From heimel at nin.knaw.nl Mon Feb 1 06:07:06 2016 From: heimel at nin.knaw.nl (Alexander Heimel) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2016 12:07:06 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc Visual Processing in the Behaving Mouse in Amsterdam Message-ID: Pieter Roelfsema and J. Alexander Heimel have a joint post-doc position available to study neural processing in the awake behaving mouse using imaging at cellular and mesoscopic resolution, extracellular electrophysiology and optogenetics. The research is part of a European funded collaboration with the laboratories of Gustavo Deco (Barcelona) and Hans op de Beeck (Leuven). Funding is available for several years. A background in neuroscience is advantageous, but excellent PhD graduates from physics, mathematics, engineering or informatics are also encouraged to apply. Expert programming skills are a requirement. The project will be supervised by Heimel and Roelfsema in Amsterdam at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam. At the NIN, seventeen research groups work to understand how networks of neurons enable the cognition. The working language is English. Please send a CV, motivation letter and contact information for two references to alexander.heimel at gmail.com. From gwtaylor at uoguelph.ca Mon Feb 1 07:52:23 2016 From: gwtaylor at uoguelph.ca (Graham Taylor) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2016 07:52:23 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in Hardware Acceleration for Deep Learning, University of Guelph Message-ID: The Machine Learning Research Group at the university of Guelph has a fully-funded 1 year postdoctoral position in the area of FPGA-based Hardware Acceleration for Deep Learning. The position will start on May 1, 2015. The postdoc will work closely with Dr. Graham Taylor and Dr. Shawki Areibi and their respective research teams. The project involves developing new representation learning and deep learning architectures and algorithms with a focus on reducing the amount of training time to discover optimal models. The position is sponsored by a major international industry partner and will require occasional travel to Toronto (e.g. one day every two weeks). Company scientists and engineers are actively engaged in the project. The team aims to publish the results of the research, with the candidate taking a lead role in publication. Ideal candidates will have a PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, or in a related area, and have a strong interest and experience in hardware acceleration (specifically FPGA-based computing), machine learning, statistics and/or scientific computing evidenced by a strong publication record in top-tier conferences and journals. We will consider candidates whose primary research area is Machine Learning or Hardware Acceleration. Preference will be given to candidates who have exposure to both areas. Experience with deep learning frameworks, e.g. Caffe, Torch, Theano and FPGA software tools, e.g. OpenCL, Vivado HLS is an asset. Teaching is not a requirement of the position, but the candidate is expected to supervise and mentor graduate and undergraduate students in a research capacity. Guelph is a vibrant university community 28 kilometres east of Waterloo and 100 kilometres west of downtown Toronto, with commuter train access to both. It is consistently rated as one of Canada?s best places to live. The Machine Learning Research Group at the University of Guelph consists of approximately 15 students, postdocs, researchers and visitors. The group focuses on deep learning and biologically-inspired computer vision. The group holds two compute clusters (250 TFLOPS peak performance), which are among the best GPU-based computing resources in Canada: a 10-node, 30 GPU cluster of Nvidia Titan Black cards, and an 8-node, 64 GPU cluster of Nvidia K80?s connected by Infiniband. The group is currently engaged in several projects at the intersection of deep learning and high performance computing. The position is open to Canadian and foreign candidates. The salary is $60,000 CAD per annum plus benefits. To apply, please send the following documents in a single pdf-file to Dr. Taylor: (1) Your Curriculum Vitae (2) A brief statement of relevant research interests and/or experience (preferably one page, at most two) (3) Transcripts for previous degrees if available (4) Names of two or three referees who are able to comment on the applicant's qualifications. We will contact references of short-listed candidates only. We will start reviewing applications on February 15 and will continue until a successful candidate is found. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. -- Graham Taylor Assistant Professor School of Engineering, University of Guelph http://www.uoguelph.ca/~gwtaylor -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From A.Cangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk Fri Feb 5 06:26:40 2016 From: A.Cangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk (Angelo Cangelosi) Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2016 11:26:40 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Two ESR (PhD) positions in Cognitive Robotics (DCOMM Marie Curie ETN) Message-ID: Two 3-year ESR (PhD) positions at the Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems at Plymouth University, UK DCOMM European PhD Training Network DCOMM (dcomm.eu) is a new Marie Sk?odowska-Curie European Training Network (ETN) with the primary aim to train the next generation of scientists in the full range of multidisciplinary and cross-sectorial methods necessary to make significant progress in understanding deictic communication, with direct synergies between basic research and application. Deictic communication is fundamental to understanding communication in both typical and atypical populations, and forms the key connection between language and objects/locations in the world. It is therefore critical to understanding human-human interaction, and human-system interaction in a range of technology applications ? from mobile phones to cognitive robotics ? and to the enhancement of clinical and educational interventions with typical and atypical populations. The tho positions/project are:. ESR Position 1. Developmental robotics architecture for the co-development of demonstratives and gestures. This PhD will target the important issue of the robot?s understanding of function words, as demonstratives (this, that), to go beyond current state of the art on the learning and understanding of words naming objects and actions in robots. The main objective is to design a developmental robotics cognitive architecture for the acquisition of demonstratives via deictic gestures, based on the developmental stages on the acquisition of gestures and demonstratives in children, and test it in human-robot interaction (HRI) experiments. ESR Position 2. From single words to compositional language via gestures: Applications in robot language learning. Studies on sign language and language-gesture development have shown that children go through a gesture-word combination stage before they make a full transition to two-word and longer sentences. This PhD project will model the transition from single words to multiple-word sentences via the intermediate word-gesture combinations, and the exploitation of common compositional structure of language and action. A developmental robotics model will be developed to allow a robot like iCub to learn multi-word sentences with developmental transitions via gesture-word combinations. Application requirements and criteria: Applicants must have a first degree in computer science, robotics, cognitive science or related discipline. A Masters level degree in the same disciplines is a desirable criterion. Good programming skills is also an essential requirement. Applicants with knowledge and skills on computational cognitive modelling (e.g. neural networks, robotics, artificial intelligence), and/or previous research experience, are particularly encouraged to apply. For further information contact Professor Angelo Cangelosi (acangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk), the First Supervisor of the ESR PhD fellowship. Background information on the supervisors? research profiles can be found on Plymouth University website. The salary will be based on the standard Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Early-Stage Researcher living and mobility allowances. Expected start date of the ESR/PhD positions is 1st October 2016. The following conditions apply: Early-stage researchers shall, at the time of recruitment by the host organisation, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree. Mobility Rule: at the time of recruitment by the host organisation, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation (UK) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account. As far as international European interest organisations or international organisations are concerned, this rule does not apply to the hosting of eligible researchers. However, the appointed researcher must not have spent more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment at the host organisation. Applicants should upload a CV, along with their application and provide 2 referees within their application. This is a full-time position working 37 hours per week on a fixed-term basis for 36 months starting 1stOctober 2016. The closing date for applications is 12 midnight, Sunday 6 March 2016 Plymouth University is committed to an inclusive culture and respecting diversity, and welcomes applications from all sections of the community and is a Stonewall diversity champion. The University holds a Bronze Athena SWAN Award which recognises commitment to advancing women?s career in STEMM academia. Apply via this link (each application will be considered for both posts) http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AMY136/early-stage-researcher-cognitive-robotics-dcomm-etn/ ________________________________ [http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/images/email_footer.gif] This email and any files with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient then copying, distribution or other use of the information contained is strictly prohibited and you should not rely on it. If you have received this email in error please let the sender know immediately and delete it from your system(s). Internet emails are not necessarily secure. While we take every care, Plymouth University accepts no responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan emails and their attachments. Plymouth University does not accept responsibility for any changes made after it was sent. Nothing in this email or its attachments constitutes an order for goods or services unless accompanied by an official order form. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From turagas at janelia.hhmi.org Tue Feb 2 16:52:27 2016 From: turagas at janelia.hhmi.org (Turaga, Srinivas C) Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 21:52:27 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Open postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience+machine learning+statistics Message-ID: The Turaga Lab is looking for an exceptional postdoctoral researcher, for research at the intersection of machine learning and neuroscience. https://www.janelia.org/lab/turaga-lab ?? About the lab ?? With recent technological advances in 3d electron microscopy, optogenetics and large-scale chronic in vivo neural imaging, it is now possible to measure and perturb the activity of large populations of neurons, and to map their connectivity. These new data can be used understand how the structure of a neural circuit gives rise to its function. Our lab develops machine learning algorithms to map neural connectivity, and statistical models to characterize neural activity and to relate activity to connectivity. We have pioneered the use of deep-learning based machine learning algorithms to map neural connectivity from 3d electron microscopic images of brain tissue, and we are now working to improve these methods. This involves solving interesting new problems in structured prediction, active learning and unsupervised learning at an unprecedented scale (imagine working with labeled training datasets with 10^9 examples in a 10^6 dimensional feature space and wanting to achieve accuracies of 99.999%!). We are developing novel statistical methods for the analysis of large-scale calcium imaging datasets, and medium-scale connectome datasets, in order to help understand the latent structure of neural activity and neural connectivity. Our ultimate goal is build models combining large-scale activity measurements with structural connectomes in order to relate neural activity to neural connectivity with statistical and mechanistic models. ?? About the institute ?? HHMI's Janelia Research Campus is a unique, world-class research community near Washington, D.C. dedicated to understanding the function of neural circuits and developing synergistic imaging technology. Our highly collaborative structure is designed to support interdisciplinary work in small lab groups. We seek candidates who are comfortable with risk and are able to think independently to develop novel approaches. ?? Applying ?? Applicants should have a strong quantitative background with degrees or expertise in machine learning, computational neuroscience, applied mathematics, physics or related discipline. Excellent collaborative programming skills in Python, C/C++, Java or similar languages are essential. To apply, please send me a CV and names and addresses of 2-3 references by email. I will also be attending Cosyne 2016 in Salt Lake City from Feb 25-28 and will be happy to meet you there. Srini Turaga, Group Leader turagas at janelia.hhmi.org https://www.janelia.org/lab/turaga-lab Howard Hughes Medical Institute / Janelia Research Campus 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn VA 20147 Office: +1 (571) 209 4131 Fax: +1 (571) 209 4939 From m.plumbley at surrey.ac.uk Tue Feb 2 15:12:13 2016 From: m.plumbley at surrey.ac.uk (m.plumbley at surrey.ac.uk) Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 20:12:13 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Marie Curie Experienced Researcher in Video Analytics for Large Camera Networks, VisioSafe, Switzerland Message-ID: Marie Curie Experienced Researcher in Video Analytics for Large Camera Networks VisioSafe, Switzerland http://www.spartan-itn.eu/index.php#1|8 Marie Curie Annual Allowance: ?69,966 (Pre-Employer/Employee Tax)* plus Marie Curie Annual Mobility Allowance: ?10,046/?14,352 (Pre-Employer/Employee Tax)* Closing Date: 26 February 2016 Applications are invited for a 24-month Marie Curie Experienced Researcher (ER) position at VisioSafe, Switzerland in Video Analytics for Large Camera Networks. This post is part of the SpaRTaN Marie Curie Initial Training Network (http://spartan-itn.eu/), bringing together leading academic and industry groups to train a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers in sparse representations and compressed sensing. Over the past years, VisioSafe have installed hundreds of cameras to get in-depth insights on human mobility in large public scenes such as train terminals. We have collected more than 75 million trajectories aggregated as temporal Origin-Destination (OD) matrices from two train terminals during one year. The selected candidate will analyze such Big Data to identify behavioural patterns in transportation settings. More specifically, we aim to address how predictable is human behaviour. Can we learn structures in the OD matrices to infer recurrent and abnormal patterns? The outcome of the project will help to understand the space usage, to forecast human flows, and to simulate the impact of infrastructure changes. Candidates should hold a master or doctoral degree in image processing, computer science and/or engineering, or related areas. Experience in image-processing algorithms is essential. Candidates are also expected to have good skills in programming (C and C++), proficiency in English, the right to work in Switzerland and availability to travel within the SpaRTaN network. Eligibility: At the time of starting, candidates must be within the first five years of their research career, must have either (i) a PhD or (ii) at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience. They must not have spent more than 12 months in the host country in the 3 years prior to starting. For more details on eligibility and how to apply, see http://www.spartan-itn.eu/index.php#1|8 * Salary adjusted for host country prior to employer and employee tax being deducted. The gross and net amount received by the ER will be different from that listed. -- Prof Mark D Plumbley Professor of Signal Processing Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP) University of Surrey Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK Email: m.plumbley at surrey.ac.uk From alessandro.dausilio at iit.it Tue Feb 2 09:15:15 2016 From: alessandro.dausilio at iit.it (Alessandro D'Ausilio) Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 15:15:15 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: 2 post-doc Positions - Italian Institute of Technology Message-ID: The Italian Institute of Technology is seeking for 2 post-doctoral researchers, starting from March 2016: - 1 post-doc in Brain- and biosignal-based speech recognition https://beta.iit.it/careers/openings/opening/66-postdoctoral-position-in-brain-and-biosignal-based-speech-recognition - 1 post-doc in New techniques for vision-assisted speech processing with event-driven cameras(within the EU H2020 Ecomode project) https://beta.iit.it/careers/openings/opening/71-postdoctoral-position-in-new-techniques-for-vision-assisted-speech-processing -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Ruben.CoenCagli at unige.ch Mon Feb 1 05:39:24 2016 From: Ruben.CoenCagli at unige.ch (Ruben Coen Cagli) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2016 10:39:24 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience in New York Message-ID: <1454323164752.43430@unige.ch> Postdoctoral position in the Coen-Cagli Laboratory Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY Start date August 2016 or later We are looking for a highly creative and motivated postdoctoral fellow to work in the field of computational and systems neuroscience in the laboratory of Ruben Coen-Cagli - Department of Systems and Computational Biology and Department of Neuroscience at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) in New York City (https://sites.google.com/site/rubencoencagli/). Our lab studies how biological sensory systems interpret the surrounding environment. Topics include probabilistic representations of natural images; models of selectivity and variability in large cortical populations; the behavioral consequences of neuronal variability; and uncertainty in visual and auditory perception. We combine theories of probabilistic neural coding, tools from computer vision and machine learning, eye-tracking experiments, and neurophysiology through collaborations. The candidate is expected to perform research related to these topics. The lab features state of the art computing and eye-tracking facilities. Close interaction and collaboration with other members of the department is anticipated. Applicants must have a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline, with an academic record of scientific excellence and independent research. Prior experience should include areas such as computational neuroscience, machine learning, computer vision, or statistics. Applicants should have a keen interest in interdisciplinary approaches to biological and neural systems. AECOM offers a vibrant interdisciplinary environment, with a growing systems and computational contingent. It is located in a quiet neighborhood of New York, only a short subway ride from Manhattan. Information about working at the AECOM, including benefits and housing for postdocs, can be found at https://www.einstein.yu.edu/research/belfer-institute/ The position starts in or after August 2016, and is funded for several years, with an initial one year appointment and expectation of extension given satisfactory performance. Salary is competitive and will be commensurate with experience. Candidates should send a single pdf file, consisting of a 1-page motivation letter, CV, and publication list to ruben.coencagli at gmail.com. Furthermore, candidates should organize two letters of reference, to be sent to the same e-mail address. The position is open until filled. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring minorities, women, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. ----------------- Ruben Coen-Cagli will be available at Cosyne to meet with candidates. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From elio.tuci at gmail.com Mon Feb 1 04:02:19 2016 From: elio.tuci at gmail.com (Elio Tuci) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2016 09:02:19 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: CFP: SAB2016 - international Conference on the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior Message-ID: *SAB2016 ? CALL FOR PAPERS* FROM ANIMALS TO ANIMATS 14 The 14th International Conference on the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB2016) 23-26 August 2016, Aberystwyth, UK http://www.sab2016.org *Organising Committee* Conference Chairs: Myra S. Wilson, John Hallam Program Chairs: Elio Tuci, Alexandros Giagkos Tutorial Chair: Fred Labrosse *Important Dates* Tutorial Proposal Deadline: 14th Dec, 2015 Tutorial Notification of Acceptance: 11th Jan, 2016 Paper Submission Deadline: 21st Mar, 2016 Notification of Acceptance: 16th May, 2016 Camera Ready Submission: 6th Jun, 2016 Tutorials: 23rd Aug, 2016 Conference: 24-26th Aug, 2016 *Scope of the Conference* The objective of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together researchers in computer science, artificial intelligence, artificial life, control, robotics, neurosciences, ethology, evolutionary biology and related fields in order to further our understanding of the behaviours and underlying mechanisms that allow natural and artificial animals to adapt and survive in uncertain environments. The conference will focus on experiments with well-defined models including robot models, computer simulation models and mathematical models designed to help characterise and compare various organisational principles or architectures underlying adaptive behaviour in real animals and in synthetic agents, the animats. *Relevant Research Areas* SAB2016 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of adaptive behaviour in natural and artificial systems. Typical, but not exclusive, topics of interest are: The animat approach Motor control Body and brain co-evolution Self-assembling and self-replication Sensory-motor coordination Action selection and behavioural sequencing Navigation and mapping Internal models and representation Evolution, development and learning Collective and social behaviour Applied adaptive behaviour Motivation and emotion Communication and language Emergent structures and behaviours Neural correlates of behaviour Evolutionary and co-evolutionary approaches Bio-inspired and hybrid robotics Autonomous robotics Humanoid robotics Cognitive and developmental robotics Software agents and virtual creatures Philosophical and psychological issues Animats in education *Conference Format* Following the tradition of SAB conferences, the conference will be single track with additional poster sessions. There will also be a day of tutorials (23rd of August). *Paper Submission Instruction and Publication Details* Submitted papers must not exceed 10 pages. Detailed submission instructions are available from the conference website (http://www.sab2016.org). All accepted papers with oral or poster presentation will be published in Springer Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series conference proceedings. Selected authors may additionally be invited to submit extended versions for a conference Special Issue of the Journal of Adaptive Behavior. *Tutorials* The SAB2016 organising committee invites proposals for tutorials, which will be held on the 23rd of August, 2016. Instructions for preparing the tutorial proposal and further details on the tutorials can be found at http://www.sab2016.org. *Exhibition Section* During SAB2016 there will be an exhibition section, where latest developments in hardware and software technologies will be displayed to the conference attendees and the Press. *Best Paper Award* Details of the best paper award will be announced in due course. *Further Information* Up-to-date information will be published on the website http://www.sab2016.org. For information about local arrangements, registration forms, etc., please refer to the website or contact the local organisers at the address below. *Conference Address* Computer Science Department Llandinam Building Aberystwyth University Tel: +44-1970-622928 Aberystwyth Fax: +44-1970-628536 SY23 3DB UK sab2016-conference at isab.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From florian.roehrbein at in.tum.de Mon Feb 1 07:18:03 2016 From: florian.roehrbein at in.tum.de (Florian Roehrbein) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2016 13:18:03 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Frontiers in Neurorobotics: 2 open research topics Message-ID: <423AC715-C075-4AE0-A904-F4AB8C969B7F@in.tum.de> Topic Title 1: Peripheral Nervous System-Machine Interfaces Editors: Michael Wininger, Panagiotis Artemiadis, Claudio Castellini, Patrick Pilarski Abstract: There is an ever-increasing interest in emergent approaches for extracting signatures of neuromuscular volition for high-fidelity operation of prosthetic devices and assistive technologies. In a recent position paper [Castellini 2015], the Peripheral Nervous System-Machine Interface (PNS-MI) workgroup has taken on focal topics driving the field of prosthetic detection and control: Limitations of surface electromyography (sEMG), Opportunities for improvement of sEMG, Alternative prosthetic sensing technologies, and Shared control strategies. One particularly critical barrier to development is the need for greater integration of the clinician and the patient into the work of laboratory-based developers: technology that isn?t conceived, designed, fitted, and instructed to the patients, stands a high risk of disuse and abandonment. In particular, areas of need include: provision of real-time feedback, improved reliability in the face of inherently unstable control signals, expansion of the number of controllable degrees of freedom, and increased sense of embodiment. This Research Topic welcomes all types of articles related to novel technologies for control of prosthetic or assistive devices, and places high priority on those articles addressing the areas of need as described above. All types of articles are welcome among those permitted in the Frontiers in Neurorobotics platform. For submission details see http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/4614/peripheral-nervous-system-machine-interfaces-pns-mi Topic Title 2: Neural Computation in Embodied Closed-Loop Systems for the Generation of Complex Behavior: From Biology to Technology Editors: Poramate Manoonpong, Christian Tetzlaff Abstract: The brain of biological systems is a highly complex and very efficient computing unit. It can deal with a multitude of tasks from low-level sensorimotor coordination to high-level cognition. Specifically, it can process high-dimensional sensory information and, dependent on this, generate coordinated motor commands in real time, resulting in actions (like, locomotion and manipulation). Simultaneously, it can also perform cognitive functions (such as navigation, goal-oriented behavior, reasoning and decision making, interaction, communication). This amazing performance is achieved by using the full capacity of its neural dynamics, learning, memory, and adaptation as well as by interacting with the environment through its body (i.e., sensory-motor system). Thus, actions and cognition require dynamical brain-body-environment interactions and thereby cannot be disembodied. A number of researchers have tried to investigate biological systems to understand principles underlying these complex behaviors and to imitate such performance with artificial systems by using different types of neural computation models in open-loop and closed-loop contexts. However, achieving the level of performance of living creatures remains a grand challenge. According to this, the Research topic welcomes articles that recent neural mechanisms for the generation of complex behavior in embodied closed-loop systems from biological investigations to technical implementations. For submission details see http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/4674/neural-computation-in-embodied-closed-loop-systems-for-the-generation-of-complex-behavior-from-biolo -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From garrickorchard at gmail.com Mon Feb 1 23:31:54 2016 From: garrickorchard at gmail.com (Garrick Orchard) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2016 04:31:54 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Papers: WCCI 2016 International Workshop on Neuromorphic Computing and Cyborg Intelligence Message-ID: **Apologies for cross posting.** **Please forward this call for papers to anyone else who might be interested.** *WCCI 2016 International Workshop on Neuromorphic Computing and Cyborg Intelligence * *25-29 July 2016 Vancouver Canada* *Paper Submission Deadline: Feb 8, 2016* Paper submission is done through the IEEE CEC 2016 paper submission link, http://ieee-cis.org/conferences/cec2016/upload.php In the "*Main Research Topic*", select "*8ab: International Workshop on Neuromorphic Computing and Cyborg Intelligence*". High quality workshop papers will be invited to submit their full studies to the special issue on IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems. *Aim and Scope* In recent years neuromorphic computing has become an important emerging research area. There has been rapid progress in computational theory, learning algorithms, signal processing and circuit design and implementation, which have shown appealing computational advantages over conventional solutions. The low size, weight, and power of these hardware architectures shows great potential for embedded cognitive systems. Starting from emulating the computational principles and architecture found in neural systems, neuromorphic computing aims to integrate sensory coding, synaptic computing (e.g., STDP), learning and memory, and attempts to develop neuromorphic sensors and chips, and cognitive behaving systems such as robots. Neuromorphic hardware has provided a fundamentally different technique for data representation and learning, e.g., asynchronous events rather than regularly sampled frames of images. Various hardware systems leveraging on neural spikes based computing have been reported to achieve good performance with much lower power consumption. Therefore, neuromorphic computing can inform cognitive systems because the algorithms that run on this hardware must be neurobiologically inspired. A huge potential exists for applying this emerging computing framework to the next generation of cognitive systems and robotics, neuro-inspired sensors and processors, etc. *Themes* This workshop aims to report state-of-the-art approaches and recent advances on (a) learning algorithms constrained by limits of biology and neuromorphic hardware (b) neuromorphic hardware for cognitive systems and (c) applications of neuromorphic architecture or hardware to cognitive robotics. Topics relevant to this workshop include, but are not limited to - Neuromorphic cognitive systems - Cognitive robotics - Brain-inspired data representation models - STDP, Spike-based sensing and learning algorithms - Spike-based processing and methods for configuring spike-based processors -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gouhei at sat.