should be formatted according to the standard format for Springer Verlag's LNCS series (see http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0). Submissions have to be uploaded at: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=tpnc2012 PUBLICATIONS: A volume of proceedings published by Springer in the LNCS series will be available by the time of the conference. A special issue of a major journal will be later published containing peer?reviewed extended versions of some of the papers contributed to the conference. Submissions to it will be by invitation. REGISTRATION: The period for registration is open from February 25 to October 1, 2012. The registration form can be found at the website of the conference: http://grammars.grlmc.com/tpnc2012/ Early registration fees: 500 Euro Early registration fees (PhD students): 400 Euro Late registration fees: 540 Euro Late registration fees (PhD students): 440 Euro On?site registration fees: 580 Euro On?site registration fees (PhD students): 480 Euro At least one author per paper should register. Papers that do not have a registered author who paid the fees by July 1, 2012 will be excluded from the proceedings. Fees comprise access to all sessions, one copy of the proceedings volume, coffee breaks and lunches. PhD students will need to prove their status on site. PAYMENT: Early (resp. late) registration fees must be paid by bank transfer before July 1, 2012 (resp. September 21, 2012) to the conference bank account: Uno-e Bank bank?s address: Julian Camarillo 4 C, 28037 Madrid, Spain IBAN: ES3902270001820201823142 SWIFT/BIC code: UNOEESM1 account holder: Carlos Mart?n-Vide GRLMC account holder?s address: Av. Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain Please mention TPNC 2012 and your name in the subject. A receipt will be provided on site. Remarks: - Bank transfers should not involve any expense for the conference. - People claiming early registration will be requested to prove that the bank transfer order was carried out by the deadline. People registering on site must pay in cash. For the sake of local organization, however, it is much recommended to do it earlier. Besides paying the registration fees, it is required to fill in the registration form at the website of the conference. IMPORTANT DEADLINES: Paper submission: May 1, 2012 (23:59h, CET) Notification of paper acceptance or rejection: June 18, 2012 Final version of the paper for the LNCS proceedings: June 25, 2012 Early registration: July 1, 2012 Late registration: September 21, 2012 Starting of the conference: October 1, 2012 Submission to the post?conference special issue: January 5, 2013 FURTHER INFORMATION: florentinalilica.voicu at urv.cat POSTAL ADDRESS: TPNC 2012 Research Group on Mathematical Linguistics (GRLMC) Rovira i Virgili University Av. Catalunya, 35 43002 Tarragona, Spain Phone: +34?977?559543 Fax: +34?977?558386 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120408/c65745e0/attachment-0001.html From hugo.larochelle at usherbrooke.ca Fri Apr 6 19:13:31 2012 From: hugo.larochelle at usherbrooke.ca (Hugo Larochelle) Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 19:13:31 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: ICML Workshop on Representation Learning Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Representation Learning Workshop - ICML 2012 Date: Sunday July 1, 2012 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland URL: https://sites.google.com/site/representationworkshopicml2012/ *Important Dates* Paper Submission Deadline: Monday, May 7, 2012 Acceptance Notification: Monday, May 21, 2012 *Overview* In this workshop we consider the question of how we can learn meaningful and useful representations of the data. There has been a great deal of recent work on this topic, much of it emerging from researchers interested in training deep architectures. Deep learning methods such as deep belief networks, sparse coding-based methods, convolutional networks, and deep Boltzmann machines, have shown promise as a means of learning invariant representations of data and have already been successfully applied to a variety of tasks in computer vision, audio processing, natural language processing, information retrieval, and robotics. Bayesian nonparametric methods and other hierarchical graphical model-based approaches have also been recently shown the ability to learn rich representations of data. By bringing together researchers with diverse expertise and perspectives but who are all interested in the question of how to learn data representations, we will explore the challenges and promising directions for future research in this area. In the context of an opening overview talk and in a panel discussion (including our invited speakers), we will attempt to address some of the issues that have recently emerged as critical in shaping the future development of this line of research: - How do we learn invariant representations? Feature pooling is a popular and highly successful mean of achieving invariant features, but is there a tension between feature specificity and robustness to structured noise (movement in a direction of an irrelevant factor of variation)? Does it make sense to think in terms of a theory of invariant features? - What role does learning really play? There is some evidence that learning does not seem as important as previously believed. Rather, the process of feature extraction itself seems to play the most significant role in determining the success of the representation of the data. For example, there is evidence that the use of feedback in feature extraction could be very important. - How can several layers of latent variables be effectively learned? There has been lots of empirical work showing the importance of certain architectures and inference algorithms to learn representations that retain information of the input while extracting more and more abstract concepts. We would like to discuss what are the key modules of these hierarchical models and what inference methods are more suitable to discover useful representations of data. Also, we would like to investigate which inference algorithms are more effective and scalable in terms of number of data points and feature dimensionality. The workshop will also invite paper submissions on the development of representation learning methods, deep learning algorithms, theoretical foundations, inference and optimization methods, semi-supervised and transfer learning, and applications of deep learning and unsupervised feature learning to real-world tasks. Papers will be presented mainly as poster presentations. *Submission of Papers* We solicit submissions of unpublished research papers. Paper length is restricted between 2 and 8 pages. Papers must satisfy the formatting instructions of the ICML 2012 call for papers but they need not to be anonymous. Submissions should include the title, authors' names, institutions and email addresses. Style files are available here. We encourage submissions on the following and related topics: - learning hierarchical models - learning invariant representations - invariance and selectivity trade-off - role of learning compared to choice of feature extraction method - role of feedback and sparsity during learning and inference - scalability of hierarchical models at training and test time in terms of number of samples and feature dimensionality - applications of hierarchical models to large scale datasets Papers should be submitted in pdf or ps format by email to: representation.workshop.icml12 at gmail.com no later than 23:59 PDT, Monday, May 7, 2012. *Organizers* Aaron Courville, Universit? de Montr?al Hugo Larochelle, Universit? de Sherbrooke Marc'Aurelio Ranzato, Google Inc Yoshua Bengio, Universit? de Montr?al -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120406/4394f2b4/attachment.html From niebur at jhu.edu Sat Apr 7 09:01:21 2012 From: niebur at jhu.edu (Ernst Niebur) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 09:01:21 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Workshop on Criticality in Neural Systems April 30-May 1 at NIH Message-ID: We would like to invite you to a workshop on *Criticality in Neural Systems* * * *Venue:* Natcher Conference Center, National Institutes of Health, Central Campus, Bethesda, USA *Dates:* Monday, April 30 ? Tuesday, May 1, 2012 *Topics* 1. Experimental support for critical dynamics in the mammalian brain 2. Neuronal simulations of and theoretical insights into critical brain dynamics In addition to plenary talks (see speaker list below), a *poster session*will be hosted. *Registration* is free but required for all participants (poster presenters and others): *cns.mb.jhu.edu* *Confirmed speakers:* Lucilla de Arcangelis (Italy) Michael Breakspear (Australia) Jack Cowan (USA) Dante R Chialvo (USA) Mauro Copelli (Brazil) Rhonda Dzakpasu (USA) Walter J Freeman (USA) Tomoki Fukai (Japan) Paolo Grigolini (USA) Thilo Gross (Germany) J. Michael Herrmann (UK) Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen (Netherlds.) Arnold Mandell (USA) Stefan Mihalas (USA) J Matias Palva (Finland) Juan G Restrepo (USA) Bruce West (USA) *Supported by* National Institutes of Mental Health(NIMH) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) *Organizers*: Dietmar Plenz (NIMH, USA) Ernst Niebur (Johns Hopkins University, USA) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120407/f301e2fe/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CriticalityConferencePoster.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 801750 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120407/f301e2fe/CriticalityConferencePoster-0001.pdf From rapela at ucsd.edu Fri Apr 6 23:19:03 2012 From: rapela at ucsd.edu (Joaquin Rapela) Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 20:19:03 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in motor control Message-ID: <20120407031903.GA22157@sccn.ucsd.edu> Please contact Prof. Della-Maggiore (vdellamaggiore at fmed.uba.ar) if you are interested in the following postdoctoral position in the lively city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cordially, Joaquin The Physiology of Action Lab (www.physiologyofactionlab.info) is looking for a candidate to fill a postdoctoral position in the Department of Physiology of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Labortory focuses on Human Behavioral Neuroscience, particularly in the area of motor control. We use Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, EEG and psychophysics to study the neural mechanisms at the basis of different aspects of motor control. These include motor resonance and action understanding during action observation, online motor control and motor learning. Plastic changes induced by learning and stroke are also main interests of the lab. We are looking for a Ph.D. with a background in Neuroscience and, preferably, with experience in one ore more of the techniques used in the lab, and data analysis. Candidates with knowledge of Matlab would have priority. The postdoc is funded by a fellowship from the National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology (Argentina). Interested candidates could contact Dr. Valeria Della Maggiore at vdellamaggiore at fmed.uba.ar with a CV, a letter of interest and one or two references (email). Many thanks -- Valeria Della-Maggiore, Ph. D Department of Physiology, School of Medicine University of Buenos Aires Paraguay 2155, Capital Federal Buenos Aires, C1121ABG Argentina phone 54 11 5 950 9500 (2132) http://www.physiologyofactionlab.info ------------------------------------------------------------ being wild and disciplined at the same time.... -- Joaquin Rapela, PhD Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience University of California San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego, CA 92093-0559 tel: (858) 822-7536 fax: (858) 822-7556 http://sccn.ucsd.edu/~rapela ---------------------------------- the gods do not grant men all their gifts at once Nestor in The Iliad From Thomas_Serre at brown.edu Wed Apr 11 08:11:42 2012 From: Thomas_Serre at brown.edu (Thomas Serre) Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:11:42 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc position in computer vision, Brown University (Providence, RI) Message-ID: The computational vision research group, headed by Dr. Thomas Serre at Brown University, has an opening for a postdoctoral fellow in the field of computer vision. The research project will lead to the development of novel approaches for the automated analysis and recognition of action and behavior. Candidates are expected to have a strong background in computer vision and in particular video-based techniques including tracking and motion processing. An interest in biological vision and applications of computer vision to the biological sciences would also be a strong plus. The initial appointment is for 12 months, renewable for another year, and potentially longer depending on funding. The start date is negotiable though an early start is strongly preferred. Salary is commensurate with experience and is competitive. Representative recent work related to the project: H. Kuhne, H. Jhuang, E. Garrote, T. Poggio & T. Serre. HMDB: A large video database for human motion recognition. In Proc. IEEE International Computer Vision Conference (ICCV), 2011. H. Jhuang, E. Garrote, X. Yu, V. Khilnani, T. Poggio and A. Steele and T. Serre. Automated home-cage behavioral phenotyping of mice. In: Nature Communications. 1(1), doi:10.1038/ncomms1064, 2010 Research group: The research group is within the Department of Cognitive Linguistic & Psychological sciences and maintains strong ties to the computer science, engineering and applied math departments as part of the Brain Institute. Information about Dr. Serre and his research group can be found at http://serre-lab.clps.brown.edu/index.htm Requirements: Applicants are expected to have finished, or be about to finish their Ph.D. degrees. They must have an excellent background in computer vision, with a track record of relevant publications at top computer vision or related venues (such as NIPS, CVPR, ICCV or ECCV). Programming skills are required (C/C++/Matlab/Python) and knowledge of GPU programming and/or video compression algorithms would be a strong plus. Application: Please send your applications by email to serre-admin at correct_university_name.edu where correct_university_name should be replaced by brown. Please include a brief statement of interests, curriculum vitae, list of publications, contact details for 2-3 letters of reference (no letters required at this stage). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120411/94596a62/attachment.html From jlam at bccn-tuebingen.de Fri Apr 13 07:02:11 2012 From: jlam at bccn-tuebingen.de (Judith Lam) Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:02:11 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: REMINDER Computational Vision Summer School, June 28th - July 5, 2012 In-Reply-To: <4F61FB2D.1060608@bccn-tuebingen.de> References: <4F61FB2D.1060608@bccn-tuebingen.de> Message-ID: <4F8807B3.7060805@bccn-tuebingen.de> *REMINDER: APPLICATION DEADLINE April, 15th* The Bernstein Center Tuebingen invites advanced PhD students and postdocs to apply for the... * ************************************************************************** Computational Vision **Summer **School, **June 28th - July 5, 2012* *Freudenstadt-Lauterbad, Black Forest* *Application deadline: April 15th, 2012 http://www.bccn-tuebingen.de/events/cvss2012/ ***************************************************************************** The Computational Vision Summer School offers a broad perspective on biological vision with a thorough understanding of the theoretical and computational challenges involved. The faculty consists of renowned senior researchers in the field teaching lectures and providing hands-on tutorials on topics ranging from early vision to image understanding. *Confirmed Speakers: *Ted Adelson, Bruce Cumming, Alexei Efros, James Elder, Ralf Engbert, Thomas Euler, Michael Felsberg, Jan Koenderink, Michael Land, Stephane Mallat, Larry Maloney, Tony Movshon, Ken Nakayama, Ruth Rosenholtz, Frank Schaeffel, Eero Simoncelli, Christopher Tyler, Brian Wandell *Program Chairs:* Matthias Bethge, Michael Black, Roland Fleming, Felix Wichmann -- -- Judith Lam Executive Coordinator Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience T?bingen Eberhard Karls University of T?bingen Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics http://www.bccn-tuebingen.de/about-bccn/contact.html Spemannstr. 