From Pavis at iit.it Fri Jul 1 07:38:31 2016 From: Pavis at iit.it (Pavis) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 11:38:31 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Internship position in Computer Vision for automatic scene analysis - [ Internship ] - 72232 In-Reply-To: <0E09F354EB71FC40A4D51EE54D8A9C887773B287@IITMXWGE015.iit.local> References: <0E09F354EB71FC40A4D51EE54D8A9C887773B287@IITMXWGE015.iit.local> Message-ID: <0E09F354EB71FC40A4D51EE54D8A9C887773B2A5@IITMXWGE015.iit.local> Internship position in Computer Vision for automatic scene analysis - [ Internship ] Added on: 06/05/2016 - Expires on: 31/07/2016 The Visual Geometry and Modelling (VGM) Lab at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) (http://www.iit.it/pavis) invites qualified applicants to submit their CV?s for an internship position within the Biomedical Imaging group based in Genoa under the supervision of Dr. Alessio Del Bue. Eligible candidates have a solid background in computer vision and image processing with particular emphasis on video analysis, excellent programming skills in C/C++ and Python. Experience in managing large scale of data will be considered an additional although not compulsory skill. A good knowledge of Matlab is a plus. Candidates should be strongly motivated and keen to work in an interdisciplinary research field. Eligible candidates need to have, or are about to achieve, a Master?s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering and related areas. Also a Ph.D. recently taken in the above mentioned scientific areas gives access to the position. The internship will focus on the analysis of video recordings in time lapse (days/weeks/months) of an indoor environment to analyze the dynamic variations in the scene (people interactions, natural and artificial lighting changes). The techniques that will be used span from component analysis (PCA, Matrix factorization, time series analysis) to the use of Deep Learning toolboxes for the extraction of features. The aim of the project is to devise automatic methods for the total understanding of indoor environments with RGBD sensors. The candidate will develop a software in our pre-existing platform and learn new techniques at the basis of modern Computer Vision and Machine Learning systems. Please send your application including a CV with a publication list and a brief description of your research interests and main accomplishments to pavis at iit.it quoting ?Internship BC 72232? in the email subject, by July 31, 2016. The activities will take place at the VGM Lab in Genoa. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) was established in 2003 and successfully created a large-scale infrastructure in Genova, a network of 10 state-of-the-art laboratories countrywide and 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 applications from medicine to industry, computer science, robotics, life sciences and nanobiotechnologies. In order to comply with 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 m.kardinal at fz-juelich.de Fri Jul 1 07:39:02 2016 From: m.kardinal at fz-juelich.de (Mareike Kardinal) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 13:39:02 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Travel grants for the Bernstein Conference 2016 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear all, For the first time, the Bernstein Association offers travel grants for participation in the Bernstein Conference. Each travel grant is endowed with 500 EUR. Who can apply? Students, PhD students and postdocs, who * are a member of the Bernstein Association for Computational Neuroscience * are the first author of an abstract submitted for the Bernstein Conference 2016 For more information, please see: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2016/travel-grant Application deadline (extended): August 1, 2016. Best regards, Mareike Kardinal -- Dr. Mareike Kardinal Press & Public Relations Officer Please note: Our email addresses have changed, please use m.kardinal at fz-juelich.de Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience | Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) Branch Office of the Forschungszentrum J?lich at the University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9A | 79104 Freiburg, Germany phone: (+49) 0761 203 96787 mail: m.kardinal at fz-juelich.de web: www.nncn.de Twitter: NNCN_Germany YouTube: Bernstein TV Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 thomas.wennekers at plymouth.ac.uk Fri Jul 1 03:32:24 2016 From: thomas.wennekers at plymouth.ac.uk (Thomas Wennekers) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 08:32:24 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Workshop on large-scale brain models for embodied language on robots/iCub using SpiNNaker Message-ID: <201607010832.24054.thomas.wennekers@plymouth.ac.uk> "BABEL -- Bioinspired Architectures for Brain Embodied Language" Workshop on large-scale brain models for embodied language on robots/iCub using SpiNNaker University of Manchester, Friday, 7th October 2016 AIM BABEL, short for "Bioinspired Architecture for Brain Embodied Language", is a research project jointly funded by the EPSRC and BBSRC. It aims at brain models for language that use SpiNNaker hardware on the iCub robot. The project abstract is included further below for detailed information. This open one day workshop concludes the BABEL project. It presents project results in the areas of robotics, spiking neuron hardware, the neurophysiology of language, and computational modeling. International experts in the fields of embodied cognition and robotics complement the list of speakers. SPEAKERS Lawrence Barsalou (University of Glasgow, UK) Chiara Bartolozzi (Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, IT) Angelo Cangelosi (University of Plymouth, UK) Steve Furber (University of Manchester, UK) Marc Oliver Gewaltig (EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland) Giorgio Metta (Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, **) Friedemann Pulvermuller (Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany) Paul Verschure (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain) Thomas Wennekers (University of Plymouth, UK) (**) unconfirmed FEES Participation in the Workshop is free. A small fee for catering will be charged (Lunch, Tee&Coffee). IMPORTANT DATES Application Deadline 7 September 2016 Workshop 7 October 2016 APPLICATION To apply and for further information, please send email to twennekers at plymouth.ac.uk Spaces are limited and distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis. BABEL abstract Recent advances in behavioural and computational neuroscience, in cognitive robotics, and in the hardware implementation of large-scale neural networks, provide the opportunity for an accelerated understanding of brain functions and for the design of interactive robotic systems based on brain-inspired control systems. This is especially the case in the domain of action and language learning, given the significant scientific and technological developments in this field. This project aims at advancing the understanding of neural and behavioural mechanisms in word learning, the validation of these principles in neuroanatomically grounded models, and real-time implementations of brain language models within the SpiNNaker neuromorphic architecture that will support comparisons with neuroimaging experiments. The scientific hypotheses and cortical language model will also be validated by implementing a model of embodied active language learning on the humanoid robot iCub. Specifically, in the project we will develop, based on neuroscientific principles, a theory of language learning at the neural circuit level and build a neurocomputational model of the language cortex that implements the learning of words used to speak about objects and actions in large-scale neuronal circuits. This theoretical work will be supported by novel, hypothesis-driven brain imaging investigations using MEG, EEG and fMRI to identify the neural correlates and mechanisms of the learning of words for objects and actions. Imaging results will inform the improvement of the large-scale neuroanatomical models. These models will be implemented on the SpiNNaker software and hardware infrastructure, to implement a scaled-up real-time model of the language cortex using more realistic spiking activity. Finally, the project will translationally apply these neuro-anatomical models and SpiNNaker system as controllers for language and action learning simulations with the humanoid robot iCub, within the embodied and active learning context where the semantics of the language is directly driven by the context of object manipulation tasks. This is a highly interdisciplinary project that integrates essential expertise and methodologies from neuromorphic engineering, computational and experimental neuroscience, and cognitive robotics. The project is based around the unique and strategic partnership of applicants with an international track record in these areas of expertise and with previous collaborative experience. Furthermore, the project will benefit from an International Advisory Board, with both academic and industrial advisors, to foster the international dimension and impact of the project. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The BABEL project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom. ________________________________ [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. From tarek.besold at googlemail.com Fri Jul 1 13:16:02 2016 From: tarek.besold at googlemail.com (Tarek R. Besold) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 19:16:02 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Participation: NeSy'16, the 11th International Workshop on Neural-Symbolic Learning and Reasoning Message-ID: == 11th INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON NEURAL-SYMBOLIC LEARNING AND REASONING (NeSy?16) == Location: New York City, USA Date: July 16 & 17, 2016 Website: http://www.neural-symbolic.org/NeSy16/ --------------- NeSy?16 is part of HLAI 2016, the Joint Multi-Conference on Human-Level Artificial Intelligence (http://www.hlai2016.org ) --------------- == REGISTRATION == Registration is handled via the Online Store of the City University London and is possible at a price of 125,- GBP (approx. US$180). Registration for NeSy?16 covers the participation in the workshop itself and the indicated keynote lectures, as well as an entrance ticket to the general HLAI 2016 reception and poster session on the evening of July 17, 2016. Please go to http://www.neural-symbolic.org/NeSy16/ in order to register for NeSy?16. == KEYNOTE SPEAKERS == Leon Bottou (Facebook AI Research, U.S.A.) Gary Marcus (New York University & Geometric Intelligence Inc., U.S.A.) == INVITED SPEAKERS == Andrea Passerini (University of Trento, Italy) Thomas Trappenberg (Dalhousie University, Canada) == WORKSHOP TOPIC == Artificial Intelligence researchers continue to face huge challenges in their quest to develop truly intelligent systems. The recent developments in the field of neural-symbolic integration bring an opportunity to integrate well-founded symbolic artificial intelligence with robust neural computing machinery to help tackle some of these challenges. The Workshop on Neural-Symbolic Learning and Reasoning is intended to create an atmosphere of exchange of ideas, providing a forum for the presentation and discussion of the key topics related to neural-symbolic integration. Topics of interest include: ? The representation of symbolic knowledge by connectionist systems; ? Neural Learning theory. ? Integration of logic and probabilities, e.g., in neural networks, but also more generally; ? Structured learning and relational learning in neural networks; ? Logical reasoning carried out by neural networks; ? Integrated neural-symbolic learning approaches; ? Extraction of symbolic knowledge from trained neural networks; ? Integrated neural-symbolic reasoning; ? Neural-symbolic cognitive models; ? Biologically-inspired neural-symbolic integration; ? Applications in robotics, simulation, fraud prevention, natural language processing, semantic web, software engineering, fault diagnosis, bioinformatics, visual intelligence, etc. == Workshop Organisers == Tarek R. Besold (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy) Whitney Tabor (University of Connecticut, U.S.A.) Luciano Serafini (Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy) Luis Lamb (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) == Programme Committee == Antoine Bordes (Facebook AI Research, U.S.A.) Artur d?Avila Garcez (City University London, UK) James Davidson (Google Inc., U.S.A.) Robert Frank (Yale University, U.S.A.) Ross Gayler (Melbourne, Australia) Ramanathan Guha (Google Inc., U.S.A.) Steffen H?lldobler (TU Dresden, Germany) Thomas Icard (Stanford University, U.S.A.) Kristian Kersting (TU Dortmund, Germany) Kai-Uwe K?hnberger (Universit?t Osnabr?ck, Germany) Simon Levy (Washington and Lee University, U.S.A.) Stephen Muggleton (Imperial College London, UK) Isaac Noble (Google Inc., U.S.A.) Andrea Passerini (University of Trento, Italy) Christopher Potts (Stanford University, U.S.A.) Daniel L. Silver (Acadia University, Canada) Ron Sun (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, U.S.A.) Jakub Szymanik (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Serge Thill (University of Skovde, Sweden) Michael Witbrock (Cycorp & Lucid.ai, U.S.A.) Frank van der Velde (University of Twente, The Netherlands) == ADDITIONAL INFORMATION == General questions concerning the workshop should be addressed to TarekRichard.Besold at unibz.it . For additional information, please see the workshop website at http://www.neural-symbolic.org/NeSy16/ . For additional information on HLAI 2016 in general, please see the general website at http://www.hlai2016.org or the HLAI 2016 Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/hlaiconference/ . The neural-symbolic integration mailing list will be used for announcements and discussions. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stefano.panzeri at gmail.com Fri Jul 1 14:36:22 2016 From: stefano.panzeri at gmail.com (Stefano Panzeri) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 14:36:22 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in Computational Neuroscience at IIT, Italy Message-ID: We are seeking candidates for a postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience in the Neural Computation Laboratory at the IIT https://www.iit.it/research/lines/neural-computation directed by Stefano Panzeri and located in Rovereto (Trento), Italy. This laboratory aims to crack the neural code using neural network modeling and computational analyses of neurophysiological experiments. The laboratory offers a range of strongly interdisciplinary expertise in computational neuroscience, including information theory and other types of advanced single-trial neural analyses, advanced spectral analysis, and biophysically plausible neural network modeling. The successful candidate will develop and use tools for the analysis of large-scale simultaneous recordings of the spiking activity of cells in the cortex to understand how populations of neurons carry information. The successful candidate would have the opportunity to benefit from an extensive set of existing collaborations with leading neurophysiological laboratories, including those of Nikos Logothetis at Max Planck Tubingen (collaborating on oscillations, sensory information coding and neuromodulation), Tommaso Fellin at IIT (collaborating on Optogenetics, Neurophysiology and Neural coding), Mathew Diamond at SISSA (collaborating on the behavioral impact of information carried by spike timing), and Christopher Harvey at Harvard Medical School (collaborating on neural population dynamics and decision making). We are willing to consider candidates interested in any of the aspects of neural coding of interest to the laboratory. Candidates must hold a PhD in a numerate scientific discipline. They must be highly motivated and creative individuals who want to work in a dynamic, multi-disciplinary research environment and be willing to interact with both experimental and theoretical neuroscientists. For reference to recent work of the lab please see Safaai, H., et al (2015) Modelling the effect of Locus Coeruleous firing on single trial cortical state dynamics and sensory processing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112(41): 12834?12839 Zuo Y, et al (2015) Spike timing and spike rate make complementary contributions to perceptual decisions in rat S1 and S2 cortex. Current Biology 25: 357-363 Besserve M, Lowe S, Logothetis NK, Scholkopf B, Panzeri S (2015) Shifts of gamma phase across primary visual cortical sites reflect dynamic stimulus- modulated information transfer. PLoS Biology 13(9): e1002257. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002257 Panzeri, S, et al (2015) Neural population coding: combining insights from microscopic and mass signals, Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19: 162-172. Interested candidates should contact Dr. Stefano Panzeri ( stefano.panzeri at iit.it ), emailing their CV, a brief statement of research interests, and names and email addresses of 2 or 3 referees. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hans.ekkehard.plesser at nmbu.no Fri Jul 1 11:48:02 2016 From: hans.ekkehard.plesser at nmbu.no (Hans Ekkehard Plesser) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 15:48:02 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Associate Professor Position in Data Sciences (Big Data) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences Message-ID: Dear Colleagues! The Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology (IMT) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) has a permanent, full-time position available for an Associate Professor in Data Sciences (Big Data). The position is part of the University's programme for the recruitment of top researchers, which aims to recruit young researchers with great potential for NMBU. The position will include: ? one PhD Position (3 years) ? NOK 0.25 million in operating funds Application deadline is 1 October 2016. For details, please see https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/127472/associate-professor-in-data-sciences-big-data-refno-16-03477 Best, Hans Ekkehard Plesser -- Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser, Associate Professor Section Head Dept. of Mathematical Sciences and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser at nmbu.no Home http://arken.umb.no/~plesse From climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com Sun Jul 3 09:11:49 2016 From: climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com (Climate Informatics) Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2016 09:11:49 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Climate Informatics 2016: Call for Short Papers (Friday, July 15, 2016, Short papers due) Message-ID: *The 6th International Workshop on Climate Informatics* *When*: September 22-23, 2016 (Climate Informatics Hackathon will be on September 21, 2016) *Where*: NCAR Mesa lab in Boulder, Colorado *Website*: https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/home *Twitter*: @Climformatics *Short paper deadline*: Friday, July 15, 2016, Short papers due *Keynote Speakers:* *Including:* Sudipto Banerjee, University of California Los Angeles, USA Yulia Gel, University of Texas at Dallas, USA Doug Nychka, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA Pradeep Ravikumar, University of Texas at Austin, USA Jason Smerdon, Columbia University, USA *Workshop Overview* Climate informatics broadly refers to any research combining climate science with approaches from statistics, machine learning and data mining. The Climate Informatics workshop series, now in its sixth year, seeks to bring together researchers from all of these areas. We aim to stimulate the discussion of new ideas, foster new collaborations, grow the climate informatics community, and thus accelerate discovery across disciplinary boundaries. The format of the workshop seeks to overcome cross disciplinary language barriers and to emphasize communication between participants by featuring tutorials, invited talks, panel discussions, posters and breakout sessions. The programs of previous workshops from 2011 to 2015 can be found here ( https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/climate-informatics-archive). We invite all researchers interested in learning about critical issues and opportunities in the field of climate informatics to join us, whether established in the field or just starting out. Since earth system sciences can be brought to bear on the study of climate, the scope of the workshop also includes data science approaches to problems at the nexus of climate and the earth system sciences. *Workshop Short Papers*: We encourage submissions on topics anywhere at the interface of climate science and machine learning, statistics, data mining, or related fields. Reviews, position papers, and works in progress, are also encouraged. Topics include but are NOT limited to: Machine learning, statistics, or data mining, applied to climate science Management and processing of large climate datasets Long and short term climate prediction Ensemble characterization of climate model projections Paleoclimate reconstruction Uncertainty quantification Spatiotemporal methods applied to climate data Time series methods applied to climate data Methods for modeling, detecting and predicting climate extremes Climate change attribution Dependence and causality among climate variables Detection and characterization of climate teleconnections Data assimilation Climate model parameterizations Hybrid methods Other data science approaches at the nexus of climate and earth system sciences *Short Paper Submission:* Short Paper submission deadline is Friday, July 15, 2016. Papers may be up to 3 pages long excluding references and up to 1 page of references (double column format) and submission will be through EasyChair. Latex and Word templates, as well as detailed submission instructions is available on the web page, https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/paper-submission-guidelines *Important Dates:* Friday, July 15, 2016: Short papers due Wednesday, August 10, 2016: Authors notification Wednesday, August 10, 2016: Travel fellowship notification Saturday, September 10, 2016: Final revisions to papers due; Registration deadline Wednesday, September 21, 2016: Climate Informatics Hackathon at NCAR, in Boulder, CO Thursday-Friday, September 22-23, 2016: Workshop takes place at NCAR, in Boulder, CO *Travel Fellowships:* We are excited to announce that travel fellowships for early career scientists will again be available, thanks to NSF support. Details will be available on the website, https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/home *Hackathon:* We will have a data science ?hackathon? in the afternoon of September 21, 2016, to solve a challenging problem in climate informatics. Details will be available on the website, https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/home *Organizing Committee:* *Workshop Co-Chairs:* Arindam Banerjee, University of Minnesota Jennifer Dy, Northeastern University *Program Committee Co-Chairs:* Slava Lyubchich, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Andrew Rhines, Harvard University *Publicity and Publications Chair:* Wei Ding, University of Massachusetts Boston *Steering Committee:* Imme Ebert-Uphoff, Colorado State University Claire Monteleoni, George Washington University Doug Nychka, National Center for Atmospheric Research *Local Administrative Support:* Kathy Peczkowicz, NCAR Cecilia Banner, NCAR CONTACT: For more information, to get involved, or to sign up to receive announcements, please contact us here: climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com. Follow Climate Informatics on twitter for more updates and Hackathon information: https://twitter.com/Climformatics -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mklados at gmail.com Mon Jul 4 04:00:16 2016 From: mklados at gmail.com (Manousos Klados) Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 10:00:16 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: SAN2016 Final Extension for Abstract Submission Message-ID: Dear colleagues, due to many requests the submission deadline for SAN2016 is extended to July 10, 2016. With this information we would also like to cordially invite you to participate in and attend SAN2016 (http://applied-neuroscience.org/san2016/), which is organised by the Society of Applied Neuroscience (SAN, http://www.applied-neuroscience.org) in cooperation with the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Department of Neurology of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. SAN2016 will be held October 6-9, 2016 in Corfu Island, Greece. There is already an attractive list of planned hands-on workshops and conference symposia in place (http://www.applied-neuroscience.org/san2016/index.php/workshops), as well as, an attractive list of distinguished speakers ( http://www.applied-neuroscience.org/san2016/index.php/conference-info/keynote-speakers ). SAN2016 abstract submission is supported by a Frontiers event through the following link: http://www.frontiersin.org/events/SAN2016_Meeting/3717 Numerous special issues and research topics are also planned by Society members as per tradition. We look forward to seeing you in Corfu, Greece! Panos Bamidis John Gruzelier Manousos Klados SAN2016 Conference Chairs [image: photo] *Manousos Klados, MSc, PhD* Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, +49(0)-341-9940-2507 | +49(0)-176-6988-1781 | http://www.mklados.com | Skype: mklados | Stephanstra?e 1a PC D-04103 Leipzig Germany ------------------------------ *Call for Papers (Frontiers):*Applied Neuroscience: Methodology, Modeling, Theory, Applications and Reviews *Find me at* SAN2016 Conference ------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgf at isep.ipp.pt Mon Jul 4 13:58:43 2016 From: cgf at isep.ipp.pt (Carlos Ferreira) Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 18:58:43 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: CFP: DATA STREAMS TRACK - ACM SAC 2017 Message-ID: <577AA3D3.70305@isep.ipp.pt> ACM Symposium on Applied Computing The 31th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing in Marrakech, Morocco, April 3 ? 7, 2017. http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2017/ Data Streams Track http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~abifet/SAC2017/ Call for Papers The rapid development in Big Data information science and technology in general and in growth complexity and volume of data in particular has introduced new challenges for the research community. Many sources produce data continuously. Examples include the Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Cities, Urban Computing, sensor networks, wireless networks, radio frequency identification, health-care devices and information systems, customer click streams, telephone records, multimedia data, scientific data, sets of retail chain transactions, etc. These sources are called data streams. A data stream is an ordered sequence of instances that can be read only once or a small number of times using limited computing and storage capabilities. These sources of data are characterized by being open-ended, flowing at high-speed, and generated by non stationary distributions. TOPICS OF INTEREST We are looking for original, unpublished work related to algorithms, methods and applications on big data streams and large scale machine learning. Topics include (but are not restricted) to: * Real-Time Analytics * Big Data Mining * Data Stream Models * Large Scale Machine Learning * Languages for Stream Query * Continuous Queries * Clustering from Data Streams * Decision Trees from Data Streams * Association Rules from Data Streams * Decision Rules from Data Streams * Bayesian networks from Data Streams * Feature Selection from Data Streams * Visualization Techniques for Data Streams * Incremental on-line Learning Algorithms * Single-Pass Algorithms * Temporal, spatial, and spatio-temporal data mining * Scalable Algorithms * Real-Time and Real-World Applications using Stream data * Distributed and Social Stream Mining * Urban Computing, Smart Cities * Internet of Things (IoT) IMPORTANT DATES (strict) 1. Paper Submission: September 15, 2016 2. Author Notification: November 10, 2016 3. Camera?ready copies: November 25, 2016 PAPER SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Papers should be submitted in PDF. Authors are invited to submit original papers in all topics related to data streams. All papers should be submitted in ACM 2- column camera ready format for publication in the symposium proceedings. ACM SAC follows a double blind review process. Consequently, the author(s) name(s) and address(s) must NOT appear in the body of the submitted paper, and self-references should be in the third person. This is to facilitate double blind review required by ACM. All submitted papers must include the paper identification number provided by the eCMS system when the paper is first registered. The number must appear on the front page, above the title of the paper. Each submitted paper will be fully refereed and undergo a blind review process by at least three referees. The conference proceedings will be published by ACM. The maximum number of pages allowed for the final papers is 6 pages. There is a set of templates to support the required paper format for a number of document preparation systems at: http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html Important notice: 1. Please submit your contribution via SAC 2017 Webpage. 