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp Thu Feb 4 01:02:04 2016 From: gouhei at sat.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Gouhei Tanaka) Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2016 15:02:04 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: The 2nd workshop on Bio-inspired Energy-Efficient Information Systems Message-ID: <1454565724577753.2003227672@ums002.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp> (Apologies if you received multiple CFPs) The 2nd workshop on Bio-inspired Energy-Efficient Information Systems This is the announcement of the 2nd workshop on Bio-inspired Energy-Efficient Information Systems, will be held on March 2nd 2016 at Sanjo Conference Hall, The University of Tokyo. The workshop consists of invited oral presentations by famous professors and researchers from various research fields (fundamentals, modelling, electronic devices/systems), aiming at addressing and discussing critical issues for implementing bio-inspired energy-efficient information systems. The conference is co-organized by IIIEE (Division : Next Generation Nano-Micro Devices and Systems for Energy-Efficient Information Processing), the University of Tokyo, and IBM Japan, Ltd.. The conference fee is free, and pre-registration is highly welcome. Please refer to the web site of the workshop for more information: http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/EEIP-SCP/workshop20160302/index.html Date: March 2nd, 2016, 13:00-18:00 Place: Sanjo Hall, The University of Tokyo Organizer: IIIEE (Division : Next Generation Nano-Micro Devices and Systems for Energy-Efficient Information Processing), th e University of Tokyo, and IBM Japan, Ltd. Registration fee: free Contact address: all at webpark1846.sakura.ne.jp Regards, the organizing team From graduateprograms at bccn-berlin.de Tue Feb 2 19:37:32 2016 From: graduateprograms at bccn-berlin.de (Robert Martin) Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2016 01:37:32 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: [2nd call for applications] *Graduate Programs in Computational Neuroscience* in Berlin; MSc and PhD; 7 PhD scholarships; deadline March 15, 2015 Message-ID: <56B14BCC.3060502@bccn-berlin.de> [Apologies for cross-posting] *Doctoral* and *Master Program* "Computational Neuroscience" at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin in Berlin, Germany Application deadline: *March 15, 2016* Begin of courses: October 2016 Internet: www.computational-neuroscience-berlin.de _Doctoral Program_ The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and the TU Berlin invite applications for *6 fellowships* of the Research Training Group "Sensory Computation in Neural Systems" (GRK 1589/2, https://www.eecs.tu-berlin.de/grk_15891/). The *scientific program* of the research training group combines techniques and concepts from machine learning, computational neuroscience, and systems neurobiology in order to specifically address sensory computation. Doctoral candidates will work on interdisciplinary projects investigating the mechanisms of neural computation, address the processes underlying perception on different scales and different levels of abstraction, and develop new theories of computation hand in hand with well-controlled experiments in order to put functional hypotheses to the test. The training group offers structured supervision complemented by a teaching and training program. Each student will be supervised by two investigators with complementary expertise and will be associated with the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin (https://www.bccn-berlin.de/) a leading research center dedicated to the theoretical study of neural processing. Candidates are expected to hold a Masters degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject (e.g., neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, physics, mathematics, etc.) and have the required advanced mathematical background. Candidates selected in the first application step will be invited for lab visits and an interview, expected to take place in June 2015. The *fellowships of 1468 ?/month* - with additional children allowances if applicable---will be granted for up to three years. _Master's Program_ The tuition-free Master program in Computational Neuroscience offers *15 places* per year, has a duration of 2 years and is fully taught in English. The *curriculum* is subdivided into ten modules, whose content includes theoretical neuroscience, programming, machine learning, cognitive neuroscience, acquisition, modelling, and computational analysis of neural data, with a strong focus on a complementary theoretical and experimental training. Three lab rotations and a Master's thesis are accomplished in the second year. The aim of the program is to provide the students with an interdisciplinary education and an early contact to the neurocomputational research environment. *Requirements* BSc or equivalent degree in a relevant subject (typically in the natural sciences, in an engineering discipline, in cognitive science, or in mathematics), certificate of English proficiency, proof of sufficient mathematical knowledge (at least 24 ECTS credit points). ~~~ _For more information_ ... ... come and visit us at the BCCN Berlin: https://www.bccn-berlin.de/Home/Contact/How_to_reach/ ... or browse: www.computational-neuroscience-berlin.de ... or e-mail: graduateprograms at bccn-berlin.de . Best regards, Robert Martin -- Robert Martin, PhD Teaching Coordinator Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin Philippstr. 13 House 6; 10115 Berlin; Germany Phone/Fax +49 (0)30 2093 6773/6771 http://www.computational-neuroscience-berlin.de GRK 1589/1, Sensory Computation in Neural Systems Technische Universitaet Berlin Sekretariat MAR 5-6; Marchstr. 23; 10587 Berlin Phone/Fax +49 (0)30 314 72006/73121 http://www.eecs.tu-berlin.de/grk_15891/ From margret.franke at bccn-berlin.de Fri Feb 5 03:41:38 2016 From: margret.franke at bccn-berlin.de (Margret Franke) Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2016 09:41:38 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: REMINDER: Call for Workshops - Bernstein Conference 2016 In-Reply-To: <564F1130.40201@bccn-berlin.de> References: <564F1130.40201@bccn-berlin.de> Message-ID: <56B46042.2070205@bccn-berlin.de> The Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience and the Bernstein Center Berlin invite proposals for Satellite Workshops directly preceding the Bernstein Conference 2016 in Berlin. ********************************************************************************** Call for Workshop proposals: Workshops: September 20-21, 2016 Main Bernstein Conference: September 21-23, 2016 Deadline for proposal submission: March 18, 2016 Notification of acceptance: April 22, 2016 Conference Registration starts: May 2, 2016 Early Registration Deadline: July 24, 2016 ********************************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference started out as the annual meeting of the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience and has become the largest annual single-track Computational Neuroscience conference in Europe in recent years. Since 2013, the Bernstein Conference hosts pre-conference workshops, which have developed swiftly into a well-attended event. They supply a stage to debate topical research questions and challenges in Computational Neuroscience and related fields, different points of view and scientific approaches in an informal setting. Workshops addressing controversial issues, open problems, and comparisons of competing approaches are encouraged, and formats are expected that foster debate beyond a mere series of talks. SCHEDULE: September 20, 2016, 14:00 ? 18:30. September 21, 2016, 9:00 ? 12:30. You may apply for either half-day or full-day workshops. WORKSHOP COSTS: The Bernstein Conference does not provide financial support, but workshop organizers and speakers are offered free workshop registration. Organizers get a waiver for the main conference fee. For further information about the conference, please visit the conference website . DETAILS FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS: The Workshop Proposal form can be downloaded here: . Deadline for submission of Workshop Proposals: March 18, 2016 CONTACT: We are looking forward to welcoming you in Berlin! The program committee ------------------------------- Michael Brecht Gustavo Deco Alain Destexhe Sophie Den?ve Udo Ernst Adrienne Fairhall Sonja Gr?n John-Dylan Haynes Andreas Herz Philipp H?vel Richard Kempter Klaus Obermayer Stefan Rotter Susanne Schreiber Henning Sprekeler -- Margret Franke Managing Director Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin Unter den Linden 6 10099 Berlin phone: (030) 2093-9110 fax: (030) 2093-6771 From navlakha at salk.edu Tue Feb 2 20:01:58 2016 From: navlakha at salk.edu (Saket Navlakha) Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2016 01:01:58 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Biological Distributions Algorithm (BDA) 2016 Message-ID: <3B27268D-450A-4FDE-B11D-BFFBBF84B8F7@salk.edu> ======================================================= The 4th Workshop on Biological Distributed Algorithms (BDA 2016) Co-located with PODC 2016. July 25, 2016 in Chicago, IL USA http://www.snl.salk.edu/~navlakha/BDA2016/ ======================================================= We are excited to announce the 4th workshop on Biological Distributed Algorithms (BDA). The aim of the workshop is to foster collaborative research between biologists and distributed computing theory researchers, with the hope of producing better understanding of the behavior of distributed biological systems, as well as new ideas for design of algorithms for engineered or computational networks. BDA 2016 will include presentations on distributed algorithms related to a variety of biological systems, with special attention to communication and coordination in insect colonies (e.g. foraging, navigation, task allocation, construction) and networks in the brain (e.g. learning, decision-making, attention). This is a one-day workshop. =========== SUBMISSIONS =========== We solicit submissions of extended abstracts describing recent results relevant to biological distributed computing. We especially welcome extended abstracts describing new insights and / or case studies regarding the relationship between distributed computing and biological systems even if these are not fully formed. Since a major goal of the workshop is to explore new directions and approaches, we especially encourage the submission of ongoing work. Selected contributors would be asked to present, discuss and defend their work at the workshop. Submissions should be in PDF and include title, author information, and a 4-page extended abstract. Please use the following EasyChair submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bda20160 Note: The workshop will not include published proceedings. In particular, we welcome submissions of papers describing work that has appeared or is expected to appear in other venues. =============== IMPORTANT DATES =============== April 25, 2016 ? Extended abstract submission deadline May 25, 2016 ? Decision notifications July 25, 2016 ? Workshop ================ INVITED SPEAKERS [PRELIMINARY; MORE TO COME!] ================ Bernard Chazelle - Princeton Melanie Moses - UNM ================= PROGRAM COMMITTEE ================= Ziv Bar-Joseph - CMU Anna Dornhaus - University of Arizona Yuval Emek - Technion (co-chair) Amos Korman - CNRS and University of Paris Diderot Nancy Lynch - MIT Saket Navlakha - Salk Institute (co-chair) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Sharon.Crook at asu.edu Wed Feb 3 00:43:41 2016 From: Sharon.Crook at asu.edu (Sharon Crook) Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2016 05:43:41 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: CNS*2016 Abstract Submission Open Message-ID: <679E160F6790C046BA424EAE1F79A6632430630B@exmbt02.asurite.ad.asu.edu> Organization for Computational Neurosciences (OCNS) CNS 2016 25th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting Jeju Island, South Korea July 2-7, 2016 The main meeting (July 3-5) will be preceded by a day of tutorials (July 2) and followed by two days of workshops (July 6-7). Invited Keynote Speakers: Nicolas Brunel, University of Chicago, USA Mitsuo Kawato, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute, Japan Tatyana Sharpee, Salk Institute, USA Registration opened on January 13, 2016. Abstract submissions are now being accepted and will close on February 28. Workshop proposals are now being accepted. Note that one of the authors must register as sponsoring author for the main meeting before abstract submission is possible. In case the abstract is not accepted for presentation, the registration fee will be refunded. For up-to-date conference information, please visit http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2016-jeju ---------------------------------------- OCNS is the international member-based society for computational neuroscientists. Become a member to be eligible for travel awards and more. Visit our website for more information: http://www.cnsorg.org From baolshausen at berkeley.edu Sat Feb 6 01:31:42 2016 From: baolshausen at berkeley.edu (Bruno OLSHAUSEN) Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2016 22:31:42 -0800 Subject: Connectionists: Neuro-Inspired Computational Elements Workshop, March 7-9 Message-ID: 2016 Neuro-Inspired Computational Elements Workshop March 7-9, 2016 Clark-Kerr Campus, Berkeley, CA http://neuroscience.berkeley.edu/2016-neuro-inspired-computational-elements-workshop/ *About the meeting* Neuro-inspired Computational Elements (NICE) workshops have been held for the last three years, bringing the very wide ranging scientific disciplines (neuroscience: imaging, theory, algorithms), hardware and applications communities looking for a common ground to accelerate the development of next generation of computing approaches. The key outcome will be the further clarification of the value proposition for neuro-inspired/neuromorphic computing: why and how could these systems deliver the performance and efficiency we seek beyond conventional computing approaches? The concurrent task for the workshop is to identify pathways for building and accelerating the evaluation and development of such systems. *Invited Speakers:* William Dally, NVIDIA Ila Fiete, UT Austin Steve Furber, University of Manchester Surya Ganguli, Stanford Jeff Hawkins, Numenta Bruce Hendrickson, Sandia National Laboratories Giacomo Indiveri, University of Zurich Pentti Kanerva, Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience Amir Khosrowshahi, Nervana Systems David Kirk, Nvidia Christof Koch, Allen Institute for Brain Science Aurel Lazar, Columbia Wolfang Maass, Technische Universit?t Graz Rajit Manohar, Cornell Dharmendra Modha, IBM Christos Papadimitriou, UC Berkeley Alice Parker, USC Michael Schmuker, University of Sussex Narayan Srinivasa, Intel Winfried Wilcke, IBM *To Register* Please click on the following registration page link https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1749241 If you are interested in presenting at the workshop, we ask that you submit an extended abstract (1 page max pdf) during registration. There is an opportunity to upload your abstract at the bottom of the "personal information" page. After your information is entered you will be asked to pay. The 3 day event costs $275.00 per person, plus processing fees. *Hotel ** book by Sunday, Feb. 7 *** A block of rooms has been reserved at the Claremont Hotel for $219 per night, plus taxes and fees. Please click on this link to make a reservation in the room block: https://aws.passkey.com/event/14424359/owner/14188480/home --------------------------------------- Bruno A. Olshausen Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute & School of Optometry Director, Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience UC Berkeley 575A Evans hall, MC 3198 Berkeley, CA 94720-3198 (510) 642-7250 / 2-7206 (fax) http://redwood.berkeley.edu/bruno -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From i.tetko at gsf.de Thu Feb 11 13:07:26 2016 From: i.tetko at gsf.de (Dr. Igor Tetko) Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2016 19:07:26 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: 10 doctoral positions in Big Data Analysis in Chemistry, Marie Skodowska-Curie ITN BIGCHEM (http://bigchem.eu) Message-ID: <2419B07A-9440-48EA-BCEB-1470420191B4@gsf.de> BIGCHEM (BIG data in CHEMistry) is a Marie Skodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) for Early Stage Researchers (ESR) funded by the European Commission under the H2020 Programme. The BIGCHEM ITN will provide a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary structured curriculum for doctoral students in large chemical data analysis using machine-learning, computational chemistry and chemoinformatics methods. The innovative research program will be implemented with the target users, large pharma companies and SMEs, which generate and analyse large chemical data. BIGCHEM is a collaborative action of 9 groups in 5 countries from academia and pharmaceutical industry. The complementary expertise of partners in different aspect of large chemical data, including data production, data security, analysis, and development of theoretical methods is the basis of the research topics and allocation of individual tasks and resources. The project will train ten Early Stage Researchers (ESR). Each ESR will spend at least 50% of time with industrial partners and will be employed for 36 months in total (18 months with academic partner and 18 months with industrial partner or vice versa). ESR1: Machine learning methodologies for mining very large compound data sets. (Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH & Co KG and University of Bonn, Germany) ESR2: Computational compound screening and profiling by large-scale mining of pharmaceutical data. (University of Bonn, Germany and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH & Co KG, Germany) ESR3: Big data visualization and modeling using Generative Topographic Mapping (GTM). (University of Strasbourg and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH & Co KG, Germany) ESR4: Development of frequent hitters filters for HTS screening. (Helmholtz Zentrum M?nchen & Lead Discovery Center GmbH, Germany) ESR5: Analysis of Compound Promiscuity Based on Bioassay Ontology. (University of Bonn & AstraZeneca, Germany & Sweden) ESR6: Developing virtual screening methods to exploit large virtual chemical space. (University of Bern & AstraZeneca, Sweden & Switzerland) ESR7: Exploration of uncharted regions of the chemical space by reaction-driven de novo design. (Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH & Co KG and ETH Z?rich, Germany and Switzerland) ESR8: Accessing new chemical space for lead optimization based on QSAR models. (AstraZeneca & Helmholtz Zentrum M?nchen, Germany & Sweden) ESR9: Integrated ligand- and structure-based approaches for predicting compound polypharmacology based on big data. (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia & AstraZeneca, Italy & Sweden) ESR10: Secure sharing of information using ensemble of machine learning methods and surrogate data. (Helmholtz Zentrum M?nchen & AstraZeneca, Germany & Sweden) Further information about the recruitment process as well as the eligibility criteria are indicated on the BIGCHEM site http://bigchem.eu (or from info AT bigchem.eu ). Applications should be submitted on-line through the project website http://bigchem.eu . Deadline for applications is 20.03.2016. Dr. Igor V. Tetko Coordinator of MC EID ?BigChem? Institute of Structural Biology Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen German Research Center for Environmental Health Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, b. 60w D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From m.plumbley at surrey.ac.uk Mon Feb 8 06:31:34 2016 From: m.plumbley at surrey.ac.uk (m.plumbley at surrey.ac.uk) Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2016 11:31:34 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Lectureship in Computer Vision/Image Analysis for Medicine & Healthcare, CVSSP, Surrey, UK Message-ID: Lectureship in Computer Vision/Image Analysis for Medicine & Healthcare Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, University of Surrey, UK Closing Date: Thursday 18 February 2016 http://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/003116 The University offers a unique opportunity for an outstanding research leader to join the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP). The successful candidate is expected to build a research project portfolio to complement existing CVSSP strengths. The centre seeks to appoint an individual with an excellent research track-record and international profile to lead future growth of research activities in one or more of the following areas: * Medical Image Analysis * Image and Sensor Analysis for Healthcare * Big Data Understanding for Healthcare * Machine Learning & Pattern Recognition * Machine Intelligence We now seek a strong research leader who can develop the existing activities of CVSSP and exploit the synergetic possibilities that exist within the centre, across the University and regionally with UK industry. You will possess proven management and leadership qualities, demonstrating achievements in scholarship and research at a national and international level, and will have substantial experience of teaching within HE. CVSSP is one of the primary centres for computer vision & audio-visual signal processing in Europe with over 120 researchers, a grant portfolio of ?18M and a track-record of pioneering research leading to technology transfer in collaboration with UK industry. Related to this post CVSSP, in collaboration with the Surrey Centres for Clinical & Sleep Research, has recently been awarded ?1.2M equipment funding to support research in sensor networks to monitor & measure people for healthcare in the community. CVSSP forms part of the Department of Electronic Engineering, recognised as a top department for both Teaching and Research. Further details of CVSSP: surrey.ac.uk/cvssp Closing date for applications: 18th February 2016 For an informal discussion, please contact Professor Adrian Hilton, Director of CVSSP (a.hilton at surrey.ac.uk). From dwang at cse.ohio-state.edu Tue Feb 9 21:37:54 2016 From: dwang at cse.ohio-state.edu (DeLiang Wang) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 21:37:54 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL NETWORKS, Feb. 2016 Message-ID: <56BAA282.1080500@cse.ohio-state.edu> Neural Networks - Volume 74, Feb. 2016 http://www.journals.elsevier.com/neural-networks TWSVR: Regression via Twin Support Vector Machine Reshma Khemchandani, Keshav Goyal, Suresh Chandra SIM-ELM: Connecting the ELM model with similarity-function learning Paolo Gastaldo, Federica Bisio, Sergio Decherchi, Rodolfo Zunino Behavioral plasticity through the modulation of switch neurons Vassilis Vassiliades, Chris Christodoulou Event-triggered synchronization strategy for complex dynamical networks with the Markovian switching topologies Aijuan Wang, Tao Dong, Xiaofeng Liao Stability of discrete time recurrent neural networks and nonlinear optimization problems Jayant Singh, Nikita Barabanov Boundedness, Mittag-Leffler stability and asymptotical image-periodicity of fractional-order fuzzy neural networks Ailong Wu, Zhigang Zeng Non-fragile image synchronization of memristor-based neural networks using passivity theory K. Mathiyalagan, R. Anbuvithya, R. Sakthivel, Ju H. Park, P. Prakash Pixel classification based color image segmentation using quaternion exponent moments Xiang-Yang Wang, Zhi-Fang Wu, Liang Chen, Hong-Liang Zheng, Hong-Ying Yang From m.pontil at cs.ucl.ac.uk Fri Feb 12 08:51:59 2016 From: m.pontil at cs.ucl.ac.uk (Massimiliano Pontil) Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2016 14:51:59 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: 3 Postdoctoral positions in Machine Learning Message-ID: I have openings for 3 postdocs to start in 2016. The positions are based at IIT but collaborations and extended visits at UCL are possible. Areas of research interest include: deep learning kernel methods multitask and transfer learning numerical optimization reinforcement learning representation learning sparsity regularization statistical learning theory Candidates must hold a PhD in computer science or a related discipline (mathematics, statistics, signal processing, operations research). Please note that outstanding applications in other areas will also be considered. Candidates should either have a strong background in machine learning theory and algorithms or strong programming skills involving machine learning algorithms and their applications. Interest and prior expertise in applications to robotics, computer vision and related disciplines is a plus but not a requirement. An internationally competitive salary package subject to experience will be offered. The scientific environment at IIT is a world-class one offering full support to do research at outstanding levels. The positions are based at IIT but collaborations and extended visits at University College London are possible. Interested applicants should submit CV, list of publications, a statement of research interests and names of 2 references to applications at iit.it quoting ?3 Postdoctoral positions in Machine Learning? in the e-mail subject. To receive full consideration please apply before February 29, 2016. For more information: https://beta.iit.it/careers/openings/opening/48-3-postdoctoral-positions-in-machine-learning Regards, Massimiliano Pontil From francois.fleuret at idiap.ch Sat Feb 6 12:16:48 2016 From: francois.fleuret at idiap.ch (Francois Fleuret) Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2016 18:16:48 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Two post-doc positions in machine learning and computer vision (Idiap, Swizterland) Message-ID: <22198.10880.501968.62372@swan.fleuret.org> The Computer Vision and Learning group at the Idiap Research Institute (http://www.idiap.ch/cvl) invites applications for two postdoctoral positions (http://www.idiap.ch/~fleuret/hiring.html), on the development of invariant embeddings for face recognition and techniques for accurate defect detection in manufacturing processes. Applicants should have a strong background in machine learning applied to computer vision, a publication record in top-tier venues (TPAMI, JMLR, CVPR, ICCV, NIPS, ICML, etc.), excellent programming skills, and good knowledge of (some of) the standard machine-learning frameworks. Appointment for the positions are 15-18 months, and may be renewed depending on funding opportunities. Starting date is as early as possible. * About Idiap The Idiap Research Institute is located in Valais, a scenic region in the south of Switzerland, surrounded by the highest mountains of Europe, and within close proximity to Lausanne and Geneva. The working language of Idiap is English. Please contact francois.fleuret at idiap.ch for additional information. -- Francois Fleuret http://www.idiap.ch/~fleuret/ From mlsp at NEURO.KULEUVEN.BE Wed Feb 10 08:00:10 2016 From: mlsp at NEURO.KULEUVEN.BE (2016 IEEE International Workshop on Machine Learning fo Signal Processing) Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2016 14:00:10 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in latent variable analysis for data fusion Message-ID: <56BB345A.2090006@neuro.kuleuven.be> Postdoctoral position in latent variable analysis for data fusion Starting date: April 2016 to December 2016 Duration: One to four years (initial appointment is for one year) Location: Machine Learning for Signal Processing Laboratory (http://mlsp.umbc.edu) at University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD and Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD working with Drs. T?lay Adali and Justin Brooks Description: The main goal of the project is contributing to the understanding of human behavior and hence to develop novel methods to predict an individual?s future performance. This will require incorporation of multiple factors and their interactions into the analysis, spanning multiple time scales across a large group of individuals. The emphasis will be on fusion of multiple physiologic signals, as well as their analysis/fusion with other available data such as social and behavioral data. The candidate should have a strong background in statistical signal processing and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Math/Statistics, or in a related field. In addition, background in the theory and practice of latent variable analysis methods such as blind source separation is highly desirable. Familiarity with the processing of medical data is another plus. To apply: If interested, please send your application along with a complete CV and contact information of at least three references to T?lay Adali at adali at umbc.edu From erdi.peter at wigner.mta.hu Thu Feb 11 15:59:17 2016 From: erdi.peter at wigner.mta.hu (=?ISO-8859-2?Q?=C9rdi_P=E9ter?=) Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2016 21:59:17 +0100 (CET) Subject: Connectionists: Cognitive Systems Research Message-ID: Elsevier journal Cognitive Systems Research (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/cognitive-systems-research/) has now a rather new Editorial Board: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/cognitive-systems-research/editorial-board/. Cognitive Systems Research covers all topics in the study of cognitive systems and processes, in both natural (i.e. animal and human) and artificial (such as software and robotic) systems. The journal emphasizes the integration of ideas, concepts, constructs, theories, models and techniques from multiple paradigms, perspectives, and disciplines, in the analysis, understanding, and design of cognitive and intelligent systems. Both individiual manuscripts and suggestions for special issues will be reviewed now within a reasonable time window. Inquries should be sent to P?ter ?rdi (perdi at kzoo.edu) Editor-in-Chief From rod.rinkus at gmail.com Mon Feb 8 18:30:13 2016 From: rod.rinkus at gmail.com (Rod Rinkus) Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2016 18:30:13 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: ConvNet's parameter sharing is fundamentally incompatible with processor memory co-localization Message-ID: Dear Connectionists, Currently, the leading, and very successful, paradigm of machine intelligence is Convolutional Networks (ConvNets), introduced by Yann LeCun. As Dr. LeCun states in the Deep Learning Tutorial (Hinton, Bengio & LeCun) given about two months ago at NIPS, ?Everyone uses ConvNets? (at ~minute 49 of the talk). At the same time, within the hardware community, it has long been understood that most of the computational time / power used in executing algorithms on the essentially ubiquitous Von Neumann computer model is expended in moving data between memory and processor. For this reason, there is a tremendous imperative to build new architectures in which the processor is physically co-localized with memory. Clearly, whatever algorithm(s) underlie natural intelligence, they run on brains which are networks of neurons, each one of which is both processor and memory. More specifically, each synapse is essentially both processor and memory: it?s memory because it retains (stably over potentially very long periods) knowledge of the history of signals that it has mediated; it?s processor because it effectively multiplies the signal being mediated by the instantaneous weight. A Memristor, for example, perfectly co-localizes processor and memory. The above two conditions compel me to submit for discussion what I believe is a fundamental problem regarding the scalability of ConvNets. Specifically, the technique of ?shared parameters?, upon which, I think most would concur, ConvNets depend in order to scale to massive problems, is *fundamentally* incompatible with processor-memory co-localization (PMC). In the shared parameters technique, a single filter (kernel) is learned for each feature map. The sharing occurs essentially through *averaging the gradients* computed for all the, say *U*?