41, 72076 T?bingen Tel: +49 7071 601 1766 Fax: +49 7071 601 1794 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120413/d8c1747d/attachment.html From publicity at icann2012.org Thu Apr 12 14:25:22 2012 From: publicity at icann2012.org (icann2012.org) Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:25:22 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: ICANN 2012: 22nd Annual Conference - Extended deadlines Message-ID: Final Call for Papers (Apologies for cross-posting) Extended submission of full papers April 16, 2012 ======================================================== ICANN 2012: 22nd Annual Conference 11 - 14 September 2012 University of Lausanne, Switzerland http://icann2012.org/ =================================================================== The International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN) is the annual flagship conference of the European Neural Network Society (ENNS). In 2012 the University of Lausanne will organize the 22nd ICANN Conference from 11th to 14th of September 2012, Lausanne, Switzerland ICANN 2012 will have two tracks: Brain-inspired computing and Machine learning research, with PC chairs from both areas and a renewed reviewing system aimed at ensuring the highest quality of the accepted papers. =================================================================== Keynote speakers will highlight cross-disciplinary interactions and applications. CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: - Prof. Hava Siegelmann (University of Massachussets, USA) - Prof. Moshe Abeles (Bar-Ilan University, Israel) - Prof. Pierre Magistretti (Brain and Mind Institute, EPFL, Switzerland) - Prof. Ichiro Tsuda (Hokkaido University, Japan) - Prof. Ernst Fehr (University of Z?rich, Switzerland) JOHN G. TAYLOR MEMORIAL LECTURE: - Prof. Bruno Apolloni (University of Milano, Italy) ORGANIZATION: General Chair: Alessandro E.P. Villa (Lausanne, Switzerland) Program co-Chairs Wlodzislaw Duch (Torun, Poland & Singapore, ENNS Past-President) P?ter Erdi (Budapest, Hungary & Kalamazoo, Mi, USA) Timo Honkela (Helsinki, Finland) G?nther Palm (Ulm, Germany) Local Organizing Committee Chairs: John Antonakis, UNIL Marco Tomassini, UNIL Lorenz Goette, UNIL Michel Bader, CHUV (University Hospital) Publicity Chair and ICANN 2012 Secretariat Daniela Serracca-Fraccalvieri VENUE: Lausanne is a Swiss city located on the shore of the Lake of Geneva, 60 km from the international airport of Geneva. Fast and frequent train connections exist between the airport and Lausanne. The airport of Geneva is a major hub of low cost airlines and is connected by direct flights to most important cities in Europe and several cities in North America, Asia and North Africa. The venue of the conference is the building Internef of the UNIL Campus Dorigny, in front of the stop "UNIL-Dorigny" of the public metro line 1. CONFERENCE TOPICS: ICANN 2012 will feature two main tracks: Brain inspired computing and Machine learning research, with strong cross-disciplinary interactions and applications. All research fields dealing with Neural Networks will be present at the Conference with emphasis on "Neural Coding", "Decision Making" and "Unsupervised Learning". A non-exhaustive list of topics includes: Neural network theory & models, Computational neuroscience, Neuronal automata, Connectionist cognitive science, Pattern recognition, Neuroeconomics, Neurofinance, Graphical network models, Brain machine interfaces, Evolutionary neural networks, Neurodynamics, Complex systems, Neuroinformatics, Neuroengineering, Hybrid systems, Computational biology, Neural hardware, Bioinspired embedded systems, Collective intelligence, Self-orgnization, Embodied robotics, Learning algorithms, Neural data analysis, Cognitive models STUDENT TRAVEL GRANT: In 2012 the European Neural Network Society (ENNS) will offer at least 12 student travel awards of 400 Euro each, for students presenting papers at the 22nd International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN 2012) conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. You do not have to be an ENNS member at the time of your application, but you will become ENNS member for the next year (2013) if your application will be granted. The deadline for sending applications is June 1, 2012; results should be announced on this page soon after we get results from reviewers and Program Committee Chairs. PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Details will be available soon on the Conference web site. CONFERENCE FEE: Payments shall be made in Swiss Francs (CHF) by credit card via a secure certified link or onsite. No other currencies shall be accepted. No cheques or bank transfer can be accepted. Notice that the exchange rate (December 2011) is 1 CHF is approximately equal to 0.84 EUR - Graduate Student Early Late(*) (*) Late registration fee from June 1st, 2012. 70 CHF 120 CHF - Master/Ph.D. Student Early Late(*) ENNS Member 130 CHF 180 CHF INNS/JNNS/APNNA Member 150 CHF 200 CHF Student non-Member 170 CHF 220 CHF - Regular delegate Early Late(*) ENNS Member 180 CHF 230 CHF INNS/JNNS/APNNA Member 210 CHF 260 CHF Non-Member 240 CHF 290 CHF - Extras to be paid onsite: Accompanying person for ICANN banquet: 80 CHF Graduate Student for ICANN banquet: 80 CHF The registration fee includes: .Access to scientific sessions and plenary talks .Coffee breaks during the main conference .Welcome Party .Gala dinner (not included in the registration of Graduate Student) .One copy of the Proceedings .One Conference bag WORKSHOP REGISTRATION There is no separate registration to the Workshops. Please note that the full registration to the conference also includes the workshop attendance. =================================================================== IMPORTANT DATES: Extended submission of full papers April 16, 2012 Notification of acceptance: May 15, 2012 Camera-ready paper and author registration: May 21, 2012 Advance registration before: June 1, 2012 =========== Conference website http://icann2012.org =========== From bowlby at bu.edu Fri Apr 13 08:44:02 2012 From: bowlby at bu.edu (Brian Bowlby) Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:44:02 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: 16th ICCNS conference: Call for Registration Message-ID: SIXTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS May 30 ? June 1, 2012 Boston University 677 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA http://cns.bu.edu/cns-meeting/conference.html Sponsored by the Boston University Center for Adaptive Systems, Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology (CompNet), and Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology (CELEST) with financial support from the National Science Foundation This interdisciplinary conference is attended each year by approximately 300 people from 30 countries around the world. As in previous years, the conference will focus on solutions to the questions: HOW DOES THE BRAIN CONTROL BEHAVIOR? HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY EMULATE BIOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE? The 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 the biology and technology of how the brain and other intelligent systems adapt to a changing world. The conference is particularly interested in exploring how the brain and biologically-inspired algorithms and systems in engineering and technology can learn. Single-track oral and poster sessions enable all presented work to be highly visible. Three-hour poster sessions with no conflicting events will be held on two of the conference days. Posters will be up all day, and can also be viewed during breaks in the talk schedule. CONFIRMED INVITED SPEAKERS Martin Banks (University of California, Berkeley) Combining depth information from disparity and blur Helen Barbas (Boston University) [Plenary Speaker] Prefrontal pathways and flexible behavior Nathaniel Daw (New York University) Reinforcement learning: Beyond reinforcement Paul Glimcher (New York University) The emerging standard model of human decision-making Stephen Grossberg (Boston University) [Plenary Speaker] Social cognition: How do children learn to follow gaze, share joint attention, imitate their teachers, and use tools during social interactions? Lori Holt (Carnegie Mellon University) Using speech to listen in on auditory processing Margaret Livingstone (Harvard Medical School) Why do we have category specific domains and what good are they? Zhong-Lin Lu (Ohio State University) Functions and mechanisms of perceptual learning Christopher Pack (McGill University) Short-term plasticity of receptive fields and functional connectivity in primate visual cortex Max Riesenhuber (Georgetown University) Object recognition in cortex: From pipelines to flying crossbodies Veit Stuphorn (Johns Hopkins University) The role of the Supplementary Eye Field in value-based decision-making Jeffrey Taube (Dartmouth College) Learning and memory in the head direction cell circuit CELEST WORKSHOP ON ?BUILDING AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS? Gary Bradski (Willow Garage) Perception tools and systems for autonomous robots Stefano Fusi (Columbia University) Constructing efficient neural representations for both biological and neuromorphic artificial systems Jeff Krichmar (University of California, Irvine) Neuromorphic and brain-based robots Greg Snider (Hewlett Packard Labs) Robot brains from dynamic fields Max Versace (Boston University) Intelligent robots or bust REGISTRATION FORM Sixteenth International Conference on Cognitive and Neural Systems May 30 ? June 1, 2012 Boston University 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: ( ) $135 Conference (Regular) ( ) $85 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/20120413/06743c19/attachment-0001.html From romain.brette at ens.fr Fri Apr 13 11:05:32 2012 From: romain.brette at ens.fr (Romain Brette) Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:05:32 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in Paris Message-ID: <4F8840BC.7030603@ens.fr> Postdoctoral position in Paris A postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience is available in Ecole Normale Sup?rieure, Paris from October 2012, to work with Romain Brette (http://audition.ens.fr/brette/) in the Audition lab (http://lpp.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/hearing.php). The position is funded by the European Research Council (Starting Grant). The starting date can be discussed. The position is open for several projects: 1) Bayesian approach to binaural sound localization. The first part of the project is to understand the distribution of binaural cues for a given source location, considering a number of sources of variability (e.g. noise, acoustical environment, competing sources). The second part is to investigate how much of the behavioral results in the literature may be explained in terms of Bayesian inference, considering the natural distribution of binaural cues. The third part is to test the hypothesis with specific psychophysical experiments. 2) Learning structural codes. We are developing models of sensory processing, based on the idea that the sensory system extracts invariant structures in the sensory signals. Examples of this idea are the periodicity structure in pitch-evoking sounds and the binaural structure in spatial hearing. Our hypothesis is that the neural correlate of structure is a specific synchrony pattern in a population of neurons, which can be decoded by coincidence detection. This project consists in investigating spike-based learning rules to perform this type of structural computation. 3) Structural computation in hearing We have applied these ideas to pitch perception and ITD processing (sound source localization based on interaural time differences). We would like to investigate other potential applications in the auditory system, in particular: ILD processing (sound source localization based on interaural level differences), spectral cues in sound localization, recognition of auditory textures, envelope processing, perception of intonation (pitch changes). Non-auditory projects will also be considered. The project will consist in investigating the relevant structure in the sensory signals, designing spiking models, and ideally formulating experiments to test the theory. Psychophysical experiments can be performed in the lab. Physiological experiments in the auditory brainstem can be performed through a collaboration. The lab is a friendly mixture of modelers and experimental psychologists. It is ideally located in central Paris, in the Quartier Latin, in close proximity with theoretical neuroscientists, psychologists and neurophysiologists. The position is funded for two years with possible extension. Salary is commensurate with experience and the position carries a full social security and health coverage. Candidates should send their applications (including a brief letter of interest, a CV and the names and contact details of two or three references) to romain.brette at ens.fr. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further details on the specific projects. Romain Brette Associate Professor DEC-ENS 29 rue d'Ulm 75005 Paris http://audition.ens.fr/brette/ romain.brette at ens.fr From b.telenczuk at biologie.hu-berlin.de Mon Apr 16 10:43:45 2012 From: b.telenczuk at biologie.hu-berlin.de (Bartosz Telenczuk) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:43:45 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: ANN: SpikeSort 0.12 Message-ID: <3550033E-D8A5-45BA-991A-BE25D3CA72EC@biologie.hu-berlin.de> We are pleased to announce the first official release of the SpikeSort, a new spike sorting library based on dynamic and interactive language (Python). SpikeSort 0.12 is available for download at http://spikesort.org SpikeSort aims to be both flexible and user-friendly. It achieves that by defining a set of components that can be mix-and-matched to fit specific needs. These components are based on standard scientific libraries, so they can be easily re-used in custom applications. Main features: * user-friendly and customisable, * interactive command-line interface in Python, * visualization widgets, * k-means and gaussian-mixture-models (GMM) clustering algorithms and manual cluster cutting, * support for multi-channel data (for example, from tetrodes), * support for binary datasets and HDF5 files (support for other formats planned in future version). SpikeSort includes >60 tests making it one of the best-tested spike sorting software on the market. The distribution also contains full documentation, sample scripts and sample data, so that you can start playing with it almost immediately. SpikeSort is offered free of charge under a liberal Open Source license (two-clause BSD license) allowing for non-commercial and commercial use. The project was partially supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeischaft (SFB 618 ``Theoretische Biologie'', project B4). The sample data is available by courtesy of Stuart Baker and Wellcome Trust who provided funding for data collection. Yours, Bartosz Telenczuk Dmytro Bielievtsov From cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de Thu Apr 19 02:40:24 2012 From: cardoso at bcos.uni-freiburg.de (Simone Cardoso de Oliveira) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:40:24 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Reminder: Call for applications: Brains for Brains Young Researchers' Computational Neuroscience Award 2012 Message-ID: <4F8FB358.7090207@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> Dear colleagues, this is a reminder that we are still accepting applications for the third "Brains for Brains Young Researchers' Computational Neuroscience Award". The call is open for researchers of any nationality who have contributed to a peer reviewed publication (as coauthor) or peer reviewed conference abstract (as first author) that resulted from research