2. Paper registration is required, allowing the inclusion of the paper, poster, or SRC abstract in the conference proceedings. An author or a proxy attending SAC MUST present the paper. This is a requirement for including the work in the ACM/IEEE digital library. No-show of registered papers, posters, and SRC abstracts will result in excluding them from the ACM/IEEE digital library. Student Research Competition Graduate students seeking feedback from the scientific community on their research ideas are invited to submit original abstracts of their research work in areas of experimental computing and application development related to SAC 2017 Tracks. The SRC program is designed to provide graduate students the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with researcher and practitioners in their areas of interest. All research abstract submissions will be reviewed by researchers and practitioners with expertise in the track focus area to which they are submitted. Authors of selected abstracts will have the opportunity to give poster and oral presentations of their work and compete for three top wining places. The SRC committee will evaluate and select First, Second, and Third place winners. The winners will receive cash awards and SIGAPP recognition certificates during the conference banquet dinner. Authors of selected abstracts are eligible to apply to the SIGAPP Student Travel Award program for support. Graduate students are invited to submit research abstracts (minimum of two pages; maximum of four pages) following the instructions published at SAC 2017 website. Submission of the same abstract to multiple tracks is not allowed. Submissions must address original and unpublished research work related to a SAC track, with emphasis on the innovation behind the research idea. The submission should address the research problem being investigated, the proposed approach and research methodology, and sample preliminary results of the work. In addition, the abstract should reflect on the originality of the work, innovation of the approach, and applicability of the results to real-world problems. All abstracts must be submitted thought the START Submission system. If you encounter any problems with your submission, please contact the Program Coordinator. Carlos Ferreira ISEP | Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Rua Dr. Ant?nio Bernardino de Almeida, 431 4249-015 Porto - PORTUGAL tel. +351 228 340 500 | fax +351 228 321 159 mail at isep.ipp.pt | www.isep.ipp.pt From stefan.kiebel at tu-dresden.de Tue Jul 5 06:12:30 2016 From: stefan.kiebel at tu-dresden.de (Kiebel, Stefan) Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2016 10:12:30 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: 2 open PhD positions at TU Dresden, Germany Message-ID: The Department of Psychology at the TU Dresden (Chair of Neuroimaging, PI: Stefan Kiebel) is looking for two PhD students. One of the PhD student positions is in experimental cognitive neuroscience, and one is in computational neuroscience. Both PhD positions will be working at the interface between computational and experimental neuroimaging research in cognitive control and goal-directed action sequences. Detailed information about both positions can be found at: http://tiny.cc/8ii4by Both positions are part of the DFG-funded CRC 940 'volition and cognitive control' (http://www.sfb940.de/en/home.html). The CRC was established in 2012 and will be funded for the next four years. The CRC aims at identifying the cognitive and neuronal mechanism, which underlie the volitional control of goal-directed actions as well as its dysfunctions in selected mental disorders. PhD position 1: The candidate will work as a member of a team in the CRC940-Project A9 on computational modelling of goal-directed actions and explaining dynamics in cognitive control in terms of variations in meta-control parameters. In this project, neuroimaging (fMRI and EEG) experiments will be used to test hypotheses derived using advanced Bayesian models of goal-reaching over multiple trials. http://tiny.cc/8ii4by (PhD position Cognitive Neuroscience) PhD position 2: The candidate will work as a member of a team in the CRC940-Project Z2 on advanced computational modelling of functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography data. In this project, advanced modelling techniques will be developed and extended to enable testing novel experimental hypotheses using fMRI and EEG. http://tiny.cc/8ii4by (PhD position Computational Neuroscience) --> The application deadline for both positions is the 14th of July. -- Prof. Dr. Stefan Kiebel Technische Universit?t Dresden School of Science Department of Psychology 01062 Dresden, Germany Tel.: +49 (351) 463-43145 Fax: +49 (351) 463-43147 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From smart at neuralcorrelate.com Wed Jul 6 15:15:51 2016 From: smart at neuralcorrelate.com (Susana Martinez-Conde) Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2016 15:15:51 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Congratulations to the Winners of the 2016 Best Illusion of the Year Contest! In-Reply-To: <0b2401d1d7ba$c2737350$475a59f0$@neuralcorrelate.com> References: <0b2401d1d7ba$c2737350$475a59f0$@neuralcorrelate.com> Message-ID: <0b3401d1d7ba$d2b7ba00$78272e00$@neuralcorrelate.com> Congratulations to the winners of the 12th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest ! Online voters around the world chose the best illusions of the year from Wednesday, June 29th 4pm EDT to Thursday, June 30th 4PM EDT. First Place and an award of $3,000 USD went to "Motion Integration Unleashed: New Tricks for an Old Dog ", a motion perception illusion by Mathew T. Harrison and Gideon P. Caplovitz from the University of Reno, Nevada, USA. Second Place and an award of $2,000 USD went to "Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion " a perspective illusion by Kokichi Sugihara from Meiji University, Japan. Third Place and an award of $1,000 USD went to "Silhouette Zoetrope " a motion illusion by Christine Veras from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Enjoy the winning illusions and all Top 10 Finalists at http://illusionoftheyear.com Illusion submissions are now accepted for the 12th edition of the Best Illusion of the Year Contest, to be held in 2017. 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 The Neural Correlate Society is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization, whose mission is to promote the public awareness of neuroscience research. -------------------------------------- Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD 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 Hong.Yu at umassmed.edu Wed Jul 6 11:35:59 2016 From: Hong.Yu at umassmed.edu (Yu, Hong) Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2016 15:35:59 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Two NIH funded T32 (postdoctoral) fellowship positions at UMass Message-ID: Dear all, Two NIH funded T32 (postdoctoral) fellowship positions are available immediately. The candidate must be either US citizen or green card holder. We are interested in information retrieval, natural language processing, machine learning, and data mining of electronic health records in the cardiovascular domain. Interested please email hong.yu at umassmed.edu In addition, recently we have developed deep learning approaches to detect named entity in electronic health records and we found our approach (published in NAACL 2016) significantly outperformed conditional random fields. Here is our paper: http://m-mitchell.com/NAACL-2016/NAACL-HLT2016/pdf/N16-1056.pdf The code is freely available at: https://github.com/abhyudaynj/birnn-bionlp Hong Yu, MS, MA, PhD, FACMI Professor, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences Department of Medicine (Adjunct) University of Massachusetts Medical School College of Information and Computer Science (Adjunct) AS6-1083 ASC-QHS, 368 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605 508-856-3474/ Fax: 508-856-8993 and Research Health Scientist, Bedford, MA Conference Call: 508-856-8222 Participant Code: 0176 Moderator Code: 2294 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From friedhelm.schwenker at uni-ulm.de Wed Jul 6 05:15:11 2016 From: friedhelm.schwenker at uni-ulm.de (Friedhelm Schwenker) Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2016 11:15:11 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: IEEE CIDM 2016 Message-ID: <9562d32c-6558-b9c1-3a4d-9fbd20e66116@uni-ulm.de> CALL FOR PAPERS Paper Submission Deadline: July 18, 2016 IEEE CIDM 2016 IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Data Mining December 6-9, 2016, Athens, Greece SSCI 2016:http://ssci2016.cs.surrey.ac.uk/CIDM.htm CIDM 2016:http://neuro.informatik.uni-ulm.de/CIDM2016/ IEEE CIDM 2016 organized by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society Data Mining Technical Committee is part (one of 30 symposia) of the IEEE Symposium Series of Computational Intelligence (IEEE SSCI 2016). IEEE CIDM 2016 will bring together researchers and practitioners from around the world to discuss the latest advances in the field of computational intelligence applied to data mining and will act as a major forum for the presentation of recent results in theory, algorithms, systems and applications. Topics related to all aspects of data mining, such as theories, algorithms, systems and applications, particularly those based on computational intelligence technologies, are welcome; these include, but are not limited to: ? Neural networks for data mining ? Evolutionary algorithms for data mining ? Fuzzy sets for data mining ? Data mining with soft computing ? Foundations of data mining ? Mining with big data ? Classification, Clustering, Regression ? Association ? Feature learning and feature engineering ? Machine learning algorithms ? Multimedia data mining ? Text mining ? Link and graph mining ? Social media mining ? Collaborative filtering ? Crowd sourcing ? Personalization ? Security, privacy and social impact of data mining ? Data mining applications Important Dates ? Paper submission: July 18, 2016 ? Notification to authors: September 12, 2016 ? Final submission: October 10, 2016 ? Early registration: October 10, 2016 Co-Chairs Carlotta Domeniconi, Georg Mason University, USA Friedhelm Schwenker, Ulm University, Germany Zhi-Hua Zhou, Nanjing University, China -- PD Dr. Friedhelm Schwenker University of Ulm Institute of Neural Information Processing D-89069 Ulm, Germany phone: +49-731-50-24159 fax: +49-731-50-24156 email: friedhelm.schwenker at uni-ulm.de www: http://www.uni-ulm.de/in/neuroinformatik/mitarbeiter/f-schwenker.html From yang at maebashi-it.org Wed Jul 6 11:25:22 2016 From: yang at maebashi-it.org (Yang) Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2016 00:25:22 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: [Extended] Call for Abstract - Brain Informatics and Health 2016 Message-ID: <6B6A135624A345448E7D91CE991589E0@yangPC> [Apologies if you receive this more than once] Due to many requests, the submission deadline has been extended. ============================== Type II (Abstract) Submission Deadline: July 17, 2016 ============================== ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR TYPE II SUBMISSIONS The 2016 International Conference on Brain Informatics & Health (BIH'16) October 13-16, 2016, Hilton Omaha, USA Homepage: http://wibih.unomaha.edu/bih ***Type II (Abstract) Submission Deadline*** - July 17, 2016 (EXTENDED!!) *** On-Line Submission *** https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2016/bih16/scripts/submit.php?subarea=B *** KEYNOTE SPEAKERS *** Stephen Smith, Allen Institute for Brain Science Ivan Soltesz, Stanford School of Medicine *** FEATURE SPEAKERS *** Steven Schiff, Pennsylvania State University Kristen Harris, University of Texas at Austin Giulio Tononi, University of Wisconsin-Madison Bob Jacobs, Colorado College Partha Mitra, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Paola Pergami, George Washington University **************** The BIH series provides a premier forum that brings together researchers and practitioners from neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, information communication technologies, and neuroimaging technologies with the purpose of exploring the fundamental roles, interactions as well as practical impacts of Brain Informatics. BIH'16 addresses the computational, cognitive, physiological, biological, physical, ecological and social perspectives of brain informatics, with a strong emphasis on emerging trends of big data analysis and management technology for brain research, behaviour learning, and real-world applications of brain science in human health and well-being. BIH'16 will be co-located with the 2016 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference Web Intelligence (WI'16) (http://wibih.unomaha.edu/wi). Under our theme Connecting Network and Brain with Big Data, BIH'16 and WI'16 will provide a broad forum that academia, professionals and industry can use to exchange their ideas, findings and strategies in utilizing the power of human brains and man-made networks to create a better world. The attendees only need to register for one of the 2 conferences, but they can attend all sessions and social events of the 2 conferences. Tutorial, Workshop and Special-Session proposals and Industry/Demo-Track papers are also welcome. The organizers of Workshops and Special-Sessions are invited to prepare a book proposal based on the topics of the workshop/special session for possible book publication in the Springer Brain Informatics & Health book series. IMPORTANT DATES: ================ Notification of full paper acceptance: June 23, 2016 Notification of Workshop/Special-Session full paper acceptance: June 23, 2016 Submission of abstracts: July 17, 2016 (EXTENDED!!) Notification of abstract acceptance: July 25, 2016 Tutorial proposal submission: July 10, 2016 Tutorials, Workshop and Special-Sessions: October 13, 2016 Main conference: October 14-16, 2016 PAPER SUBMISSIONS & PUBLICATIONS: ================================= TYPE-II (Abstract Submissions; Deadline: July 17, 2016 **EXTENDED**): Abstracts have a word limit of 500 words. Experimental research is particularly welcome. Accepted abstract submissions will be included in the conference program, and will be published as a single, collective proceedings volume. Title: Include in the title of the abstract all words critical for a subject index. Write your title in sentence case (first letter is capitalized; remaining letters are lower case). Do not bold or italicize your full title. Author: List all authors who contributed to the work discussed in the abstract. The presenting author must be listed in the first author slot of the list. Be prepared to submit contact information as well as conflict of interest information for each author listed. Abstract: Enter the body of the abstract and attach any