*V*, units comprising that map. The justification for learning a single filter for an entire input surface is that, for natural input domains, the local statistics in any filter-scale 2D patch are highly similar across the entire input surface: e.g., virtually all patches of a visual input can approximately decomposed as some small number of low-order visual features, e.g., oriented Gabors, edges, etc. Sharing parameters has two major benefits: a) it greatly boosts the number of samples informing the learning of the filter, yielding a better model; and b) it drastically reduces the number of parameters that need to be learned (typically via stochastic gradient descent), which in turn drastically reduces learning time. However, averaging the gradients implies aggregating, at a central location, information originating from multiple spatial locales (i.e., *U*? *V* locales) on the input surface. Suppose the kernel itself is an *X?Y* array. The *X?Y* values collected for the (0,0)^th position of the map are physically distinct from those collected for the (*U*-1,*V-1*)^th position (modulo overlap). Even if we were to grant that the *X?Y* array positions (i.e., ?synaptic? weights) for the (0,0)^th position of the map were represented by Memristors, they cannot be the same Memristors that represent the weights for the (*U*-1,*V-1*)^th position, nor in general, any of the other *U*?*V*?1 map positions. Thus, in order to do the gradient averaging, there must be macroscopic movement of large amounts of data, not simply between the processor and memory of any single ?node?, but *between nodes* (or, from all *U*?*V *nodes to a central point). There appears to be no way around the fact that the shared (tied) parameters technique of ConvNets entails massive movement of data. Note that the situation described here applies to every feature map learned at every level of a network. Thus we have the situation that: a) in order to scale to massive problem sizes, ConvNets require parameter sharing; b) to achieve huge reductions in the amount of time and power expended in computation, we need PMC; and c) parameter sharing is incompatible with PMC. In fact, Dr. LeCun acknowledges that sharing parameters entails a large amount of data movement (at ~minute 46 of the talk, Slide 66 ?Distributed Learning?). On that same slide, he references efforts to address this issue, e.g., asynchronous stochastic gradient descent, but indicates that substantial challenges remain. There has been some exploration of ?locally connected? ConvNets (Gregor, Szlam, Lecun, 2011), i.e., ConvNets which do not use parameter sharing. However, the fact remains that without parameter sharing, scalabilty of ConvNets to massive problems has to be considered an open question. For example, what would be the training time on a larger benchmark like ImageNet, without parameter sharing? In fact, the brain is, of course, locally connected. That would seem to make it overwhelmingly likely that the actual algorithm of intelligence requires local connectivity. The existence proof that is the brain, therefore, constitutes another serious challenge to ConvNets. It is clear that ConvNets have risen to the forefront of machine intelligence over the past decade. But that preeminent stature only makes the point I raise that much more important. If, as I?ve claimed, there is fundamentally no way to reconcile parameter sharing with PMC, there could be massive economic implications, e.g., regarding future hardware. I hope this post stimulates thought on this matter and leads to a lively discussion. Sincerely, Rod Rinkus -- Gerard (Rod) Rinkus, PhD President, rod at neurithmicsystems dot com Neurithmic Systems LLC 275 Grove Street, Suite 2-400 Newton, MA 02466 617-997-6272 Visiting Scientist, Lisman Lab Volen Center for Complex Systems Brandeis University, Waltham, MA grinkus at brandeis dot edu http://people.brandeis.edu/~grinkus/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pblouw at uwaterloo.ca Tue Feb 9 23:15:21 2016 From: pblouw at uwaterloo.ca (Peter Blouw) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 23:15:21 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Feb. 15 Application Deadline - 2016 Nengo Summer School Message-ID: [All details about this school can be found online at http://www.nengo.ca/ summerschool] The Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo is inviting applications for our 3rd annual summer school on large-scale brain modeling. This two-week school will teach participants how to use the Nengo software package to build state-of-the-art cognitive and neural models to run in simulation and on neuromorphic hardware. Nengo has been used to build what is currently the world's largest functional brain model, Spaun [1], and provides users with a versatile and powerful environment for designing cognitive and neural systems to run in simulated and real environments. We welcome applications from all interested graduate students, research associates, postdocs, professors, and industry professionals. No specific training in the use of modeling software is required, but we encourage applications from active researchers with a relevant background in psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, robotics, neuromorphic engineering, computer science, or a related field. For a look at last year's summer school, check out this short video: https://goo.gl/wy4dNC [1] Eliasmith, C., Stewart T. C., Choo X., Bekolay T., DeWolf T., Tang Y., Rasmussen, D. (2012). A large-scale model of the functioning brain. Science. Vol. 338 no. 6111 pp. 1202-1205. DOI: 10.1126/science.1225266. [ http://nengo.ca/publications/spaunsciencepaper] ****Application Deadline: February 15, 2016**** *Format*: A combination of tutorials and project-based work. Participants are encouraged to bring their own ideas for projects, which may focus on testing hypotheses, modeling neural or cognitive data, implementing specific behavioural functions with neurons, expanding past models, or providing a proof-of-concept of various neural mechanisms. Hands-on tutorials, work on individual or group projects, and talks from invited faculty members will make up the bulk of day-to-day activities. A project demonstration event will be held on the last day of the school, with prizes for strong projects! *Topics Covered*: Participants will have the opportunity to learn how to: - build perceptual, motor, and sophisticated cognitive models using spiking neurons - model anatomical, electrophysiological, cognitive, and behavioural data - use a variety of single cell models within a large-scale model - integrate machine learning methods into biologically oriented models - interface Nengo with various kinds of neuromorphic hardware (e.g. SpiNNaker) - interface Nengo with cameras and robotic systems - implement modern nonlinear control methods in neural models - and much more? *Date and Location*: June 5th to June 17th, 2016 at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. *Applications*: Please visit http://www.nengo.ca/summerschool, where you can find more information regarding costs, travel, lodging, along with an application form listing required materials. If you have any questions about the school or the application process, please contact Peter Blouw (pblouw at uwaterloo.ca). We look forward to hearing from you! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ale at sissa.it Thu Feb 11 17:55:48 2016 From: ale at sissa.it (Alessandro Treves) Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2016 23:55:48 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: New Trieste Encounters in Cognitive Science (TEX) - Language Learning Message-ID: <20160211235548.Horde.aoNbAh8V4mxWvRF064CxnrA@webmail.sissa.it> We are proud to announce the new Trieste Encounters in Cognitive Science. TEX2016 combines a summer school with an extended symposium, to bring together scientists to discuss Language Learning and share the sun, the sea, what they do not know, the food, the wine, at SISSA and beyond. Language learning is intended to include neuroscience, linguistic theory, cognitive psychology and computational modelling. Classes will be given every morning, July 7-15, by Alex Cristia (Paris), Colin Davis (Bristol), Edmund Rolls (Warwick), Gareth Gaskell (York), Kathy Rastle (London - Royal Holloway), Max Louwerse (Tilburg), Na'ama Friedmann (Tel Aviv), Pino Longobardi (York), Scott Johnson (UCLA), and Vito Pirrelli (Pisa). Tim Shallice, father of cognitive science at SISSA, will also be with us, and with your freely contributed talks, posters, discussion, swimming, doubts and libation, afternoons will stretch into an unmarked inflection. Students are invited to apply to the school, before April 15, 2016, and everybody is invited to join TEX2016 any time. More information at http://indico.sissa.it/e/tex2016 -- Alessandro Treves http://people.sissa.it/~ale/limbo.html SISSA - Cognitive Neuroscience, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy and Master in Complex Actions http://www.mca.sissa.it/ From dengdehao at gmail.com Mon Feb 8 18:24:08 2016 From: dengdehao at gmail.com (Teng Teck Hou) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 07:24:08 +0800 Subject: Connectionists: [INNS-BigData 2016] Call for Papers Message-ID: <009a01d162c7$d03e68e0$70bb3aa0$@gmail.com> [Apologies for cross-postings] ########################################################### CALL FOR PAPERS The 2nd INNS Conference on Big Data 2016 October 23-25, 2016, Thessaloniki, Greece http://conferences.cwa.gr/inns-big-data2016/ ########################################################### Big data is not just about storage of and access to data. Analytics play a big role in making sense of that data and exploiting its value. But learning from big data has become a significant challenge and requires development of new types of algorithms. Most machine learning algorithms can't easily scale up to big data. Plus there are challenges of high-dimensionality, velocity and variety. The neural network field has historically focused on algorithms that learn in an online, incremental mode without requiring in-memory access to huge amounts of data. This type of learning is not only ideal for streaming data (as in the Industrial Internet or the Internet of Things), but could also be used on stored big data. Neural network technologies thus can become significant components of big data analytics platforms and this second edition of INNS Conference on Big Data will continue on this collaborative adventure with big data and other learning technologies. Thus the aim of this conference is to promote new advances and research directions in efficient and innovative algorithmic approaches to analyzing big data (e.g. deep networks, nature-inspired and brain-inspired algorithms), implementations on different computing platforms (e.g. neuromorphic, GPUs, clouds, clusters) and applications of Big Data Analytics to solve real-world problems (e.g. weather prediction, transportation, energy management). #################### Important dates ##################### - Tutorial and workshops proposals: February 15th, 2016 - Notification of tutorial and workshops proposals: February 20th, 2016 - Paper submission: April 30th, 2016 - Notification of paper acceptance: May 30th, 2016 - Camera-ready submission (AISC): June 11th, 2016 - Early registration: June 20th, 2016 Registration deadline: papers without confirmed registration by June 24th 2016 risk their inclusion in the proceedings ########################################################## #################### Invited speakers #################### - Francesco Bonchi, ISI Foundation, Torino, Italy - Stephen Furber, University of Manchester, UK - Rudolf Kruse, OVG University of Magdeburg, Germany - Piotr Mirowski, Google Deep Mind, London, UK ########################################################## #################### Organizing committees ############### General Chairs - Plamen Angelov, Lancaster University, UK - Yannis Manolopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Program Chairs - Lazaros Iliadis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece - Asim Roy, Arizona State University, Tempe USA - Marley Vellasco, PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Advisory Board - Nikola Kasabov, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand - Ali Minai, University of Cincinnati, USA - Danil Prokhorov, Toyota Tech Center, Michigan, USA - Theodore Trafalis University of Oklahoma, USA - G. Kumar Venayagamoorthy, Clemson University, USA Tutorials/Workshop Chairs - Apostolos Papadopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece - Bernardete Ribeiro, Portugal Poster Session Chairs - Yi Lu Murphey, University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA Special Sessions Chairs - Irwin King, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China - Luca Oneto, University of Genoa, Italy Panel Chairs - Leonid Perlovsky, Harvard University, Boston, USA Awards Chair - Araceli Sanchis de Miguel, Carlos III University, Spain Competitions Chairs - Adel Alimi, University of Sfax, Tunisia Publication Chairs - Mariette Awad, American University of Beirut, Lebanon - Danilo Mandic, Imperial College, London, UK Publicity Chairs - Jose Antonio Iglesias Martinez, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain - Simone Scardapane, The Sapienza University of Rome, Italy - Teck Hou Teng, Singapore Management University, Singapore International Liaison Chairs - Petia Georgieva, University of Aveiro, Portugal - De-Shuang Huang, Tongji University, Shanghai, China Local Organizing Committee: - Anastasios Gounaris, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece WebMaster - Yannis Karydis, Ionian University, Greece ########################################################## ############# Paper Submission and Publication ########### * Original works submitted as a regular paper limited to a maximum of 14 pages in Springer format will be published in the proceedings to be available electronically as a Springer book in ADVANCES IN INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS AND COMPUTING Series, to download for delegates. * It will be peer-reviewed by at least three PC members on the basis of technical quality, relevance, originality, significance and clarity. * At least one author of an accepted submission to the conference should register with a regular fee to present their work at the conference. ########################################################## #################### Awards ############################## * Best papers will be selected and awarded as follows: - Best regular paper - Best student paper * This will be based on a combination of reviewers' comments, presentations and importance and quality judged by a panel. * Best paper awards (500 Euros) are donated by the sponsor Springer Verlag, Germany and will be commemorated by a certificate. ########################################################## ###### Topics and Areas include, but not limited to ###### * Autonomous, online, incremental learning - theory, algorithms and applications in big data * High dimensional data, feature selection, feature transformation - theory, algorithms and applications for big data * Scalable algorithms for big data * Learning algorithms for high-velocity streaming data * Big data streams analytics * Deep neural network learning * Machine vision and big data * Brain-machine interfaces and big data * Cognitive modeling and big data * Embodied robotics and big data * Fuzzy systems and big data * Evolutionary systems and big data * Evolving systems for big data analytics * Neuromorphic hardware for scalable machine learning * Parallel and distributed computing for big data analytics (cloud, map-reduce, etc.) * Big data and collective intelligence/collaborative learning * Big data and hybrid systems * Big data and self-aware systems * Big Data and infrastructure * Big data analytics and healthcare/medical applications * Big data analytics and energy systems/smart grids * Big data analytics and transportation systems * Big data analytics in large sensor networks * Big data and machine learning in computational biology, bioinformatics * Recommendation systems/collaborative filtering for big data * Big data visualization * Online multimedia/ stream/ text analytics * Link and graph mining * Big data and cloud computing, large scale stream processing on the cloud ########################################################## #################### Co-Sponsors ######################### * International Neural Network Society (INNS) * Springer ########################################################## -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From arbib at usc.edu Tue Feb 9 11:22:15 2016 From: arbib at usc.edu (Michael Arbib) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 08:22:15 -0800 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Papers -- Academy for Neuroscience and Architecture (of the Built Environment). In-Reply-To: <1453558343742.51612@csc.kth.se> References: <1453558343742.51612@csc.kth.se> Message-ID: <56BA1237.2040704@usc.edu> _*Please post:*_ *ANFA 2016: *Neuroscience for Architecture. Abstracts Deadline March 15, 2016. * You are invited to submit an abstract * to the 2016 international meeting of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, ANFA 2016 _http://www.anfarch.org/activities/anfa-2016-connections-bridgesynapses/ _ which will be held at the Salk Institute in La Jolla California, September 22-24, 2016. Possible themes for presentations include but are not limited to the following: * Neuromorphic architecture: the use of brain operating principles to enhance the intelligence of the built environment * Learning from animal research: key findings, translational research, research-based architectural applications. * The neurological impacts of perception of architectural spaces (vision, hearing, touch, etc.) * The role of action and interaction in the user?s experience of buildings * Smart furniture and smart buildings as empathic robots * The relationship between spaces and memory: wayfinding and exploration * Emotion, empathy and neuroesthetics in the built environment * The neuroscientific connection to enhancing particular building types such as: Alzheimer?s facilities, correctional facilities, laboratories, hospitals, schools, homes, and spiritual spaces The call for papers is here: http://www.anfarch.org/news/p1384/ *It is not too late to submit ?**the deadline has been extended to March 15. * ****** * The meeting will feature three keynote speakers: Eric Kandel, Nobel prize winner for his work on the neuroscience of learning and memory, will build on the themes of his brilliant book /The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present./ Steven Holl , New York based American Architect, watercolorist, and winner ofthe 2014 AIA Gold medal will share the ideas that infuse his structures that masterfully blend space and light with a unique contextual awareness. Thomas R. Fisher, director of the Metropolitan Design Center at the University of Minnesota will extend insights from his seminal book /In the Scheme of Things: Alternative Thinking on the Practice of Architecture/. -- Michael A. Arbib University Professor; Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science; Professor of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience and Psychology Director of the ABLE Project: Action, Brain, Language & Evolution University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA Phone (213) 740-9220; Fax (213) 740 7877; Emailarbib at usc.edu http://www.usc.edu/programs/neuroscience/faculty/profile.php?fid=16 Vice-President, Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture:www.anfarch.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jlmcc at stanford.edu Fri Feb 19 20:56:49 2016 From: jlmcc at stanford.edu (Jay McClelland) Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2016 01:56:49 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Contemporary Neural Network Models Workshop -- August 8-9, 2016 Message-ID: NCPW15 - August 8-9, 2016 - Philadelphia, PA, USA 15th Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop Contemporary Neural Network Models: Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Cognition Funded by the W. K. & K. W. Estes Fund, Google DeepMind and the Rumelhart Emergent Cognitive Functions Fund Organizers Jay McClelland, Stefan Frank & Daniel Mirman Confirmed Plenary Speakers Nikolaus Kriegeskorte, Timothy Lillicrap, Andrew Saxe, Linda Smith, Greg Wayne, & Marco Zorzi Abstracts and Applications to Attend Due: April 1 Notification of Acceptance and Travel Awards: May 1 Overview We are pleased to announce a workshop on Contemporary Neural Network Models, bringing the latest developments in Deep Neural Networks, Deep Reinforcement Learning Networks, and Recurrent Neural Networks with Long-Short-Term Memory Units into contact with contemporary cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience research. Plenary speakers include established and emerging experts in the development of contemporary neural network methods, and include authors of recent papers from Google DeepMind's achievements in achieving human-level performance in games from Atari action games to Go and in creating innovative architectures such as the Neural Turing Machine. The workshop will continue the Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop series, which originated in the UK in 1992. It will take place on Aug 8-9, 2016 in Philadelphia - in North America for the first time after 14 previous meetings in Europe. The Workshop has both a research dissemination and tutorial purpose. Research submissions are welcome for spoken and poster presentations in any area of computational research that applies neural network models or related approaches to understanding human cognition. Both junior and senior scientists interested in learning more about the latest developments are encouraged to attend (space is limited and application is required) with or without making a presentation. Thanks to generous support, costs will be low and travel awards will encourage participation by a diverse population of participants with relevant goals. The conference website provides full details and instructions for those interested in participating. Abstract submissions and applications to attend are due April 1 and applicants will be notified of acceptance and travel awards by May 1. NCPW15 will be complemented by a separate day-long tutorial on Wednesday, August 10, as part of the Cognitive Science Society meeting also in Philadelphia (pending acceptance by the Program Committee). This day-long event will provide additional tutorial presentations, followed by in depth how-to sessions associated with the actual implementation and effective practical mastery of deep learning networks for cognitive science research. Workshop Program Overview Each of the two days of the NCPW workshop will include three 75 minute sessions led by invited speakers (schedule attached). The first five of these sessions will each focus on a different aspect or topic in contemporary neural network research, and each will be led by a different expert. The final session will begin with a commentary led by a senior Cognitive Scientist (Linda Smith) followed by a panel discussion with the other five speakers. During lunch each day, the day's speakers will each hold a smaller discussion session with a subset of the workshop participants, to allow in-depth discussion of their approach and perspective. Published papers or lecture notes will be circulated in advance to enhance participants' background and engagement for these discussions. Two 1.5-hour sessions each day will be devoted to submitted presentations selected for their scientific value and the extent to which they advance the use of neural network architectures, tools, and concepts in both computational and cognitive (neuro)science domains. A poster session at the end of the first day will allow all of the participants an opportunity to present and obtain feedback from the invited speakers, and to learn from and network with each other. A conference dinner on the first evening and a reception on the second evening will allow for informal interactions. Invited speakers Nikolaus Kriegeskorte, MRC-CBU Cambridge, UK. Kriegeskorte has applied a deep convolutional neural network architecture to model human voxel-level activity patterns in different layers of visual cortex. Marco Zorzi, University of Padova. Zorzi has applied deep networks to modeling human numerosity judgment and reading and has developed tools for efficient implementation of these models. Andrew Saxe, Harvard University. Saxe has conducted mathematical analyses of deep neural network architectures leading to a conceptual understanding of the role of unsupervised pre-training and has applied these methods to the time course of cognitive and semantic development. Greg Wayne, Google DeepMind. Wayne is one of the creators of the Neural Turing Machine, a Deep Learning Model that relies on the Long-Short-Term Memory mechanism for the storage and retrieval of information in memory, integrating symbolic and neural network computation. Timothy Lillicrap, Google DeepMind. Lillicrap is a leader in the development of Deep Reinforcement Learning methods and a co-author of the recent nature paper describing an integrated neural network/tree search approach that has achieved human expert level performance at Go. Linda Smith, Indiana University. Smith is a thought-leader in the development of dynamical systems models an in the application of such models in cognitive development. Participants, Travel Awards, and Costs The target population is PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and more advanced researchers at any level. Both contributing researchers and non-presenting attendees are welcome to apply. Contributing researchers will be selected based on a submitted research abstract, according to past policies of NCPW. Selection of non-presenting attendees will be based on the relevance of the workshop to the attendee's goals as described in a short essay as well as a CV and, for junior scientist, a mentor's letter of support. Both trainees and contributing researchers not selected for oral presentations have the option to present a poster in the poster session. A total of 25 travel support awards ($250 domestic/$750 international) are available both for trainees and for contributing researchers to partially defray costs of attendance; support will be awarded based on the criteria above as well as need with attention to encouraging diversity. There is no registration fee for accepted participants, and lunch on both days of the workshop will be covered for trainees and contributing researchers. A low-price accommodation option ($50/night) will be available. Additional travel information is available on the CogSci2016 page: http://cognitivesciencesociety.org/conference2016/travelinfo.html Application Process: More detailed information on the application process and the venue are available at the conference website. The deadline for paper and poster submissions and for applications to attend will be April 1, 2016, and notification of acceptance and travel awards for trainees and participating researchers will be on May 1, 2016. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terry at salk.edu Thu Feb 18 12:37:30 2016 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 09:37:30 -0800 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION - March 1, 2016 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Neural Computation - Volume 28, Number 3 - March 1, 2016 Available online for download now: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/neco/28/3 ----- Article Orthogonal Connectivity Factorization: Interpretable Decomposition of Variability in Correlation Matrices Aapo Hyvarinen, Jun-ichiro Hirayama, Vesa Kiviniemi, and Motoaki Kawanabe Note A Block Successive Lower-Bound Maximization Algorithm for the Maximum Pseudolikelihood Estimation of Fully Visible Boltzmann Machines Hien D Nguyen, Ian A Wood Letters Microdomain [Ca2+] Fluctuations Alter Temporal Dynamics in Models of Ca2+-dependent Signaling Cascades and Synaptic Vesicle Release Seth H Weinberg Kernelized Elastic Net Regularization: Generalization Bounds and Sparse Recovery Yunlong Feng, Shao-Gao Lv, Hanyuan Hang, and Johan A.K. Suykens An Online Policy Gradient Algorithm for Markov Decision Processes With Continuous States and Actions Yao Ma, Tingting Zhao, Kohei Hatano, and Masashi Sugiyama The Development of an Information Criterion for Change-Point Analysis Colin H LaMont, Paul A. Wiggins ------------ ON-LINE -- http://www.mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2016 - VOLUME 28 - 12 ISSUES Student/Retired $78 Individual $138 Institution $1,108 MIT Press Journals, One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209 Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-cs at mit.edu ------------ From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Fri Feb 19 13:47:13 2016 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 13:47:13 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: 2016 NEURON Summer Course Message-ID: <56C76331.5000606@yale.edu> The 2016 NEURON Summer Course, which will be held at the HHMI|Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, is now open for registration. The course has two components, which can be taken individually or together depending on your needs and experience with NEURON. NEURON Fundamentals runs from June 20-24. This component presents a thorough introduction to computational modeling of neurons and networks of neurons with NEURON, and introduces parallel simulation. It is suitable for individuals at all levels of expertise. Parallel Simulation with NEURON runs from June 25-27. This component focuses on the needs of experienced NEURON users who want to create models that will run on parallel hardware, and presumes knowledge of how to write hoc or Python code for NEURON. You may apply for one or both components, but registration is subject to approval by the course's faculty. Space is limited, and applications will be considered in the order received. The application deadline is Friday, May 20, 2016. No applications will be accepted after that date, and there will be no on-site registration. For more information and the on-line application form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/summer2016/summer2016.html --Ted From maass at igi.tugraz.at Mon Feb 15 12:34:21 2016 From: maass at igi.tugraz.at (Wolfgang Maass) Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 18:34:21 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc research position on diversity of synapses: from biology to network function Message-ID: <56C20C1D.70804@igi.tugraz.at> We are inviting applications for a postdoc position (for at least 2 years, earliest starting date: april 1, 2016). The task of this postdoc is to integrate biological data on synaptic function and synaptic plasticity --including new data on diverse types of synapses-- and to explore possible functional consequences of different types of synapses and plasticity rules in networks of neurons through new theory and models. The need for new theory and models for network plasticity is highlighted for example by the recent review Larsen, R. S., & Sj?str?m, P. J. (2015). Synapse-type-specific plasticity in local circuits. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 35, 127-135. This postdoc will receive generous travel funds in order to be able to visit and interact with research groups inside and outside the Human Brain Project that study synaptic function and synaptic plasticity from the perspective of molecular biology, neuroscience, and network simulations. New theoretical paradigms for network plasticity will be explored in collaboration with our research team in Graz. Strong research interest and accomplishments, very good communication skills, broad knowledge in neuroscience and/or molecular biology, as well as interest and experience in computer modelling and theory are expected. Please send your CV, publication list, and motivation letter by february 28 to my assistant Daniela Potzinger daniela.potzinger at igi.tugraz.at -Wolfgang Maass -- Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Maass Institut fuer Grundlagen der Informationsverarbeitung Technische Universitaet Graz Inffeldgasse 16b , A-8010 Graz, Austria Tel.: ++43/316/873-5822 Fax ++43/316/873-5805 http://www.igi.tugraz.at/maass/Welcome.html From joseph.toscano at villanova.edu Wed Feb 17 15:49:06 2016 From: joseph.toscano at villanova.edu (Joseph Toscano) Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 20:49:06 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Speech Perception/Language Processing Message-ID: <39AEA18E-6862-41B2-BE50-494615E54CD1@villanova.edu> Dear list, I am looking for a postdoc with research interests in speech perception, hearing loss, and/or language processing to join my lab this fall (August 2016). We use a range of techniques to study these processes (EEG/ERP approaches, computational modeling, eye-tracking and behavioral methods), and candidates from a variety of backgrounds would potentially be a good fit. More info about our work can be found here: http://wraplab.co A description of the position is below. Additional details and application instructions are here: https://jobs.villanova.edu/postings/8835 Please share this with anyone who may be interested, and feel free to contact me with any questions. Thanks! Joe Toscano, PhD Asst Prof, Psychology Dept Villanova University 1-610-519-4755 http://joetoscano.com ---------- Mendel Science Experience Post-Doctoral Fellow Word Recognition & Auditory Perception Lab Department of Psychology Villanova University Villanova University?s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences invites applications for a Mendel Science Experience Post-doctoral Fellowship within the Department of Psychology in the area of speech perception and language processing. The position has a starting date of August 2016. Applicants should submit their application package online at https://jobs.villanova.edu/. Review of applications will begin on March 14, 2016; the search will remain open until the position is filled. The Fellows program is designed to enhance the College?s teaching of science to non-science majors through the Mendel Science Experience program and to foster the professional development of recent Ph.D. recipients on a career path leading to faculty positions. Positions are 50:50 research and teaching. Fellows will conduct research in collaboration with the faculty mentor (Dr. Joe Toscano) and will have opportunities to supervise undergraduate research. In addition, fellows will team-teach a laboratory science course for non-science-majors and develop and teach an upper level undergraduate course. Initial appointment is for two years, with a third year possible by mutual agreement between the postdoctoral fellow and faculty mentor. Candidates with a background in psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, speech and hearing, or a related field, whose research focuses on speech perception, hearing, and/or language processing are encouraged to apply. We are especially interested in candidates who use or who have plans to use computational modeling, eye-tracking, and/or cognitive neuroscience methods (particularly, event-related potential techniques). The successful candidate will join the Word Recognition and Auditory Perception Lab (PI: Toscano), investigating questions about hearing function, speech recognition, and spoken language processing (more info: http://wraplab.co/). The post-doctoral fellow will work with graduate and undergraduate students in the lab, which is equipped with two testing rooms, an audiometric booth, 64-channel active electrode EEG system, auditory brainstem response equipment, and an eye-tracker, and he or she will be provided with a research budget ($4,000/year) to supplement resources available in the lab and Psychology Department. The fellow will also co-teach a Mendel Science Experience laboratory course on acoustic phonetics in the fall of 2016, and teach Cognitive Psychology in the spring of 2017. Fellows are expected to design and teach a new upper-level psychological science course in their research area during the second year of the fellowship. Applications must include a curriculum vitae, transcripts of all graduate work, cover letter that includes a statement of career goals, research statement that indicates collaboration with the faculty mentor, sample publications, and a proposal for teaching that includes an upper level psychological science elective. Villanova is a Catholic university sponsored by the Augustinian order. Diversity and inclusion have been and will continue to be an integral component of Villanova University?s mission. The University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and seeks candidates who understand, respect and can contribute to the University?s mission and values. From m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk Thu Feb 18 15:03:26 2016 From: m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk (=?utf-8?Q?M=C3=A1t=C3=A9_Lengyel?=) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 20:03:26 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Cajal Course in Computational Neuroscience 2016 Message-ID: <3FAC7445-CB5C-41A1-8E1E-EE803D4BCDE2@eng.cam.ac.uk> CAJAL COURSE IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE 7-27 August 2016, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal + pre-school 2-5 August 2016 http://www.cccn.pt Applications deadline: 28 March 2016 DIRECTORS * Gilles Laurent (Max Plank Institute for Brain Research, Germany) * M?t? Lengyel (University of Cambridge, UK) * Christian Machens (Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Portugal) This three-weeks school teaches the central ideas, methods, and practice of modern computational neuroscience through a combination of lectures and hands-on project work. Each morning will be devoted to lectures given by distinguished international faculty on topics across the breadth of experimental and computational neuroscience. During the rest of the day, students will work on research projects in teams of 2-3 people under the close supervision of expert tutors and faculty. Research projects will be proposed by faculty before the course, and will include the modeling of neurons, neural systems, behavior, the analysis of state-of-the-art neural data (behavioral data, multi-electrode recordings, calcium imaging data, connectomics data, etc.), and the development of theories to explain experimental observations. The course is designed for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from a variety of disciplines, including neuroscience, physics, electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics and psychology. Students are expected to have a keen interest and basic background in neurobiology, a solid foundation in mathematics, as well as some computer experience. An optional four-day pre-school in mathematics and programming is available to students who want to catch up on or fine-tune their math and programming skills. Essential details: * Course size: 24 students maximum * Fee (which covers tuition, lodging, and meals): 2500 EUR (+ 300 EUR for optional pre-school) * Scholarships and travel stipends are available. * Application deadline: 28 March 2015 * Notification of results: April 2015 Information and application http://www.cccn.pt Contact address: T?nia Li Chen FACULTY * Alberto Bernacchia (Cambridge University, UK) * Matthias Bethge (Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Germany) * Dmitri (Mitya) Chklovskii (Simons Center for Data Analysis, USA) * Claudia Clopath (Imperial College London, UK) * Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience, UCL, UK) * Sophie Den?ve (Institut d'Etudes de la Cognition (IEC), France) * Alain Destexhe (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France) * David Fitzpatrick (Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, USA) * Michael Hausser (Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, UCL, UK) * Moritz Helmstaedter (Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany) * Guillaume Hennequin (Cambridge University, UK) * Karel Je?ek (Charles University, Czech Republic) * Matthias Kaschube (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Germany) * Gilles Laurent (MPI Brain Research, Germany) * Peter Latham (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience, UCL, UK) * Simon Laughlin (University of Cambridge, UK) * M?t? Lengyel (University of Cambridge, UK) * Zhaoping Li (University College London, UK) * Jennifer Linden (Ear Institute, UCL, UK) * Christian Machens (Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Portugal) * Jakob Macke (Center of Advanced European Studies and Research, Germany) * Tom Mrsic-Flogel (University of Basel, Switzerland) * Yael Niv (Princeton Neuroscience Institute, USA) * Maneesh Sahani (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience, UCL, UK) * Andreas Tolias (Baylor College of Medicine, USA) * Alessandro Treves (International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Italy) * Daniel Wolpert (Cambridge University, UK) From schwarzwaelder at bcos.uni-freiburg.de Wed Feb 17 06:55:44 2016 From: schwarzwaelder at bcos.uni-freiburg.de (Kerstin Schwarzwaelder) Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 12:55:44 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience - Call for Nominations In-Reply-To: <56C4572A.6000506@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> References: <56C4572A.6000506@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> Message-ID: <56C45FC0.9010405@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> Dear Colleagues, The Bernstein Association for Computational Neuroscience invites nominations for the *V**alentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience.* The award is biannually presented by the Bernstein Association to a scientist in recognition of outstanding research that contributes to our understanding of the functioning of the brain. The major criterion for the award is the impact or potential impact of the recipient's research on the field of brain science. In the spirit of Valentino Braitenberg's research, special emphasis is given to theoretical studies elucidating the functional implications of brain structures and their neuronal network dynamics. The awardee receives a ?5.000 prize donated by the Autonome Provinz Bozen S?dtirol as well as complimentary participation (registration, travel, and hotel accomodation) in the Bernstein Conference 2016. Here, the prize is awarded together with a Golden Neuron pin badge in a special ceremony that includes the Valentino Braitenberg lecture given by the awardee. Nominations may be submitted by scientists working in the field of Computational Neuroscience and should include the following documents: - One-page laudation, in which the scientific work of the candidate is honored with regard to the award's criteria - CV and list of publications *Deadline for nominations is **April 30, 2016 *by e-mail to an.huber at fz-juelich.de The call for nominations can be found under the followingn URL: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-association/valentino-braitenberg-award-for-computational-neuroscience For inquiries please contact an.huber at fz-juelich.de Best regards, Andrea Huber Br?samle -- Dr. Kerstin Schwarzw?lder Bernstein Coordination Site of the National Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Hansastr. 9A 79104 Freiburg Germany phone: +49 761 203 9594 schwarzwaelder at bcos.uni-freiburg.de www.nncn.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Braitenberg Award_Call_2016.pdf Type: text/x-pdf Size: 1469523 bytes Desc: not available URL: From poirazi at imbb.forth.gr Tue Feb 16 02:53:11 2016 From: poirazi at imbb.forth.gr (Yiota Poirazi) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 09:53:11 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: DENDRITES 2016, June 18-21, Crete: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEB. 25th, 2016 Message-ID: <56C2D567.2080309@imbb.forth.gr> Please post this announcement on the cconnectionist list. Thanks much! Yiota Poirazi ----------------------- Due to multiple requests, we have decided to extend the deadline for abstract submission (oral & poster) until *February 25th*, *12.00pm local time* (11pm CET). Please note the time difference between Greece and the rest of the world. Notifications will be sent by March 15th, 2016. Submit your abstract at http://www.dendrites2016.gr/call-for-papers on behalf of the organizing committee, Yiota Poirazi *---------------------------------- EMBO Workshop on Dendritic Anatomy, Molecules and Function (DENDRITES 2016)* Heraklion, Crete, Greece June 18-21, 2016 http://dendrites2016.gr/ info at dendrites2016.gr _Organizers:_ Yiota Poirazi, IMBB-FORTH Michael Hausser, UCL * * Matthew Larkum, Humboldt University Dear Colleagues, We are happy to announce *reduced registration fees* for students attending DENDRITES 2016: 150 Euro until March 31st. We welcome both experimental and theoretical contributions addressing novel findings, methods or databases related to dendrites that fall into one or more of the following domains: * morphological and functional characterizations, * dendritic integration and compartmentalization, * dendritic channel distribution and their functional implications, * molecular pathways and signaling networks, * RNA trafficking and local protein synthesis, * functional or structural plasticity and homeostasis, * the role of dendrites in complex processes, including learning/memory, neural computations etc. Please note that places are limited and subject to availability. Attendees are highly encouraged to submit abstracts for presentations, since presenters will be given priority for registration. Instructions for on-line submission can be found at http://www.dendrites2016.gr/call-for-papers _Invited speakers (scientific talks): _ Claudia Clopath Daniel Dombeck Casper Hoogenraad Arthur Konnerth Attila Losonczy Judit Makara Rishikesh Narayanan Elly Nedivi Jackie Schiller Erin Schuman Idan Segev Nelson Spruston Greg Stuart _Invited speakers (Career Issues in academia):_ Monica Di Luca, FENS President: "Publication issues: right time for a reality check" Camilla Belone, FENS-Kavli Scholar: "Retention of women in high levels of neuroscience - Perspectives" Emre Yaksi, FENS-Kavli Scholar: "Funding opportunities in Neuroscience: how to write a successful grant proposal" Matthew Larkum: "How to write an influential scientific publication" -- Panayiota Poirazi, Ph.D. Director of Research Computational Biology Laboratory Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) Vassilika Vouton, P.O.Box 1385 GR 711 10 Heraklion, Crete, GREECE Tel: +30 2810 391139 Fax: +30 2810 391101 ?mail: poirazi at imbb.forth.gr http://www.dendrites.gr Chair http://www.fens.org/Outreach/FENS-Kavli-Network-of-Excellence/ - -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/png Size: 115691 bytes Desc: not available URL: From m.reske at fz-juelich.de Tue Feb 16 04:09:30 2016 From: m.reske at fz-juelich.de (Martina Reske) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:09:30 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Open position in Juelich, Germany: Coordinator Software Development Message-ID: <56C2E74A.6020400@fz-juelich.de> The Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) at Research Center Juelich, Germany, investigates the structure and function of the human brain on different spatial and temporal scales within the research program ?Decoding the Human Brain?. The Juelich Supercomputing Centre is home of one of the most powerful machines and has a leading role in the European exascale strategy. Basic neuroscience connects the two research areas as it heavily relies on modeling and simulation, which are necessary to approach the brain?s immense complexity, manage the huge amount of resulting data, and develop reliable control techniques. Acquired knowledge allows for the translation of basic findings into clinical applications to better understand neurological and psychiatric disorders, to refine diagnostic processes, and to develop therapy strategies ? crucial tasks we have to face in ageing societies. Additionally, the research lays foundations for novel computer architectures and their operation. The department INM-6, Computational and Systems Neuroscience, develops mathematical models of neuronal dynamics and function. Model-driven analyses of brain activity and structure as well as simulation of biologically realistic models form the core of our work. Together with its partners, INM-6 develops analysis tools and the leading simulation code (NEST) for brain scale networks with cellular resolution in an open source approach. NEST has been under continuous development for 20 years and is serving a world-wide community. The INM-6 hosts also the Coordination Site (BCOS) of the national Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience. The development of corresponding simulation technologies and analysis tools is a major component of our research. The advertised position has a key role in this endeavor. We are looking to recruit a Coordinator Software Development Your Job: * Coordinating the roadmap and releases of NEST, the neural simulation tool * Regular preparation of and participation in coordination meetings and video conferences together with or as substitute for the institute directors * Direct support of scientists and PhD students with respect to software development * Composing research grants and project reports in the field of simulation technology as well as proposals for computing time * Representing the simulation software at international meetings and conferences * Participation in the advancement of programs for the analysis of massively parallel neuronal data * Substituting for the coordinator scientific computing Your Profile: * University degree in the field of computer science, mathematics or physics * Substantial expertise in C, C++ and Python, parallel and distributed computing * Substantial experience in developing complex software * Ability and willingness to work independently and on one?s own responsibility * Experience in leading project teams * Ability and willingness to compose project reports * Expertise in project management and quality assurance * Beneficial: basic knowledge of neuroscience concepts, especially in neuronal dynamics * Confident appearance and ability to work cooperatively in an interdisciplinary environment * Good interpersonal and communication skills * Ability to work in teams * Willingness to travel * Structured and systematic working style * Fluent in English (spoken and written), beneficial: fluent in German Our Offer: * A creative team with an international perspective * Access to world-leading supercomputers and neuromorphic hardware * Possibility to co-determine shape design decisions in a complex software project * close collaboration with the J?lich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and its exascale strategy, especially with the Simulation Laboratory Neuroscience * high visibility through participation in and substitution for institute directors at international project meetings, e.g. for the Human Brain Project * Participation in publications in state-of-the-art research in simulation technology * Job in world class science environment at the interface between neuroscience and technology on the most complex known systems * international, interdisciplinary working environment on an attractive research campus, ideally situated between the cities of Cologne, D?sseldorf, and Aachen * limited for 2 years with possible longer-term prospects * Salary and social benefits in conformity with the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Civil Service (TV?D). We look forward to receiving your application, preferably online via our online recuirting system (www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Stellenangebote/_common/dna/2016-018-EN-INM-6.html) until 14.03.2016, quoting the reference number 2016-018. Martina Reske -- Dr. Martina Reske Scientific Coordinator Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Theoretical Neuroscience J?lich Research Centre and JARA J?lich, Germany Work +49.2461.611916 Work Cell +49.151.26156918 Fax +49.2461.619460 www.csn.fz-juelich.de ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kyunghyun.cho at nyu.edu Tue Feb 16 14:12:19 2016 From: kyunghyun.cho at nyu.edu (Kyunghyun Cho) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:12:19 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: A Post-Doctoral Researcher Position in Deep Learning for Medical Image Analysis Message-ID: *A Post-Doctoral Researcher Position in Deep Learning for Medical Image Analysis* Prof. Kyunghyun Cho (http://www.kyunghyuncho.me/) at the Computational Intelligence, Learning, Vision, and Robotics (CILVR) Group ( http://cilvr.cs.nyu.edu/), Department of Computer Science ( https://cs.nyu.edu/), New York University invites applications for a postdoctoral position on deep learning for medical image analysis. Applicants are expected to have strong background and experience in developing and investigating deep neural networks for computer vision, in addition to good knowledge of machine learning and excellent programming skills. Applicants should be able to implement deep neural networks, including multilayered convolutional networks and recurrent networks, for a large-scale data which consists of many high-resolution images and associated textual descriptions. The appointment will be for one year, with the option of renewing for a further year, dependent on satisfactory performance. The candidate will be expected to interact with other students and faculty in CILVR. To be considered for the position, send your CV, list of publications and the contact details of two references to kyunghyun.cho at nyu.edu. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r.jolivet at ucl.ac.uk Wed Feb 17 05:24:46 2016 From: r.jolivet at ucl.ac.uk (Jolivet, Renaud) Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 10:24:46 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Openings for postdocs in Geneva Message-ID: <9B6EB4A8-D2BF-4AC3-A4D1-8DD0D23FB7CA@ucl.ac.uk> (Apologies for cross-posting) I am looking for postdocs to expand my lab and contribute to medical physics activities in our department. My lab is shared between the D?partement de Physique Nucl?aire et Corpusculaire at the University of Geneva (http://dpnc.unige.ch/) and the Experimental Physics Department of CERN (http://home.cern/) with access to a brand new wet lab for experiments at Geneva University Hospitals (http://www.hug-ge.ch/). This is a unique opportunity to work at the interface between physics, biology and medicine with a focus in neuroscience, and to build a vast scientific network in a truly multidisciplinary and international environment. I am particularly interested by candidates with a profile in neuroscience (computational or experimental) to work on two distinct projects. The first (computational) project will build on recent papers investigating [i] the compartmentalisation of energy metabolism in the brain (http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004036; http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0415-11.2011; http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/neuro.14.004.2009) and [ii] how energetic constraints shape information processing in neural networks (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.10.063; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.08.019). The second project will build on yet unpublished data (paper in revision) and investigate the physiology and pathophysiology of microglia in vivo using multiphoton microscopy. Other research directions are possible and can be discussed. It is anticipated that the candidates will apply for their own funding, for instance a Marie Sk?odowska-Curie fellowship (or equivalent; see here http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/2226-msca-if-2016.html). If eligible, candidates could also consider an Ambizione fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation as a path to independence (http://www.snf.ch/en/funding/careers/ambizione/Pages/default.aspx). If you are interested, please contact me at renaud.jolivet at unige.ch and send me a CV, list of publications, the names of three references and a brief description of your research interests.? More information about life in Geneva can be found here https://www.lonelyplanet.com/switzerland/geneva and here http://www.ville-geneve.ch/welcome-geneva/. The University of Geneva ranks 33 for science worldwide (http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldSCI2015.html). ? Prof. Renaud Jolivet CERN, Experimental Physics Department & University of Geneva, Physics Section +41 22 767 24 70 (CERN) +41 22 379 62 75 (UNIGE) +41 79 830 21 29 (mobile) renaud.blaise.jolivet at cern.ch https://sites.google.com/site/renaudjolivet/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From doug.leith at tcd.ie Thu Feb 18 02:28:25 2016 From: doug.leith at tcd.ie (Douglas Leith) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 07:28:25 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Faculty Position: Ussher Assistant Professor in Data Science, School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Message-ID: Ussher Assistant Professor in Data Science, School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland The School of Computer Science and Statistics is seeking to appoint an Ussher Assistant Professor in Data Science. The successful applicant will join an established and internationally recognised research group that has interests in complex data modelling, statistical computation and Bayesian methods. The School is looking for an exceptional person with vision and enthusiasm and a proven track record of research in statistics as well as some other aspects of data science such as data management, machine learning, scalable computing and distributed systems. The School particularly welcomes applicants who (i) have a sound theoretical base with an interest in answering research questions around the scalability of statistical algorithms for large or complex data applications, (ii) can exploit the Discipline?s position in a School of Computer Science and Statistics, and (iii) have an interest in working in an interdisciplinary setting. For further details see: https://www.tcd.ie/ussher/ Closing date for applications: 12 Noon GMT on Thursday 10th March 2016 For informal enquiries contact: Prof Simon Wilson, simon.wilson at tcd.ie -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: smime.p7s Type: application/pkcs7-signature Size: 3573 bytes Desc: not available URL: From m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk Thu Feb 18 14:47:02 2016 From: m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk (=?utf-8?Q?M=C3=A1t=C3=A9_Lengyel?=) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:47:02 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc in Computational Neuroscience, Cambridge Message-ID: We are seeking a highly creative and motivated postdoctoral fellow to work jointly in the Lengyel and Wolpert groups in the Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge. Our groups study learning, perception and motor control using theory-driven approaches. The jointly led project will combine human psychophysical experiments and advanced theoretical methods to analyse and model the data. Areas of interest include decision making, active learning, cognitive representations, reinforcement learning. The successful candidate will have - a strong quantitative background - demonstrable interest in theoretical neuroscience as well as carrying out human psychophysical experiments - obtained (or be close to the completion of) a PhD or equivalent in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, machine learning or a related field Preference will be given to candidates with - previous experience in computational and / or behavioural neuroscience - sufficient programming skills to run numerical simulations (eg. in C, Python, or MatLab) - expertise with advanced data analysis and Bayesian techniques Salary: ?28,982 - ?37,768 pa. The funds for this post are available for two years in the first instance. For informal queries, please contact M?t? Lengyel or Daniel Wolpert . M?t? Lengyel will also be attending the COSYNE 2016 meeting in Salt Lake City between 25 Feb - 1 Mar where he will be happy to discuss details with potential applicants. -- Mate Lengyel, PhD Computational and Biological Learning Lab Cambridge University Engineering Department Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK tel: +44 (0)1223 748 532, fax: +44 (0)1223 765 587 email: m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk web: www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~m.lengyel From sarathcse2008 at gmail.com Thu Feb 18 20:13:34 2016 From: sarathcse2008 at gmail.com (Sarath Chandar) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 20:13:34 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: CfP: Deep Reinforcement Learning Workshop @IJCAI 2016 Message-ID: ***************************************************** IJCAI 2016 Workshop: Deep Reinforcement Learning: Frontiers and Challenges New York City, New York, USA https://sites.google.com/site/deeprlijcai16/ ***************************************************** IMPORTANT DATES ----------------------------- Submission Deadline: April 20, 2016 Author Notification: May 20, 2016 Workshop: One of the days in July 9-11, 2016 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS ----------------------------- -Remi Munos (Google DeepMind) -Joelle Pineau (McGill University) -Doina Precup (McGill University) -David Silver (Google DeepMind) -Satinder Singh (University of Michigan) -Peter Stone (University of Texas, Austin) OVERVIEW ----------------------------- There has been a resurgence of neural network models, with some additional new techniques, under the rubric of ?deep learning?. Recent studies in computer vision, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and speech recognition have amply demonstrated the potential of deep learning techniques as powerful ways of learning representations at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Reinforcement learning has traditionally used feedforward neural networks to approximate the value function, for example in the classic TD-GAMMON program in the early 1990s. Recent work by DeepMind and others have shown that deep learning techniques can enable the learning of complex tasks, such as Atari games and real-world control tasks carried out by robots. In the other direction, REINFORCE is being used in several deep learning models to learn complex tasks like image classification, and image description. It is very exciting to see that both the fields contribute to each other. In this workshop, we will focus on various ways in which representation learning, and reinforcement learning interact. This workshop will focus on Deep Reinforcement Learning, where DL is helpful in learning representations for RL, and Reinforced Deep Learning, where RL is helpful in training Deep Neural Networks. The aim of this workshop is to bring researchers from both the fields together and discuss new challenging applications which requires both Deep Learning and Reinforcement Learning. TOPICS ----------------------------- We are looking for contributed papers that apply Deep Learning to Reinforcement Learning and Reinforcement Learning to Deep Learning. We are interested in both application-oriented papers as well as more fundamental algorithmic/theoretical studies. A sample list of relevant topics: -Novel Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms -Deep Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning -Reinforcement Learning for Vision/NLP -Reinforcement Learning for training Deep Networks -Deep Reinforcement Learning for Control -Deep Reinforcement Learning for Robotics SUBMISSIONS ----------------------------- Authors should submit an extended abstract between 4 and 6 pages (including references). Submitted abstracts may be a shortened version of a longer paper or technical report, in which case the longer paper should be referred from the submission. Reviewers will be asked to judge the submission solely based on the submitted extended abstract. We also encourage submission of relevant work in progress. All submissions must be in PDF format, and authors should follow the style guidelines of IJCAI 2016 given in: http://ijcai-16.org/downloads/FormattingGuidelinesIJCAI-16.zip Submissions must be made through easychair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=deeprl16 Submissions will be reviewed for relevance, quality and novelty. All accepted submissions will be presented as talks and/or posters at the workshop. ORGANIZERS ----------------------------- Sarath Chandar (anbilpas at iro.umontreal.ca) Sridhar Mahadevan (mahadeva at cs.umass.edu) Balaraman Ravindran (ravi at cse.iitm.ac.in) Gerald Tesauro (gtesauro at us.ibm.com) -- Sarath Chandar A P http://www.sarathchandar.in/ There is nothing more practical than a good theory. -- Kurt Lewin -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pjthomas at case.edu Wed Feb 17 21:54:25 2016 From: pjthomas at case.edu (Peter Thomas) Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 21:54:25 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: IEEE TMBMC Shannon Centennial Special Issue (Deadline 4/30/16) Message-ID: In honor of Claude Shannon?s centennial: We are pleased to announce a Special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications on Biological Applications of Information Theory Submission deadline April 30, 2016 Claude Shannon, born April 30, 1916, pioneered the mathematical theory of communication in his 1948 paper in the Bell System Technical Journal. Information theory has since provided the foundation for the digital revolution in communications technology. In addition, it has provided a powerful framework for investigating the fundamental limitations of naturally occurring communications, particularly in biological systems. Early applications included consideration of redundancy reduction in sensory pathways (Attneave 1954, Barlow 1961), ionizing radiation and mutagenesis (Yockey 1958), efficiency of metabolic processes (Johnson and Knudsen 1965), and analysis of reliable computation in the presence of noise (Cowan and Winograd 1963). Modern developments have accelerated in recent years as a result of advances in MEMS/NEMS and systems biology, the emergence of synthetic bacteria and lab/process-on-a-chip techniques, and collection of large data sets in both electrophysiology and cell biology. It is now possible to design chemical ?circuits?, custom organisms, micro/nanoscale swarms of devices, and a host of other new systems at small length scales, and across multiple scales (e.g., micro to macro). This success opens up a new frontier for interdisciplinary communications techniques using chemistry, biology, and other principles that have not been considered in the communications literature, as well as creating new ways of understanding the principles underlying communication in biological systems at many scales. The special issue will celebrate Shannon?s centennial by highlighting success stories and current progress in biological and bio-inspired information theory. In particular, we hereby solicit both invited and submitted papers in three interrelated areas: 1. Information theory and cellular/molecular biology/biochemistry (including information theory and intercellular communication); 2. Information theory and neuroscience; and 3. Information-theoretic analysis of biologically inspired communication systems (including nanonetworking and design of biologically implemented information processing networks). Contributions from researchers beyond the IEEE?s typical audience are encouraged. Submission Instructions Submissions will be collected via Manuscript Central, http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tmbmc/ . In your cover letter, state: ?This paper is a submission for the Shannon Centennial special issue". For further information, please contact the corresponding guest editor, Prof. Peter Thomas (pjthomas__at__case.edu). Special Issue Guest Editors Prof. Alexander G. Dimitrov Department of Mathematics and Statistics Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, USA Prof. Faramarz Fekri Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Prof. Aurel Lazar Department of Electrical Engineering Columbia University, New York, New York, USA Prof. Stefan M. Moser Signal and Information Processing Lab (ISI) ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Hsinchu, Taiwan Prof. Peter J. Thomas* Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Biology Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA *corresponding guest editor -- Peter J. Thomas Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics. homepage: http://www.case.edu/math/thomas/ g-scholar: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5ctD7qIAAAAJ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mjhealy at unm.edu Sun Feb 21 14:53:35 2016 From: mjhealy at unm.edu (Michael Healy) Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2016 19:53:35 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Fw: TR on NN semantics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The following technical report is available at http://hdl.handle.net/1928/31783 : Title: The Neural Representation of Concepts at the Sensor Level Author(s): Healy, Michael John Caudell, Thomas Preston Abstract: This report presents a mathematical model of the semantics, or meaning, of the connectionist structure and stimulus activity of a neural network, whether artificial or biological. The mathematical model associates concepts about sensed objects with the neuron-like nodes in a neural network and composable concept relationships with the connection pathways in the network. Category-theoretic constructs, specifically colimits, limits, and functors, organize the concept structure and map it to a formal neural network in a structure-preserving manner. Starting with a simple example of a neural vision system, we show that this mathematical model of neural network structure and activity can be used to derive connectionist architectures that work as intended. We also claim an additional advantage of this approach: A properly functioning connectionist architecture has an accompanying concept representation and this representation is both local and distributed. These properties are derived from the category-theoretic formalism described here. Sincerely, Mike Healy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From michele.wigger at telecom-paristech.fr Tue Feb 16 15:28:58 2016 From: michele.wigger at telecom-paristech.fr (Michele Wigger) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 21:28:58 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: CFP: 2016 IEEE Information Theory Workshop in Cambridge, UK Message-ID: <514C754B-A251-4047-8A1E-FD00AA12219F@telecom-paristech.fr> The 2016 IEEE Information Theory Workshop will take place from the 11th to the 14th September 2016 at Robinson College, Cambridge, United Kingdom. The 2016 IEEE Information Theory Workshop welcomes original technical contributions in all areas of information theory. The agenda includes both invited and contributed sessions, with a particular emphasis on the interface between: Information Theory, Statistics and Machine Learning Information Theory and Compressed Sensing Information Theory and Radar Plenary Speakers Yonina Eldar, Technion?Israel Institute of Technology Andrew Blake, Microsoft Research Cambridge Thomas Strohmer, University of California, Davis Paper Submission Authors are invited to submit previously unpublished papers, not exceeding five pages, according to the directions that will appear on the conference website: http://sigproc.eng.cam.ac.uk/ITW2016 The ITW proceedings will be published by the IEEE and will be available on IEEE Xplore. Schedule Paper Submission Deadline: 13th March 2016 Acceptance Notification: 12th June 2016 Final Paper Submission: 31st July 2016 Website: http://sigproc.eng.cam.ac.uk/ITW2016 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mareike.kardinal at bcos.uni-freiburg.de Thu Feb 18 08:57:59 2016 From: mareike.kardinal at bcos.uni-freiburg.de (Mareike Kardinal) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:57:59 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Call for applications: SMART START - a joint training progamm in Computational Neuroscience for young researchers In-Reply-To: <56C48176.1070005@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> References: <56C48176.1070005@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> Message-ID: <56C5CDE7.1080501@bcos.uni-freiburg.de> *Call for applications* Ready for a *SMART*/START/ into Computational Neuroscience? We invite first and second-year Master students with a background in related fields to apply to our joint training program *SMART*/START/. The program aims at complementing previous studies with concepts, theories and techniques of Computational Neuroscience. *SMART*/START /consists of two programs. Both of them last one year each and take place at numerous locations of the Bernstein Network and further locations throughout Germany. *SMART*/START /1 provides financial support to then second-year Master students, allowing them to attend supplementary courses and training visits at participating institutions. Students will receive an experienced faculty mentor who will advise and guide them at this educational stage. *SMART*/START /2 provides fully funded positions for pre-PhD students. At the start of the program, these students will have already obtained their Master?s degree and are in the process of selecting a PhD project. *SMART*/START /2 allows them to elaborate their own PhD proposal as a collaborative project between two labs. This comprises exchange visits as well as voluntary attendance of lectures and courses offered by participating institutions. Both *SMART*/START/ programs will commence in the winter term 2016/17. _Deadline for application is Monday, Feb 29, 2016._ More information can be found on our website: www.smartstart-compneuro.de Best regards, Mareike Kardinal -- Dr. Mareike Kardinal Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience Press & Public Relations Officer, Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Hansastr. 9A 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: +49-761-203-9593 mareike.kardinal 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: From demian.battaglia at univ-amu.fr Thu Feb 18 08:57:50 2016 From: demian.battaglia at univ-amu.fr (Demian Battaglia) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:57:50 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Mediterranean Neuroscience 2017 - Call for Symposia Message-ID: Mediterranean Neuroscience 2017 - Call for Symposia ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The next Conference of the Mediterranean Neuroscience Society (MNS, http://www.mnsociety.net/) will be held in Malta in June 9-12th 2017. The MNS has been created to support and help strengthen all initiatives that bring together neuroscientists from European, Mediterranean and MENA region countries. It is a member society of IBRO (http://ibro.info), belonging to both European and African chapters of the international organization. The MNS works towards three main objectives: 1) Strengthen exchanges between mediterranean neuroscientists 2) Promote education in the neurosciences and increase public awareness of progress made (organizing e.g. Euro-mediterranean master programs) 3) Sustain the Mediterranean Neuroscience Conference, as an open forum for neuroscience discussions and team-building across the North-South shores of the Mediterranean The last Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience was organized in June 2015 in Sardinia (Italy). The call for symposia for the next MNS conference is now open Symposia dealing with all areas of neuroscience research, including computational and systems neuroscience or neuroimaging are invited. The symposium organizer should submit a proposal in the following format: - Title of the symposium - Name(s) and address(s) of the organizer(s) - General abstract of the symposium describing the aims of the symposium (no more than 500 words) - Name, address, e-mail, Country and title of the presentation of each speaker (no abstracts are requested at this stage) - Use Times New Roman in 12 point and 1.5 spacing, with the title underlined. A typical symposium gathers 4-5 speakers, each addressing the general topic from a different perspective. Total allocated time is 2 hours. The conference language will be English. The participation of scientists from MENA countries, whether as organizers of symposia or as speakers, is highly encouraged. The gender ratio within each proposal will also be taken into account to reach a decision. MNS has limited funding for conferences and does not reimburse speakers expenses. We will offer however a common location, logistic support, allowing a larger visibility for the proposed initiatives. The MNS and its partners will also provide a limited number of stipends for qualified young candidates. Deadline for submitting a proposal is May 15th, 2016. Proposal can be submitted at the website: http://www.mnsociety.net/call-for-symposia/ For informations you can contact: Demian Battaglia (demian.battaglia at univ-amu.fr) or Marc Landry (marc.landry at u-bordeaux.fr) ----> If you want a mediterranean FENS... propose your symposium and make this Mediterranean Neuroscience conference alive! PS: follow us on Twitter, https://twitter.com/MnSociety From smart at neuralcorrelate.com Mon Feb 22 19:36:57 2016 From: smart at neuralcorrelate.com (Susana Martinez-Conde) Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 19:36:57 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: 2nd call for illusion submissions: the 12th Best Illusion of the Year Contest In-Reply-To: <008d01d16dd1$ddf94b70$99ebe250$@neuralcorrelate.com> References: <008d01d16dd1$ddf94b70$99ebe250$@neuralcorrelate.com> Message-ID: <00ba01d16dd2$51729ac0$f457d040$@neuralcorrelate.com> ****2nd CALL FOR ILLUSION SUBMISSIONS: THE WORLD'S 12TH ANNUAL BEST ILLUSION OF THE YEARSM CONTEST**** http://illusionoftheyear.com We are happy to announce the 12th edition of world's Best Illusion of the YearSM Contest!! Submissions are now welcome! In 2015, the Best Illusion of the YearSM Contest became an annual online event, with the goal of bringing the creativity of the illusion creator community all around the world. Anybody with an internet connection can now participate! No matter where you live, you can be a contestant, and/or vote for the Top 3 winners! Contestants are invited to submit 1-minute videos, in mp4 format, featuring novel illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2015) of all sensory modalities (visual, auditory, etc.) and/or cognitive nature. The content of the 1-minute video presenting your illusion is solely up to you, and the only requirement is that it wows all viewers! Some examples include, but are not limited to: * -A slide presentation, or succession of images, with a voice over (and/or written text, if you prefer) * -A video of yourself describing your illusion * -A video animation/enactment of your illusion An international panel of impartial judges will rate all the videos and narrow them down to the Top 10. Then, online voters around the world will choose their favorite illusions from the Top 10 finalists. All Top 10 finalists will receive a commemorative plaque. In addition, the Top 3 winners will receive cash prizes: $3,000 USD for first place; $2,000 USD for second place, and $1,000 USD for third place. The Judge Panel will rate illusions according to: * -Significance to our understanding of the human mind and brain * -Simplicity of the description * -Sheer beauty * -Counterintuitive quality * -Spectacularity Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the Judge Panel. Only the Top 10 illusions will be posted online, to allow worldwide voting. Participation in the Best Illusion of the YearSM Contest does not preclude you from also submitting your work for publication elsewhere. By participating in the Best Illusion of the YearSM Contest you agree to have your illusion posted on the Contest website, if selected among the Top 10, and included in press releases and other promotional materials/fundraising initiatives for the Contest. You (and your co-authors, if appropriate) will retain the full copyright of your illusion, and receive full credit as illusion creator(s). Illusions submitted to previous editions of the contest can be re-submitted to the 2016 Contest, as long as they meet the above requirements and were not among the Top 10 finalists in previous years. You can send your 1-minute video to Susana Martinez-Conde via email ( smart at neuralcorrelate.com) until April 15, 2016. On behalf of the Executive Board of the Neural Correlate Society: Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse ----------------------------------- Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Physiology & Pharmacology Empire Innovator Scholar Director, Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center 450 Clarkson Ave, Brooklyn NY 11203, USA Email: smart at neuralcorrelate.com Phone: +1 718-270-4520 http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sahil.moza at gmail.com Mon Feb 22 06:04:12 2016 From: sahil.moza at gmail.com (Sahil Moza) Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:34:12 +0530 Subject: Connectionists: Deadline extended: Computational Neuroscience summer school CAMP@Bangalore 2016 Message-ID: Dear all, CAMP @ Bangalore (Computational Approaches to Memory and Plasticity at NCBS, Bangalore) is a 16-day summer school on the theory and simulation of learning, memory and plasticity in the brain. There is a special emphasis on multiscale phenomena in learning and memory: How do molecular, electrical, and network levels of computation come together to give memory? The course will start with remedial tutorials on neuroscience / math / programming and then work upwards from sub-cellular electrical and chemical signaling in neurons, and onward to micro-circuits and networks. Students worldwide are encouraged to apply. Accommodation and food will be free for the selected students. There is no registration fee. Students are advised to obtain independent travel grants. Last date for applications: *29 February 2016*. Instructors include: Michael Hausser (University College, London) Tomoki Fukai, (RIKEN BRAIN SCIENCE INSTITUTE, Japan) Alain Destexhe (CNRS, France) Misha Tsodyks (Weizmann Institute, Israel) Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, Bangalore) Rishikesh Narayanan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) Arvind Kumar (KTH, Stockholm) Sumantra Chattarji (NCBS, Bangalore) Suhita Nadkarni (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune) Raghav Rajan (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune) Course Organizers: Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, Bangalore) Arvind Kumar (KTH Stockholm) Rishikesh Narayanan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) -- Sahil Moza Research Scholar National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bangalore, India ? (+91)9916992246 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From robert.jenssen at uit.no Mon Feb 22 02:44:54 2016 From: robert.jenssen at uit.no (Jenssen Robert) Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 07:44:54 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Recruiting talented postdoc from abroad to Machine Learning @ UiT Lab In-Reply-To: <1447920382605.62932@uit.no> References: <1447920382605.62932@uit.no> Message-ID: <1456127094090.11792@uit.no> The ?Arctic MSCA-IF program? aims to recruit and support excellent junior scientists from outside Norway who plan to submit applications for independent research fellowships through the mobility program Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) in order to pursue an academic research career. For more info, please see: https://uit.no/prosjekter/prosjekt?p_document_id=444297 Robert Jenssen, director of the Machine Learning @ UiT Lab: http://site.uit.no/ml is one of a few selected faculty members for this competitive UiT program, with the project DeepHealth: Advancing Deep Machine Learning Research for Healthcare described in more detail here: https://uit.no/Content/447328/Jenssen.pdf The Machine Learning @ UiT Lab is a vibrant group at the "north pole", with excellent national and international connections. Successful candidates will be invited to UiT - The Arctic University of Norway and the Machine Learning @ UiT Lab, in order to start the process of writing the MSCA-IF proposal (UiT will cover costs of travel etc). For more info, please contact Robert Jenssen: robert.jenssen at uit.no. Deadline will be Friday, March 11, 2016. Best -Robert --- Robert Jenssen URL: ansatte.uit.no/robert.jenssen Machine Learning @ UiT Lab: site.uit.no/ml Electrical Engineering, Group Leader Department of Physics and Technology, Board Member University of Tromso, Norway -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ralph.etiennecummings at gmail.com Sun Feb 21 20:43:25 2016 From: ralph.etiennecummings at gmail.com (Ralph Etienne-Cummings) Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2016 20:43:25 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Call For Participation: 2016 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop Message-ID: *Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop 2016 Wiki ? * Sunday Jun 26th - Saturday July 16th, 2016 - * click here for workshop calendar , Telluride Elementary School, Telluride, Colorado - click for google map location .* *Applications to the 2016 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop* 2016 NEUROMORPHIC COGNITION ENGINEERING WORKSHOP https://neuromorphs.net/nm/wiki/2016 Sunday June 26th - Saturday July 16th, 2016, Telluride, Colorado *IMPORTANT DATES FOR APPLICATION (Instructions are at the bottom of the page)* Application Website Open - 16th February, 2016 Applications Due - 2nd April, 2016 Notification of Acceptance - 15th April, 2016 *Application website: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/7040 .* *GOALS:* Neuromorphic engineers design and fabricate artificial neural systems whose organizing principles are based on those of biological nervous systems. Over the past 18 years, this research community has focused on the understanding of low-level sensory processing and systems infrastructure; efforts are now expanding to apply this knowledge and infrastructure to addressing higher-level problems in perception, cognition, and learning. In this 3-week intensive workshop and through the Institute for Neuromorphic Engineering (INE), the mission is to promote interaction between senior and junior researchers; to educate new members of the community; to introduce new enabling fields and applications to the community; to promote on-going collaborative activities emerging from the Workshop, and to promote a self-sustaining research field. *FORMAT:* The three week summer workshop will include background lectures on systems and cognitive neuroscience (in particular sensory processing, learning and memory, motor systems and attention), practical tutorials on emerging hardware design, mobile robots, hands-on projects, and special interest groups. Participants are required to take part and possibly complete at least one of the projects proposed. They are furthermore encouraged to become involved in as many of the other activities proposed as interest and time allow. There will be two lectures in the morning that cover issues that are important to the community in general. Because of the diverse range of backgrounds among the participants, some of these lectures will be tutorials, rather than detailed reports of current research. These lectures will be given by invited speakers. Projects and interest groups meet in the late afternoons, and after dinner. In the early afternoon there will be tutorials on a wide spectrum of topics, including analog VLSI, mobile robotics, vision and auditory systems, central-pattern-generators, selective attention mechanisms, cognitive systems, etc. *2016 TOPIC AREAS:* Decoding Multi-Modal Effects on Auditory Cognition: Edmund Lalor (Trinity College Dublin), Alain de Cheveigne (UPMC, France), Malcolm Slaney (Google), and Shihab Shamma (UM-College Park) Spike-Based Cognition in Active Neuromorphic Systems: Ryad Benjamin Benosman (UPMC, Paris), Cornelia Fermuller (Univ. of Maryland), Garrick Orchard (National University of Singapore), Michele Rucci (Boston University), and Bert Shi (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) Neuromorphic Path Planning for Robots in a Disaster Response Scenario: Jeff Krichmar (University of California, Irvine) and Jennifer Hasler (Georgia Institute of Technology) Neuromorphic Tactile Sensing:James Wright (MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University), Jonathan Tapson (MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University), and Nitish V. Thakor (SINAPSE, Singapore University for Neurotechnology) Computational Neuroscience (invitational mini-workshop): Terry Sejnowski (Salk Institute) *LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENTS:* The summer school will take place in the small town of Telluride, 9000 feet high in southwest Colorado, about 6 hours drive away from Denver (350 miles). There are several small airports (e.g. Montrose) close to Telluride. All facilities within the beautifully renovated public school building are fully accessible to participants with disabilities. Participants will be housed in ski condominiums, within walking distance of the school. Participants are expected to share condominiums. The workshop is intended to be very informal and hands-on. Participants are not required to have had previous experience in analog VLSI circuit design, computational or machine vision, systems level neurophysiology or modeling the brain at the systems level. However, we strongly encourage active researchers with relevant backgrounds from academia, industry and national laboratories to apply, in particular if they are prepared to work on specific projects, talk about their own work or bring demonstrations to Telluride (e.g. robots, chips, software). Wireless internet access will be provided. Technical staff present throughout the workshops will assist with software and hardware issues. We encourage participants to bring along their personal laptop. No cars are required. Given the small size of the town, we recommend that you do not rent a car. Bring hiking boots, warm clothes, rain gear, and a backpack, since Telluride is surrounded by beautiful mountains. Unless otherwise arranged with one of the organizers, we expect participants to stay for the entire duration of this three week workshop. *FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS:* Notification of acceptances will be mailed out around the April 15th, 2016. The Workshop covers all your accommodations and facilities costs for the 3 weeks duration. You are responsible for your own travel to the Workshop. Registration Fees: For expenses not covered by federal funds, a Workshop registration fee is required. The fee is $1500 per participant for the 3-week Workshop. This is expected from all participants at the time of acceptance. Accommodations: The cost of a shared condominium, typically a bedroom in a shared condo for senior participants or a shared room for students, will be covered for all academic participants. Upgrades to a private rooms or condos will cost extra. Participants from National Laboratories and Industry are expected to pay for these condominiums. The 2016 Workshop and Summer School on Neuromorphic Engineering is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Institute of Neuromorphic Engineering, University of Maryland - College Park, Institute for Neuroinformatics ? University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Georgia Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Boston University, University of Western Sydney and the Salk Institute. *Workshop Directors:* Cornelia Ferm?ller (University of Maryland) Ralph Etienne-Cummings (Johns Hopkins Univ.) Shih-Chii Liu (University of Zurich and ETH Zurich) Timmer Horiuchi (University of Maryland) Katalin Gotthard (University of Arizona) Michael Pfeiffer (University of Zurich and ETH Zurich) Francisco Barranco (University of Granada) Former 2007-2013 Workshop Director: Tobi Delbruck (University of Zurich and ETH Zurich) Workshop Advisory Board: Andreas Andreou (Johns Hopkins University) Andre van Schaik (University Western Sydney, Australia) Avis Cohen (University of Maryland) Barbara Shinn-Cunningham (Boston University) Giacomo Indiveri (Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich) Jonathan Tapson (University Western Sydney, Australia) Malcolm Slaney (Google) Jennifer Hasler (Georgia Institute of Technology) Rodney Douglas (Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich) Shihab Shamma (University of Maryland) Tobi Delbruck (Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich) *HOW TO APPLY:* Applicants should be at the level of graduate students or above (i.e. postdoctoral fellows, faculty, research and engineering staff and the equivalent positions in industry and national laboratories). We actively encourage women and minority candidates to apply. Anyone interested in proposing or discussing specific projects should contact the appropriate topic leaders directly. The application website is (after February 16th, 2016): https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/7040 . Application information needed: Contact email address. First name, Last name, Affiliation, valid e-mail address. Curriculum Vitae (a short version, please). One page summary of background and interests relevant to the workshop, including possible ideas for workshop projects. Please indicate which topic areas you would most likely join. Two letters of recommendation (uploaded directly by references). Applicants will be notified by e-mail. 16th February, 2016 - Applications accepted on website 2nd April, 2016 - Applications Due 15th April, 2016 - Notification of Acceptance -- Ralph Etienne-Cummings, PhD, FIEEE Professor and Chairman Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Computational Sensor Motor Systems Lab Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD [image: cid:image001.png at 01CFC064.B58B46A0] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 20171 bytes Desc: not available URL: From olga.grant at ucd.ie Mon Feb 22 12:05:51 2016 From: olga.grant at ucd.ie (Olga Grant) Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 17:05:51 -0000 Subject: Connectionists: Post-doctoral Research Fellow - Computational Modelling of Deep brain Stimulation for Parkinson's disease Message-ID: <022401d16d93$488634b0$d9929e10$@ucd.ie> Post-doctoral Research Fellow - Computational