performed before the initiation of doctoral studies, is written in English and was accepted or published in 2011 or 2012. The award comprises 500 ? prize money, plus a travel grant of up to 2.000 ? to cover a trip to Germany, including participation in the Bernstein Conference 2012 in Munich (www.bccn2012.de), and an individually planned visit to up to two German research institutions in Computational Neuroscience. Deadline for application is April 30, 2012. Detailed information about the application procedure can be found under: www.nncn.de/verein-en/brains4brains2012 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 Twitter: NNCN_Germany YouTube: Bernstein TV Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120419/3bb84e98/attachment.html From grlmc at urv.cat Thu Apr 19 05:11:14 2012 From: grlmc at urv.cat (GRLMC) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:11:14 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: SSNC 2012: 3rd announcement Message-ID: <475BEE91A25848E68DF6D4A44B696726@Carlos1> *To be removed from our mailing list, please respond to this message with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject* ********************************************************************* 2012 INTERNATIONAL SPRING SCHOOL IN NATURAL COMPUTING SSNC 2012 Tarragona, Spain May 28 ? June 1st, 2012 Organized by: Research Group on Mathematical Linguistics (GRLMC) Rovira i Virgili University http://grammars.grlmc.com/ssnc2012/ ********************************************************************* AIM: SSNC 2012 offers a broad and intensive series of lectures at different levels on selected topics in nature-inspired computing. The students choose their preferred courses according to their interests and background. Instructors are top names in their respective fields. The School intends to help students initiate and foster their research career. ADDRESSED TO: Graduate (and advanced undergraduate) students from around the world. Most appropriate degrees include: Computer Science, Biology, Neuroscience, Physics and Mathematics. Other students (for instance, from Engineering or Logic) are welcome too. The School is appropriate also for people more advanced in their career who want to keep themselves updated on developments in the field. There is no overlap in the class schedule. COURSES AND PROFESSORS: - Eric Bonabeau (Icosystem, Cambridge MA), Self-Organization in Natural and Artificial Systems [introductory, 4 hours] - David W. Corne (Heriot-Watt), Swarm Intelligence Algorithms [introductory, 6 hours] - Hisao Ishibuchi (Osaka Prefecture), Introduction to Fuzzy Rule-Based Classifier Design [introductory, 4 hours] - Xiaodong Li (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), Advances in Particle Swarm Optimization [introductory/advanced, 6 hours] - Martin Middendorf (Leipzig), Social Insects and Organic Computing [introductory, 6 hours] - Stefano Nolfi (CNR, Roma), Evolution and Development of Language in Robots [introductory/intermediate, 6 hours] - Leandro Nunes de Castro (Mackenzie Presbiterian, S?o Paulo), Introduction to Evolutionary Data Clustering [introductory/intermediate, 10 hours] - Tatsuya Suda (University Netgroup Inc., Irvine), Molecular Communication and the Bio-networking Architecture [introductory/intermediate, 6 hours] - L. Darrell Whitley (Colorado State), Evolutionary Algorithms and Elementary Landscapes [introductory/intermediate, 6 hours] - Xin Yao (Birmingham), Evolutionary Optimization and Co-evolutionary Learning [intermediate/advanced, 6 hours] REGISTRATION: It has to be done on line at http://grammars.grlmc.com/ssnc2012/Registration.php FEES: They are variable, depending on the number of courses each student takes. The rule is: 1 hour = - 10 euros (for payments until March 18, 2012), - 15 euros (for payments after March 18, 2012). PAYMENT PROCEDURE: The fees must be paid to the School's bank account: Uno-e Bank bank?s address: Julian Camarillo 4 C, 28037 Madrid, Spain IBAN: ES3902270001820201823142 SWIFT/BIC code: UNOEESM1 account holder: Carlos Martin-Vide GRLMC account holder?s address: Av. Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain Please mention SSNC 2012 and your name in the subject. A receipt will be provided on site. Remarks: - Bank transfers should not involve any expense for the School. - People claiming early registration will be requested to prove that the bank transfer order was carried out by the deadline. - Students may be refunded only in the case when a course gets cancelled due to the unavailability of the instructor. People registering on site at the beginning of the School must pay in cash. For the sake of local organization, however, it is much recommended to do it earlier. ACCOMMODATION: Information about accommodation is available on the website of the School. CERTIFICATE: Students will be delivered a certificate stating the courses attended, their contents, and their duration. IMPORTANT DATES: Announcement of the programme: February 12, 2012 Starting of the registration: February 12, 2012 Early registration deadline: March 18, 2012 Starting of the School: May 28, 2012 End of the School: June 1st, 2012 QUESTIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION: Lilica Voicu: florentinalilica.voicu at urv.cat WEBSITE: http://grammars.grlmc.com/ssnc2012/ POSTAL ADDRESS: SSNC 2012 Research Group on Mathematical Linguistics (GRLMC) Rovira i Virgili University Av. Catalunya, 35 43002 Tarragona, Spain Phone: +34-977-559543 Fax: +34-977-558386 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Diputaci? de Tarragona Universitat Rovira i Virgili -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120419/e56036b2/attachment-0001.html From gtkacik at gmail.com Sun Apr 15 08:18:43 2012 From: gtkacik at gmail.com (Gasper Tkacik) Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:18:43 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Register now for "Sensory Coding & Natural Environment 2012" (Austria, Sept. 2012) Message-ID: SECOND CALL: Register now for the "Sensory Coding & Natural Environment 2012" (Austria, Sept. 2012) Time: Sunday, Sept. 9 (afternoon) -- Wednesday, Sept. 12 (departure morning next day) Place: Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg near Vienna. Application deadline: May 1, 2012 Information: http://ist.ac.at/scne2012/ Invited speakers: Dora ANGELAKI, William BIALEK, Michael BLACK, Axel BORST, David BRAINARD, Iain COUZIN, David KLEINFELD, Gilles LAURENT, Michael LEWICKI, Daniel LEE, Daniel MARGOLIASH, Bruno OLSHAUSEN, Nachum ULANOVSKY, and Jonathan VICTOR. Sensory Coding & Natural Environment is a continuation of a successful Gordon Research conference series of the same name, focused on the fields of perception, neural coding, natural scene statistics, and interaction with natural environments. This meeting has traditionally drawn together scientists at the interface of neuroscience, physics, engineering, psychology and machine learning. In addition to the interdisciplinary emphasis and the focus on searching for principles that extend across a range of sensory modalities and organisms, one of the strong points of the meeting has been to allow ample time for informal discussions. Participants are invited to present their research in poster sessions and contributed talks. See http://ist.ac.at/scne2012/ for details. *** Due to a limited number of possible participants, priority will be given to early applications. *** Note: ?Neural Coding 2012? (http://nc2012.biomed.cas.cz/) is to be held in Prague just PRIOR to this meeting, while the annual ?Bernstein Conference 2012? (http://www.bccn2012.de/) is to be held in Munich just AFTER the meeting, allowing the participants to plan a combined visit. Please circulate this email to students, postdocs and colleagues who might be interested. Gasper TKACIK, IST Austria Matthias BETHGE, CIN & MPI Tuebingen Elad SCHNEIDMAN, Weizmann Institute From iead at rezek.info Wed Apr 18 16:56:46 2012 From: iead at rezek.info (Iead Rezek) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:56:46 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: CFP: ICML '12 Workshop on Statistics, Machine Learning and Neuroscience. Message-ID: ICML '12 Workshop on Statistics, Machine Learning and Neuroscience. Date: July 1, 2012 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland https://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/stamlins Neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), have revolutionised the field of neuroscience by providing non-invasive measurements of the brain activity. From the outset, classical statistical approaches were used for neuroimage analysis, using known models, offering good interpretability and the possibility to examine strength of hypotheses. Recently, however, analysis emphasis has changed towards data-driven (aka machine learning/multi-variate pattern analysis) approaches. By making minimal model assumptions, the learning algorithms are generally tuned for optimal prediction performance, automation and speed. A debate has ensued between the two respective strands of researchers about the relative benefits and downsides of each approach. The critique of data-driven methods, voiced by practitioners of classical statistics, include lack of interpretability/meaningfulness, non-existent power calculation for experimental design, and inability to deal with the "small N-large p" constraint. Conversely, users of data-driven methods point to the inappropriateness of the model choice for biological data, the arbitrariness of significance levels, and the post-hoc corrections for multiple hypothesis tests. The propose of this workshop is to bring together both approaches. The aim is to debate the strengths/weaknesses of classical statistical vs machine learning methods, and establish the parameters that would bring together hypothesis and data-driven approaches. While this workshop is to be driven by the practical needs of neuroscience research, more fundamental research into methods is also envisaged. Simultaneously, we expect that the need for improved methods will spark substantial contributions towards Predictive Medicine, Translational Medicine and Interpretational Models of Disease. For this purpose we have invited well-known experts and researchers in neuroscience methodology and application, notably Will Penny, Tom Nicholson, Zoe Kourtzi, and Eugene Duff. We seek extended abstracts discussing or developing new methods designed to link hypothesis generalisation, experimental design and hypothesis validation. Example topics include - Interpretable neuroimage modelling/model validation, - Experimental design and power analysis (also for machine learning), - Variable selection / dimensionality reduction / sparsity, - Scalability/efficient/parallel (Bayesian) inference, - Model reproducibility and testing of computational theories, - Combined modelling of cellular neurophysiology, genetics, and behaviour, - Model selection in Bayesian and Classical methods, - Issues and experiences in implementing models for massive data-sets, - New models for Independent Component Analysis, - Classifiers and Brain Decoding. Workshop Schedule ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To achieve a 4-way interdisciplinary workshop, four invited speakers have agreed to give talks representing respectively, classical statistical methodologies, machine learning methodologies, applications of classical statistical tools and applications of machine learning tools. The preliminary workshop's schedule is as follows: - Zoe Kourtzi (invited speaker): application of data-driven methods - Eugene Duff (invited speaker): application of hypothesis-driven methods - Discussion - Will Penny (invited speaker): data-driven methodology - Tom Nicholson (invited speaker): hypothesis-driven methodology - Discussion - Lunch - Spotlight presentations - Poster session - Discussion & roundup Submission Details ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We seek submission of extended abstracts at most 4 pages long and following the ICML paper format. All accepted submissions will be presented in form of poster presentations. Important Dates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Extended abstract submission deadline: 13th May, 2012. Acceptance notification: 21th May, 2012. Workshop date: July 1, 2012. Workshop Organisation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Workshop Organisers: Iead Rezek, University of Oxford, UK Evangelos Roussos, University of Oxford, UK Christian Beckmann, MIRA Institute at the University of Twente, Netherlands. Program Committee Will Penny, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, UK Tom Nichols, University of Warwick Zoe Kourtzi, University of Birmingham Eugene Duff, University of Oxford Contact: ~~~~~~~ iead at rezek.info, eroussos7 at yahoo.co.uk From david.c.sterratt at ed.ac.uk Fri Apr 20 02:46:06 2012 From: david.c.sterratt at ed.ac.uk (David C Sterratt) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:46:06 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Edinburgh INCF Summer School in Neuroinformatics Message-ID: <201204200646.q3K6k6ET006958@bonnington.inf.ed.ac.uk> ________________________________________________________________________ Edinburgh INCF Summer School in Neuroinformatics - "Towards an integrative computational neuroscience: Modelling across scales of analysis" 26th August to 2nd September 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland Supported by the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF), the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) and the University of Edinburgh Doctoral Training Programme in Informatics. WEBSITE: www.anc.ed.ac.uk/school COURSE ORGANISERS: David Sterratt, Matt Nolan and Michael Herrmann APPLICATION DEADLINE: 4th May 2012. ________________________________________________________________________ This summer school will introduce analysis techniques and modelling tools to address neuroscientific questions spanning multiple levels of investigation, from genomics and proteomics to whole-brain imaging, psychophysics and behaviour. Each day will have a theme that connects data acquired at multiple levels, such as genetic, proteomic, electrophysiological, multi-electrode neural, imaging, and behavioural. Morning sessions are given by invited lecturers and aim to give insight and inspiration into how modelling can bridge gaps between various levels of neuroscientific investigation. They will be followed in the afternoon by practical sessions focussing on hands-on use of software tools related to the morning sessions. Keynote presentations in the evening will highlight recent high profile studies. SPEAKERS WILL INCLUDE: * Douglas Armstrong (Edinburgh) * Jim Bednar (Edinburgh) * Upi Bhalla (Bangalore) * Angela Bongaarts (Allen Brain Atlas) * Robert Cannon (Textensor Ltd) * Padraig Gleeson (UCL) * Sacha Nelson (Brandeis) * Matt Nolan (Edinburgh) * Astrid Prinz (Emory) * Arnd Roth (UCL) * Peggy Series(Edinburgh) WHO SHOULD GO? The course will be suitable for neuroscience researchers wishing to develop interests in systems biology approaches and informatics researchers with a strong interest in neuroscience. A prerequisite for attending the course is a basic knowledge of neuroscience. REGISTRATION FEE AND ACCOMMODATION * There will be a course registration fee of ?50. * This will cover accommodation, course materials, refreshments during the day and attendance at the workshop dinner. * Places on the Summer school are limited to 20. * The course organisers will select from the applicants taking into account submitted CV and supporting letter, and will aim to ensure a balance experimentalists and theoreticians, PhD students, postdocs and faculty without restriction on nationality. BURSARIES The course will provide bursaries to contribute towards travel costs for PhD students. For more details and to apply, please go to http://www.anc.ed.ac.uk/school Please contact the course administrator Ewa Hill if you have any questions about this event. LINKS TO COURSE SPONSERS: INCF: http://www.incf.org SICSA: http://www.sicsa.ac.uk/ Edinburgh Neuroinformatics DTC: http://www.anc.ed.ac.uk/dtc/ ________________________________________________________________________ -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. From