applicable graphic files or tables here. Do not re-enter the title, author, support, or other information that is collected in other steps of the submission form. Presentation Preference: Authors may select from three presentation formats when submitting an abstract: "poster only", "talk preferred" or "no preference". The "talk preferred" selection indicates that you would like to give a talk, but will accept a poster format if necessary. Marking "poster only" indicates that you would not like to be considered for an oral-presentation session. Selecting "no preference" indicates the author's willingness to be placed in the best format for the program. Each paper or abstract requires one sponsoring attendee (i.e. someone who registered and is attending the conference). A single attendee can not sponsor more than two abstracts or papers. Oral presentations will be selected from both full length papers and abstracts. *** Post-Conference Journal Publication *** The BIH conferences have the formal ties with Brain Informatics journal (Springer, http://www.springer.com/40708). Accepted submissions from the conference, including their Best Paper Award papers, will be expanded and revised for possible inclusion in the Brain Informatics journal each year. It is fully sponsored and no any article-processing fee is charged for BIH authors. *** Topics and Areas *** Track 1: Investigations of Human Information Processing Systems (HIPS) and Computational Foundations of Brain Science Track 2: Information Technologies for Curating, Mining and Using Brain Big Data Track 3: Brain-Inspired Technologies, Systems and Applications Please find the topics and areas of interest of BIH'16 at http://wibih.unomaha.edu/bih *** On-Line Submission *** https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2016/bih16/scripts/submit.php?subarea=B ================================ A Celebration to the 60th Anniversary of AI ================================ This year, the Brain Informatics & Health (BIH) conference is especially dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the past years, the attempt by brain scientists to understand how the human brain works has never stopped. Meanwhile, the AI researchers also have been striving to formalize the structure and function of human brain, aiming at creating computers and computer software with capacity of intelligent behavior. By integrating techniques and academic researchers, abundant brain-inspired achievements have been yielded. Recently, the so-called neuromorphic computer architectures-chips, that mimic the human brain's ability to be both analytical and intuitive to deliver context and meaning to big data, have been invented and showed us the promising future of AI. There is never been a more exciting moment than now, in neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, and AI. Brain Informatics (BI) has extended and made use of artificial intelligence for new products, services and frameworks that are empowered by the World Wide Web. By means of brain data collected globally and systematic researches on the human brain across macro, meso, and micro scales, i.e., mind and behavior, brain cognition and structure, neuronal morphology and gene, BI is committed to developing a big data sharing mind on the Wisdom Web of Things (W2T), and disclosing the intrinsic qualities of human intelligence. As a part of the celebration to the sixty years of AI, BIH'16 will be co-located with Web Intelligence (WI) 2016, and proudly host two distinguished brain scientists, Dr. Stephen Smith and Dr. Ivan Soltesz as the BIH keynote speakers, as well as two Turing Award laureates, Dr. Leslie Valiant (Turing Award 2010) and Dr. Butler Lampson (Turing Award 1992) as the WI keynote speakers, for the community to share with their intelligent, wisdom minds. We also will organize a panel on Connecting Network and Brain with Big Data and invite keynote/feature speakers of the 2 conferences as panelists. ORGANIZERS ========== General Chairs Hesham Ali (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Deepak Khazanchi (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Yong Shi (University of Nebraska at Omaha/Chinese Academy of Sciences) BIH'16 PC Chairs Giorgio Ascoli (George Mason University, USA) Michael Hawrylycz (Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA) BIH'16 Workshop/Special-session/Tutorial Chairs Bingni Wen Brunton (University of Washington, USA) Arvind Ramanathan (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA) Yi Zeng (Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) BIH'16 Publicity Chairs Kate Cooper (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Weidong Cai (University of Sydney, Australia) Henning Muller (HES-SO, Switzerland) Local Organizing Committee Prithviraj (Raj) Dasgupta Zhengxin Chen Peter Wolcott Haifeng Guo Mark Pauley Wikil Kwak Kerry Ward Dhundy (Kiran) Bastola Kate Cooper (publicity) Bettina Lechner (webmaster) BIH Steering Committee Co-chairs Ning Zhong (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Hanchuan Peng (Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA) *** Contact Information *** kdempsey at unomaha.edu MikeH at alleninstitute.org ascoli at gmu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From xwe at cis.upenn.edu Wed Jul 6 13:36:27 2016 From: xwe at cis.upenn.edu (Wei Xu) Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2016 13:36:27 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: The 2nd Workshop on Noisy User-generated Text (WNUT'16): Call for Paper Message-ID: == The 2nd Workshop on Noisy User-generated Text (WNUT'16) == The WNUT Workshop will be held with COLING in Osaka, Japan, on December 11, 2016. The website for the workshop is at: http://noisy-text.github.io/ WNUT workshop focuses on Natural Language Processing applied to noisy user-generated text, such as that found in social media, web forums, online reviews, clinic records and language learner essays. This year, there will be two *shared tasks*: 1) Geolocation Prediction in Twitter and 2) Named Entity Recognition in Twitter. We seek submissions of both long and short papers on original and unpublished work (same page limit as COLING main conference). 1-page abstracts on work-in-progress or work published elsewhere are also welcome and will *not* be included in the conference proceedings. All accepted submissions will be presented as posters. Additionally, selected submissions will be presented orally. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: * NLP Preprocessing of Noisy Text - Part of speech tagging - Named entity tagging, including a wide range of categories, e.g. product names - Chunking of user-generated text - Parsing * Text Normalization and Error Correction - Normalizing noisy text for downstream tasks and for human readability - Error detection and correction * Paraphrase extraction and detection in noisy text * Semantics in noisy text * Bilingual translation of noisy text * Multilingual NLP in noisy text * Colloquial language, e.g. idiom detection * Domain adaptation to user-generated text = IMPORTANT DATES = * January 24 2015: First call for workshop papers * September 2016: Shared-task evaluations * September 25, 2016: Workshop paper due * October 16, 2016: Notification of acceptance * October 30, 2016: Camera-ready papers due * December 11, 2016: Workshop date = SHARED TASKS = * Task #1: Geolocation Prediction in Twitter (around September) * Task #2: Named Entity Recognition in Twitter (September 9-16 ) = ORGANIZERS = Bo Han (Hugo AI) Alan Ritter (The Ohio State University) Leon Derczynski (The University of Sheffield) Wei Xu (University of Pennsylvania) Tim Baldwin (The University of Melbourne) = INVITED SPEAKERS = Ming-Wei Chang (Microsoft Research) Barbara Plank (University of Copenhagen) Kentaro Torisawa (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology) = PROGRAM COMMITTEE = Kalina Bontcheva (University of Sheffield) Claire Cardie (Cornell University) Colin Cherry (National Research Council Canada) Grzegorz Chrupa?a (Tilburg University) Marina Danilevsky (IBM Research) Seza Do?ru?z (Tilburg University) Heba Elfardy (Columbia University) Eric Fosler-Lussier (The Ohio State University) Kevin Gimpel (Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago) Weiwei Guo (Yahoo! Research) Ben Hachey (Hugo AI) Masato Hagiwara (Duolingo) Ed Hovy (Carnegie Mellon University) Jing Jiang (Singapore Management University) Nobuhiro Kaji (Yahoo! Research) Emre Kiciman (Microsoft Research) Chen Li (University of Texas at Dallas) Wang Ling (Google DeepMind) Huan Liu (Arizona State University) Rada Mihalcea (University of Michigan) Smaranda Muresan (Columbia University) Naoaki Okazaki (Tohoku University) Miles Osborne (Bloomberg) Ellie Pavlick (University of Pennsylvania) Daniel Preo?iuc-Pietro (University of Pennsylvania) Will Radford (Hugo AI) Alla Rozovskaya (City University of New York) Andrew Schwartz (Stony Brook University) Djam? Seddah (University Paris-Sorbonne) Richard Sproat (Google Research) Anders S?gaard (University of Copenhagen) Jeniya Tabassum (The Ohio State University) Joel Tetreault (Yahoo! Research) Byron C. Wallace (University of Texas at Austin) Svitlana Volkova (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Xiaojun Wan (Peking University) Jun-Ming Xu (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Diyi Yang (Carnegie Mellon University) Yi Yang (Georgia Tech) Guido Zarrella (MITRE) Ming Zhou (Microsoft Research) = SUBMISSION = Formatting should be according to COLING 2016 specifications. Dual submission is allowed, but must state at the time of submission. Please submit through the START system at the following url: https://www.softconf.com/coling2016/WNUT/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gluck at pavlov.rutgers.edu Wed Jul 6 17:33:21 2016 From: gluck at pavlov.rutgers.edu (Mark Gluck) Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2016 17:33:21 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?Rutgers_University_Seeks_Senior_Researc?= =?utf-8?q?h_Scientist_Working_on_Alzheimer=27s_Disease_for_New_Endowed_Ch?= =?utf-8?q?air_in_Alzheimer=E2=80=99s_Disease_and_Neurodegeneration?= Message-ID: Rutgers University Seeks Senior Research Scientist Working on Alzheimer's Disease for New Endowed Chair in Alzheimer?s Disease and Neurodegeneration The Honorable Herbert C. and Jacqueline Krieger Klein have funded a new Endowed Chair in Alzheimer?s Disease and Neurodegeneration Research as part of the Rutgers University Brain Health Institute (http://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu ). We seek a well-funded, accomplished senior research scientist or physician scientist working in the field of Alzheimer?s disease, neurodegeneration or related research, who would add materially to the strengths already at Rutgers in neurodegenerative research. With two teaching hospitals and over 250 neuroscience faculty labs at Newark, New Brunswick and Piscataway, Rutgers offers tremendous collaborative opportunities and core facilities to support and grow an active research program. The candidate for the Endowed Chair should also be a leader who can coordinate research among many faculty, form the nexus of a collaborative research focus or center, and develop new research opportunities. Applicants must have a PhD, MD or equivalent doctoral degree, with demonstrated ability to lead an independent NIH-funded research program in Alzheimer?s disease and neurodegeneration research. Rutgers values a culturally diverse faculty; we strongly encourage applications from female and minority candidates. Applicants should submit a CV and statement of research accomplishments and plans and names of three to five references to Dr. Terri Wood, the Chair of the search committee, at bhi at ca.rutgers.edu . --------- ___________________________________ Dr. Mark A. Gluck, Professor Center for Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Rutgers University ? Newark 197 University Ave. Newark, New Jersey 07102 Web: http://www.gluck.edu Email: gluck at pavlov.rutgers.edu Ph: ( 973) 353-3298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rmcantin at unizar.es Thu Jul 7 08:59:20 2016 From: rmcantin at unizar.es (Ruben Martinez-Cantin) Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2016 14:59:20 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position in Machine Learning/Computer Vision for wearables at Zaragoza, Spain Message-ID: The Robotics, Perception and Real Time (RoPeRT) group at University of Zaragoza has open positions for PhD contracts (4 years) within the project: "Egocentrinc Computer Vision for Environmental Interaction of Visually Impaired People." Research will focus on development of machine learning and computer vision algorithms for wearable devices designed to assist visually impaired people. We offer a 4 years contract within the research group. The type of contract is based on Spanish Goverment grant (FPI MINECO) corresponding to 16,500 euros per year (approximately). It also includes fees, travel grants for internships and a postdoc bonus the last year. We are looking for a highly motivated person with a M.Sc. in Computer Science/Engineering, Electrical/Electronics/Automation Engineering, Mathematics or similar. Applicants will be ranked based on: academic record, experience in robotics, machine learning and computer vision, good programming skills (C++, Matlab and/or Python) and good background in statistics and linear algebra. Applicants should have a working English level or higher. Spanish is recommended but not mandatory. Send an email with your resume and academic record to J.J. Guerrero josechu.guerrero at unizar.es and Ruben Martinez-Cantin rmcantin at unizar.es with the subject "FPI EVEIVI". More information: http://webdiis.unizar.es/~rmcantin/index.php/Main/EveiviPhD Best regards, Ruben Martinez-Cantin http://webdiis.unizar.es/~rmcantin/ From david.dowe at monash.edu Thu Jul 7 13:12:22 2016 From: david.dowe at monash.edu (David Dowe) Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2016 03:12:22 +1000 Subject: Connectionists: JOB: Postdoctoral Fellow in Statistical Inference for Astronomical Data, Monash University Message-ID: Dear Connectionists, please find the job ad below to be distributed far and wide. RESEARCH FELLOW : in Statistics and Machine Learning for Astrophysics, Monash University, Australia, deadline 31 July. http://www.jobs-monash.jxt.net.au/academic-jobs/research-fellow-in-statistics-and-astrophysics/706686 (deadline 31/July/2016) *Postdoc available* (Postdoctoral Fellowship job available, *deadline: 31 July 2016*) : Research Fellow in Machine Learning, Statistics, Mixture Modelling, Latent Factor Analysis and Astrophysics (deadline 31/July/2016) We seek to fill a 2.5 year post-doctoral fellowship dedicated to extensions and applications of the Minimum Message Length (MML) technique to the analysis of spectroscopic data from recent large astronomical surveys, such as GALAH (GALactic Archaeology with