Modelling of Deep brain Stimulation for Parkinson's disease Highly motivated candidates are invited to join an exciting new project to develop multiscale models of the neuromuscular system for closed-loop deep brain stimulation (DBS). We are seeking a post-doctoral research fellow to develop models of the electric field around the implanted electrode during deep brain stimulation and its interaction with surrounding neurons. Despite the success of DBS, the mechanisms by which it works are not yet understood. This project aims to address this question and to design closed-loop control strategies for DBS through a combination of computational modelling and experimentation. The project represents an exciting opportunity for enthusiastic candidates to work on a new multidisciplinary research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The Neuromuscular Systems and Neural Engineering Lab is a multidisciplinary research group led by Prof. Madeleine Lowery in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at University College Dublin. Our research involves applying engineering principles, in particular mathematical modelling, signal analysis and experimentation, to understand how the nervous system controls muscle in healthy and diseased states. Through this research we aim to improve our understanding of the neuromuscular system to address fundamental questions in the control of human movement and to develop improved therapeutic and rehabilitation strategies. Candidates should hold a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering or a related discipline, with prior experience in electromagnetic finite element analysis and/or computational neural modelling. Excellent communication, analytical and programming skills are required. Full details of the position and the application process are available through the UCD Human Resources website ( https://www.ucd.ie/hr/jobvacancies/) . Informal enquiries may be made to Prof. Madeleine Lowery UCD School of electrical Electronic & Communications Engineering University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland madeleine.lowery at ucd.ie Tel. +353 1 716 1911 ____________________________________ Dr Olga M Grant Research Project Manager School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering Tel +353 (1) 7161778 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 11791 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 4405 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ilpincy+ants at gmail.com Mon Feb 22 00:54:17 2016 From: ilpincy+ants at gmail.com (Carlo Pinciroli) Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 00:54:17 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: [4th CFP] ANTS 2016: Tenth International Conference on Swarm Intelligence Message-ID: *** Apologies if you have received this CFP more than once *** ANTS 2016 Tenth International Conference on Swarm Intelligence September 7-9, 2016. Brussels, Belgium Call for papers prepared on October 5, 2015 More details and up-to-date information at http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2016 Scope of the Conference ======================= Swarm intelligence is the discipline that deals with the study of self-organizing processes both in nature and in artificial systems. Researchers in ethology and animal behavior have proposed a number of models to explain interesting aspects of social insect behavior such as self-organization and shape-formation. Recently, algorithms and methods inspired by these models have been proposed to solve difficult problems in many domains. An example of a particularly successful research direction in swarm intelligence is ant colony optimization, the main focus of which is on discrete optimization problems. Ant colony optimization has been applied successfully to a large number of difficult discrete optimization problems including the traveling salesman problem, the quadratic assignment problem, scheduling, vehicle routing, etc., as well as to routing in telecommunication networks. Another interesting approach is that of particle swarm optimization, that mainly focuses on continuous optimization problems. Here too, a number of successful applications can be found in the recent literature. Swarm robotics is another relevant field. Here, the focus is on applying swarm intelligence techniques to the control of large groups of cooperating autonomous robots. ANTS 2016 will give researchers in swarm intelligence the opportunity to meet, to present their latest research, and to discuss current developments and applications. The three-day conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on September 7-9, 2016. Relevant Research Areas ======================= ANTS 2016 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of swarm intelligence. Typical, but not exclusive, topics of interest are: Behavioral models of social insects or other animal societies that can stimulate new algorithmic approaches. Empirical and theoretical research in swarm intelligence. Application of swarm intelligence methods, such as ant colony optimization or particle swarm optimization, to real-world problems. Theoretical and experimental research in swarm robotics systems. Publication Details =================== Conference proceedings will be published by Springer in the LNCS. series. The journal Swarm Intelligence will publish a special issue dedicated to ANTS 2016 that will contain extended versions of the best research works presented at the conference. Further details will soon be published on the web site. Conference Location =================== Auditorium R42.4.502, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Campus du Solbosch, Universit? Libre de Bruxelles, Av. F.D. Roosevelt 42, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Best Paper Award ================ A best paper award will be presented at the conference. Further Information =================== Up-to-date information will be published on the web site http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2016/. For information about local arrangements, registration forms, etc., please refer to the above-mentioned web site or contact the local organizers at the address below. Conference Address ================== ANTS 2016 IRIDIA CP 194/6 Tel +32-2-6502729 Universit? Libre de Bruxelles Fax +32-2-6502715 Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50 http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2016 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium email: ants at iridia.ulb.ac.be Important Dates =============== Submission deadline March 2, 2016 Notification of acceptance May 4, 2016 Camera ready copy May 18, 2016 Conference September 7-9, 2016 ANTS 2016 Organizing Committee ============================== General chair Marco Dorigo, Universit? libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Vice-chairs Mauro Birattari, Universit? libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Thomas St?tzle, Universit? libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Technical program chairs Manuel L?pez-Ib??ez, University of Manchester, UK Xiaodong Li, RMIT University, Australia Kazuhiro Ohkura, Hiroshima University, Japan Publication chair Carlo Pinciroli, ?cole Polytechnique de Montr?al, Canada From ezio.bartocci at tuwien.ac.at Sun Feb 21 16:32:39 2016 From: ezio.bartocci at tuwien.ac.at (Ezio Bartocci) Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2016 22:32:39 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: CPS Week 2016 - Call for Participation Message-ID: Call for Participation CPS Week is the premier event on Cyber-Physical Systems. It brings together four top conferences, HSCC , ICCPS , IPSN , and RTAS , four summits , six tutorials , 20 workshops , a localization competition and various exhibitions from both industry and academia. This year we are also very pleased to inform you that the ARTEMIS Spring event will be organized co-located with the CPS Week. At the end of the CPS Week, PhD students can take the opportunity to attend also the RiSE & LogiCS Spring School on Logic and Verification . Altogether the CPS Week program covers a multitude of complementary aspects of CPS, and reunites the leading researchers in this dynamic field. Click here to register now !! (Early registration until 11 March 2016) There are several travel stipends for students available !! Check the program of CPS Week 2016 Keynote Speakers Tue April 12: Scientific Keynote Rajeev Alur , Zisman Family Professor, Computer and Information Science, UPenn, USA Wed April 13: Industrial Keynotes Smart Mobility: Ken Butts , Executive Engineer, Powertrain Control, Toyota, USA Smart Grid: Rada Rodriguez , CEO Schneider Electric, Germany Internet of Things: Joe Salvo , Dir. of CS and Arch., GE Global Research, USA Industry 4.0: Sabine Herlitschka , CEO Infineon Austria Thu April 14: Scientific Keynote Tomasso Poggio , Eugene McDermott Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, CSAIL, MIT, USA Morning and Banquet Opening Speakers Tue April 12: Morning Opening Address Johannes Fr?hlich , Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, Technische Universit?t Wien, Austria Wed April 13: Morning Opening Address Michael Wiesm?ller , Head of Department for ICT, Industrial & Nano Technologies and Space Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) Wed April 13: Banquet Opening Address Bernd Rosauer , Head of Research, Technology Field IT Platforms Siemens AG, Corporate Technology Heinrich Daembkes , Airbus Defence and Space President of ARTEMIS Industry Association Thu April 14: Morning Opening Address Max Lemke , Directorate General CONNECT of the European Commission Banquet at Vienna City Hall (Rathaus) The banquet will be a spectacular event hosted in the Festsaal at Vienna City Hall (Rathaus), designed by Friedrich von Schmidt in Gothic style, and built between 1872 and 1883. During the banquet, Barbara Helfgott and Rondo Vienna will perform their fantastic music alive. Organizers General co-Chairs: Radu Grosu (TU Wien) Thomas A. Henzinger (IST Austria) Finance Chair: Dejan Nickovic (AIT) Industrial Liaison co-Chairs: Peter Palensky (AIT and TU Delft) Stefan Poledna? (TTTech Austria) Local Arrangement Chair: Ezio Bartocci (TU Wien) Publication Chair: Edmund Widl (AIT) Publicity Chair: Hermann Kopetz (TU Wien) Registration co-Chairs: Sergiy Bogomolov (IST Austria) Edmund Widl (AIT) Student Volunteer Program Chair: Przemys?aw Daca (IST Austria) Web and Social Media Chair: Ezio Bartocci (TU Wien) Workshop/Demo co-Chairs: Christoph Kirsch (Uni Salzburg) Ana Sokolova (Uni Salzburg) Supported by ? Steering Committee Chair: George J. Pappas (UPenn) Committee Members: Werner Damm (Univ. of Oldenburg) Insup Lee (UPenn) Raj Rajkumar (CMU) Sanghyuk Son (DGIST and UVa) Jack Stankovic (UVa) Feng Zhao (Microsoft, China) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From a.pons at upc.edu Mon Feb 22 10:07:25 2016 From: a.pons at upc.edu (antonio) Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:07:25 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: ICANN 2016 Barcelona - Last Call for contributions Message-ID: <56CB242D.7050205@upc.edu> *Last Call for Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation and/or Full **P**aper Contribution* *www.icann2016.org* *ICANN 2016 * 25th Annual Conference on Artificial Neural Networks BarcelonaTech (UPC), Barcelona, Spain 6 - 9 September 2016* Special event*: ENNS 25th Anniversary ============================================================ /The International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN) is the annual flagship conference of the European Neural Network Society (ENNS). In 2016 the Universitat Polit?cnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) will organis//e the 25th ICANN Conference from //the //6th to //the //9th //of //September 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, in collaboration with the Universit//at//Pompeu Fabra (UPF)./ *INVITED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS* 1. *Wlodek Duch *(Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland) 2. *Erkki Oja *(Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland) 3. *Joaquin Fuster *(University of California at Los Angeles, USA) 4. *Murray Shanahan* (Imperial College London, UK) 5. *G?nther Palm*(University of Ulm, Germany) 6. *Stephen Coombes *(University of Nottingham, UK) 7. *Etienne Koechlin*( Pierre and Marie Curie University, France) *IMPORTANT DATES* /Submission of abstracts and papers: /1 March 2016 /Submission of //d//emonstration proposals: /1 March 2016 /Notification of acceptance:/8 May 2016 /Camera-ready paper and registration: /15 May 2016 /Conference dates:/6-9 September 2016 *CONFERENCE TOPICS* ICANN 2016 will feature the 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. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes: * Brain Inspired Computing: Cognitive models, Computational Neuroscience, Self-organisation, Reinforcement Learning, Neural Control and Planning, Hybrid Neural-Symbolic Architectures, Neural Dynamics, Recurrent Networks, Deep Learning. * Machine Learning: Neural Network Theory, Neural Network Models, Graphical Models, Bayesian Networks, Kernel Methods, Generative Models, Information Theoretic Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Relational Learning, Dynamical Models. * Neural Applications for: Intelligent Robotics, Neurorobotics, Language Processing, Image Processing, Sensor Fusion, Pattern Recognition, Data Mining, Neural Agents, Brain-Computer Interaction, Neural Hardware, Evolutionary Neural Networks. *** CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE**S* Early registration fees have been kept particularly low for this kind of event because ENNS and ICANN aim to fully implement the academicnot-for-profit policy. Undergraduate students (Bachelor and Master level): 90 EUR PhD Students: 200 EUR Regular delegates: 250 EUR *ENNS members have a reduction of 40 EUR* Students can apply for ENNS funded travel grants to attend (see the conference website). *CALL FOR CONTRIBUTED SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS* All scientific communications presented at ICANN 2016 will be reviewed and scientifically evaluated by a panel of experts. The conference will feature three categories of communications: - oral communications (15'+5') - poster communications (on permanent display and with a 2-hour presentation) - demonstrations Authors willing to present original contributions for any category must submit a manuscript of a maximum length of 8 pages.Accepted papers of contributing authors will be published in Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. Selected papers will be invited after the conference for a full journal paper submission. Authors willing to present a contribution for oral communications and posters without submitting a full manuscript must submit a 1-page abstract. The abstracts will be published all together in a proceedings section without an author index. In case of programme constraints the priority will be given to original contributions accompanied by a full paper submission. Submission of communications will be online. More details are available on the conference website (http://icann2016.org/index.php/contributors/submission). *BEST PAPER AWARDS* ENNS will sponsor a maximum of four best paper awards, two in the Brain Inspired Computing track (one poster and one oral communication) and, analogously, two in the Machine Learning Research track. All awardees will be presented during the final ceremony. *ORGANISATION** General Chair:*/ Antonio J. Pons Rivero/(UPC Barcelona, Spain)* Local**co-Chairs:* /Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo/(UPF Barcelona, Spain), /Paul Verschure/(UPF Barcelona, Spain) *Organising Committee Chairs:*/ Daniel Malagarriga/(UPC Barcelona, Spain), /Lara Escuain/(UPC Barcelona, Spain), /Caroline Kleinheny/(ENNS Lausanne, Switzerland) *Honorary Chair: *Alessandro E. P. Villa * Communication* *Chair:*/ Paolo Masulli/(ENNS Lausanne, Switzerland) *********************************************** Antonio J. Pons Rivero General Chair of ICANN 2016 Terrassa School of Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering (ETSEIAT) Nonlinear dynamics, nonlinear optics and lasers Group BarcelonaTech (UPC) Edifici GAIA Rbla. Sant Nebridi, 22 08222 Terrassa, Spain Caroline Kleinheny Secretary of the European Neural Network Society University of Lausanne Internef 137k, Quartier UNIL Dorigny 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland *********************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From torsello at dsi.unive.it Wed Feb 24 15:13:55 2016 From: torsello at dsi.unive.it (Andrea Torsello) Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2016 21:13:55 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Participation ISSCN 2nd International Summer School on Complex Networks Message-ID: <2882086.DXs7dN4mre@patsy> ISSCN 2nd International Summer School on Complex Networks Bertinoro, Italy July 11-15 2016 http://www.dsi.unive.it/isscn/ Complex networks are an emerging and powerful computational tool in the physical, biological and social sciences. They aim is to capture the structural properties of data represented as graphs or networks, providing ways of characterising both the static and dynamic facets of network structure. The topic draws on ideas from graph theory, statistical physics and dynamic systems theory. Applications include communication networks, epidemiology, transportation, social networks and ecology. The aim in the Summer School is to provide an overview of both the foundations and state of the art in the field. Lectures will be presented by intellectual leaders in the field, and there will be an opportunity to interact closely with them during the school. The school will be held in the Bertinoro Residential Centre of the University of Bologna, which is situated in beautiful hills between Ravenna and Bologna. The summer school is aimed at PhD students, and younger postdocs or RA's working in the complex networks area. It will run for 5 days with lectures in the mornings and afternoons, and the school fee includes residential accommodation and meals at the residential centre. List of Lecturers Nuno Ara?jo, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal Alex Arenas, Universidad Rovira i Virgili, Spain Michele Benzi, Emory University, USA Ernesto Estrada, University of Strathclyde, UK Jesus Gomez Gardenes, University of Zaragoza, Spain Edwin Hancock, University of York, UK Simone Severini, University College London, UK Richard Wilson, University of York, UK Organizers Andrea Torsello, Universit? Ca' Foscari Venezia, Italy Edwin Hancock, University of York, UK Richard Wilson, University of York, UK Ernesto Estrada, University of Strathclyde, UK Registration Fee: ?750 Registration includes Accommodation in single rooms for 5 nights (10/7/2016 to 14/7/2016), meals and coffee breaks. Application is now open through the schools's website. Deadline for application is March 31st 2016. All applicants will receive results by 15/4/2016. Strong applications can receive positive responses before the application deadline. Applicants must send an expression of interest along with their Curriculum vitae. PhD students can send also a letter from the supervisor in support of their application. Contact: Andrea Torsello -- Andrea Torsello PhD Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica, Statistica Universita' Ca' Foscari Venezia via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia Mestre, Italy Tel: +39 0412348468 Fax: +39 0412348419 http://www.dsi.unive.it/~atorsell From sstober at uni-potsdam.de Tue Feb 23 14:03:57 2016 From: sstober at uni-potsdam.de (Sebastian Stober) Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2016 20:03:57 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position in Machine Learning in Cognitive Science Message-ID: <56CCAD1D.1080205@uni-potsdam.de> Dear colleagues, I have a job opening for a PhD student at the University of Potsdam. Please find the details below. A PDF version is available at http://www.uni-potsdam.de/verwaltung/dezernat3/stellen/105_2016_HWF_Stober.pdf Could you please also forward it to anyone who might be interested? Cheers, Sebastian Stober >> The newly established Machine Learning in Cognitive Science research group within the Research Focus Cognitive Science at the University of Potsdam, Germany, is seeking to fill the following position preferably starting May 15th 2016: Academic Staff Member (m/f) PhD Research Position (Research Associate) Requisition No.: 105/2016 The position is for 30 hours of work per week (75 %). The salary is determined by the collective bargaining agreement for public employees in Germany (TV-L 13 Ost). This is a temporary position limited to a term of 3 years with the intention of a further extension in accordance with Section 2 Para 1 of the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Law (WissZeitVG). The position will be embedded into the Research Focus Cognitive Sciences which is one of four interdisciplinary focus areas of the University of Potsdam and widely recognized as one of the leading cognitive science institutes in Germany. Within this highly interdisciplinary setting, cognitive scientists, psychologists, mathematicians, computer scientists linguists, and sport/movement scientists work together using a wide array of experimental techniques, such as EEG, TMS, NIRS, eye tracking, motion capture, and gait analysis. The Machine Learning in Cognitive Science group is dedicated to improving the cognitive abilities of machines and reducing the friction in human-computer interaction. We develop novel signal processing and deep learning algorithms for the analysis of sensory data and investigate new approaches for interacting with machines such as through EEG or eye tracking. We are looking for a highly motivated, creative, interdisciplinary researcher with a strong background in (deep) machine learning/pattern recognition or computational/artificial intelligence. A high proficiency in scientific programming (preferably Python) is required as well as a Master's degree in a related discipline. The everyday working language may be either English or German, though good written and oral communication skills in English are essential. An ideal candidate will also have some experience in temporal signal processing (such as music/audio or sensory data) and good analytical/mathematical skills. Additional knowledge within the application domain of the cognitive sciences is a plus. The university is located in the historical city of Potsdam, and its Golm campus, where Cognitive Science is based, is reachable by a direct and fast train connection from Berlin, a vibrant and international city that offers an unbeatable quality of life. Notice that the University of Potsdam does not charge tuition fees for PhD students beyond a nominal registration fee. We encourage PhD students to also join the Potsdam Graduate School for further education opportunities in different academic and non-academic fields, as well as the possibility for national and international networking. At least one-third of working hours are available for one?s own in-depth scientific work. The University strives for a balanced gender ratio in all occupational groups. Handicapped applicants will be given preference in case of equal suitability. People with an immigration background are specifically encouraged to apply. Please send your application with the requisition number 105/2016 including a letter of motivation with an outline of your research interests, transcript of grades, copies of certificates, and a CV by email (single PDF file preferred, max. 2 MB) to sebastian.stober at uni-potsdam.de by March 31st, 2016. If necessary, you can also mail it to University of Potsdam, Research Focus Cognitive Sciences, Dr. Sebastian Stober, Karl-Liebknecht-Stra?e 24-25, 14476 Potsdam. In this case, we request that you include a self-addressed stamped envelope so we can return your application documents. PDF version: http://www.uni-potsdam.de/verwaltung/dezernat3/stellen/105_2016_HWF_Stober.pdf -- Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Stober Research Focus Cognitive Sciences Machine Learning in Cognitive Science Lab University of Potsdam Karl - Liebknecht Str. 24/25, House 14, Room 3.10 D-14476 Potsdam - Golm phone: +49 331 977-5513 email: sstober at uni-potsdam.de www: http://www.ling.uni-potsdam.de/mlcog/ From Nicolas.Rougier at inria.fr Wed Feb 24 04:23:11 2016 From: Nicolas.Rougier at inria.fr (Nicolas P. Rougier) Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2016 10:23:11 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc in Bordeaux, France. Application deadline 01/04/2016. Message-ID: <58DEC477-2395-41A5-A013-DE0CA7E29D0C@inria.fr> Postdoc in Bordeaux, France at the Neurodegenerative Diseases Institute Application deadline 01/04/2016. Details & application at INRIA website . Actor?critic models of the basal ganglia We developed a model of the basal ganglia (Piron et al., 2016) that introduces an action selection mechanism that is based upon the competition between a positive feedback through the direct pathway and a negative feedback through the hyperdirect pathway. The model also exploits the parallel organization of circuits between the basal ganglia and the cortex using segregated loops: one loop allows to choose the cue and one loop allows to make the actual motor selection. Learning occurs between the cognitive cortex and the cognitive striatum using a simple reinforcement learning where the values of the different cues are updated after each decision. As in most computational models of the basal ganglia, this model relies on an actor-critic architecture where the dopamine signal is used to encode the temporal difference prediction error signal in the critic (Joel et al., 2002; Khamassi et al., 2005). However, this algorithm is not very elaborated and its implementation is not biologically plausible since values are stored outside the model. The objectives of this postdoc is thus to review and to re-implement (Python) main actor-critic models of the literature in order to compare them on a common set of decision tasks (two-arm bandit task for example) in terms of biological plausibility and performances. Special attention will be given to the "Primary Value and Learned Value Pavlovian Learning Algorithm" model (O'Reilly, 2007) and the AGREL model (Roefselma et al. 2005). From these replications (that will be published in ReScience ), the most plausible and compatible mechanisms will be implemented in our own model of the basal ganglia in order to replace the current reinforcement learning algorithm (Guthrie et al., 2013, Piron et al. 2016). Profiles PhD in computational neuroscience or computer science (machine learning) with strong experience in Python & the scientific Python stack (numpy, scipy, matplotlib, git/github). References ? Joel, D., Niv, Y., & Ruppin, E. (2002). Actor?critic models of the basal ganglia: New anatomical and computational perspectives. Neural Networks, 15(4-6), 535?547. ? Khamassi, M., Lach?ze, L., Girard, B., Berthoz, A., Guillot, A. (2005). Actor-critic models of reinforcement learning in the basal ganglia: From natural to artificial rats. Adaptive Behavior, 13 (2). ? Guthrie, M., Leblois, A., Garenne, A., & Boraud, T. (2013). Interaction between cognitive and motor cortico-basal ganglia loops during decision making: a computational study. Journal of Neurophysiology, 109(12). ? C. Piron, D. Kase, M. Topalidou, M. Goillandeau, H. Orignac, T. N'Guyen, N.P. Rougier, T. Boraud, The globus pallidus pars interna in goal oriented and habitual behavior. Resolving an old standing paradox, Movement Disorders, (2016), to appear. ? O'Reilly, R. C., Frank, M. J., Hazy, T. E., & Watz, B. (2007). PVLV: The Primary Value and Learned Value Pavlovian Learning Algorithm. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121(1). ? Roelfsema, P.R., van Ooyen A. (2005). Attention-gated reinforcement learning of internal representations for classification. Neural Computation. Nicolas P. Rougier -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newsletter at saso-conference.org Thu Feb 25 03:13:37 2016 From: newsletter at saso-conference.org (=?utf-8?b?SmFuLVBoaWxpcHAgU3RlZ2jDtmZlcg==?=) Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 09:13:37 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?SASO_2016=3A_Call_for_Posters_and_Demos?= =?utf-8?q?_--_Augsburg=2C_Germany=3B_12-16_September_2016?