trentin at dii.unisi.it Fri Apr 20 16:33:54 2012 From: trentin at dii.unisi.it (Edmondo Trentin) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:33:54 +0200 (CEST) Subject: Connectionists: ANNPR2012 (Trento, Italy): last CFP + deadline extension Message-ID: ANNPR 2012 Fifth INNS IAPR TC3 GIRPR International Workshop on Artificial Neural Networks in Pattern Recognition September 17 - 19, 2012 Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy *** Last Call for Papers: Update and Deadline Extension *** We are pleased to remind you that the 5th INNS IAPR TC3 GIRPR International Workshop on Artificial Neural Networks in Pattern Recognition will be held at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento, Italy. ANNPR 2012 follows the success of ANNPR 2003 (Florence), ANNPR 2006 (Ulm), ANNPR 2008 (Paris), and ANNPR 2010 (Cairo). This 5th ANNPR workshop will act as a major forum for international researchers and practitioners working in all areas of neural network- and machine learning-based pattern recognition to present and discuss the latest research, results, and ideas in these areas. This year the workshop received the endorsement from the International Neural Network Society (INNS), from the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), from the Technical Committees 3 (TC3) of IAPR ("Neural Networks & Computational Intelligence"), and from GIRPR (Gruppo Italiano Ricercatori in Pattern Recognition). Confirmed IAPR Invited Speakers to date are (in alphabetical order; talk titles are preliminary): - Marco Gori (Siena, Italy): "Developmental Vision Agents" - Nikola (Nik) Kasabov (Auckland, New Zealand): "Evolving spiking neural networks for spatio -and spectro- temporal pattern recognition" - Guenther Palm (Ulm, Germany): title to be announced Papers are solicited dealing with neural networks, machine learning and pattern recognition which emphasize methodological issues possibly arising in applications. Topics: Methodological Issues - Supervised learning - Unsupervised learning - Combination of supervised and unsupervised learning - Feedforward, recurrent, and competitive neural nets - Kernel machines - Hierarchical modular architectures and hybrid systems - Combination of neural networks and Hidden Markov models - Multiple classifier systems and ensemble methods - Probabilistic graphical models - Kernel methods - Deep architectures Applications in Pattern Recognition - Image processing and segmentation - Sensor-fusion and multi-modal processing - Feature extraction, dimension reduction - Clustering and vector quantization - Speech and speaker recognition - Data, text, and web mining - Bioinformatics/Cheminformatics Paper Submission: Potential participants should submit a paper describing their work in one of the areas described above. Proceedings will be published as a volume in the Springer LNAI, maximum paper length is 12 pages in LNCS/LNAI format. Instructions for authors, LaTeX templates, etc. are available at the Springer LNCS/LNAI web-site. On-line submission via EasyChair is now available on the web-site of the workshop (http://annpr2012.fbk.eu). Important Dates: May 15, 2012 - EXTENDED deadline for electronic paper submission June 3, 2012 - Notification of paper acceptance June 17, 2012 - Deadline for final, camera-ready submission June 17, 2012 - Deadline for Early Registration Contacts and Further Info: annpr2012 at fbk.eu http://annpr2012.fbk.eu/ General Chairs: Nadia Mana Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy Friedhelm Schwenker University of Ulm, Institute of Neural Information Processing, Germany Edmondo Trentin Universita' di Siena, Dip. di Ingegneria dell' Informazione, Italy Local Organization Chairs: Oswald Lanz Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy Stefano Messelodi Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy Program Committee: Shigeo Abe, Japan Amir Atiya, Egypt Erwin Bakker, The Netherlands Yoshua Bengio, Canada Ludovic Denoyer, France Neamat El Gayar, Canada Antonino Freno, France Markus Hagenbuchner, Australia Barbara Hammer, Germany Tom Heskes, The Netherlands Lakhmi Jain, Australia Nik Kasabov, New Zealand Hans A. Kestler, Germany Oswald Lanz, Italy Marco Loog, The Netherlands Simone Marinai, Italy Stefano Messelodi, Italy Heiko Neumann, Germany Erkki Oja, Finland Guenther Palm, Germany Lionel Prevost, France Raul Rojas, Germany Stefan Scherer, USA Alessandro Sperduti, Italy Ah-Chung Tsoi, Macau Ian Witten, New Zealand -------------------------------------------------------------------- Edmondo Trentin, PhD Dip. Ingegneria dell'Informazione, V. Roma 56 - 53100 Siena (Italy) E-mail: trentin at dii.unisi.it Voice: +39-0577-234636 Fax: +39-0577-233602 WWW: http://www.dii.unisi.it/~trentin From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Mon Apr 23 01:08:01 2012 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:08:01 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: NEURON 2012 summer course openings Message-ID: <4F94E3B1.6090509@yale.edu> The May 18 registration deadline for the NEURON 2012 summer course is now less than one month away, so you'll have to act soon if you want grab one of the few seats that remain open. To learn more about the course and access the on-line registration form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nscsd2012/nscsd2012.html --Ted From mail at mkaiser.de Mon Apr 23 07:49:35 2012 From: mail at mkaiser.de (Marcus Kaiser) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:49:35 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: New Neuroinformatics master program at Newcastle University Message-ID: Dear all, A newly-established one-year master degree program in Neuroinformatics will start in September this year at Newcastle University, UK. The course focuses on handling brain connectivity datasets, analyzing electrophysiological recordings, and simulating neural activity and development. Close interactions with experimental and clinical researchers are a key component of the course and the dissertation research project. Ongoing research areas in Newcastle include neuroimaging, psychophysics, systems neuroscience (visual, auditory, and motor system), aging, neurorehabilitation, brain rhythms, brain-machine interfaces, neurochips, and connectomics (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ion ). Newcastle University hosts around 100 principal investigators in the neurosciences. You can find out more about the program and how to apply at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/study/postgrad/taught/neuroinformatics/ COURSE OUTLINE The MSc in Neuroinformatics is a full-time, one-year advanced masters course designed for students who have a good degree in the biological sciences or the physical sciences (computer science, mathematics, physics, engineering). It provides the specialist skills in core Neuroinformatics courses (such as computing and biology) with a significant focus on the development of research skills. The program aims to equip its graduates with the necessary skills to contribute to biologically realistic simulations of neural activity and development that are rapidly becoming the key focus of Neuroinformatics research. Prior experience with computers or computer programming is not required. The program is ideal for students aiming for careers in industry or academia. The course is based in the School of Computing Science and taught jointly by the Schools of Computing Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Biology, Cell and Molecular Biosciences and The Institute of Human Genetics. In addition, there are strong links with the Institute of Neuroscience and graduates of this master program might either apply for PhD studies at the School of Computing Science or for the Wellcome Trust 4-year PhD program in Systems Neuroscience (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ion/postgrad/research/wellcome/). WHY STUDY AT NEWCASTLE? The MSc in Neuroinformatics is a truly interdisciplinary degree and provides the dual skills necessary to establish a rewarding career in this research area. The Newcastle program has a research focus on data management, network analysis (e.g. Kaiser, Neuroimage, 2011), and simulation, whilst delivering sound training and an introduction to research in computation and statistics, including exciting new areas such as e-science and cloud computing. Newcastle is among the pioneers of the field in the UK and hosted the ?4m EPSRC-funded CARMEN project for managing and processing electrophysiology data. Newcastle has strong links with the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF). Currently, members of the faculty lead the data-sharing special interest group and the UK special interest groups in image-based Neuroinformatics and brain connectivity as well as in neurally-inspired engineering. COURSE CONTENT Semester 1 contains modules to build the basic grounding in, and understanding of, Neuroinformatics theory and applications, together with necessary computational and numeric understanding to undertake more specialist modules next semester. Training in mathematics and statistics is also provided. Semester 2 introduces modules that focus heavily on introducing subject-specific research skills and includes three option slots for choosing modules. A major part of the Newcastle MSc in Neuroinformatics is a research project that will occupy approximately six months. This project may be associated with staff in any of the Schools mentioned above, thus providing a wide range of exciting areas in which the newly learnt Neuroinformatics skills can be deployed. HOW TO APPLY Applications for this program will be accepted soon. You can apply online, preferably before the end of June, using the electronic application system with the degree identifier 5199F. Please check http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/study/postgrad/taught/neuroinformatics/ for more information. Best, Marcus -- For Spring Semester, 2012: Professor, Computational Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Seoul National University Seoul 151-742 Korea Associate Professor for Neuroinformatics School of Computing Science Newcastle University Claremont Tower Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK http://www.biological-networks.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120423/58d35a79/attachment.html From fjaekel at uos.de Fri Apr 20 04:25:15 2012 From: fjaekel at uos.de (Frank =?ISO-8859-1?Q?J=E4kel?=) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:25:15 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: OCCAM 2012 Workshop (Last Reminder) Message-ID: <1334910315.23236.4.camel@birke.ikw.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE> Workshop announcement (last reminder, deadline is April 23rd): (Apologies for duplicate postings) Dear Colleague, we would like to invite you to register for the 2nd +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Osnabrueck Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting (OCCAM 2012) on "The Brain as an Information Processing System" June 4-6 2012. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The workshop will take place in Osnabrueck, Germany, and will be hosted by the Institute of Cognitive Science (University of Osnabrueck). Details can be found below and on the following webpage: http://www.occam-os.de Registration is open until April 23rd, 2012. The registration fee is 100,- Euros. This fee covers the workshop attendance incl. coffee, buffet on the first day, and the conference dinner. The goal of the OCCAM workshop series is to foster our understanding of mechanisms and principles of information processing in self-organized hierarchical and recurrent systems. Our knowledge of such systems is still very limited despite being a focus of research for many years. The OCCAM workshop series aims at understanding the principles of information processing with a particular focus on 3 major topics: 1. Neural coding and representation in hierarchical systems 2. Self-organisation in dynamic systems 3. Mechanisms for probabilistic inference The OCCAM 2012 theme is: "The Brain as an Information Processing System" List of invited speakers: Matthias Bethge, Tuebingen* Andreas Engel, Hamburg* Marc Ernst, Bielefeld* Rainer Goebel, Maastricht* Judith Hirsch, Los Angeles* Siegrid Loewel, Goettingen* Klaus Obermayer, Berlin* Gordon Pipa, Osnabrueck* Stefano Panzeri, Genova* Natasha Sigala, Brighton* Gasper Tkacik, Klosterneuburg Catherine Tallon-Baudry, Paris* Julia Trommershaeuser, New York* Eilon Vaadia, Jerusalem* Felix Wichmann, Tuebingen* (* confirmed) There will also be a poster session where conference participants will have the opportunity to present their work. Best regards, Frank Jaekel, Peter K?nig, Gordon Pipa (Organizing committee) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: smime.p7s Type: application/x-pkcs7-signature Size: 6204 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120420/92c688bd/smime.bin From jonathan at sit.kmutt.ac.th Mon Apr 23 10:08:25 2012 From: jonathan at sit.kmutt.ac.th (jonathan@sit.kmutt.ac.th) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:08:25 +0700 (ICT) Subject: Connectionists: CFP - 2012 International Neural Network Society Winter Conference (INNS-WC2012) In-Reply-To: <51819.10.4.31.18.1335189969.squirrel@webmail.sit.kmutt.ac.th> References: <51819.10.4.31.18.1335189969.squirrel@webmail.sit.kmutt.ac.th> Message-ID: <51827.10.4.31.18.1335190105.squirrel@webmail.sit.kmutt.ac.th> ************************************ ********** Call for Papers ********** ************************************ INNS-WC2012 ? INNS Winter Conference 2012 ----------------------------------------- INNS Symposium on Nature Inspired Creativity (SoNIC2012) INNS Symposium on Vision and Image Processing (SoVIP2012) INNS Symposium on Data Analytics and Competitions (SoDAC2012) Bangkok, Thailand, October 3-5, 2012 http://inns.sit.kmutt.ac.th/wc2012/ Important Dates =============== Paper submission deadline: May 15, 2012 Notification of acceptance: June 15, 2012 Camera-ready paper: July 15, 2012 The board of governors of INNS decided in 2006 to establish a series of symposia or winter conferences devoted to new developments in neural networks. The first of the INNS Symposia Series was held in Auckland, New Zealand back on November 24-25, 2008 ? http://www.aut.ac.nz/nnn08/. The theme was ?Modeling the brain and the nervous system? and comprised of two symposia: 1) Development and Learning; and 2) Computational Neurogenetic Modelling. The second in the series was the INNS International Education Symposium on Neural Networks (INNS-IESNN) held in Lima, Peru on January 25-27, 2011 ? http://eventos.spc.org.pe/inns-iesnn/index.html. The third Symposia Series will cover a much broader context of ?Natural and Machine Intelligence?. Paper Submission The INNS-WC2012 online submission system is open at EasyChair here (http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=innswc2012). Please submit to one of the following tracks: * INNS-WC general track: Trends in Natural and Machine Intelligence * INNS Symposium on Nature Inspired Creativity (SoNIC2012) * INNS Symposium on Vision and Image Processing (SoVIP2012) * INNS Symposium on Data Analytics and Competitions (SoDAC2012) Prospective authors are invited to submit original, high quality manuscripts of up to twelve (12) pages electronically. Short papers of 4-6 pages will also be considered. The submission must conform to the Elsevier Procedia Computer Science format. All accepted papers will be published in the proceedings of INNS-WC2012 as an Elsevier Procedia Computer Science open access volume (indexed by EI, Scopus and Conference Proceedings Citation Index - formerly ISI Proceedings). Extended version of selected papers may be invited for publication in special issues of international journals after the conference. All submissions will be checked by VeriGuide for originality. --------------------------------------------------------- The range of topics for the general conference track on "Trends in Natural and Machine Intelligence" includes but is not limited to * Autonomous machine learning * Neural network theory & models * Computational neuroscience * Cognitive models * Brain-machine interfaces * Embodied robotics * Evolutionary neural