HERMES). The position is based jointly within the Monash Centre for Astrophysics (MoCA, in the School of Physics and Astronomy) and the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT). The successful applicant will develop and extend the MML method as needed, applying it to spectroscopic data from the GALAH project, with an aim to understanding nucleosynthesis in stars as well as the formation and evolution of our Galaxy ("galactic archaeology"). The position is based at the Clayton campus (in suburban Melbourne, Australia) of Monash University, which hosts approximately 56,000 equivalent full-time students spread across its Australian and off-shore campuses, and approximately 3500 academic staff. Monash is committed to growing its already established excellence in astrophysics as well as machine learning, data science and statistical inference. MML research at Monash University dates back to the original seminal Wallace and Boulton (1968), ``An information measure for classification'', Computer J. The successful applicant will work with world experts in both the Bayesian information-theoretic MML method as well as nuclear astrophysics. The immediate supervisors will be Professor John Lattanzio (MoCA), Associate Professor David Dowe (FIT) and Dr Aldeida Aleti (FIT). A popular paper relating MML to Solomonoff-Kolmogorov complexity and algorithmic information theory (AIT) is Wallace and Dowe (1999a), ``Minimum Message Length and Kolmogorov Complexity '', Computer J, special issue on Kolmogorov complexity . Further reading on MML in the 2011 Elsevier Handbook of the Philosophy of Science (Vol. 7, Philosophy of Statistics) [including, e.g., dealing with a Neyman-Scott-like problem for panel data] is in Dowe (2011a) . Monash University is based in Melbourne, named the world's most livable city in each of the last 5 years. Melbourne is a highly multi-cultural cosmopolitan city providing extensive cultural and lifestyle opportunities, is situated on the coast with excellent beaches readily accessible, many fine restaurants, etc. Salary will be in the range AUD86,209 to AUD92,541, which includes a 9.5% contribution to superannuation from the University. Further information at http://www.jobs-monash.jxt.net.au/benefits . *Applications due by 31 July 2016* Further Information: Position Description: http://www.jobs-monash.jxt.net.au/academic-jobs/research-fellow-in-statistics-and-astrophysics/706686 Monash University: http://www.monash.edu Monash Centre for Astrophysics http://moca.monash.edu/ School of Physics and Astronomy: http://www.monash.edu/science/schools/physics Faculty of Information Technology: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/ Minimum Message Length: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~dld/CSWallacePublications/#Wallace2005 City of Melbourne: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Pages/Home.aspx http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au Cheers and best, David Dowe. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From martinvinck at gmail.com Sat Jul 9 13:48:32 2016 From: martinvinck at gmail.com (Martin Vinck) Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2016 19:48:32 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD/postdoc positions at Ernst Struengmann Institute for Neuroscience Message-ID: Our laboratory at the Ernst Struengmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society is seeking candidates for Postdoc and Ph.D. positions. Projects involve the application of parallel, large-scale electrophysiological recording techniques of single units and EEG in combination with closed-loop optogenetic manipulation methods to investigate mechanisms of information encoding and transmission in mice brains. We are particularly interested in the way in which the brain efficiently encodes information, and the way in which sensory predictions established in higher areas influence sensory representations in earlier sensory areas. We are furthermore interested in investigating the role of GABAergic interneurons in selective attention and neuronal oscillations. We address these questions using laminar recordings in combination with optogenetics in mice, as well as through the development of novel tools for the quantitative analysis of large-scale electrophysiological data. Within the ESI, tight collaborations exist with the lab of Prof. Dr. Pascal Fries. Because we are searching for members that can strengthen an interdisciplinary team, we are encouraging students/researchers with a background either in biological/medical sciences or in physics/engineering/mathematics/etc. to apply. The ideal PhD or postdoc candidate has previous experience and strengths either in 1) performing hands-on experimental work and electrophysiological recordings or 2) hardware engineering and quantitative analysis of large-scale data. We are searching for applicants with good communication skills and a high commitment and curiosity about neuroscientific questions. Interested candidates are invited to send their application materials in electronic form (PDF format) to martin.vinck at esi-frankfurt.de Applications should contain a letter of intent, a detailed curriculum vitae, lists of university courses completed with marks obtained (only for PhD candidates), and the names of at least two scientists who can give references. The advertisement will be valid until positions are filled. Dr. Martin Vinck martin.vinck at esi-frankfurt.de Research Group Leader Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society Deutschordenstr. 46, D-60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From elio.tuci at gmail.com Mon Jul 11 05:14:57 2016 From: elio.tuci at gmail.com (Elio Tuci) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:14:57 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: SAB 2016 - FROM ANIMALS TO ANIMATS 14 - 23-26 August 2016, Aberystwyth, UK Message-ID: 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 ***** LATE BREAKING PAPER SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 15TH JULY 2016.***** ************* CONFERENCE REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN *************** Early Bird fees available till 15th JULY ********** LIMITED STUDENT BURSARIES ARE AVAILABLE *********** A student interested in this research area? Apply for a bursary now. For more information see http://www.sab2016.org/ ******* Invited speakers ******** Jochen Triesch, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Og DeSouza, Federal Universoty of Vicosa, Brazil Anthony Pipe, University of Bristol, UK Stefano Nolfi, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies CNR, Italy *Organising Committee* Conference Chairs: Myra S. Wilson, John Hallam Program Chairs: Elio Tuci, Alexandros Giagkos Tutorial Chair: Fred Labrosse *Important Dates* Paper Submission Deadline: 8th April, 2016 Complete Notification of Acceptance: 16th May, 2016 Complete Camera Ready Submission: 6th Jun., 2016 Complete Tutorial Proposal Deadline: 21st May, 2016 Complete Tutorial Notification of Acceptance: 31th May, 2016 Complete 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). *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* Two best paper prizes will be awarded at the end of the conference to honour the authors of papers of exceptional merit. The prizes will be sponsored by Springer and Webots. For more information please refer to the official SAB2016 website. *Student Bursaries* ISAB sponsored student bursaries are available to cover conference fees, meals and accomodation. Information on how to apply can be found on http://www.sab2016.org. *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 EPNSugan at ntu.edu.sg Mon Jul 11 06:31:19 2016 From: EPNSugan at ntu.edu.sg (Ponnuthurai Nagaratnam Suganthan) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 10:31:19 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Applied Soft Computing J Special Issue on ANN & Machine Learning (CFP) Message-ID: Call for Papers Special Issue of Applied Soft Computing (Elsevier) (Impact Factor: 2.8) Paper submission is open now Special Issue on Non-iterative Approaches in Learning (Includes comparisons with iterative methods) http://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-soft-computing/call-for-papers/special-issue-on-non-iterative-approaches-in-learning-includ/ Optimization, which plays a central role in learning, has received considerable attention from academics, researchers, and domain workers. Many optimization problems in machine learning are solved by iterative methods which generate a sequence of improving approximated solutions with some termination criteria. These methods usually suffer from low convergence rate and are sensitive to parameter settings (such as learning rate/step size, maximum number of iterations). On the other hand, non-iterative solutions, which are usually presented in closed-form manner, are in general computationally faster than iterative solutions. However, comparative studies with iterative methods are also welcome. The main focus of this special issue is to present the recent advances in non-iterative solutions in learning. Original contributions and surveys are welcome. The special issue aims to promote non-iterative concepts in the field of learning. Even though non-iterative methods have attracted much attention in recent years, there exists a performance gap when compared with older methods and other competing paradigms. This special issue aims to bridge this gap. Besides the dissemination of the latest research results on non-iterative algorithms, it is also expected that this special issue will cover some industrial applications, present some new ideas and identify directions for future studies. The topics of the special issue include, but are not limited to: * Methods with and without randomization * Regression, classification and time series * Kernel methods such as kernel ridge regression, kernel adaptive filters, etc. * Feedforward, recurrent, multilayer, deep and other structures. * Ensemble learning * Moore-Penrose pseudo inverse, SVD and other solution procedures. * Non-iterative methods for large-scale problems with and without kernels * Theoretical analysis of non-iterative methods * Comparative studies with competing iterative methods * Applications of non-iterative solutions in domains such as power systems, biomedical, finance, signal processing, big data and all other areas Submission format and Guidelines Papers will be evaluated based on their originality, presentation, relevance and contribution to the development of non-iterative methods, as well as their suitability and the quality in terms of both technical contribution and writing. The submitted papers must be written in good English and describe original research which has not been published nor is currently under review by other journals or conferences. If used, the previously published conference papers should be clearly identified by the authors (at the submission stage) and an explanation should be provided how such papers have been extended to be considered for this special issue. Guest Editors will make an initial determination on the suitability and scope of all submissions. Papers that either lack originality, clarity in presentation or fall outside the scope of the special issue will not be sent for review and the authors will be promptly informed of such cases. Author guidelines for preparation of manuscript can be found at http://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-soft-computing/ Manuscripts should be submitted online at: http://ees.elsevier.com/asoc/ Applied Soft Computing Journal is well indexed. Its impact factor is 2.8 (2 years). Important dates Manuscript submission: 15th Aug 2016 Revised version submission: 31st Jan 2017 Acceptance notification: 31st March 2017 Expected Publication: Mid 2017 Guest Editors Dr P N Suganthan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. epnsugan at ntu.edu.sg Prof. Sushmita Mitra, Indian Statistical Institute, India. sushmita at isical.ac.in Dr Ivan Tyukin, Department of Mathematics, University of Leicester, UK. I.Tyukin at le.ac.uk Best Wishes Suganthan http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/epnsugan/ ________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY: This email is intended solely for the person(s) named and may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it, notify us and do not copy, use, or disclose its contents. Towards a sustainable earth: Print only when necessary. Thank you. From bcbt at upf.edu Mon Jul 11 05:49:24 2016 From: bcbt at upf.edu (=?UTF-8?Q?BCBT=2C_B=C3=BAstia_Compartida?=) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:49:24 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: CFP : Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology Summer School 2016 Message-ID: ---------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ---------------------------------------------------------- *Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology Summer School (BCBT2016)* University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. 