= Message-ID: ************************************************************************* CALL FOR POSTERS AND DEMOS Tenth IEEE International Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems (SASO 2016) Augsburg, Germany; 12-16 September 2016 http://uni-augsburg.de/saso2016 @SASO2016Conf ************************************************************************* Part of FAS* - Foundation and Applications of Self* Computing Conferences Co-located with: The International Conference on Cloud and Autonomic Computing (ICCAC 2016) http://iccac2016.se.rit.edu ------------- Overview ------------- The tenth SASO conference continues its tradition of offering poster and demo sessions, which are a great opportunity for an interactive presentation of emerging ideas, late-breaking results, experiences, and challenges on SASO topics. These sessions are informal and highly interactive, and allow authors and participants to engage in in-depth discussions about the presented work from which new collaborations, ideas, and solutions can emerge. Posters should cover the same key areas as Research Papers and present original, cutting-edge ideas inclusive of speculative/provocative ones. Proposals of new research directions and innovative interdisciplinary approaches are also welcome. Submissions in the following areas are particularly encouraged: - Self-* systems theories, frameworks, models, and paradigms, including the ones inspired by the biological, social, and physical worlds. - Self-* systems engineering: goals and requirements, hardware and software design, deployment, management and control, validation. - Properties of self-* systems: self-organisation and emergent behaviour, self-adaptation, self-management, self-monitoring, self-tuning, self-repair, self-configuration, etc. - Evaluation of self-* systems: methods for performance, robustness, dependability assessment and analysis. - Social self-* systems: emergent human behaviour, crowdsourcing, collective awareness, gamification and serious games. - Applications and experiences with self-* systems: cyber security, transportation, computational sustainability, power systems, large networks, large data centers, and cloud computing. Demos may target virtual systems (e.g., software applications), physical systems (e.g., robots or sensor networks), or cyber-physical systems combining the two. Physical systems might be presented either with real equipment, by simulation, or hybrid solutions using both simulations and real platforms. Submissions which highlight the utility and general applicability of the contribution - whether short, medium or long term - are particularly solicited, and interactivity of a demo is considered a further asset. ---------------------------- Submission Instructions ---------------------------- For evaluation and selection, authors should submit a two-page extended abstract for their poster or demo. The format of this extended abstract must comply with the IEEE Computer Society Press proceedings style guide and shall be submitted electronically in PDF format. Templates for Word and LaTeX are available for download from the IEEE website (http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html). Demo submissions must include a URL of a website providing a self-explanatory video showing the system at work. Electronic submission: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=saso2016 -------------------- Important Dates -------------------- Submission deadline: June 10, 2016 Notification: July 8, 2016 Camera-ready copy due: July 22, 2016 Conference: September 12-16, 2016 ------------------------------- Accepted Posters and Demos ------------------------------- If selected, authors shall prepare a final, camera-ready version of the extended abstract, taking into account all feedback from the reviewers, and formatted according to the IEEE Computer Society Press proceedings style guide. Posters and Demos will be advertised in the final program, and authors? two-page extended abstracts will be submitted to IEEE Xplore as part of the conference proceedings. Abstracts will also be available as part of the IEEE Digital Library. At least one author of accepted posters or demos is required to register at the conference, give a brief presentation of the poster or demo in the interactive session, as well as stay with the poster and/or demo to discuss the work with conference attendees for the duration of the scheduled session. ----------------------------------------- Poster Content and Layout Guidelines ----------------------------------------- Authors shall prepare their poster for presentation in the reserved session, taking into consideration that all posters should include the following information: - The purpose and goals of the work. - Any background and motivation needed to understand the work. - Any critical hypotheses and assumptions that underlie the work. - A clear summary of the contribution and/or results, in sufficient detail for a (re)viewer to understand the work and its relevance. If the work is at an initial stage, it is especially important to state clearly the anticipated contributions and any early results towards them. - The relationship to other related efforts, where appropriate. Authors of accepted posters may be asked to point out relationships to work represented by other accepted posters. - Where to find additional information. This should include but is not restricted to: a web site where viewers can go to find additional information about the work; how to contact the authors, including email addresses; for any papers, books, or other materials that provide additional information. The format and nature of posters require authors to capture the viewers? attention effectively, and present core concepts to clearly position the context of their research work. For this reason, graphic representations, figures, and screen shots are typically the main medium of communication in successful posters. Few attendees will stop to read a large poster with dense text. If screen shots are used, please ensure that they print legibly and that the fonts are large enough to be read easily once printed. The recommended size for the poster is A0, and all poster authors are required to print and bring their posters to the conference. -------------------- Demo Guidelines -------------------- At the conference, software applications will be presented on computers. For cyber-physical systems, if possible, authors are invited to bring their equipment (smart devices, sensors, actuators, robots, et cetera). Software simulations or video recordings can be accepted as an alternative. Additionally, authors must bring a poster summarising their system and demo, following the above guidelines. ----------------------------- Conference General Chair ----------------------------- Wolfgang Reif, University of Augsburg, DE --------------------------- Demos and Poster Chair --------------------------- Jean Botev, University of Luxembourg, LU ------------------- Program Chairs ------------------- Giacomo Cabri, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, IT Gauthier Picard, ?cole Nationale Sup?rieure des Mines de Saint-?tienne, FR Niranjan Suri, Florida Institute of Human and Machine Cognition, FL, USA From florian.roehrbein at in.tum.de Wed Feb 24 03:22:54 2016 From: florian.roehrbein at in.tum.de (Florian Roehrbein) Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2016 09:22:54 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Frontiers in Neurorobotics: new open research topic Message-ID: <2581FBE3-9F8E-4B9B-955E-ECAA05B03474@in.tum.de> Topic Title: Neuromechanics and Control of Physical Behavior: From Experimental and Computational Formulations to Bio-inspired Technologies Editors: Massimo Sartori, Manish Sreenivasa, Alfred C. Schouten, Matthew Tresch, Yoshihiko Nakamura, Francisco Valero-Cuevas Abstract: The term "neuromechanics" defines an integrative approach that combines the neuromuscular control and the biomechanical aspects of physical behavior in humans and animals. Crucial to this approach is a detailed description and modeling of the interaction between the nervous system and the controlled biomechanical plant. Only then do we have the broader context within which to understand evolution, movement mechanics, neural control, energetics, disability and rehabilitation. In addition to enabling new basic science directions, understanding the interrelations between movement neural and mechanical function should also be leveraged for the development of personalized wearable technologies to augment or restore the motor capabilities of healthy or impaired individuals. Similarly, this understanding will empower us to revisit current approaches to the design and control of robotic and humanoid systems to produce truly versatile human-like physical behavior and adaptation in real-world environments. This Research Topic is therefore poised at an opportune moment to promote understanding of apparently disparate topics into a coherent focus. For submission details see http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/4698/neuromechanics-and-control-of-physical-behavior-from-experimental-and-computational-formulations-to -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From eros.pasero at polito.it Tue Feb 23 15:23:00 2016 From: eros.pasero at polito.it (PASERO EROS GIAN ALESSANDRO) Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2016 21:23:00 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: WIRN 2016 Call For Paper Message-ID: WIRN 2016 - PRELIMINAY CALL FOR PAPERS The Italian Workshop on Neural Networks (WIRN) is the annual conference of the Italian Society of Neural Networks (SIREN). The conference is organized, since 1989, in co-operation with the International Institute for Advanced Scientific Studies (IIASS) of Vietri S/M (Italy), and is a traditional event devoted to the discussion of novelties and innovations related to field of Artificial Neural Networks. In recent years, it also became a multidisciplinary forum on psychological and cognitive theories for modelling human behaviours. The 26th Edition of the Italian Workshop on Neural Networks (WIRN 2016) will be held at the IIASS of Vietri sul Mare, near Salerno, Italy. CALL FOR PAPERS, SPECIAL SESSIONS PROPOSALS: Prospective authors are invited to contribute high quality papers in the topic areas listed below and proposals for special sessions. Special sessions aim to bring together researchers in special focused topics. Each special session should include at least 3 contributing papers. A proposal for a special session should include a summary statement (1 page long) describing the motivation and relevance of the proposed special session, together with the article titles and author names of the papers that will be included in the track. Contributions should be high quality, original and not published elsewhere or submitted for publication during the review period.. Papers will be reviewed by the Program Committee, and may be accepted for oral or poster presentation. All accepted contributions will be published in a special volume printed by Springer and indexed by SCOPUS. Please visit the web site for further details of the required paper format http://www.springer.com/series/8767. Authors will be limited to one paper per registration. Manuscripts should not exceed the limits of 8 pages. The The submission Web site for WIRN 2016 is https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=wirn2016. You can log in through you Easy Chair account or register for an Easy Chair account and then log in. TOPIC AREAS: Suggested topics for the conference include, but are not limited to, the following research and application areas: General Topics of Interest about Computational Intelligence: Neural Networks, Fuzzy Systems, Evolutionary Computation and Swarm Intelligence, Support Vector Machines, Complex Networks, Bayesian and Kernel Networks, Consciousness and Models of Emotion Cognitive and Psychological Models of Human Behavior Algorithms & Architectures: Among others: Opportunist Networks, Metabolic Networks, ICA and BSS, Deep Neural Networks, Bio-inspired Neural Networks, Wavelet Neural Networks, Intelligent Algorithms for Signal (Speech, Faces, Gestures, Gaze, etc) Processing and Recognition Implementations: Among others: Hardware Implementations and Embedded Systems, Neuromorphic Circuits and Hardware, Spike-based VLSI NNs, Intelligent Interactive Dialogue Systems, Embodied Conversational Agents Applications: Among others: Finance and Economics, Big Data Analysis, Neuroinformatics and Bioinformatics, Brain-Computer Interface and Systems, Data Fusion, Time Series Modelling and Prediction, Intelligent Infrastructure and Transportation Systems, Sensors and Network of Sensors, Smart Grid, Process Monitoring and Diagnosis, Intelligent and Adaptive Systems for Human-Machine Interaction. PAPER SUBMISSION: Important Dates (Preliminary) Special Session/Workshop proposals: March 10, 2016 Paper Submission deadline: April 16, 2016 Notification of acceptance: May 1, 2016 Camera-ready copy: May 15, 2016 Conference Dates: May 18-20, 2016 More details will follow soon on the SIREN home page www.associazionesiren.org and on www.wirn2016.polito.it Prof. Eros Pasero SIREN President Laboratorio di Neuronica Dip. Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni - Politecnico di Torino c.so Duca d. Abruzzi 24 10129 Torino - Italy ______________________________________ ' Tel +39 011 0904043, +393316796014 6 Fax 0+39 011 0904216 *e-mail eros.pasero at polito.it WEB: www.neuronica.polito.it P THINK BEFORE YOU PRINT: before printing this e-mail think whether it is really necessary ______________________________________________ "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility" ______________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 201 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dwang at cse.ohio-state.edu Wed Feb 24 21:48:49 2016 From: dwang at cse.ohio-state.edu (DeLiang Wang) Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2016 21:48:49 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL NETWORKS, March 2016 Message-ID: <56CE6B91.8050406@cse.ohio-state.edu> Neural Networks - Volume 75, March 2016 http://www.journals.elsevier.com/neural-networks A theory of cerebellar cortex and adaptive motor control based on two types of universal function approximation capability Masahiko Fujita A graph-based N-body approximation with application to stochastic neighbor embedding Eli Parviainen Subspace segmentation by dense block and sparse representation Kewei Tang, David B. Dunson, Zhixun Su, Risheng Liu, Jie Zhang, Jiangxin Dong Neuroplasticity in dynamic neural networks comprised of neurons attached to adaptive base plate Abdolreza Joghataie, Mehrdad Shafiei Dizaji Multi-view L2-SVM and its multi-view core vector machine Chengquan Huang, Fu-lai Chung, Shitong Wang Cross-validation of matching correlation analysis by resampling matching weights Hidetoshi Shimodaira Two fast and accurate heuristic RBF learning rules for data classification Modjtaba Rouhani, Dawood S. Javan A divide-and-combine method for large scale nonparallel support vector machines Yingjie Tian, Xuchan Ju, Yong Shi Centralized and decentralized global outer-synchronization of asymmetric recurrent time-varying neural network by data-sampling Wenlian Lu, Ren Zheng, Tianping Chen Synchronized bifurcation and stability in a ring of diffusively coupled neurons with time delay Ling Wang, Hongyong Zhao, Jinde Cao Matrix measure based dissipativity analysis for inertial delayed uncertain neural networks Zhengwen Tu, Jinde Cao, Tasawar Hayat Improved system identification using artificial neural networks and analysis of individual differences in responses of an identified neuron Alicia Costalago Meruelo, David M. Simpson, Sandor M. Veres, Philip L. Newland Finite-time stabilization control for discontinuous time-delayed networks: New switching design Ling-Ling Zhang, Li-Hong Huang, Zuo-Wei Cai Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution of memristor-based BAM neural networks with time-varying delays Hongfei Li, Haijun Jiang, Cheng Hu Exponential stabilization and synchronization for fuzzy model of memristive neural networks by periodically intermittent control Shiju Yang, Chuandong Li, Tingwen Huang Neuro-genetic system for optimization of GMI samples sensitivity A.C.O. Pitta Botelho, M.M.B.R. Vellasco, C.R. Hall Barbosa, E. Costa Silva From arokem at gmail.com Wed Feb 24 15:36:03 2016 From: arokem at gmail.com (Ariel Rokem) Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2016 12:36:03 -0800 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc position in neuroimaging and data science at the University of Washington Message-ID: We are seeking scientists with a PhD in neuroscience, computer science, electrical engineering, statistics, psychology or related fields, and with an interest in human brain function and data science to apply for a position as a post-doc at the Institute for Learning & Brain Science (I-LABS) (http://depts.washington.edu/bdelab/) and the eScience Institute ( http://escience.washington.edu) at the University of Washington . The project focuses on the development of methods for analyzing multi-modal MRI data, and the application of these methods to questions pertaining to human brain development. The long-term goals of the project are the development and maintenance of software for the analysis of large openly available datasets of human MRI, and the extraction of valuable information about the biological basis of human cognitive abilities from these data. This involves developing new algorithms for the analysis of diffusion MRI, tools for harnessing the power of cloud computing to scale these tools to large datasets and the development of new statistical and modeling techniques that are tailored to the study of brain connections. The postdoc would have the opportunity to work within a large and international open-source development community (http://dipy.org), and would be encouraged to develop a portfolio of open and reproducible science. Suitable candidates should enjoy working in an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment, as the position sits at the intersection of the missions of eScience and I-LABS. There is one year of guaranteed funding for the position, and the opportunity to apply for extraordinary postdoctoral fellowships funded by the Washington Research Foundation, the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (deadline: July 15th), available through the University of Washington Institute for Neuroengineering and the eScience Institute: http://uwin.washington.edu/post-docs/apply-post-docs/ http://escience.washington.edu/postdoctoral-fellowships For inquiries please contact Prof. Yeatman (jyeatman at uw.edu) and Ariel Rokem (arokem at uw.edu). *The University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sylviamorelli at gmail.com Thu Feb 25 18:42:37 2016 From: sylviamorelli at gmail.com (Sylvia Morelli) Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 17:42:37 -0600 Subject: Connectionists: Neuroimaging Data Analyst Position at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Summer/Fall 2016) Message-ID: <7D4877B1-EB86-4945-9651-9D7F793E620C@gmail.com> Drs. Sylvia Morelli and K. Luan Phan are considering applications for a neuroimaging data analyst to work jointly in the Empathy and Social Connection Lab (http://www.morellilab.com/ ) and the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Research Program (http://www.psych.uic.edu/research/mood-and-anxiety-disorders-research-program ) at University of Illinois at Chicago. The data analyst will have the opportunity to analyze several data sets related to social cognitive affective neuroscience (e.g., empathy, social networks, reward learning, decision-making, emotional processing and regulation, fear learning and extinction) in healthy and psychiatric populations (e.g., anxiety and depression), as well as pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy treatment response. The analyst will implement the latest approaches developing in the field of imaging neuroscience ? including but not limited to pattern classification, prospective prediction, machine learning, effective connectivity, connectomics/graph theory, computational modeling ? and train others (faculty, postdocs, graduate students) on conventional and new analysis techniques. The position will involve analyzing data across multiple modalities including self-report, behavior, psychophysiology (SCR, startle), EEG/ERP, DTI, structural MRI and functional MRI ? at single-unit and integrated levels. The data analyst will work amongst diverse investigators across disciplines (e.g., neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry). Successful applicants will have a Masters- or PhD-level degree in neuroscience, psychology, computer science, statistics/biostatistics or mathematics and/or a record of extensive experience in analyzing structural and functional MRI data. Applicants should also be fluent in SPM (or AFNI/BrainVoyager), statistical packages (e.g., Matlab and R), and programming languages (e.g., Unix). Excellent communication (verbal and written) and organizational skills are required. The position will be fully funded for at least 2 years with the potential for a longer-term position. We will review applications beginning March 1, until the position is filled. Applicants should send a CV, a statement describing their qualifications for the position and relevant experience, and the names of 2-3 references that may be contacted for a recommendation to Dr. Morelli (smorelli at uic.edu ) and Dr. Phan (klphan at psych.uic.edu ). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cchrist at cs.ucy.ac.cy Thu Feb 25 14:37:42 2016 From: cchrist at cs.ucy.ac.cy (Chris Christodoulou) Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 21:37:42 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: M.Sc. programme in Cognitive Systems - Open University of Cyprus and University of Cyprus Message-ID: <56CF5806.5080701@cs.ucy.ac.cy> Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce the start of an innovative distance learning M.Sc. Program in Cognitive Systems. The program is offered jointly by two state universities of Cyprus: the Open University of Cyprus, School of Pure and Applied Sciences, and the University of Cyprus, Departments of Psychology and Computer Science. Courses will be taught in English via live online weekly meetings, exams will be taken in-class at a student?s country of residence, and an optional summer camp will be held in Cyprus. Information about the curriculum structure and modules, application deadlines and fees, and financial support opportunities can be found online at: http://cogsys.ouc.ac.cy Applications for the academic year 2016-2017 are accepted online from March 15, 2016. We appreciate your help in circulating this announcement to interested students. A promotional flyer can be downloaded from: http://cogsys.ouc.ac.cy/flyer Best wishes, Chris Christodoulou * * * Dr Chris Christodoulou cchrist at cs.ucy.ac.cy Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus Tel. (+357) 22 892752, Fax (+357) 22 892701 From gustau.camps at uv.es Fri Feb 26 12:19:53 2016 From: gustau.camps at uv.es (Gustau Camps-Valls) Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 18:19:53 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position: Anomalous Changes and Extremes Detection on Earth Message-ID: <56D08939.9000504@uv.es> ** Open PhD position in Universitat de Val?ncia, Spain ** Project: DACE: Detection of Anomalous Changes and Extreme Events in Earth Observation Data ** Advisors: Prof. Dr. Gustau Camps-Valls and Luis G?mez-Chova ** Summary of activities. Earth observation data allows us to detect anomalous changes on the land-cover, as well as extreme events, both spatially explicit and time-resolved. This is now possible by exploiting high resolution satellite images and long time series of images and products, along with powerful statistical techniques to process them. However, in recent years, the big and heterogeneous data streams acquired by satellite constellations hamper the adoption of advanced machine learning statistical techniques for anomaly change detection and extremes identification. This project proposes to develop, characterize, and apply novel anomaly (change) detectors under the framework of kernel methods. Kernel machines are a proper framework to develop online detection algorithms, to accommodate multi-source data, model complex distributions, to cope with high-dimensional data, and can be engineered to the particular EO signal characteristics. We will advance in theoretical aspects of the problem by developing a novel kernel framework for extreme events and anomaly change detection that can be online, generalizes extreme value theory, deals with non-Gaussianity and invariances. A prototype of the best performing method will be implemented at the Google Earth Engine (GEE) framework. Algorithms will work at both local and global planetary scales, using very high resolution (VHR) imagery and multi-decadal global carbon products. Detection of rare, unexpected changes and events under the developed statistical framework will constitute the stepping stone before the more ambitious far-end goal of machine attribution of anthropogenic climate change causes. Where? The successful applicant will be based in Val?ncia, Spain, and will pursue his/her PhD in the Image Processing Laboratory (IPL) of the Universitat de Val?ncia, http://isp.uv.es. Supervision will be done by Profs. Gustau Camps-Valls and Luis G?mez-Chova. ** Who? - Applicants must have completed a master's degree in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Earth/Environmental Sciences, or Electrical Engineering. - Additional expertise in remote sensing, climate science and image processing is highly valuable. - Excellent coding skills (in Python, Matlab, R, and eventually Java/C++) is an asset. - A good standard of written and spoken English is required. - Are you highly motivated, enthusiastic and with passion for quantitative science to join our team? - The position may start as of June 1, 2016 (or as soon as possible thereafter) and is limited to 3 years. - Salary is according to the UV regulation for PhD salaries (around 1400?/month gross + 1600?/year for travel/accommodation). Val?ncia's cost of living index is 55. - Important note: Master's degree obtained after Jan-2013 and earned in a non-Spanish university. ** What? Please send your application as one single PDF file (2-pages CV and 2 recommendation letters) to Gustau.Camps at uv.es, indicating in the email's subject ?Grisolia-2016?. When? Send the dossier no later than *March 4, 2016*. Prof. Gustau Camps-Valls Image Processing Laboratory (IPL) Universitat de Val?ncia C/ Catedr?tico Jos? Beltr?n, 2 46980 Paterna, Val?ncia. Spain. http://isp.uv.es http://www.uv.es/gcamps -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: call.pdf Type: application/download Size: 349921 bytes Desc: not available URL: From senn at pyl.unibe.ch Fri Feb 26 02:37:09 2016 From: senn at pyl.unibe.ch (Walter Senn) Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 08:37:09 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: 2 Postdoc positions in modeling dendritic integration and synaptic plasticity Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, dear all, We are inviting applications for 2 postdoc positions (for at least 2 years, earliest start April 1, 2016) in computational neuroscience at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Our research is devoted to models of synaptic plasticity and dendritic integration that serve as a computational paradigm for learning in neuronal networks. We have recently suggested to consider ?Learning by the dendritic prediction of somatic spiking? (Neuron 2014) that assigns an intrinsic computational task to neurons and dendrites. This concept will be extended by including dendritic nonlinearities and considering networks of such neuronal prediction elements. The 2 positions are: 1) Postdoc for modeling dendritic integration. We have shown how the error-backpropagation algorithm translates to a dendritic tree that displays NMDA-spikes in individual dendritic branches (PLoS Comp Biol 2016). Along these ideas a biophysical model of dendritic integration will be worked out that makes also contact to Bayesian integration. 2) Postdoc for modeling synaptic plasticity and learning in networks. The neurons as intrinsic prediction elements will be connected to form a network that mimics various learning tasks and that is particularly suited for imitation learning. You will profit from generous travel funding and from collaborations in- and outside the Human Brain Project, and you will also enjoy the beautiful city and surrounding of Switzerland?s capital. Ideal candidates have a strong background in computational neuroscience and machine learning. Please send CV, letter of motivation, and publication list by March 11 to Walter Senn (senn at pyl.unibe.ch) and Sabine Herzog (herzog at pyl.unibe.ch). With best wishes Walter Senn PS: For recent work of our group see http://www.physio.unibe.ch/~senn/neuroscience.aspx From Pavis at iit.it Fri Feb 26 07:25:05 2016 From: Pavis at iit.it (Pavis) Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 12:25:05 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in Pattern Recognition, Machine Learning and Computer Vision for the analysis of neuroimaging, biomedical and biological data - BC 71883 Message-ID: <0E09F354EB71FC40A4D51EE54D8A9C883B5E9780@IITMXWGE016.iit.local> Postdoctoral position in Pattern Recognition, Machine Learning and Computer Vision for the analysis of neuroimaging, biomedical and biological data - BC 71883 IIT was established in 2003 and successfully created a large-scale infrastructure in Genova, a network of 10 state-of-the-art laboratories countrywide, recruited an international staff of about 1100 people from more than 50 countries. IIT's research endeavor focuses on high-tech and innovation, representing the forefront of technology with possible application from medicine to industry, computer science, robotics, life sciences and nanobiotechnologies. The Pattern Analysis and Computer Vision department (PAVIS) at IIT (http://www.iit.it/pavis.html) is looking for a highly qualified researcher in the field of Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition, Machine Learning, and Image Analysis with applications to Biomedical Data Analysis. The main mission of PAVIS is to design and develop innovative image- and video-based intelligent systems, characterized by the use of highly-functional smart sensors and advanced data analytics features. PAVIS also plays an active role in supporting the other research units inside IIT providing scientists in Neuroscience, Nanophysics and other IIT departments/centers with ad hoc solutions. To this end, the group is involved in activities concerning computer vision and pattern recognition, machine learning, multimodal data analysis, sensor fusion, and embedded computer vision systems. The lab will also pursue this goal by working collaboratively and in cooperation with external private and public partners. This call aims at consolidating PAVIS expertise in the following research areas: ? Biomedical image analysis; ? Neuroimaging (functional and structural connectome); ? Biological signal/image/video processing; ? Neuronal network structural connectivity and functional activity analysis; ? Animal behavior analysis; ? Multimodal data analysis and data fusion. >From the methodological standpoint, the ideal candidate should be familiar within one or more of the following subjects: Probabilistic Graphical Models, Topic Models and Bayesian Non-parametrics, Deep Learning, neural networks and autoencoders, Sparse and Dictionary Learning, Kernel methods and manifold learning, graph-based learning, spectral graph theory. As the activities may be carried out in collaboration with other research units inside IIT, previous multidisciplinary experience is an added value which will be duly considered. Strong programming skills are required. Candidates to this position have a Ph.D. in computer vision, machine learning, pattern recognition or related areas, and research experience and qualification should follow the same lines. A keen interest in biomedical issues and applications is of course necessary. Evidence of top quality research on the above specified areas in the form of published papers in top conferences/journals and/or patents is therefore mandatory. Experience in the preparation and management of research proposals (EU, US, national) and a few years of postdoc experience, either in academia or industrial lab, will also be duly considered. The scientist is expected to publish his/her research results in leading international journals and conferences. She/he is also expected to contribute to the set-up of new project proposals, participate in funding activities, supervising PhD candidates and collaborate with scientists from different disciplines. The position is offered for a (renewable) period of 2 years. Salary will be commensurate to qualification and experience and in line with international standard. The workplace is Genova, Italy. Further details and informal enquires can be made by email to pavis at iit.it quoting PAVIS- BC 71883 as reference number. Please send your completed application forms along with a curriculum listing all publications (possibly including a pdf of your most representative publications), and a research statement describing your previous research experience and outlining its relevance to the above topics by email to applications at iit.it, quoting PAVIS-PD 71883 as reference number. Please also send 2 reference letters. This call will remain open and applications will be reviewed until the position is filled, but for full consideration please apply by March 31, 2016. In order to comply with the Italian law (art. 23 of Privacy Law of the Italian Legislative Decree n. 196/03), the candidate is kindly asked to give his/her consent to allow IIT to process his/her personal data. We inform you that the information you provide will be solely used for the purpose of assessing your professional profile to meet the requirements of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. Your data will be processed by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, with its headquarters in Genoa, Via Morego 30, acting as the Data Holder, using computer and paper- based means, observing the rules on the protection of personal data, including those relating to the security of data. Please also note that, pursuant to art.7 of Legislative Decree 196/2003, you may exercise your rights at any time as a party concerned by contacting the Data Manager. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively seeks diversity in the workforce From Michael_Frank at brown.edu Thu Feb 25 14:47:30 2016 From: Michael_Frank at brown.edu (Michael J Frank) Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:47:30 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?Call_for_Applications=3A_Paul_J=2E_Sale?= =?utf-8?q?m_Postdoctoral_Scholars_in_Computational_Brain_Science_?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=93_Brown_Institute_for_Brain_Science?