systems * Neurodynamics * Neuroinformatics * Neuroengineering * Neural hardware * Neural network applications * Pattern recognition * Machine vision * Collective intelligence * Hybrid systems * Self-aware systems * Data mining * Sensor networks * Agent-based systems * Computational biology * Bioinformatics * Artificial life --------------------------------------------------------- The range of topics for the INNS Symposium on Nature Inspired Creativity (SoNIC2012) includes but is not limited to * Application of Nature Inspired Computing in Creative Industries: - Creative computing for digital media - Computer aided design - Computer generated special effects for film - Cartoon animation - Games - Music - Edutainment, etc. * Art and Cognition: - Art and the Brain - Creative process - Emotion and meaning in paintings, music, sculptures, poetry, etc. * Generative Art: - Systems that create drawings, images, animations, sculptures, poetry, text, graphic designs, musical pieces, sound-fonts, sound effects, film music, etc. * Aesthetic evaluation: - Aesthetic analysis of film, image, music, sound, sculpture, etc. --------------------------------------------------------- The range of topics for the INNS Symposium on Vision and Image Processing (SoVIP2012) includes but is not limited to * Low-level image processing * Feature extraction and image description * Image classification and clustering * 3D sensing and depth measuring systems * 3D object modeling and reconstruction * Tracking and surveillance * Motion estimation * Human gesture recognition * Human motion analysis * Human face detection and tracking * Human-robot interactions * Robot intelligence * Humanoid and mobile robotics * Video indexing and retrieval * Intelligent compression of massive imaging data * Bio-medical imaging applications * Bio-robotics * Biometrics --------------------------------------------------------- The range of topics for the INNS Symposium on Data Analytics and Competitions (SoDAC2012) includes but is not limited to * Business intelligence * Air quality and environmental issues * Chemo-informatics * Social networks and analytics * Geo-informatics * Neuro-informatics * Internet and web analytics * Data visualization techniques * Data quality analysis * Decision support and analytics * Knowledge management and discovery * Advanced database analytics * Content and information retrieval * Modeling and simulation of complex systems * Optimization techniques * Bio-data analysis * Complex scheduling problems * Scalability of data analysis * Data competitions --------------------------------------------------------- From alb.mazzoni at gmail.com Mon Apr 23 12:04:07 2012 From: alb.mazzoni at gmail.com (Alberto Mazzoni) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:04:07 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Post-doctoral research position in neural coding at Italian Institute of Technology Message-ID: Post-doctoral research position within the Si-Code EU-funded project available at Italian Institute of Technology -Centre for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems in Trento (Italy) Applications are sought for a post-doctoral researcher to work in computational neuroscience within the European FP7 FET Open project with acronym ?Si-Code? and full title ?Towards new Brain-Machine Interfaces: state-dependent information coding?. The position is available from the summer 2012 for a period of two years (renewable). The Si-Code project, coordinate by Prof. Stefano Panzeri, stems from the observation that cortical responses to external correlates do not depend only on these correlates, but also on state variables characterizing the state of ongoing intrinsic activity. The project aims at understanding how cortical state variables influence cortical processing of sensory and motor information, and how understanding of state-dependent neural information may improve bidirectional Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs). The project as a whole gathers a large interdisciplinary team comprising computational and experimental neuroscientists and neuroengineers in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The postdoctoral candidate will be working in the Centre for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems in Trento (Italy), under the supervision of Prof. S. Panzeri. Building on previous work of the laboratory (see Panzeri et al, Trends Neurosci 2010 and QuianQuiroga and Panzeri, Nature Reviews Neurosci 2009 for reviews), the postdoctoral scientist will design, implement and apply information theoretic algorithms that quantify how neural response variables expressing both neural responses to stimuli and the state of ongoing activity at the time of stimulus presentation combine to transmit and process information. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in numerate sciences (physics, mathematics, engineering or informatics), and a keen interest in applying her/his numerate background to making breakthroughs in the understanding of the brain. The postdoctoral researcher will be based for most of his/her time at the IIT, supervised by internationally recognized experts and will have access to state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories. Proficiency in English is required. Salary depends on qualification and experience and the gross salary range tipically spans from 35k to 40k Euros per year. Interested applicants should contact Stefano Panzeri (stefano.panzeri at iit.it) for any informal queries. For a formal application, the candidate will submit CV, list of publications, a statement of research interests, and two reference letters by e-mail both to stefano.panzeri at iit.it and Sara Maistrelli (Cncs_selezioni at iit.it). The web page of the lab can be found at: http://cncs.iit.it/research-labs/neural-computation.html The deadline for the application is May 1st, 2012 The Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (http://www.iit.it) is a private law Foundation, created with special Government Law no. 269 of September 30th 2003, with the objective of promoting Italy's technological development and higher education in science and technology. Research at IIT is carried out in highly innovative scientific fields with state-of-the-art technology. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120423/c134adf1/attachment.html From summerschool at ssa.org.ua Mon Apr 23 14:24:02 2012 From: summerschool at ssa.org.ua (Summer School) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:24:02 +0300 Subject: Connectionists: =?windows-1252?q?Neuroscience_and_Computational_N?= =?windows-1252?q?euroscience_stream_at_VII_AACIMP-2012_Summer_Scho?= =?windows-1252?q?ol=2C_August_3_=96_16=2C_Kyiv=2C_Ukraine?= Message-ID: Dear colleagues, Be so kind to post our announcement of the Neuroscience stream of our Summer School in your mailing. Please, find the announcement below and in the attached files. We are sorry for possible cross-posting. Thank you very much! Best regards, Jane Kuhuk, the Organizing Committee of the Neuroscience stream of the Summer School AACIMP-2012. P.S. The announcement: * Stream Neuroscience VII Summer School ?Achievements and Applications of Contemporary Informatics, Mathematics and Physics? (AACIMP-2012) The stream ?Neuroscience? introduces students, PhD students and young scientists to Neuroscience field in general and Computational Neuroscience one in particular from synaptic transmission up to neuro- & brain- computer interface, including single neuron level, small neural circuits, network and neural populations as well as an overview of different structures and various functions of the brain. Lectures and workshops will be presented by prominent scientists from all over the world: - Dr. Pavel Belan (Bogomolets Institute of Physiology of the NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine). - Dr. Evgenia Belova (A.B. Kogan Research Institute for Neurocybernetics, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia). - Dr. Anton Chizhov (Ioffe Physical Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia). - Prof. Gennady S. Cymbalyuk (Dynamical Neuroscience Laboratory, Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA). - Prof. Witali Dunin-Barkowski (Department of Neuroinfomatics, Scientific Research Institute for System Analysis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia). - Prof. P?ter ?rdi (Center for Complex Systems Studies, Department of Physics, Department of Psychology,Kalamazoo Colleg e, USA; Budapest Complex Systems and Computational Neuroscience Group, Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary; BCSC: Budapest Semester in Cognitive Science). - Dr. Nikolai Kononenko (Department of General Physiology of Nervous System, Institute of Physiology, Kyiv, Ukraine). - Prof. John Rinzel (Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, USA; Tsinghua University, Beijing, China). - Dr. Ruben Tikidji-Hamburyan (A.B.Kogan Research Institute for Neurocybernetics, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia; Louisiana State University, Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA). - Dr. Nana Voitenko (Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Physics and Technology Center of the NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine). The stream is positioned as an ?introduction to?, thus it is the best opportunity for young scientists to learn about Neuroscience and Computational Neuroscience, take overview of recent history of these fields from the ?first hands? as well as to be introduced to the new trends such as Computational Neuropharmacology, Computational Psychiatry and Computational Social Science. The stream is oriented to ordinary audience with the background in natural sciences. The stream is a part of VII Summer School ?AACIMP-2012? that will take place at the National Technical University of Ukraine ?Kyiv Polytechnic Institute? (Kyiv, Ukraine), August 3 ? 16, 2012. It will include lectures, seminars and workshops. In order to apply for participation in the stream, applicant will need to complete and submit the Summer School online application form - http://summerschool.ssa.org.ua/. Programme committee will make a decision on applicant?s admission within a month from a date of submitting an application form. Early registration deadline is May 1, 2012; late registration deadline is June 1, 2012. Detailed information and application form are available on the AACIMP-2012 website at http://summerschool.ssa.org.ua Organizing Committee: Student Science Association 37, Peremohy avenue, building 1, room 299(15) 03056, Ukraine, Kyiv, Telephone/Fax: +38 044 454 9243 Web: http://ssa.org.ua E-mail: summerschool at ssa.org.ua* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120423/b10a8cac/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: compneuro.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 73691 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120423/b10a8cac/compneuro-0001.pdf From robbie at bcs.rochester.edu Mon Apr 23 13:53:51 2012 From: robbie at bcs.rochester.edu (Robert Jacobs) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:53:51 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Conference registration deadline: Computational Foundations of Perception and Action Message-ID: <4F95972F.2030605@bcs.rochester.edu> *REMINDER*: Upcoming conference registration deadline: Friday, May 4 Center for Visual Science's 28th Symposium: *Computational Foundations of Perception and Action* June 1-3, 2012 University of Rochester Rochester, New York Conference Website: _Http://www.cvs.rochester.edu/symposium.html _*Overview *************** The 28th Symposium of the Center for Visual Science will bring computational, neurophysiological and psychophysical researchers together who study the computational foundations of problems in sensory and perceptual processing ranging from low-level sensory coding to higher-level aspects of perception and action such as cue integration, decision-making and sensorimotor control. Much of the research discussed at the meeting focuses on the visual system; however, included in the symposium will be speakers who study other sensory and motor systems, and multisensory processing involving vision and other modalities. The goal is to provide a forum for investigating the common foundational computational principles that underlay the many seemingly different functions of sensory systems (as well as how they differ) and to discuss how to link computational theories to underlying mechanisms to gain a deeper understanding of perceptual behavior. With this in mind, we have invited speakers who bring together computational and experimental approaches - whether that be by developing computational theories of human / animal performance, by conceptualizing and designing experimental studies to test computational theories or both. *Confirmed Speakers ************************** *Sensory coding *Sheila Nirenberg (Cornell University) Mate Lengyel (University of Cambridge) Adam Kohn - (Albert Einstein) Adrienne Fairhall (University of Washington) *Integration and prediction in perception *Dora Angelaki (Washington University) Ladan Shams (UCLA) Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories) Paul Schrater (University of Minnesota) *Sensorimotor control *Flip Sabes (UC-San Francisco) Daniel Wolpert (University of Cambridge) Joern Diedrichsen (University College London Mark Churchland (Columbia University) *Decision-making and cognition *Ben Hayden (University of Rochester) Antonio Rangel (Cal. Tech.) Daeyeol Lee (Yale University) Christopher Harvey (Princeton) *Memory and learning *Chris Sims (University of Rochester) Josh Gold (University of Pennsylvania Aaron Seitz (Univ. Cal. Riverside) Jeff Beck (University College London) *Key Dates *oPoster abstract submission: Monday, April 2 oTravel fellowship application deadline: Monday, April 16 oNotification of poster abstract acceptance: Monday, April 9 oNotification of travel fellowship funding: Monday, April 30 oRegistration closes: Friday, May 4 *Registration Fees *Graduate students and postdocs: $100 All others: $200 *Program Committee *David Knill Robert Jacobs Alex Pouget Greg DeAngelis For queries about the meeting, contact Debbie Shannon at 585-275-2459 or Debbie at cvs.rochester.edu -- Robert Jacobs Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences University of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627-0268 email: robbie at bcs.rochester.edu phone: 585-275-0753 web: http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/people/robbie/jacobslab/people.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120423/dbecfe83/attachment.html From bower at uthscsa.edu Tue Apr 24 22:25:05 2012 From: bower at uthscsa.edu (james bower) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:25:05 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Limited registration open for celebration of Hodgkin-Huxley model 60 year anniversary Message-ID: <95C99F25-13D3-47D4-84E9-627BD94E62C5@uthscsa.edu> LIMITED REGISTRATION NOW OPEN In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the publication of the Hodgkin-Huxley model of the action potential. Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, July 12 - 13, 2012 Registration is now open for this congress celebrating the 60th anniversary of the original publication of the Hodgkin and Huxley model of the generation of the action potential by the squid giant axon. The congress will be held at Trinity College, Cambridge the home academic institution for the original research. Day Delegate (both days) GBP 110 *Residential Delegate 2 nights (shared bathroom) GBP 185 *Residential Delegate 2 nights (en-suite bathroom) GBP 200 *Residential Delegate 3 nights (shared bathroom) GBP 225 *Residential Delegate 3 nights (en-suite bathroom) GBP 250 ?Conference Banquet Guest GBP 60 *these registration fees include accommodation and conference meals. ? includes plaque unveiling (1:30PM) Bertil Hille?s Keynote lecture (1:45 pm) and the Conference Banquet (7:30 pm) on July 12th. Due to space limitations registration is limited and on a first come first serve basis. Registration fees increase after May 8, 2012. The meeting will also include an open poster session for any participant who would like to present their work. Make sure you have your title and abstract ready before attempting to register as this information needs to be entered at registration. Travel funds are available for student members of the OCNS making poster presentations on a first come first serve basis. Meeting website for registration and complete agenda: http://www.cnsorg.org/hodgkin-huxley60 A partial list of confirmed speakers include: Wilfrid Rall (NIH retired) Gordon Shepherd (Yale University) Daniel Gardner (NYU University) Biswa Sengupta (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India) Bruce Bean (Harvard University) David Attwell (University College London) Bertil Hille (University of Washington) Indira Raman (Northwestern University) Peter Jones (IST, Austria) Lorin Milescu (University of Missouri) Ilya Fleidervish (Ben- Gurion University) William Kath (Northwestern University) Harold Zakon (University of Texas Austin) James Bower (University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio) Idan Segev (Hebrew University) Micheal Hausser (University College London) Andreas Herz (BCCN, Munich) Fred Wolf (Max Plack Institute ? Gottingen) Fernando Fernandez (University of Utah) Lyle Long (Pennsylvania State University) Hans Braun (University of Marburg, Germany) Yuguo Yu (Yale University and Fudan University Shanghai) Sungho Hong (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) Michele Migilore (CNR, Palermo) Susanne Schreirber (Humboldt University) Cengiz Gunay (Emory University) Chrisitan Finke (University of Oldenburg) Kazuyuki Alhara (University of Tokyo) Michele Giugliano (Unveristy of Antwerp) L..S. Borkowski (Adam Michlewicz University, Poland) Alessandro Torcini (CNR, Flourance) Henry Tuckwell (Max Planck Institute, Leipzig) Principal organizers: James M. Bower (University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio) Idan Segev (Hebrew University) Michael H?usser (University College London) Simon O'Connor (Local Organizer) Supported by OCNS, The Physiological Society, The Gatsby Charitable Foundation. Dr. James M. Bower Ph.D. Professor of Computational Neurobiology Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. 15355 Lambda Drive University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Texas 78245 Department of Biology University of Texas - San Antonio Phone: 210 382 0553 Email: bower at uthscsa.edu Web: http://www.bower-lab.org twitter: superid101 linkedin: Jim Bower CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments to it may be privileged or contain privileged and confidential information. This information is only for the viewing or use of the intended recipient. If you have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of, or the taking of any action in reliance upon, any of the information contained in this e-mail, or any of the attachments to this e-mail, is strictly prohibited and that this e-mail and all of the attachments to this e-mail, if any, must be immediately returned to the sender or destroyed and, in either case, this e-mail and all attachments to this e-mail must be immediately deleted from your computer without making any copies hereof and any and all hard copies made must be destroyed. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by e-mail immediately. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120424/4d6992a6/attachment-0001.html From compsens at medizin.uni-tuebingen.de Thu Apr 26 04:41:04 2012 From: compsens at medizin.uni-tuebingen.de (Compsens) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:41:04 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position on learning and brain plasticity in motor rehabilitation (Tuebingen, Germany) Message-ID: <20120426104104.44831nsna493ts0w@webmail.uni-tuebingen.de> PhD position on learning and brain plasticity in motor rehabilitation A PhD position is available in the Section Computational Sensomotorics (http://www.compsens.uni-tuebingen.de) at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (http://www.hih-tuebingen.de/) and the T?bingen Cluster of Excellence (Centre for Integrative Neuroscience http://www.cin.uni-tuebingen.de/home.php). This PhD training provides exciting opportunities for high-level research training, international travel and exchange between labs of international research leaders in top European Universities and market-leading companies in the area of learning and brain plasticity. The specific project will include experiments on motor learning and rehabilitation in neurological patients. The experiments at the Section Computational Sensomotorics will use novel VR and motion capture technology. The analysis of the behavioural data involves advanced computational methods. In addition, associated neural plasticity phenomena will be studied using state of the art imaging techniques in collaborations with the FMRIB Centre at the University of Oxford (http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/) The European Community Seventh Framework Initial Training Network ?Adaptive Brain Computations? (ABC, PITN- GA- 2011- 290011) is a multi-disciplinary research and training programme which aims to integrate the study of learning and brain plasticity to promote wellbeing and advance healthcare interventions. The network takes a multidisciplinary approach, synthesising methods from brain imaging, behavioural science, physiology, and computational modelling to understand brain plasticity. For more information on ABC, please check: http://cnil.bham.ac.uk/ABC/index.html Eligibility criteria: 1. You should have a background in subjects related to the research including neuroscience, medicine, cognitive psychology, computer science, engineering or physics. 2. You should be in the first 4 years of your research career and should not yet have been awarded a PhD. 3. You must not have lived in Germany for >12 months during the past 3 years. Ideal candidates should have the following qualifications: ? Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering, Psychology, Neurobiology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related fields ? motivation to work with clinical populations ? experience in either in motor control or in functional imaging techniques (fMRI) ? programming skills (Matlab, C/C++, ...) ? English speaking and writing skills. Applications: Please send CV, personal statement of research background and interests and the name of 3 referees. Prof. Dr. Martin Giese Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research & Centre for Integrative Neuroscience Frondsbergstr. 23 72070 Tuebingen, Germany email: martin.giese at uni-tuebingen.de From etienne.roesch at gmail.com Wed Apr 25 09:23:03 2012 From: etienne.roesch at gmail.com (Etienne B. Roesch) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:23:03 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position Univ. Reading, EEG-fMRI of affective states Message-ID: Dear all, A PhD position is available at the Brain Embodiments Lab, School of Systems Engineering, University of Reading, UK, on an EPSRC funded project "Brain-Computer Interface for Monitoring and Inducing Affective States". The project aims to use coupled EEG-fMRI to inform a Brain-Computer Interface application. It is in collaboration with partners at the Univ. of Plymouth, and will include regular progress meetings at both sites. Supervision will be provided by Dr. Slawomir Nasuto, Dr. Etienne Roesch and Dr. Tom Johnstone. We are seeking an outstanding and highly motivated PhD candidate to work within the above framework. Ideally, applicants should hold degrees in relevant subjects, i.e. cog psychology, neuroscience, cybernetics, engineering, physics, mathematics or computer science. The candidate should have good analytic skills, and knowledge of signal processing and statistics, good programming skills (Matlab, Python or C/C++). Due to restrictions on the funding, this studentship is only open to candidates from the UK/EU and those with permit to live and work in the UK. The position aims to start on the 1st of October, and lasts 36 months. Deadline to apply : May 15th. Link to the official job post: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AEG337/phd-studentship/ Please apply directly to the Univ. of Reading (reference of the position GS12-01): http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/apply/pg-applicationform.aspx Should you have more questions, feel free to contact me or Dr. Slawomir Nasuto . Best regards, ----- Dr. Etienne Roesch Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics Reading, RG66AL, United-Kingdom http://etienneroes.ch/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120425/c467ef7b/attachment.html From janet.hsiao at gmail.com Tue Apr 24 02:11:46 2012 From: janet.hsiao at gmail.com (Janet Hsiao) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:11:46 +0800 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral Position: Development of Perceptual Expertise Message-ID: Postdoctoral Position: Development of Perceptual Expertise Department of Psychology, the University of Hong Kong A postdoctoral position is currently available in the Cognition & Hemispheric Asymmetry lab led by Dr. Janet Hsiao at the University of Hong Kong. The project will involve using neurocomputational models, behavioural measures (including eye tracking), or EEG/ERP examinations to investigate the development of perceptual expertise in auditory or visual modalities (for more information about the lab please see: http://cha.psy.hku.hk/). The applicant must have: (1) a Ph.D. degree in Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology, or related fields; and (2) good programming skills and experience in Matlab. (3) Experience in computational modeling of cognitive processes, EEP/ERP experiments and analysis, eye tracking experiments and analysis, or human subject experiments. Interested candidates should send a letter of application, a CV including academic qualifications, research experience, publications, and at least two letters of reference, to: Dr. Janet Hsiao, jhsiao @ hku.hk, with the subject line "Postdoctoral position". For more information please contact Dr. Janet Hsiao. You can talk to Dr. Janet Hsiao at the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (http://www.visionsciences.org/) during May 11-16, or the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society in Sapporo, Japan, during Aug 1 to 4 (http://cognitivesciencesociety.org/conference2012/index.html). Review of applications will begin immediately, and continue until the position is filled. The initial contract is for one year, with a possibility of one-year extension. The position is available immediately. The University of Hong Kong is an English speaking university and recently ranked No.2 in Asia and 34th in the world in the 2011-12 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. It is also ranked 30th in the world for Psychology according to the most recent QS World University Rankings. The University is located at Hong Kong Island, and it fully enjoys the fusion when the east meets the west. More information about the Department of Psychology at HKU is available at: http://www.hku.hk/psychodp/ From jkrichma at uci.edu Wed Apr 25 20:58:28 2012 From: jkrichma at uci.edu (Jeff Krichmar) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:58:28 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: Book on Neuromorphic and Brain-Based Robots Message-ID: Dear Connectionists, The following book may be of interest to many of you: Neuromorphic and Brain-Based Robots Cambridge University Press is currently providing a 20% discount. http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/discountpromotion/?site_locale=en_US&code=L2NBBR Neuromorphic and brain-based robotics have enormous potential for furthering our understanding of the brain. By embodying models of the brain on robotic platforms, researchers can investigate the roots of biological intelligence and work towards the development of truly intelligent machines. This book provides a broad introduction to this ground-breaking area for researchers from a wide range of fields, from engineering to neuroscience. Case studies explore how robots are being used in current research, including a whisker system that allows a robot to sense its environment and neurally inspired navigation systems that show impressive mapping results. Looking to the future, several chapters consider the development of cognitive, or even conscious, robots that display the adaptability and intelligence of biological organisms. Finally, the ethical implications of intelligent robots are explored, from morality and Asimov?s three laws to the question of whether robots have rights. ? Case studies demonstrate how robots can be used to explore concepts in brain development, cognition and neural processing ? Coverage of philosophical issues such as machine consciousness and robot ethics provides valuable insights into directions for future research ? Mathematical treatments are avoided, allowing readers to understand the concepts and issues without wading through complex mathematics Table of Contents Part I. Introduction: 1. History and potential of neuromorphic robotics Jeffrey L. Krichmar and Hiroaki Wagatsuma Part II. Neuromorphic Robots: Biologically and Neurally Inspired Designs: 2. Robust haptic recognition by anthropomorphic hand through repetitive grasping Koh Hosoda 3. Biomimetic robots as scientific models: a view from the whisker tip Ben Mitchinson, Martin J. Pearson, Anthony G. Pipe and Tony J. Prescott 4. Sensor-rich robots driven by real-time brain circuit algorithms Andrew Felch and Richard Granger Part III. Brain-Based Robots: Architectures and Approaches: 5. RatSLAM project: robot spatial navigation Gordon Wyeth, Michael Milford, Ruth Schulz and Janet Wiles 6. Evolution of rewards and learning mechanisms in cyber rodents Eiji Uchibe and Kenji Doya 7. A neuromorphically-inspired cognitive architecture for cognitive robots Mitch Wilkes, Erdem Erdemir and Kazuhiko Kawamura 8. Autonomous visuomotor development for neuromorphic robots Zhengping Ji, Juyang Weng and Danil Prokhorov 9. Brain-inspired robots for autistic training and care Emilia I. Barakova and Loe Feijs Part IV. Philosophical and Theoretical Considerations: 10. From hardware and software to kernels and envelopes: a concept shift for robotics, developmental psychology and brain sciences Frederic Kaplan and Pierre-Yves Oudeyer 11. Can cognitive developmental robotics shift the paradigm? Minoru Asada 12. A look at the hidden side of situated cognition: a robotic study of brain-oscillation-based dynamics of instantaneous, episodic and conscious memories Hiroaki Wagatsuma 13. The case for using brain-based devices to study consciousness Jason Fleischer, Jeffrey McKinstry, David Edelman and Gerald Edelman Part V. Ethical Considerations: 14. Ethical implications of intelligent robots George A. Bekey, Patrick Lin and Keith Abney 15. Toward robot ethics through the Ethics of Autism Masayoshi Shibata Jeff Krichmar Department of Cognitive Sciences 2328 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-5100 jkrichma at uci.edu http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120425/ad9385d7/attachment-0001.html From lars.schwabe at uni-rostock.de Wed Apr 25 01:11:00 2012 From: lars.schwabe at uni-rostock.de (Lars Schwabe) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:11:00 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: 2 PhD Positions in Computational Neuroscience and BCIs in Rostock, Germany Message-ID: <4B4DDFA6-CDE1-4A7E-B900-1D382F65EB9F@uni-rostock.de> Dear all, we do have TWO OPEN PhD positions in the field of Computational Neuroscience and Applied Machine Learning/BCI at University of Rostock (Computer Science and Electrical Engineering): 1) PhD in (Formal) Ontology and Epistemology of Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience Together with the Moritz Schlick Research Institute in Rostock (moritz-schlick.de) we have an open PhD position in order to investigate Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience from the point of view of Philosophy of Science (and *not* Philosophy of Mind). The goal is to better understand the kind of theories currently employed in these two disciplines, their ontological commitments, and the kind of knowledge obtainable with the current practices. More specifically, the relation between mechanistic models of embodied ?enactive? agents, emergent dynamical properties, teleological explanations, cognitive processes and social phenomena shall be made explicit using *formal* methods from ontology and logic. These studies shall also consider the history of both disciplines by means of versioning ontologies. Similar projects at the center are ongoing in the field of Systems Biology and Morphology, and we expect that a comparison will yield important insights into the epistemological basis of 21st century life science. The ideal candidate has a background (or at least a documented interest) in philosophy and either life science, computer science, engineering, or mathematics with a strong formal training. The position is open immediately and remains open until a suitable candidate is found. Please send applications as PDFs via email (see below). 