5-16 September 2016 http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt16 Join us for the annual *"Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology summer school - BCBT2016 *" (see* http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt16/home *) to be held 5-16 September 2016 in Barcelona Spain. The BCBT summer school is positioned at the interface between biology and future and emerging technologies with an emphasis on the principles underlying brains and their translation to avant-garde technologies. BCBT promotes a shared systems-level understanding of the functional architecture of the brain and its possible emulation in artificial systems. The summer school has been part of a series of events organized by the European coordination action Convergent Science Network of Biomimetics and Neurotechnology (*http://csnetwork.eu/ *). *This year the school will be supported by the EU projects socSMCs* (Socializing Sensorimotor Contingencies) - A FET Proactive Horizon 2020 funded research project. (http://socsmcs.eu/) This is the 9th year of BCBT, which has ran with great success in previous years thanks to an excellent line-up of outstanding speakers (see bcbt.upf.edu for previous editions of the school). BCBT lectures are available online (see http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt16/media) with the BCBT*Podcast interviews *with many of the BCBT speakers. BCBT caters to students and researchers involved in projects that are in the ambit of ?BIO-ICT convergence?, "Brain Inspired ICT", ?Cognitive systems-robotics?. BCBT will offer up to 30 student slots for the practical workshops while as many researchers can register to attend the presentations and discussion sessions, as they are interested. The atmosphere of the BCBT summer school is informal with the goal to stimulate in-depth discussion. There are 1 or 2 presentations in the morning, with the afternoons reserved for tutorials and projects for student participants and road-mapping workshops or further discussion for senior scientists. For the 2016 edition we plan a *1st week* of the school addressing *Neural basis of social interaction *while the *2nd week* will include presentations aimed at the investigation of *Socializing Sensorimotor Contingencies*. Friday 16 is reserved for the presentation of the student projects to which everybody is invited. *Application deadline: July 27th, 2016* For more information on how to apply, please go to http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt16/participate BCBT and is co-organized by *Paul Verschure *(BCBT Chair), ICREA and University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES *Andrea Engel* (BCBT Co-Chair) University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), DE *Anna Mura* (BCBT Co-Chair), University Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, ES -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From emmanuel.vincent at inria.fr Mon Jul 11 08:09:35 2016 From: emmanuel.vincent at inria.fr (Emmanuel Vincent) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 14:09:35 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Fully funded PhD position on deep learning for musical structure analysis and generation Message-ID: <57838C7F.1020505@inria.fr> Dear list, We are offering a fully funded PhD position on deep learning for musical structure analysis and generation. Please note the tight application deadline (July 22). We will review applications on a continuous basis until then. TITLE: Deep learning for musical structure analysis and generation LAB: Inria Rennes & Inria Nancy, France SUPERVISORS: Fr?d?ric Bimbot & Emmanuel Vincent STARTING DATE: October 2016 or later (until January 2017) TO APPLY: send a CV, a motivation letter, a list of publications, and one or more recommendation letters to emmanuel.vincent at inria.fr as soon as possible and no later than July 22, 2016 ABOUT INRIA: Inria is the biggest European public research institute dedicated to computer science. The PANAMA team (https://team.inria.fr/panama/) and the MULTISPEECH team (https://team.inria.fr/multispeech/) each gather 20+ scientists with a focus on machine learning and signal processing for music, speech, and general audio. RESEARCH TOPIC: Despite numerous studies on automatic music transcription and composition, the temporal structure of music pieces at various time scales remains difficult to model. Automatic music improvisation systems such as OMax [1] and ImproteK [2] assume that the structure is either predetermined (chord chart) or completely free, which limits their use to specific musical styles. The concepts of semiotic structure [3] and Contrast & System [4] we recently introduced helped defining musical structure in a more general way. Yet, they do not easily translate into a computational model due to the large temporal horizon required and to the semantic gap with the observed musical signal or score. In the last few years, deep learning [5] has emerged as the new state of the art in the field of natural language processing (NLP) and it has already demonstrated its potential for modeling short-term musical structure [6, 7]. The goal of this PhD is to exploit and adapt deep recurrent neural networks (RNNs) for modeling medium- and long-term musical structure. This involves the following tasks in particular: - designing new RNN architectures for jointly modeling music at several time scales: tatum, beat, bar, structural block (e.g., chorus or verse), whole piece, - training them on smaller amounts of data than in the field of NLP, - evaluating their performance for musical structure estimation and automatic music improvisation. This position is part of a funded project with Ircam, in which the successful candidate will have the opportunity to engage. PROFILE: MSc in computer science, machine learning, or a related field. Programming experience in Python or C/C++. Previous experience with music and deep learning is not required but would be an asset. REFERENCES: [1] http://repmus.ircam.fr/omax/home [2] http://improtekjazz.org/ [3] F. Bimbot, G. Sargent, E. Deruty, C. Guichaoua, E. Vincent, ?Semiotic description of music structure: an introduction to the Quaero/Metiss structural annotations?, in Proc. AES 53rd International Conference on Semantic Audio, 2014. [4] F. Bimbot, E. Deruty, G. Sargent, E. Vincent, ?System & Contrast : A polymorphous model of the inner organization of structural segments within music pieces?, Music Perception, 2016. [5] L. Deng, D. Yu, Deep Learning: Methods and Applications, Now Publishers, 2014. [6] N. Boulanger-Lewandowski, Y. Bengio, P. Vincent, ?Modeling temporal dependencies in high-dimensional sequences: Application to polyphonic music generation and transcription?, in Proc. International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), 2012. [7] I.-T. Liu, B. Ramakrishnan, ?Bach in 2014: Music composition with recurrent neural network?, arXiv:1412.3191, 2014. -- Emmanuel Vincent Multispeech Project-Team Inria Nancy - Grand Est 615 rue du Jardin Botanique, 54600 Villers-l?s-Nancy, France Phone: +33 3 8359 3083 - Fax: +33 3 8327 8319 Web: http://www.loria.fr/~evincent/ From climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com Mon Jul 11 15:28:46 2016 From: climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com (Climate Informatics) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 15:28:46 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Climate Informatics 2016: Call for Short Papers (Friday, July 15, 2016, Short papers due) Message-ID: *The 6th International Workshop on Climate Informatics* *When*: September 22-23, 2016 (Climate Informatics Hackathon will be on September 21, 2016) *Where*: NCAR Mesa lab in Boulder, Colorado *Website*: https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/home *Twitter*: @Climformatics *Short paper deadline*: Friday, July 15, 2016, Short papers due *Keynote Speakers:* *Including:* Sudipto Banerjee, University of California Los Angeles, USA Yulia Gel, University of Texas at Dallas, USA Doug Nychka, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA Pradeep Ravikumar, University of Texas at Austin, USA Jason Smerdon, Columbia University, USA Allen Pope, National Snow & Ice Data Center, USA *Workshop Overview* Climate informatics broadly refers to any research combining climate science with approaches from statistics, machine learning and data mining. The Climate Informatics workshop series, now in its sixth year, seeks to bring together researchers from all of these areas. We aim to stimulate the discussion of new ideas, foster new collaborations, grow the climate informatics community, and thus accelerate discovery across disciplinary boundaries. The format of the workshop seeks to overcome cross disciplinary language barriers and to emphasize communication between participants by featuring tutorials, invited talks, panel discussions, posters and breakout sessions. The programs of previous workshops from 2011 to 2015 can be found here ( https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/climate-informatics-archive). We invite all researchers interested in learning about critical issues and opportunities in the field of climate informatics to join us, whether established in the field or just starting out. Since earth system sciences can be brought to bear on the study of climate, the scope of the workshop also includes data science approaches to problems at the nexus of climate and the earth system sciences. *Workshop Short Papers*: We encourage submissions on topics anywhere at the interface of climate science and machine learning, statistics, data mining, or related fields. Reviews, position papers, and works in progress, are also encouraged. Topics include but are NOT limited to: Machine learning, statistics, or data mining, applied to climate science Management and processing of large climate datasets Long and short term climate prediction Ensemble characterization of climate model projections Paleoclimate reconstruction Uncertainty quantification Spatiotemporal methods applied to climate data Time series methods applied to climate data Methods for modeling, detecting and predicting climate extremes Climate change attribution Dependence and causality among climate variables Detection and characterization of climate teleconnections Data assimilation Climate model parameterizations Hybrid methods Other data science approaches at the nexus of climate and earth system sciences *Short Paper Submission:* Short Paper submission deadline is Friday, July 15, 2016. Papers may be up to 3 pages long excluding references and up to 1 page of references (double column format) and submission will be through EasyChair. Latex and Word templates, as well as detailed submission instructions is available on the web page, https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/paper-submission-guidelines *Important Dates:* Friday, July 15, 2016: Short papers due; Travel fellowship applications due Wednesday, August 10, 2016: Authors notification Wednesday, August 10, 2016: Travel fellowship notification Saturday, September 10, 2016: Final revisions to papers due; Registration deadline Wednesday, September 21, 2016: Climate Informatics Hackathon at NCAR, in Boulder, CO Thursday-Friday, September 22-23, 2016: Workshop takes place at NCAR, in Boulder, CO *Travel Fellowships:* We are excited to announce that travel fellowships for early career scientists will again be available, thanks to NSF support. Details will be available on the website, https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/home *Hackathon:* We will have a data science ?hackathon? in the afternoon of September 21, 2016, to solve a challenging problem in climate informatics. Details will be available on the website, https://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/events/workshops/climate-informatics/2016/home *Organizing Committee:* *Workshop Co-Chairs:* Arindam Banerjee, University of Minnesota Jennifer Dy, Northeastern University *Program Committee Co-Chairs:* Slava Lyubchich, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Andrew Rhines, Harvard University *Publicity and Publications Chair:* Wei Ding, University of Massachusetts Boston *Travel and Budget Chair:* Eniko Szekely, New York University *Steering Committee:* Imme Ebert-Uphoff, Colorado State University Claire Monteleoni, George Washington University Doug Nychka, National Center for Atmospheric Research *Local Administrative Support:* Kathy Peczkowicz, NCAR Cecilia Banner, NCAR CONTACT: For more information, to get involved, or to sign up to receive announcements, please contact us here: climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com. Follow Climate Informatics on twitter for more updates and Hackathon information: https://twitter.com/Climformatics -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From martinvinck at gmail.com Mon Jul 11 16:01:02 2016 From: martinvinck at gmail.com (Martin Vinck) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 17:01:02 -0300 Subject: Connectionists: Ph.D. positions in computational neuroscience at Ernst Struengmann Institute Message-ID: The laboratory of Dr. Martin Vinck at the *Ernst Str?ngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society *is seeking candidates for Ph.D. positions. Students will work on two classes of problems. First, we aim to solve various methodological / neurostatistical problems for offline and on-line, closed-loop analysis of multivariate neuroscience datasets. Second, we are developing models of visual cortex in order to test specific hypotheses about the relationship between cortical dynamics and computation. PhD students will work together with experimental neuroscientists and apply methods and models to experimental datasets from primate and rodent animal models, including electrophysiological and calcium imaging data. For this position, we are primarily looking for students with training in a quantitative discipline (physics, engineering, computer science etc.). We also have openings for PhD and postdoc positions focusing primarily on experimental work. Interested candidates are invited to send their application materials in electronic form (PDF format) to martin.vinck at esi-frankfurt.de Applications should contain a letter of intent, a detailed curriculum vitae, lists of university courses completed with marks obtained, and the names of at least two scientists who can give references. The advertisement will be valid until positions are filled. Dr. Martin Vinck martin.vinck at esi-frankfurt.de Research Group Leader Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society Deutschordenstr. 46, D-60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Wilson_Truccolo at brown.edu Mon Jul 11 18:13:31 2016 From: Wilson_Truccolo at brown.edu (Wilson Truccolo) Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 18:13:31 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE AT BROWN UNIVERSITY Message-ID: Applications for an NIH-funded post-doctoral position are invited for the Laboratory of Dr. Wilson Truccolo in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. The positions are for the development of data-driven stochastic models of multiscale neural dynamics in human epilepsy. Data consist of simultaneous intracortical microelectrode array recordings of ensembles of single neurons and local field potentials, as well as ECoGs, during seizure and non-seizure states in individuals with pharmacologically resistant epilepsy. The project involves a collaboration between the labs of Dr. Truccolo and Dr. Sydney Cash (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston). The ideal candidate will have a strong background in computational/theoretical neuroscience, modeling of stochastic neural dynamics and experiments involving closed-loop electrical stimulation. Related recent publications can be found on the Truccolo lab website ( http://www.truccololab.com/ ). Inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Truccolo (wilson_truccolo at brown.edu). Applications including a CV, statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details of three referees should be sent to wilson_truccolo at brown.edu. -- Wilson Truccolo, Ph.D. Pablo J. Salame '88 Goldman Sachs Assistant Professor of Computational Neuroscience Department of Neuroscience & Institute for Brain Science, Brown University Lab website: http://www.truccololab.