= Message-ID: The Brown Institute for Brain Science Initiative for Computation in Brain and Mind is seeking applicants for the Paul J. Salem Postdoctoral Scholarships in Brain Science. The postdoctoral scholars will lead an exciting new project at the interface between machine learning and neuroscience. In particular, we are looking for computational neuroscientists interested in the application and development of novel machine learning methods for the analysis of neural recordings. Candidates are expected to have a solid background in modern machine learning and signal processing as well as demonstrated interest in experimental neuroscience. In addition, to conducting primary research with large neural data sets, candidates will be involved in the mentoring of students, and the organization of workshops. Candidates are expected to interact closely with the Neurotechnology group within the Brain Institute. The initial appointment is for 12 months with the potential to renew. The salary is competitive. The start date is negotiable although funding is available now. Research group: *The Initiative for Computation in Brain and Mind (ICBM;* http://compneuro.clps.brown.edu), which began Fall 2013 within the Brown Institute for Brain Science, creates an exciting intellectual environment that fosters synergistic collaborations across departments. Groups affiliated with the initiative work on two core levels of computation. The first level focuses on theoretical neuroscience, including computational perception, control over action and learning, and fundamental questions in neuronal networks (synaptic plasticity, circuits, networks, oscillations). The second level focuses on applications and neurotechnology, including brain-machine interfaces, advanced neural data analysis, computer vision, computational psychiatry, and robotics. ICBM has 16 core computational faculty (http://compneuro.clps.brown.edu/people/) spanning six departments, and many more faculty who incorporate computation for theory development, analysis, or both. Computational neuroscience tools at Brown have been applied in projects including brain-machine control of robotic arms in paralyzed humans; models of visual systems in biological organisms and their innovative application for classifying animal behavioral patterns; predicting and quantifying effects of genetics, disease, medications, and brain stimulation on motor and cognitive function; identification of the source of neural rhythms and their roles in sensorimotor function; development of fundamental theories of brain plasticity, and learning; state-of-the art models of machine learning and reinforcement learning in computer science. The Brown Institute for Brain Science (BIBS) advances multidisciplinary research, technology development, and training in the brain sciences. BIBS unites more than 100 faculty from departments across Brown, spanning basic and clinical departments, and physical and biological sciences. BIBS creates opportunities and essential support to advance interdisciplinary research efforts among these groups including training funds to support interdisciplinary scholarship and research. Requirements: Candidates must have received their PhDs within 3 years of the application deadline, and will work under the supervision of faculty members at Brown University who are affiliated with the Initiative for Computation in Brain and Mind. They must have a strong background in computational neuroscience and machine learning, with a track record of relevant publications at top venues (such as NIPS or ICML). Excellent programming skills are required (C/C++/Matlab/Python). Application: Please send your applications by email to cbm-info at brown.edu. Please include a brief statement of interests, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications and 2-3 letters of reference (addressed directly to cbm-info at brown.edu). There is no deadline for the application but applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as the position will be filled as soon as a suitable applicant is found. ------------------------------ Michael J Frank, PhD, Professor Laboratory for Neural Computation and Cognition Brown University http://ski.clps.brown.edu (401)-863-6872 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Nicoladie.Tam at unt.edu Sat Feb 27 11:19:20 2016 From: Nicoladie.Tam at unt.edu (Tam, Nicoladie) Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2016 16:19:20 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: CNS*2016 Abstract Deadline extension to March 6, 2016 Message-ID: Abstract Deadline extension to March 6, 2016 This is one and only extension of the abstract submission CNS*2016 Call for Abstracts Organization for Computational Neurosciences (OCNS) 25th Annual Meeting Jeju, South Korea July 2-7, 2016 The main meeting (July 3-5) will be preceded by a day of tutorials (July 2) and followed by two days of workshops (July 6-7). Invited Keynote Speakers: Nicolas Brunel, University of Chicago, USA Alain Destexhe, CNRS, France Mitsuo Kawato, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), Japan Tatyana Sharpee, Salk Institute, USA Abstract submission deadline extension: March 6, 2016, 11 pm, Pacific Time, USA Travel award application deadline extension: March 6, 2016 Apply for membership by March 1, 2016 to ensure the member registration rate for your abstract submission Workshop proposals are now being accepted. Note that one of the authors has to register as sponsoring author for the main meeting before abstract submission is possible. In case the abstract is not accepted for presentation, the registration fee will be refunded. For up-to-date conference information, please visit: http://www.cnsorg.org/cns-2016 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gunnar.blohm at gmail.com Fri Feb 26 20:50:17 2016 From: gunnar.blohm at gmail.com (Gunnar Blohm) Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 20:50:17 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: CoSMo 2016 application open In-Reply-To: <56CFABC8.6010707@queensu.ca> References: <56CFABC8.6010707@queensu.ca> Message-ID: <56D100D9.2070608@queensu.ca> *Sixth Annual Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience Summer School (CoSMo 2016)* University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA July 31 - August 14, 2016 We would like to invite you to join us for the sixth annual Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience Summer School. The course is about experimental, computational and medical aspects of sensory-motor neuroscience with a focus on active learning. Covered topics include multi-sensory integration, motor learning & control, computational methods, sensory-motor transformations and neural coding / decoding. An important focus is on doing research as opposed to just hearing about it. Each teaching module will take up two days with morning lecture sessions. Afternoon sessions involve hands-on Matlab programming, simulation and data-analysis. Newly acquired computational tools can also be applied in 2-week evening group research projects. The course is aimed at students and post-doctoral fellows from diverse backgrounds including Life Sciences, Psychology, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering. Basic knowledge in calculus, linear algebra and Matlab is expected. Enrollment will be limited to 40 trainees. *Application deadline: Apr 11, 2016* For more information and to apply, please go to http://www.compneurosci.com/CoSMo/ Scholarship information and the application form can be found here: http://www.compneurosci.com/CoSMo/application.html The school is co-organized by Drs Gunnar Blohm, Paul Schrater, and Konrad K?rding. This year, it receives funding from the NIH through a Brain Initiative R25 grant and from The Brain Canada Foundation. -- ------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Gunnar BLOHM Associate Professor in Computational Neuroscience Association for Canadian Neuroinformatics and Computational Neuroscience (CNCN) Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Departments of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, and Psychology, School of Computing, and Canadian Action and Perception Network (CAPnet) Queen?s University 18, Stuart Street Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6 Tel: (613) 533-3385 Fax: (613) 533-6840 Email:Gunnar.Blohm at QueensU.ca Web:http://www.compneurosci.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From garrickorchard at gmail.com Sun Feb 28 04:51:29 2016 From: garrickorchard at gmail.com (Garrick Orchard) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 2016 09:51:29 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Final Call for papers - IEEE BIOROB 2016 Special Session on Neuromorphic Visual Processing Message-ID: **Apologies for cross posting.** **Please forward this call for papers to anyone else who might be interested.** This is our final reminder. The deadline for submission is this coming Friday and will not be extended further. We invite submissions to the special session "*Neuromorphic Visual Processing*" at IEEE BioRob 2016 Singapore. Accepted papers will be presented at the conference and included in the IEEE BioRob conference proceedings. 6th IEEE RAS & EMBS's International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics June 26-29, 2016 in Singapore http://www.ieeebiorob2016.org/ *Paper Submission Deadline: March 4, 2016 (final extension)* Papers can be submitted through the link below. For the special session on Neuromorphic Visual Processing, please use special session code *9fkm1* during the submission process. http://www.sinapseinstitute.org/biorob2016/submit.php *9fkm1 - IEEE BioRob 2016 special session on Neuromorphic Visual Processing* Neuromorphic visual processing involves processing data received from bio-inspired event-based silicon retinae such as the Dynamic Vision Sensor and the Asynchronous Time-based Image Sensor. The event-based data received from these sensors differs significantly from traditional frame-based computer vision data (https://youtu.be/up_US4EoD0M) and the question of how best to process this event-based data remains open. The field has received a lot of attention lately with the rise of FPGAs as a tool for prototyping, as well as the development of new spike-based processing architectures including the Integrate and Fire Array Transceiver (IFAT), SpiNNaker, Neurogrid, and TrueNorth. While some focus their efforts on spike-based processing, others have focused on using more conventional CPU and microcontroller architectures for processing. Much like the processing architectures vary widely, so do the visual tasks tackled, covering areas including tracking, segmentation, recognition, motion estimation, depth estimation, and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. *Scope* This special session provides a platform for presentation and discussion of new works in event-based visual processing, regardless of which event-based vision sensor, processing platform, or visual task has been tackled. This special sessions aims to help members of the field better understand the trade-offs involved in the wide range of current approaches to event-based visual processing to help attendees identify the most promising approach(es) for their specific application(s). *Topics* - theory and problem formulation for event-based visual processing - software frameworks for event-based visual processing - real-time embedded implementations - size, weight, and power (SWAP) optimization - precision vs computational complexity trade-off - spiking neural networks for processing - algorithms for event-based visual processing Where algorithms include but are not limited to: *Algorithms* - feature extraction - tracking - object recognition - motion estimation - grayscale estimation - pose estimation - depth estimation - simultaneous localization and mapping - texture recognition - segmentation Best, Garrick Orchard http://www.garrickorchard.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aurel at ee.columbia.edu Sat Feb 27 16:02:00 2016 From: aurel at ee.columbia.edu (Aurel A. Lazar) Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2016 16:02:00 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Final Program of the Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation Message-ID: Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuits, Memory and Computation Friday and Saturday, March 18-19, 2016 | 501 NWC Building Organizer and Program Chair: Aurel A. Lazar (Columbia University) The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers interested in developing executable models of neural computa- tion/processing of the brain of model organisms. Of interest are models of computation that consist of elementary units of processing using brain circuits and memory elements. Elementary units of computation/processing include population encod- ing/decoding circuits with biophysically-grounded neuron models, non-linear dendritic processors for motion detection/direction selectivity, spike processing and pattern recognition neural circuits, movement control and decision-making circuits, etc. Memory units include models of spatio-temporal memory circuits, circuit models for memory access and storage, etc. A major aim of the workshop is to explore the integration of various sensory and control circuits in higher brain centers. Program Overview Friday 09:00 AM - 05:30 PM 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM Alexander Borst (MPI Neurobiology), Functional Characterization of the Input Elements to the Drosophila Motion Detector 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM Michael B. Reiser (HHMI Janelia), The Circuit Basis of Directional Selectivity in the Drosophila Visual System 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Coee Break 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Thomas R. Clandinin (Stanford), How Does Contrast Selectivity Emerge in Motion Processing Pathways 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Chung-Chuan Lo (National Tsing Hua University), The Virtual Fly Brain { from Bench-Top to Cyberspace 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM Lunch Break (On your own, see a list of restaurants in the area on the back) 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM J. Douglas Armstrong (University of Edinburgh), VirtualFlyBrain.org - An Integration Hub for Drosophila Neuroscience 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM Michael Hawrylycz (Allen Institute for Brain Science), Multiscale Gene Expression Signatures in the Mammalian Brain 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM Afternoon Break 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM Gaby Maimon (Rockefeller University), Probing the Neurophysiological Basis of Cognitive Operations in Behaving Drosophila 04:45 PM - 05:30 PM Stanley Heinze (Lund University), Merging Information about Direction and Distance - the Bee Central Complex as the Potential Neural Substrate for Path Integration Saturday 09:00 AM - 05:30 PM 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM Glenn C. Turner (HHMI Janelia), The Mushroom Body and Learning - Flexibly Assigning Valence to Odors 09:45 AM - 10:30 AM Vanessa Ruta (Rockefeller University), Circuit Mechanisms for Flexible Sensory Processing in Drosophila 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Coee Break 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Marta Zlatic (HHMI Janelia), Circuits Principles of Memory-Based Behavioral Choice 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Friedrich T. Sommer (UC Berkeley), Interplay of Structural and Weight Plasticity: Eects on Memory Capacity and Connections to Cognitive Phenomena 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM Lunch Break (On your own, see a list of restaurants in the area on the back) 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM Mala Murthy (Princeton University), Neural Mechanisms for Dynamic Acoustic Communication in Flies 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM Matthieu Louis (Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona), Bayesian Maggots: Multisensory Integration in the Drosophila Larva 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM Afternoon Break 04:00 PM - 04:45 PM Kwabena Boahen (Stanford University), Neuromorphic Chips: Combining Analog Computation with Digital Communication 04:45 PM - 05:30 PM Panel Discussion: The Logic of NeuroInformation Processing of the Fruit Fly Brain Registration is free but all participants have to register at: https://bcmc16.eventbrite.com/ Workshop Website: http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu/workshops/bcmc/2016 Aurel http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From a.pons at upc.edu Sun Feb 28 05:28:38 2016 From: a.pons at upc.edu (Antonio Javier Pons Rivero) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 2016 11:28:38 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: ICANN 2016 Barcelona - EXTENSION of the Last Call for contributions Message-ID: <56D2CBD6.1020804@upc.edu> *EXTENSION of t**he **Last Call**for Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation and/or Full **P**aper Contribution* *www.icann2016.org* *ICANN 2016 * 25th Annual Conference on Artificial Neural Networks BarcelonaTech (UPC), Barcelona, Spain 6 - 9 September 2016* Special event*: ENNS 25th Anniversary ============================================================ /The International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN) is the annual flagship conference of the European Neural Network Society (ENNS). In 2016 the Universitat Polit?cnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) will organis//e the 25th ICANN Conference from //the //6th to //the //9th //of //September 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, in collaboration with the Universit//at//Pompeu Fabra (UPF)./ *INVITED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS* 1. *Wlodek Duch *(Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland) 2. *Erkki Oja *(Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland) 3. *Joaquin Fuster *(University of California at Los Angeles, USA) 4. *Murray Shanahan* (Imperial College London, UK) 5. *G?nther Palm*(University of Ulm, Germany) 6. *Stephen Coombes *(University of Nottingham, UK) 7. *Etienne Koechlin*(Pierre and Marie Curie University, France) *IMPORTANT DATES* */EXTENDED Submission of abstracts and papers: /**1 April 2016 **//EXTENDED /Submission of /**/d/**/emonstration proposals: /**1 April 2016 */Notification of acceptance:/8 May 2016 /Camera-ready paper and registration: /15 May 2016 /Conference dates:/6-9 September 2016 *CONFERENCE TOPICS* ICANN 2016 will feature the 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. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes: * Brain Inspired Computing: Cognitive models, Computational Neuroscience, Self-organisation, Reinforcement Learning, Neural Control and Planning, Hybrid Neural-Symbolic Architectures, Neural Dynamics, Recurrent Networks, Deep Learning. * Machine Learning: Neural Network Theory, Neural Network Models, Graphical Models, Bayesian Networks, Kernel Methods, Generative Models, Information Theoretic Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Relational Learning, Dynamical Models. * Neural Applications for: Intelligent Robotics, Neurorobotics, Language Processing, Image Processing, Sensor Fusion, Pattern Recognition, Data Mining, Neural Agents, Brain-Computer Interaction, Neural Hardware, Evolutionary Neural Networks. *** CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE**S* Early registration fees have been kept particularly low for this kind of event because ENNS and ICANN aim to fully implement the academicnot-for-profit policy. Undergraduate students (Bachelor and Master level): 90 EUR PhD Students: 200 EUR Regular delegates: 250 EUR *ENNS members have a reduction of 40 EUR* Students can apply for ENNS funded travel grants to attend (see the conference website). *CALL FOR CONTRIBUTED SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS* All scientific communications presented at ICANN 2016 will be reviewed and scientifically evaluated by a panel of experts. The conference will feature three categories of communications: - oral communications (15'+5') - poster communications (on permanent display and with a 2-hour presentation) - demonstrations Authors willing to present original contributions for any category must submit a manuscript of a maximum length of 8 pages.Accepted papers of contributing authors will be published in Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. Selected papers will be invited after the conference for a full journal paper submission. Authors willing to present a contribution for oral communications and posters without submitting a full manuscript must submit a 1-page abstract. The abstracts will be published all together in a proceedings section without an author index. In case of programme constraints the priority will be given to original contributions accompanied by a full paper submission. Submission of communications will be online. More details are available on the conference website (http://icann2016.org/index.php/contributors/submission). *BEST PAPER AWARDS* ENNS will sponsor a maximum of four best paper awards, two in the Brain Inspired Computing track (one poster and one oral communication) and, analogously, two in the Machine Learning Research track. All awardees will be presented during the final ceremony. *ORGANISATION** General Chair:*/ Antonio J. Pons Rivero/(UPC Barcelona, Spain)* Local**co-Chairs:* /Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo/(UPF Barcelona, Spain), /Paul Verschure/(UPF Barcelona, Spain) *Organising Committee Chairs:*/ Daniel Malagarriga/(UPC Barcelona, Spain), /Lara Escuain/(UPC Barcelona, Spain), /Caroline Kleinheny/(ENNS Lausanne, Switzerland) *Honorary Chair: *Alessandro E. P. Villa * Communication* *Chair:*/ Paolo Masulli/(ENNS Lausanne, Switzerland) *********************************************** Antonio J. Pons Rivero General Chair of ICANN 2016 Terrassa School of Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering (ETSEIAT) Nonlinear dynamics, nonlinear optics and lasers Group BarcelonaTech (UPC) Edifici GAIA Rbla. Sant Nebridi, 22 08222 Terrassa, Spain Caroline Kleinheny Secretary of the European Neural Network Society University of Lausanne Internef 137k, Quartier UNIL Dorigny 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland *********************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Sun Feb 28 17:42:15 2016 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 2016 17:42:15 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: High performance environment for collaborative neuroscience research Message-ID: <56D377C7.8090705@yale.edu> Please accept our apologies if you have already received a similar message from another source-- Dear colleague: We are trying to gauge the interest among the neuroscience community in a collaborative environment that provides secure data storage and sharing, combined with high performance computing resources like those offered by NSG*. We would greatly appreciate your participation in this survey https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vY7xXaeXFDb63EbgmgvQ7ZbUNpIopvh6UuTpwYeDmzs/viewform which will take about 10 minutes to complete. Please feel free to bring this to the attention of your collaborators or students who might also be interested. Ted Carnevale, Neuroscience Department, Yale University Amit Majumdar, San Diego Supercomputer Center, UCSD *--NSG is the Neuroscience Gateway https://www.nsgportal.org which provides free supercomputing cycles to neuroscientists for using tools such as NEURON, Brian, GENESIS, MOOSE, NEST, PyNN, and FreeSurfer. From marcus.hutter at gmx.net Mon Feb 29 19:52:53 2016 From: marcus.hutter at gmx.net (Marcus Hutter) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2016 11:52:53 +1100 Subject: Connectionists: Call for papers: 9th Conference on Artificial General Intelligence: AGI-16 (jointly with BICA, NeSy, AIC) Message-ID: <56D4E7E5.6090609@gmx.net> We are excited to remind you about an historic event that is coming up soon -- The Ninth Annual Conference on Artificial General Intelligence, AGI-16, http://agi-conf.org/2016 which will be held in New York City (July 16-19, 2016), as part of a larger event ? HLAI-16 ? HUMAN-LEVEL AI 2016: http://agi-conf.org/hlai2016/ This will be the first-ever Multi-conference focused on the creation of thinking machines with capability at the human level and beyond. Gary Marcus and Stephen Grossberg are lined up as keynote speakers, and will be joined by 2-3 additional keynotes to be announced shortly. HLAI-16 will include AGI-16, and also BICA-16 (Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures), and the 2016 ?Neural-Symbolic Learning and Reasoning? and ?AI and Cognition? Workshops. These four conferences are normally held separately each year, at different times and locations. But this year they are coming together in time and space as a unique and unprecedented Multi-conference. Furthermore, the HLAI-16 Multi-conference will occur immediately after the IJCAI-16 (the largest international AI conference), which is also in New York City. AGI-16 will be organized just like previous AGI conferences, with the same focus and structure. Registration for each of the conferences within the multi-conference will be done separately. However, there will be numerous common events: common keynotes, a common poster and demo session, and a common multi-conference banquet. Most importantly, all 4 events will be held together at the New School in lower Manhattan, allowing free and wide-ranging HLAI and AGI discussions among attendees and presenters at all 4 conferences. Why a Human-Level AI Multi-conference in 2016? Looking backward, 2016 is the 60th anniversary of the Dartmouth Conferences, which effectively inaugurated the history of AI and cognitive systems research. Looking forward, 2016 is an unprecedentedly exciting time for AI R&D in general. It is a time when we are seeing a constant stream of practical and theoretical successes in various parts of the AI field. And it is a time when the quest to create AI systems with general intelligence at the human level and beyond is taken more seriously by a broader community than ever before. So 2016 is a perfect year to gather together an unprecedentedly large number of serious researchers and developers in the areas of AGI and Human-Level AI, for sharing ideas and results and planning collaborative R&D. And to top it all off, New York City in the summer is a fantastic place to be. The paper submission deadline will be March 25, 2015; please see http://agi-conf.org/2016/call-for-papers/ for further relevant dates. We are also seeking proposal for workshops, tutorials and demos; please submit these by March 15, 2015.. Welcome to 2016, and we hope to see you in New York! Yours, AGI-16 Conference Chair: Ben Goertzel, OpenCog Foundation Program Committee Chairs: Pei Wang, Temple University Bas Steunebrink, IDSIA Organizing Committee: Matthew Ikle, Adams State College, OpenCog Foundation Jose Hernandez-Orallo, Universitat Polit?cnica de Val?ncia (Tutorials and Workshops Chair) Brandon Rohrer, Microsoft (Poster and Demo Sessions Chair) Ed Keller, New School (Local Co-chair) AGI Conference Series Chairs: Ben Goertzel, OpenCog Foundation Marcus Hutter, ANU ****************************** From arokem at gmail.com Mon Feb 29 13:16:18 2016 From: arokem at gmail.com (Ariel Rokem) Date: Mon, 29 Feb 2016 10:16:18 -0800 Subject: Connectionists: Neurohackweek: a summer school for neuroimaging and data science, September 5th-9th 2016 Message-ID: We are happy to announce a call for applications to participate in the first installment of the Neurohackweek summer school for neuroimaging and data science. This 5 day hands-on workshop, held at the University of Washington eScience Institute in Seattle, will focus on technologies used to analyze human neuroimaging data, on methods used to extract information from large datasets of publicly available data (such as the Human Connectome Project, Open fMRI, etc.), and on tools for making neuroimaging research open and reproducible. Morning sessions will be devoted to lectures and tutorials, and afternoon sessions will be devoted to participant-directed activities: guided work on team projects, hackathon sessions, and breakout sessions on topics of interest. For more details, see: http://neurohackweek.github.io/ We are now accepting applications from researchers in different stages of their career (graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and research scientists) to participate at: http://escience.washington.edu/neurohackweek2016-application Accepted applicants will be asked to pay a fee of $200 upon final registration. This fee will include participation in the course, accommodation in the UW dorms, and two meals a day (breakfast and lunch), for the duration of the course. A limited number of fee waivers and travel grants will be available. We encourage students with financial need and students from groups that are underrepresented in neuroimaging and data science to apply for these grants (email applications to: arokem at uw.edu) Important dates: April 18th: Deadline for applications to participate May 6th: Notification of acceptance June 1st: Final registration deadline On behalf of the instructors, Ariel Rokem, UW eScience Tal Yarkoni, UT Austin -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gros at itp.uni-frankfurt.de Mon Feb 29 04:14:44 2016 From: gros at itp.uni-frankfurt.de (Claudius Gros) Date: Mon, 29 Feb 2016 10:14:44 +0100 (CET) Subject: Connectionists: PhD postion in theoretical neurosciences at Frankfurt University Message-ID: I would like to brink your attention our PhD-program in Computational Neurosciences / Complex Dynamical Systems At the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Frankfurt am Main, Field(s): computational neurosciences, complex systems, theory neural networks, simulated robotics, dynamical systems. Application deadline: April 22, 2016 Contact: Prof. Claudius Gros E-mail: cgr[@]itp.uni-frankfurt.de Address: Institute for Theoretical Physics, J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt, We are developing new models and generative principles for the brain using a range of toolsets from dynamical systems theory and computational neurosciences. Examples are new objective functions and generating functionals for the sensory-motor loop, transient state dynamics and self-limiting Hebbian plasticity rules. Several subjects are available for the announced PhD thesis including the generation of attractor metadynamics through short-term synaptic plasticity and/or the generation of motor primitives through self-organized embodiment within the sensory-motor loop. The work will include analytical investigations and numerical simulations of neural networks and/or of simulated robots, using the toolset of dynamical systems theory. The candidate should have a Diploma/Master in physics with an excellent academic track record and good computational skills. Experience or strong interest in the fields of complex systems, computational neurosciences, dynamical systems theory and/or artificial or biological cognitive systems is expected. The degree of scientific research experience is expected to be on the level of a German Diploma/Master. The appointment will start summer 2016, for up to three years. Interested applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and a list of publications, and arrange for letters of reference to be sent to the address above Claudius Gros http://www.itp.uni-frankfurt.de/~gros ***************************************** *** Prof. Dr. Claudius Gros *** *** +49 (0)69 798 47818 *** *** http://itp.uni-frankfurt.de/~gros *** ***************************************** ----------------------------------------------------------- --- Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems, A Primer --- --- A graduate-level textbook, Springer (2008/10/13/15) --- -----------------------------------------------------------