2) PhD Position for using BCIs in Smart Meeting and Situation Rooms As part of a larger research training group focusing on smart environments, the candidate will apply EEG-based BCI techniques in smart meeting and situation rooms. The goal is to infer the intention of a user using various sensors (including EEG) in order to provide assistive services. We consider i) group meetings and discussion scenarios, and ii) decison making under uncertainty and time-constraints. EEG-based BCIs shall be used to infer the cognitive load of users (as a pure monitoring device) and as an output device in the classical BCI setting, where we employ mainly SSVEP-based BCIs, but explore various displays and visual stimulus designs. The ideal candidate has a background in signal processing, statistics, machine learning, neural networks, etc. and a documented track record in software development. Please send applications as PDFs via email (see below) until May 20th, 2012. The University of Rostock was established in 1419 and is located at the coast of the Baltic Sea in north-eastern Germany. Rostock is home to ~200000 people, incl. 15000 students, and it has a lively student life. In terms of academic history, the following list shows a selection of names associated with the University: Tycho Brahe studied at the University of Rostock, Felix Hausdorff became professor at the the neighboring University of Greifswald, Albert Einstein and Max Planck received a honorary doctoral degree from the University (the only honorary degree Einstein received in Germany), Moritz Schlick worked here from 1911-1921, etc. The Computer Science Institute provides an excellent working environment with the newly constructed Konrad Zuse Bld, and various local, national, and international collaborations. Please send applications as PDFs via email to Lars Schwabe Dept of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 22 Konrad Zuse Building, 18059 Rostock, Germany E-Mail, Web: lars.schwabe at uni-rostock.de, ars.informatik.uni-rostock.de From A.K.Seth at sussex.ac.uk Sun Apr 29 16:39:18 2012 From: A.K.Seth at sussex.ac.uk (Anil Seth) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:39:18 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: ASSC16 consciousness conference, early registration deadline May 10th Message-ID: <2BCB9524-6247-41E5-B410-8A488FD12C89@sussex.ac.uk> Call for registration: ASSC16: ASSOCIATION FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF CONSCIOUSNESS BRIGHTON, UK, JULY 02-06 2012 http://www.theassc.org/conferences_assc16 Early registration for ASSC16 will end on MAY 10 2012. http://www.theassc.org/assc16_registration. Spaces are limited for tutorials and the conference dinner, so register early to ensure you get your preferred choices and save money too! ASSC16 is the 16th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. It will take place in Brighton, UK, from July 02-06, 2012. The 4 day meeting (plus 1 day of tutorial sessions) brings together leading researchers in neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, psychiatry, neurology, and computer science in a forum dedicated to showcasing and advancing rigorous scientific approaches to understanding the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of conscious experience. Attendees are drawn from researchers, clinicians, students at all levels, as well as the interested media and public. (Please note that ASSC16 does not clash with London olympics!) A one-day satellite symposium on 'Neuropsychiatry and Consciousness: Bringing Consciousness Science to the Clinic' will take place on July 7th, at the Sussex University campus (see http://www.theassc.org/conferences_assc16). This event requires separate registration. ASSC16 is part what will be a true citywide celebration of consciousness science. The headline event will be a free-entry one-day public-event on consciousness science, on June 30th, featuring a wide range of interactive exhibits: http://www.consciousnessexpo.co.uk. Other informal events engaging both academics and the general public will take place throughout the week at various locations in Brighton. ASSC16 is organized by the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex (www.sussex.ac.uk/sackler). Brighton, affectionately known as ?London by the sea? is a popular international conference destination. It is only 49 minutes by train from central London and just 30 minutes from Gatwick International Airport (LGW; there are also easy transport links from Heathrow). Brighton is a small city with conference facilities, hotels, restaurants, pubs, transport links, and the beach all within easy walking distance. ASSC16 will be held in the superb Dome and Corn Exchange theatre complex, in the heart of Brighton?s artistic & cultural quarter (http://www.brightondome.org/). Accommodation details can be found on the the main conference webpages (http://www.theassc.org/conferences_assc16). Oral and poster presentations, drawn from over 400 high-quality submissions, will complement the exciting plenary programme below (a full programme will be available shortly): Keynote speakers: Victor Lamme (University of Amsterdam, President) Josef Perner (University of Salzburg) Geriant Rees (University College London) Tania Singer (Max Planck Institute, Leipzig) Tim Bayne (University of Oxford) Christof Koch (Caltech, Special Lecture) Plenary symposia: 1. Consciousness fading: key mechanisms of anaesthesia-induced loss-of-consciousness Andreas Engel (Chair), Gernott Supp, Melanie Boly, Emery Brown 2. Bringing the in-depth body to the surface: Interoception, awareness, and prediction Manos Tsakiris (Chair), Hugo Critchley, Jim Hopkins 3. Perceptual consciousness and cognitive access Ned Block (Chair), Ilja Sligte, Jerome Sackur, James Stazicker 4. Balancing the self: Vestibular contributions to self-consciousness Christophe Lopez (Chair), Bigna Lenggenhager, Gabriela Bottini Tutorials: 1. Heather Berlin, Nicholas Medford: The phenomenology, neurobiology, and neurocognitive basis of depersonalization 2. Sue Blackmore: Meditation and consciousness: Two ways meditation can contribute to consciousness science 3. Olaf Blanke, Thomas Metzinger: Towards a comprehensive theory of subjectivity and selfhood: Philosophy, cognitive science, neurology, and neuroimaging 4. Axel Cleeremans, Morten Overgaard, Bert Timmermans, Ryan Scott: Behavioural methods to assess awareness 5. Gustav Kuhn, Ronald Rensink: The science of magic: Turning magic into science! 6. James Laban, Harutomo Hasegawa, Keyoumars Ashkan: Neurosurgery and its role in studying consciousness 7. Devin Terhune: A primer on experimental hypnosis research 8. Jamie Ward, Thomas Wright: Sensory substitution Please direct any enquiries about ASSC16 to D.Schwartzman-at-sussex.ac.uk. On behalf of the local organizing committee, we look forward to welcoming you to Brighton in July! Anil Seth (programme chair) Zoltan Dienes (scientific committee chair) --------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Anil Seth Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Dept of Informatics, University of Sussex www.anilseth.com www.sussex.ac.uk/sackler -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120429/73ac219c/attachment.html From juergen at idsia.ch Fri Apr 27 06:01:50 2012 From: juergen at idsia.ch (Schmidhuber Juergen) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:01:50 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Master's in Artificial Intelligence - Swiss AI Lab IDSIA & University of Lugano, Switzerland Message-ID: <787098C8-33C9-4C3A-99A8-ED6128DBE468@idsia.ch> Starting Fall 2012 - application deadline 1 July: Master's Degree in Computer Science with a Major in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Master's Degree in Informatics with a Major in Intelligent Systems (IS) Topics include Machine Learning & Pattern Recognition, Neural Networks, Optimization, Evolutionary Computation, Probabilistic Reasoning, Robotics. Taught by award-winning experts of the Swiss AI Lab IDSIA and the University of Lugano (USI), in the scenic southern part of Switzerland, the world's leading science nation. More info including instructions and deadlines: http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/aimaster.html J?rgen Schmidhuber From smart at neuralcorrelate.com Sun Apr 29 22:15:38 2012 From: smart at neuralcorrelate.com (Susana Martinez-Conde) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:15:38 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: TOP 10 FINALIST ILLUSIONS! Message-ID: <004c01cd2677$28834e30$7989ea90$@com> The Best Illusion of the Year Contest is happy to announce that the TOP TEN illusions have been chosen!! The Contest Gala will be on Monday, May 14th, 5pm, in the Philharmonic Center of Arts (Naples Fl). The 2012 Contest Gala will be hosted by Margaret Livingstone and Stuart Anstis! Everybody is invited!!! Who will the TOP THREE winners be??? That's up to YOU! The audience will choose them from the current TOP TEN list. For more details, please visit our webpage: http://illusionoftheyear.com 2012 TOP TEN ILLUSION CONTESTANTS (alphabetical order): To see the illusions themselves. you must come to the CONTEST!!! Title TBA: Stuart Anstis, UC San Diego, USA "Head-Size Illusion": Kazunori Morikawa and Eri Ishii, Osaka University, Japan "Floating Star": Kaia Nao "The Disappearing Hand Trick": Roger Newport, Helen Gilpin and Catherine Preston, University of Nottingham, UK "Exorcist Illusion - Twisting Necks": Thomas Papathomas, Tom Grace Sr., Marcel de Heer and Robert Bunkin, Rutgers University, USA "Color Wagon Wheel": Arthur Shapiro and William Kistler, American University, USA "When Pretty Girls Turn Ugly: The Flashed Face Distortion Effect": Jason Tangen, Sean Murphy and Matthew Thompson, The University of Queensland, Australia "Peripheral Action Phantom Illusion": Steven Thurman and Hongjing Lu, UCLA, USA "Attentional modulation of perceived color": Peter Tse, Dartmouth College, USA "Illusion of Height Contradiction": Sachiko Tsuruno, Kinki University, Japan On behalf of the Neural Correlate Society, Susana Martinez-Conde (Executive Producer, Best Illusion of the Year Contest) Neural Correlate Society Executive Committee: Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse The Neural Correlate Society is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization, whose mission is to promote the public awareness of neuroscience research. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD Director, Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience Barrow Neurological Institute 350 W. Thomas Rd. Phoenix AZ 85013 USA Phone: +1 602 406-3484 Fax: +1 602 406-4192 Email: smart at neuralcorrelate.com http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120429/7c4feaee/attachment-0001.html From d.g.heinke at bham.ac.uk Mon Apr 30 13:09:59 2012 From: d.g.heinke at bham.ac.uk (Dietmar Heinke) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:09:59 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: New paper in robotics-based modeling Message-ID: <4F9EC767.9050805@bham.ac.uk> Dear all, I would like to draw your attention to the following paper: Strauss, S. & Heinke, D. (2012) A robotics-based approach to modeling of choice reaching experiments on visual attention. /Front. Psychology/, 3:105. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00105 Link: http://www.frontiersin.org/Cognitive_Science/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00105/full I hope you find this paper interesting and any comments would be highly appreciated. Regards, Dietmar Heinke http://dietmar-heinke.co.uk/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120430/558eeb90/attachment.html From grlmc at urv.cat Sat Apr 28 06:35:46 2012 From: grlmc at urv.cat (GRLMC) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:35:46 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: TPNC 2012: submission deadline extended Message-ID: <796DC28BCE04425CA55395F00B5A139D@Carlos1> *To be removed from our mailing list, please respond to this message with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject* ********************************************************************* SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED: May 8, 2012 (23:59h, CET) ********************************************************************* 1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF NATURAL COMPUTING TPNC 2012 Tarragona, Spain October 1-5, 2012 http://grammars.grlmc.com/tpnc2012/ ********************************************************************* AIMS: TPNC is the first event in a series to cover the wide spectrum of computational principles, models and techniques inspired by information processing in nature. TPNC 2012 will reserve significant room for young scholars at the beginning of their career. It aims at attracting contributions about nature-inspired models of computation, synthesizing nature by means of computation, nature-inspired materials, and information processing in nature. VENUE: TPNC 2012 will take place in Tarragona, less than 100 kms. to the south of Barcelona. SCOPE: Topics of either theoretical, experimental or applied interest include, but are not limited to: * Nature-inspired models of computation: - amorphous computing - cellular automata - chaos and dynamical systems based computing - evolutionary computing - membrane computing - neural computing - optical computing - swarm intelligence * Synthesizing nature by means of computation: - artificial chemistry - artificial immune systems - artificial life * Nature-inspired materials: - computing with DNA - nanocomputing - physarum computing - quantum computing and quantum information - reaction-diffusion computing * Information processing in nature: - developmental systems - fractal geometry - gene assembly in unicellular organisms - rough/fuzzy computing in nature - synthetic biology - systems biology * Applications of natural computing to: algorithms, bioinformatics, control, cryptography, design, economy, graphics, hardware, learning, logistics, optimization, pattern recognition, programming, robotics, telecommunications etc. A flexible "theory to/from practice" approach would be the perfect focus for the expected contributions. STRUCTURE: TPNC 2012 will consist of: ? invited talks ? invited tutorials ? peer?reviewed contributions INVITED SPEAKERS: Christian Blum (Barcelona), tutorial tba Andrew Childs (Waterloo), tba Max H. Garzon (Memphis), A Geometric Approach to DNA Codeword Design and Applications Faustino G?mez (IDSIA, Manno-Lugano), Scalable Neuroevolution for Reinforcement Learning Ponnuthurai N. Suganthan (Singapore), Differential Evolution: Recent Advances Barbara M. Terhal (Aachen), Fragility of Quantum Information and Quantum Error Correction Peter Ti?o (Birmingham), Computational Intelligence in Astronomy - Win-Win Situation PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: Ajith Abraham (Auburn) Selim G. Akl (Kingston CA) Enrique Alba (M?laga) Artiom Alhazov (Chi?in?u) Peter J. Bentley (London) Mauro Birattari (Brussels) Christian Blum (Barcelona) ?scar Castillo (Tijuana) Weng-Long Chang (Kaohsiung) Parimal Pal Chaudhuri (Calcutta) Carlos A. Coello Coello (Mexico DF) Kalyanmoy Deb (Kanpur) Peter Dittrich (Jena) Andries Petrus Engelbrecht (Pretoria) Toshio Fukuda (Nagoya) Enrique Herrera-Viedma (Granada) C?sar Herv?s-Mart?nez (C?rdoba) Julia