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Roland.W.Fleming at psychol.uni-giessen.de Tue Jul 12 07:34:00 2016 From: Roland.W.Fleming at psychol.uni-giessen.de (Roland Fleming) Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 13:34:00 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: 3 Post-Doc + 2 PhDs in Roland Fleming's lab (Giessen University) Message-ID: THREE POST-DOCTORAL positions and TWO PhD positions are available in Roland Fleming?s lab at Giessen University, in the context of an ERC-funded project on the perception of shape, material properties and generative processes. The aim is to bring together an interdisciplinary team spanning visual perception, neuroscience, machine learning and computer graphics. Accordingly, candidates should have experience in at least one of these areas. Preference will be given to candidates with evidence of strong quantitative or computational skills (e.g. deep learning, physical simulation, morphogenesis, procedural geometry). For the postdoctoral positions, a doctoral degree in psychology, neuroscience, computer science, physics or related discipline is a prerequisite. The candidate will have the opportunity to interact closely with the existing team, as well as other colleagues in closely related areas, including Karl Gegenfurtner, Katja Doerschner and Huseyin Boyaci. The lab offers excellent facilities for studying visual perception and motor control. We are part of several larger research consortia on perception and action (e.g., http://www.sfb-perception.de , http://prism-network.eu ) with excellent links to scientists within Europe and world wide. The group offers a stimulating, multi-national and multi-disciplinary research environment for young scientists (http://www.allpsych.uni-giessen.de ). We routinely have visiting faculty from other leading universities taking sabbaticals or other extended stays in the group. A 3T Siemens scanner is also in the same building. The city of Giessen is a small university town with a vibrant young population, located just 60 km north of Frankfurt. It is in an excellent location for getting to know the rest of Europe. The start date is subject to final confirmation from the European Commission, but is anticipated to be August 2016. Later starting dates can easily be accommodated. For the post-doc positions, salaries are according to German research scale TVH-13. These positions are for 18 months initially, with the possibility of renewal. For the PhD positions, salaries are according to the standard 65% positions from the same pay-scale. Funding is available for 3 year studentships. Please send applications by 25th July 2016 per email as a single PDF file. Applications will be considered until the position is filled. Please do not hesitate to contact me for informal inquiries. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pierre-yves.oudeyer at inria.fr Tue Jul 12 12:54:00 2016 From: pierre-yves.oudeyer at inria.fr (Pierre-Yves Oudeyer) Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 18:54:00 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on Information-Seeking, Curiosity and Attention Message-ID: Dear colleagues, We are happy to invite you to the second interdisciplinary symposium on Information-seeking, curiosity and attention that will be held at the British Medical Association in London, England on October 6-8, 2016. Following a highly successful first meeting held in 2014, this symposium aims to foster a vigorous exchange of ideas among pre-eminent researchers who investigate these topics in developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, computational modelling and single neuron physiology. Confirmed speakers include Jonathan Nelson, Doug Markant, Laurence Hunt, Sid Kouider, Matthias Gruber, Kou Murayama, Jill O?Reilly, Louise Goupil, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Manuel Lopes, Gianluca Baldassare, Karl Friston, Kenji Doya, Peter Dayan, Wolfram Schultz, Lisa Feigenson, Alison Gopnick, Andrew Bell, Jacqueline Gottlieb and Daphne Bavelier. Faculty, students, trainees, and education professionals are encouraged to attend. The registration link, along with more information and recorded talks from the 2014 meeting are at: http://goo.gl/IwHbkY Attendance is free but registration is required. Please register early to secure a spot. The workshop is funded through generous grants from the British Academy and from the Inria/Columbia University Neurocuriosity project, and is run in partnership with the Centre for Educational Neuroscience and LEARNUS. The organizers Pierre-Yves Oudeyer (Inria, France), Teodora Gliga (Birbeck College, London, UK), Jacqueline Gottlieb (Columbia University, US), Manuel Lopes (Inria, France) Funding ? http://www.learnus.co.uk/ http://www.columbia.edu/ http://www.britac.ac.uk http://www.inria.fr/en/ http://www.educationalneuroscience.org.uk/ http://www.cbcd.bbk.ac.uk/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 8d3e3b2845c7e8ddfce59c071927089c647ce1aa.png Type: image/png Size: 60180 bytes Desc: not available URL: From kenneth.harris at ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 13 03:59:42 2016 From: kenneth.harris at ucl.ac.uk (Harris, Kenneth) Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2016 07:59:42 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral and predoctoral positions in computational and experimental neuroscience in London Message-ID: Dear Connectionists, I would like to advertise three open positions at the interface of computational and experimental neuroscience, working with Profs. Kenneth Harris and Matteo Carandini. Two are postdoctoral jobs, and one is for a software developer (no PhD required). The closing date for all positions is August 11 2016. For more details on the lab, please see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cortexlab. Position 1. Postdoc: computational analysis of neural circuits Modern experimental methods allow for simultaneous recording of thousands of neurons. These methods provide an unprecedented opportunity to study how neuronal populations process information. However, turning this data into concrete conclusions about brain function raises a twofold challenge. First, statistical methods required to characterize, visualize, and test hypotheses about neural data must be developed; second, the data sets involved are so large that they require advanced computational techniques for their efficient processing. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to study population coding and circuit function in cortex, by working with data from large-scale electrophysiological and optical recordings. This position would suit an individual with strong quantitative skills together with good knowledge of neurobiology. Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent in neuroscience, computer science, mathematics, physics, engineering, or a similar field. To apply, go to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs, click "Current employment opportunities at UCL" and enter Ref No 1563741. Position 2. Research assistant: software development It is now possible to record the activity of thousands of cells simultaneously from the living brain, but using this information to understand how the brain processes information presents tremendous challenges of "big data" processing. The data sets collected are large, complex, and multimodal, consisting of petabytes, and spanning multiple formats arising from different experimental techniques. The successful applicant will join a team developing software systems for organization and analysis of large datasets recorded in our neurophysiology lab. Once established, these systems will be shared with the worldwide neuroscience community. The applicant should have an Honors degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, neuroscience or related discipline. Outstanding programming ability in Python, MATLAB or C++ is essential, as is knowledge of version control systems (eg git). Knowledge of image processing theory, signal processing theory, or machine learning is desirable, as is knowledge of web programming (JS, and REST APIs) and relational databases. To apply, go to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs, click "Current employment opportunities at UCL" and enter Ref No 1563752. Position 3. Postdoc: experimental neurophysiology Developments in electrophysiology, microscopy, and genetics now make it possible to measure the activity of thousands of neurons simultaneously, while identifying and controlling specific cell classes in real time. Combining these experimental technologies with large-scale informatics and computational analysis provides a tremendous tool to understand the function of neuronal circuits. We are seeking a postdoctoral scientist to apply these tools to study network activity during a visual discrimination task in behaving subjects. This project involves integrating multiple techniques currently in use in our lab including large-scale electrophysiological recordings, optogenetics, two-photon microscopy, wide-field imaging, in situ sequencing, and behavioral paradigms such as 2AFC and virtual reality. This position would suit a candidate with a PhD in experimental neurobiology, engineering, or experimental physics. To apply, go to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs, click "Current employment opportunities at UCL" and enter Ref No 1563759. All the best, Kenneth. --------------------- Kenneth D. Harris Professor of Quantitative Neuroscience Institute of Neurology, Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology University College London 21 University Street London WC1E 6DE Phone: +44 (0) 20 3108 2410 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From compsens at medizin.uni-tuebingen.de Wed Jul 13 06:17:56 2016 From: compsens at medizin.uni-tuebingen.de (Compsens) Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2016 12:17:56 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Posdoc/ PhD position NEURAL REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL INTENTION (University of Tuebingen, Germany) Message-ID: <20160713121756.Horde.v-vV0oHFqNLwLAkWFAC7VBm@webmail.uni-tuebingen.de> POSTDOC / PHD POSITION: NEURAL REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL INTENTION (Hertie Institute / Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tuebingen, Germany) ============================================================ The Section for Computational Sensomotorics at the Center for Integrative Neurosciences (CIN) and the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (HIH) at the University of Tuebingen invites applications for a Postdoc or a PhD student with a good mathematical background for a maximum duration of 3 years. The position is funded by a grant of the Human Frontiers Science Foundation (HFSP) in collaboration with the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) and Ohio State University (OSU). The project will focus on the development of neural and deep/machine learning-based theories for the processing of social signals and social intention, and their verification by psychophysical, and (in collaboration) also electrophysio- logical and fMRI experiments. What we offer: -------------- * top scientific environment (HIH in the top 3 European institutions for clinical brain research); the CIN is Excellence Cluster of the German Excellence Initiative; multiple leading Max Planck Institutes for related topics in Tuebingen; total > 600 researchers on the Tuebingen Neuroscience Campus working on many different aspects of neuroscience) * close collaborations with leading international partners in neuro- and computer science * possibility of teaching and taking courses at the Graduate Training Center for Neuroscience (> 40 courses in molecular, behavioral neuroscience, and neural information processing) What we are looking for: ------------------------- * person with Masters (PhD) degree in Computational Neuroscience or related discipline (Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Cognitive Science, Mathematical Psychology, etc.) * highly-motivated individual with enthusiasm for research; motivation and capability of self-driven pursuit of difficult problems * strong mathematical background and programming skills (at least in C or Java); willingness to learn relevant techniques and software products (e.g. for computer animation, deep learning, or the simulation of spiking networks) * interest in social neuroscience, computational vision, and neural circuits at the level of single cells * English speaking and writing skills. People without ambition in science. who primarily look for a temporary job at a German university. are discouraged from applying. Committed to Equal Opportunities. Interested people should send their application, including a CV, all marks form studies, 2 letters of reference, and a research statement of about one half page (explaining how their skills might support a project about the understanding neural basis of the processing of social signals and intention) to: Prof. Dr. Martin Giese Section for Theoretical Sensomotorics Dept. for Cognitive Neurology Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research & Center for Integrative Neuroscience University of Tuebingen Otfried-M?ller Str. 25 D-72076 Tuebingen GERMANY Tel.: +49 7071 2989124 Fax: +49 7071 294790 Email: martin.giese at uni-tuebingen.de Web: http://www.compsens.uni-tuebingen.de/ ============================================== From friedhelm.schwenker at uni-ulm.de Wed Jul 13 10:57:34 2016 From: friedhelm.schwenker at uni-ulm.de (Friedhelm Schwenker) Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:57:34 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: 4 PhD / PostDoc positions in the Institute of Neural Information Processing, Ulm University, Germany Message-ID: <8c2ab126-d7f2-ec9a-c1a0-d2b5a4e081b3@uni-ulm.de> In the *Institute of Neural Information Processing* of the Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology of Ulm University there will be *4 PhD / PostDoc positions in the field of Learning Systems * from October 2016 in the newly established research group on ?Learning Systems?. The group is interested in the mathematical foundations of intelligent behavior in cognitive systems, including both biological and artificial systems, in particular the information-processing principles underlying learning and decision-making. This requires a combined theoretical and experimental approach. In our theoretical line of work we use methods from machine learning, statistics, physics, information theory and decision theory to investigate the effects of limited resources on learning and decision-making (?bounded rationality?). In our experimental line of work we investigate sensorimotor behavior in humans by using virtual reality technology and robotic interfaces to study learning and decision-making quantitatively under controlled conditions. This interdisciplinary approach unites aspects from both basic and applied research. On a basic level we aim at a quantitative understanding of embodied intelligence, in particular the emergence of cognition from sensorimotor interactions by processes of abstraction and structure learning. On an applied level we are interested in both autonomous robotic systems and human-machine-interactions, as sensorimotor learning and decision-making in artificial systems constitute a cutting-edge technical challenge. The research group is supported by the ERC-project BRISC (Bounded Rationality in Sensorimotor Coordination) https://erc.europa.eu/projects-and-results/erc-funded-projects/BRISC funded by the excellence programme of the European Research Council, in which we aim at a novel information-theoretic understanding of sensorimotor interactions in psychological and technical systems. Previous publications of the group can be found under http://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/research/rg/braun.html Ulm University with its more than 10,000 students is Baden-W?rttemberg?s youngest university. It offers attractive career prospects in a highly innovative research, teaching and work environment at the same time facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life. Embedded within the novel international ?Cognitive Systems?