Kempe (Tel Aviv & Paris) Elmar Wolfgang Lang (Regensburg) Pier Luca Lanzi (Milan) Vincenzo Manca (Verona) Maurice Margenstern (Metz) Carlos Mart?n-Vide (Tarragona, chair) Kaisa Miettinen (Jyv?skyl?) Michael O'Neill (Dublin) Ferdinand Peper (Kobe) Ion Petre (Turku) Carla Piazza (Udine) A.C. Cem Say (Istanbul) J?rgen Schmidhuber (Lugano) Moshe Sipper (Beer-Sheva) El-Ghazali Talbi (Lille) Kay Chen Tan (Singapore) Jir? Wiedermann (Prague) Takashi Yokomori (Tokyo) Ivan Zelinka (Ostrava) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Adrian Horia Dediu (Tarragona) Peter Leupold (Tarragona) Carlos Mart?n?Vide (Tarragona, chair) Bianca Truthe (Magdeburg) Florentina Lilica Voicu (Tarragona) SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit papers presenting original and unpublished research. Papers should not exceed 12 single?spaced pages (including eventual appendices) and should be formatted according to the standard format for Springer Verlag's LNCS series (see http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0). Submissions have to be uploaded at: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=tpnc2012 PUBLICATIONS: A volume of proceedings published by Springer in the LNCS series will be available by the time of the conference. A special issue of a major journal will be later published containing peer?reviewed extended versions of some of the papers contributed to the conference. Submissions to it will be by invitation. REGISTRATION: The period for registration is open from February 25 to October 1, 2012. The registration form can be found at the website of the conference: http://grammars.grlmc.com/tpnc2012/ Early registration fees: 500 Euro Early registration fees (PhD students): 400 Euro Late registration fees: 540 Euro Late registration fees (PhD students): 440 Euro On?site registration fees: 580 Euro On?site registration fees (PhD students): 480 Euro At least one author per paper should register. Papers that do not have a registered author who paid the fees by July 1, 2012 will be excluded from the proceedings. Fees comprise access to all sessions, one copy of the proceedings volume, coffee breaks and lunches. PhD students will need to prove their status on site. PAYMENT: Early (resp. late) registration fees must be paid by bank transfer before July 1, 2012 (resp. September 21, 2012) to the conference bank account: Uno-e Bank bank?s address: Julian Camarillo 4 C, 28037 Madrid, Spain IBAN: ES3902270001820201823142 SWIFT/BIC code: UNOEESM1 account holder: Carlos Mart?n-Vide GRLMC account holder?s address: Av. Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain Please mention TPNC 2012 and your name in the subject. A receipt will be provided on site. Remarks: - Bank transfers should not involve any expense for the conference. - People claiming early registration will be requested to prove that the bank transfer order was carried out by the deadline. People registering on site must pay in cash. For the sake of local organization, however, it is much recommended to do it earlier. Besides paying the registration fees, it is required to fill in the registration form at the website of the conference. IMPORTANT DEADLINES: Paper submission: May 8, 2012 (23:59h, CET) Notification of paper acceptance or rejection: June 18, 2012 Final version of the paper for the LNCS proceedings: June 25, 2012 Early registration: July 1, 2012 Late registration: September 21, 2012 Starting of the conference: October 1, 2012 Submission to the post?conference special issue: January 5, 2013 FURTHER INFORMATION: florentinalilica.voicu at urv.cat POSTAL ADDRESS: TPNC 2012 Research Group on Mathematical Linguistics (GRLMC) Rovira i Virgili University Av. Catalunya, 35 43002 Tarragona, Spain Phone: +34?977?559543 Fax: +34?977?558386 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120428/dbe11c37/attachment-0001.html From jpezaris at gmail.com Mon Apr 30 17:13:50 2012 From: jpezaris at gmail.com (John Pezaris) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:13:50 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: AREADNE 2012 -- Registration Now Open Message-ID: AREADNE 2012 Research in Encoding and Decoding of Neural Ensembles Nomikos Conference Center, Santorini, Greece 21-24 June 2012 http://www.areadne.org info at areadne.org * * * REGISTRATION NOW OPEN * * * Dear Colleague, We are pleased to announce that registration for AREADNE 2012 is now open. AREADNE 2012 will be our fourth meeting at the Nomikos Conference Centre in Santorini, Greece. Continuing with the same highly successful format, the conference will bring scientific leaders from around the world to present their theoretical and experimental work on the functioning of neuronal ensembles. The meeting will provide an informal yet spectacular and inspirational setting in which attendees can discuss their recent discoveries and ideas, with a relaxed pace that emphasizes interaction. We have a very exciting list of speakers -- Dora Angelaki (Baylor College of Medicine) Sliman Bensmaia (U. Chicago) Davi Bock (HHMI Janelia Farm) Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor) David Dickman (Baylor College of Medicine) Michael Hasselmo (Boston University) Nicholas Hatsopoulos (U. Chicago) Peter Latham (UCL) Jean Livet (INSERM) Jeff Magee (HHMI Janelia Farm) Dan Margoliash (U. Chicago) Tirin Moore (Stanford) John O'Keefe (UCL) Leslie Osborne (U. Chicago) John Pezaris (Harvard Med. School) Panayiota Poirazi (FORTH / IMBB) Hans Scherberger (DPZ) Elad Schneidman (Weizmann Institute) Idan Segev (Hebrew University) Shy Shoham (Technion) Eilon Vaadia (Hebrew University) To register, and for additional information about the meeting, please go to the conference web page http://areadne.org or send email to us at info at areadne.org. Please forward this message to interested colleagues. We hope to see you in Santorini! -- John Pezaris, Co-Chair Nicholas Hatsopoulos, Co-Chair AREADNE 2012 info at areadne.org From magg at informatik.uni-hamburg.de Mon Apr 30 09:34:35 2012 From: magg at informatik.uni-hamburg.de (Sven Magg) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:34:35 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: New MSc Programme "Intelligent Adaptive Systems", Hamburg Message-ID: <4F9E94EB.1050208@informatik.uni-hamburg.de> New International MSc Programme "Intelligent Adaptive Systems" A newly approved Master's programme "Intelligent Adaptive Systems" is offered by the University of Hamburg with a focus on Neural Networks and learning algorithms inspired by neuroscience and biology. The MSc IAS is a 2 year, research-oriented course taught fully in English. It starts October 1st, 2012 and students do not have to pay tuition fees. Requirements are a Bachelor degree related to Computer Science and proof of English language proficiency (TOEFL, IELTS, TELC, etc). Application deadline: 11 May 2012 (for all students) Homepage: http://www.master-intelligent-adaptive-systems.com Email: ias-info at informatik.uni-hamburg.de Background: Intelligent systems and robots are expected to become an integral part of our daily lives. In order to be accepted by humans, intelligent systems have to adapt to changing environments as well as the users they interact with. Intelligent systems are not only expected to automatically acquire and manage knowledge through a variety of sensors but also to learn and optimise their behaviour over time. This International Master?s programme aims to provide students with the ability to build these intelligent adaptive systems and to prepare the students for a future market, where intelligent behaviour is considered the standard for computer systems. Research-oriented, 2-year programme (4 semesters): The Master in Intelligent Adaptive Systems is a 2-year research-oriented programme that is taught in English. Students, both national and international, can benefit from an international environment and improve their grasp of the English language and knowledge on cultural differences. The selected modules provide a comprehensive overview including technical aspects and state-of-the art algorithms and methods. Students are introduced to current research in the corresponding fields and have the opportunity to deepen the acquired knowledge by participating in international research projects. Curriculum: The Master?s programme is comprised of 120 credit points that are distributed between compulsory core lectures, selectable focus lectures, and project work: Core lectures include Software Architecture, Bio-Inspired AI, Intelligent Robotics, Neural Networks, Databases and Information Systems, Algorithmic Learning, Research Methods. 18 CP points can be chosen from focus modules (including natural language processing, image processing, robot technology, security and communication, and complex systems). Students can also choose 12 CP from other modules to extend their studies or deepen their knowledge in selected areas. Application Requirements: We aim at offering the courses to a wide range of students. Applicants should have a strong background in computer science or a related field since programming and mathematical knowledge is assumed. In order to apply to the Master in Intelligent Adaptive Systems, you have to fulfil the following requirements: a) A Bachelor degree in computer science or a related field insofar as 60 ECTS credit points were acquired in the field of computer science b) Proof of English language proficiency by (or comparable to): - CEFR/TELC Level C1 - IELTS 6.5 - TOEFL (IBT 100, PBT 575, CBT 220) - Cambridge CAE or CPE Next to these requirements, students have to provide a 2-page letter of motivation and a CV. More detailed information on application requirements and procedure can be found in the website http://www.master-intelligent-adaptive-systems.com Further information can be found on the following pages: http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/WTM/teaching/IntelligentAdaptiveSystems.shtml http://www.verwaltung.uni-hamburg.de/internationales/incoming_e.html http://www.verwaltung.uni-hamburg.de/internationales/interkuturell_e.html Contact: University of Hamburg Department Informatics Knowledge Technology, WTM Vogt-K?lln-Stra?e 30 D - 22527 Hamburg, Germany Email: ias-info at informatik.uni-hamburg.de Please forward to potentially interested students. Stefan Wermter & Sven Magg -- *********************************************** Sven Magg Scientific Associate Knowledge Technology Group Department of Informatics University of Hamburg Vogt Koelln Str. 30 22527 Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 40 42883 2518 Fax : +49 40 42883 2515 Email: magg AT informatik.uni-hamburg.de http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/WTM/ *********************************************** From weng at cse.msu.edu Mon Apr 30 19:02:51 2012 From: weng at cse.msu.edu (Juyang Weng) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:02:51 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Fwd: [DevRob] IEEE Conference on Development and Learning, and Epigenetic Robotics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4F9F1A1B.5030004@cse.msu.edu> ****************************************************************************** Call for Papers ? Call for Tutorials and Special Sessions IEEE CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING, AND EPIGENETIC ROBOTICS IEEE ICDL-EPIROB 2012 San Diego, California, USA November 7-9, 2012 http://icdl2012.ucsd.edu/ == Conference description The past decade has seen the emergence of a new scientific field that studies how intelligent biological and artificial systems develop sensorimotor, cognitive and social abilities, over extended periods of time, through dynamic interactions with their physical and social environments. This field lies at the intersection of a number of scientific and engineering disciplines including Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, Developmental Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Computational Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotics. Various terms have been associated with this new field such as Autonomous Mental Development, Epigenetic Robotics, Developmental Robotics, etc., and several scientific meetings have been established. The two most prominent conference series of this field, the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) and the International Conference on Epigenetic Robotics (EpiRob), are now joining forces and invite submissions for a joint meeting in 2012, to explore and extend the interdisciplinary boundaries of this field. == Keynote speakers TBA == Call for submissions We invite submissions for this exciting window over the future of developmental sciences. Submissions which establish novel links between brain, behavior and computation are particularly encouraged. == Topics of interest include ? but are not limited to: ? The science and engineering of learning. ? Developmental robotics. ? Machine learning and development. ? Development and emergence of sensory motor intelligence. ? General principles of development and learning ? Neural and behavioral plasticity ? Neurogenesis ? Biomimetic robots. ? Models of emotionally driven behavior ? Mechanisms of intrinsic motivation, exploration and play ? Embodied cognition. ? Social development in humans and robots ? Applications to education and clinical interventions. == Submissions will be accepted in two categories: Full six-page papers: Manuscripts accepted will be included in the conference proceedings published by IEEE publication. Accepted long papers submission will be selected for either an oral presentations or a featured poster presentation at the conference; Featured posters will have a 1 minute "teaser" presentation as part of the main conference session and will be showcased in the poster sessions. Two-page poster abstracts: For this format, it is the aim to encourage late-breaking results or for work that is not sufficiently mature for a full paper. These submissions will NOT be included in the conference proceedings (but the short abstracts will appear at Frontiers). Accepted abstracts will be presented during the evening poster sessions. Manuscripts should be submitted through the online conference management system, available at the conference website icdl2012.ucsd.edu . For the paper preparation, follow the instructions at the conference website. == Call for tutorials We invite experts in different areas to organize a 3-hour tutorial, which will be held on the first day of the conference. Participants in tutorials are asked to register for the main conference as well. Tutorials are meant to provide insights into specific topics as well as overviews that will inform the interdisciplinary audience about the state-of-the-art in child development, neuroscience, robotics, or any of the other disciplines represented at the conference. Submissions (max. two pages) should be sent no later than June 15, 2012 to Yukie Nagai (yukie at ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp ) including: -Title of tutorial -Tutorial speaker(s), including short CVs; -Concept of the tutorial; target audience or prerequisites. All proposals submitted will be subjected to a review process. == Call for special sessions A special session will be an opportunity to present a topic cumulatively, for which format a slot of 1.5 hour will be offered. Special session organizers are invited to submit (1) a summary (250 words) describing the topic, purpose and target audience of the session as well as (2) abstracts of papers (each 250 words) that will constitute the group of presentations. It is suggested that a special session includes three oral presentations to allow for sufficient presentation and discussion time. A discussant (also from other discipline) may be added to the special session. Submissions should be sent no later than June 15, 2012 to Yukie Nagai (yukie at ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp ). All proposals submitted will be subjected to a review process. All proposals submitted will be subjected to a review process. == Important dates Submission Deadline: June 15, 2012 Notification Due: September 15, 2012 Final Version Due: October 1, 2012 Conference: November, 7-9, 2012 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120430/90a8c55a/attachment.html