-Master?s course, the research group ?Learning Systems? is part of the university?s priority programme on human-machine-interaction. Beyond the university, there are plenty of opportunities to cooperate within the SFB Transregio 62 and with international partners in Great Britain and the United States. The applicants should have a strong mathematical background, hold a Diploma or Master?s degree in natural science, mathematics, economics, psychology, computer science, engineering or similar and have a keen interest in artificial and natural intelligence. The positions are paid according to German tariff TV-L E13. Exceptional candidates with a Bachelor?s degree can also be considered, albeit with an individual pay scale regulation. The University of Ulm is an equal opportunity employer: Handicapped individuals are strongly encouraged to apply, and so are women in areas in which they are underrepresented. The positions will be filled as soon as possible. Candidates should send a CV, a brief statement of interest and a copy of their highest degree to Prof. Dr. Dr. Daniel Alexander Braun daniel.braun at uni-ulm.de . Prof. Dr. Dr. Daniel Alexander Braun Institute of Neural Information Processing Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology University of Ulm James-Franck-Ring D-89081 Ulm Germany phone: +49 (0)731 50 - 24151 fax: +49 (0)731 50 - 24156 email: daniel.braun at uni-ulm.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stefanos at cs.ntua.gr Thu Jul 14 21:11:10 2016 From: stefanos at cs.ntua.gr (stefanos at cs.ntua.gr) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2016 04:11:10 +0300 Subject: Connectionists: IEEE SSCI 2016, Athens, 6-9 December 2016 Message-ID: <201607150111.u6F1BASe031850@manolito.image.ece.ntua.gr> Dear Colleagues, IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (IEEE SSCI 2016) will take place in Athens, Greece on December 6-9, 2016. It includes 34 Symposia and a large number of special sessions. Please see the web site at http://ssci2016.cs.surrey.ac.uk/. The deadline for paper submission is August 15, 2016. We look forward to welcome you in Athens in December. Best wishes Stefanos Kollias and Yaochu Yin General Chairs of IEEE SSCI 2016 From pfeiffer at ini.phys.ethz.ch Fri Jul 15 16:38:03 2016 From: pfeiffer at ini.phys.ethz.ch (Michael Pfeiffer) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2016 22:38:03 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: MSc program in Neural Systems and Computation - University of Zurich and ETH Zurich Message-ID: <578949AB.106@ini.phys.ethz.ch> We are inviting applications for the MSc program in Neural Systems and Computation, an interdisciplinary program offered as a Joint Master Program by the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland. The program offers a theoretical and laboratory training in neural computation and systems neuroscience. It offers hands-on knowledge of data gathering, analysis and scientific presentation. Students join an international and interdisciplinary research community with expertise in neuroinformatics, advanced experimental techniques and neuromorphic engineering. Further information can be found on our homepage http://www.nsc.uzh.ch. We offer a specialized full-time Masters program open to students with a Bachelor?s degree in the following disciplines: neurosciences, information technology, electrical engineering, biology, physics, computer sciences, chemistry, mathematics, and mechanical/chemical/control engineering. The core courses (all offered in English) provide a common foundation for students with different educational backgrounds, and cover the following: 1. Systems Neurosciences 2. Neural Computation and Theoretical Neuroscience 3. Neurotechnologies and Neuromorphic Engineering Please note our new application deadline: The application deadline for students starting in Spring Semester 2017 is *August 15th 2016*. Details about the application process and required documents can be found here: http://www.nsc.uzh.ch/?page_id=10 Mentors of the program are Richard Hahnloser, Kevan Martin, Klaas Enno Stephan, Giacomo Indiveri, Jean-Pascal Pfister, Mehmet Fatih Yanik, Bruno Weber, Fritjof Helmchen, Valerio Mante, Ruedi Stoop, Tobi Delbruck, Daniel Kiper, Shih-Chii Liu, Michael Pfeiffer, Matthew Cook, Arko Ghosh, and Wolfger von der Behrens. The program is affiliated with the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Faculty (MNF) at the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Information Technology and Electrical Engineering Department (D-ITET) of the ETH Zurich. All applications are handled by the University of Zurich. Application documents should be sent by email to nsc at ini.uzh.ch. Best regards, Michael Pfeiffer -- ========================================= Dr. Michael Pfeiffer Group leader, Program coordinator NSC Institute of Neuroinformatics University of Zurich and ETH Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland Tel. +41 44 635 30 45 Fax +41 44 635 30 53 pfeiffer (at) ini.phys.ethz.ch http://www.ini.uzh.ch/~pfeiffer/ ========================================= -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com Fri Jul 15 19:24:46 2016 From: climate.informatics.workshop at gmail.com (CI 2016) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2016 16:24:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Connectionists: Climate Informatics 2016: Deadline Extension for Short Papers (Friday, July 22, 2016, Short papers due) Message-ID: <578970be.8739ed0a.34354.eb12@mx.google.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naotsu at gmail.com Sat Jul 16 22:28:38 2016 From: naotsu at gmail.com (Naotsugu Tsuchiya) Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2016 12:28:38 +1000 Subject: Connectionists: postdocotral fellowship: empirical testing of integrated information theory with neural recordings In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Advertisement: Postdoctoral position at Monash University, Australia. A postdoctoral position is available to work on a JST (Japan Science and Technology) funded CREST research project on ?Towards constructing artificial consciousness based on the integrated information theory (IIT)? (PIs: Kanai, Kawanabe and Maekawa, Co-PIs: Tsuchiya and Oizumi), which started in Oct 2015 and will run for 5.5 years till Mar 2021. The initial appointment will be for one year, with renewal based upon satisfactory performance and evaluation. Salary will be commensurate with experience. We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow whose main research interest is the neuronal basis of consciousness, the analysis of multi-channel neural data and the integrated information theory (IIT) of consciousness, in order to empirically test predictions from IIT in real neural systems For those who are interested, please check out the following key papers for the project. 1. Measuring integrated information from the decoding perspective http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004654 2. A unified framework for information integration based on information geometry http://arxiv.org/abs/1510.04455 3. Contents of Consciousness Investigated as Integrated Information in Direct Human Brain Recordings http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/02/15/039032 You will be employed at Araya Brain Imaging (CEO: Kanai) in Japan, but the actual location of work will be conducted at A/Prof NaotsuguTsuchiya's lab in Monash University, Australia. There will be some travels between Japan and Australia at least twice a year to maximise interactions within the team in Japan. Required skills: excellent programming, familiarity in key mathematical concepts especially machine learning and information theory. Excellence in written and oral English communication skills, as supported by objective publication recorded, will be essential. Monash University, one of the eight top universities in Australia (G8), is forming a strong cluster of consciousness researchers, called Monash Neuroscience of Consciousness (MoNoC http://ochinpun.wix.com/monoc#!who_we_are/c139r) ranging from philosophers, neurophysiologists, and psychologists. We are located in the building with excellent cognitive neuroscience tools available (simultaneous EEG & fMRI experiments and EEG/TMS & fMRI experiments at Monash Brain Imaging facility, which hosts a research-only MRI scanner, EEG, TMS and eye tracking. http://mbi.monash.edu.au/) Interested candidates are encouraged to send a CV, statement of research accomplishments and interests, PDF copies of representative publications, and contact information for 2 reference letters to: naotsugu.tsuchiya at monash.edu Application review will begin immediately and continue until the positions are filled. Best wishes, Nao Tsuchiya -- -- *Nao (Naotsugu) Tsuchiya* Associate Professor *Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences* Attention and Memory Program School of Psychological Sciences Monash University 770 Blackburn Monash Brain Imaging facility, Clayton, VIC 3800 Australia T: +61 3 9905 4564 E: naotsugu.tsuchiya at monash.edu W: homepage: http://users.monash.edu.au/~naotsugt/Tsuchiya_Labs_Homepage http://med.monash.edu.au/psych/email-sig/miccn-email-sig.jpg 2. ARC Future Fellow 3. Visiting Researcher at Department of Dynamic Brain Imaging, Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR), Japan 4. Visiting Researcher at CiNet, Osaka University, Japan orcid.org/0000-0003-4216-8701 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alessandra.sciutti at gmail.com Sun Jul 17 13:02:11 2016 From: alessandra.sciutti at gmail.com (Alessandra Sciutti) Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2016 19:02:11 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: [meetings] Call for participation: Panel on Cognition in humans and Robots at ESOF 2016 Message-ID: <003701d1e04c$f618c5d0$e24a5170$@gmail.com> **************************** Cognition in Humans and Robots **************************** Panel at the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2016 (http://www.esof.eu/home.html) July 26th, 2016 ??Manchester Central Convention Complex - Manchester (UK) Session room: Charter 2 Time: 8:30 - 9:45 am ==================================== Website: https://www.codefror.eu/events ==================================== **************************************************************************** ******************** A fundamental aspect of cognition, both natural and artificial, is about anticipating the need for action and developing the capacity to predict the outcome of those actions. But how does this capability develop in humans and how can it be developed in robots? This panel will address the implications of these questions for the future society and will discuss which could be the relevance of a multidisciplinary understanding of cognition and what are its possible outcomes for the advancement of Artificial intelligence, Human-Robot interaction and Health. The discussion will be led by the representatives of the CODEFROR project (COgnitive Development for Friendly RObots and Rehabilitation, https://www.codefror.eu/ , FP7-MSCA-PIRSES- 2013-612555), a European project which investigates aspects of human cognitive development with the double goal of developing robots able to interact with humans in a friendly way and of designing and testing protocols for rehabilitation of disabled children. The project, which combines science-driven investigation of human cognitive development and engineering-based implementation of devices and protocols, joins the expertise of the Italian Institute of Technology, Bielefeld University, Osaka University and Tokyo University to help the establishment of an international community of researchers. The aim is to effectively bridge the expertise of different disciplines as robotics and cognitive sciences in the investigation of cognitive development. The session speakers have been selected to provide different perspectives on cognition from diverse disciplines as Robotics, Social Psychology and Sensory Development and Rehabilitation. Come to participate to the debate! **************************************************************************** ********************** ======== Panellists: ======== ? Prof. Dr. Friederike Eyssel (Bielefeld University, Germany) ? Prof. Yukie Nagai (Osaka University, Japan) ? Dr. Monica Gori (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) ? Prof. Giulio Sandini (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) ======== Chair: ======== ? Dr. Martina Mara (Johannes Kepler University, Austria) ======== Organizer: ======== ? Dr. Alessandra Sciutti (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) **************************************************************************** ********************** For further information, please contact: alessandra.sciutti at iit.it From erzsebet at rice.edu Sun Jul 17 14:45:03 2016 From: erzsebet at rice.edu (=?UTF-8?B?RXJ6c8OpYmV0IE1lcsOpbnlp?=) Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2016 13:45:03 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Special Session "Mining the Sky ..." t IEEE SSCI CIDM 2016, Dec 6-9 Athens, Greece Message-ID: Dear data miners in astronomy, Join our Special Session "Mining the sky: knowledge discovery in big and complex astronomical data sets and data streams" at CIDM 2016 (IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Data Mining ), Symposium Series of Computational Intelligence, SSCI 2016 Athens, Greece, December 6 - 9, 2016. If you want to contribute a paper, there is time, the SSCI paper deadlines have been extended to August 15, 2016. Attached please find the full CFP with all relevant pointers. With best regards. The session organizers Erzs?bet Mer?nyi, George Djorgovski, Kai Polsterer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CIDM2016-SpecialSessionCFP_Mining-the-Sky.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 52670 bytes Desc: not available URL: From vicen.gomez at upf.edu Sun Jul 17 16:48:55 2016 From: vicen.gomez at upf.edu (=?UTF-8?B?VmljZW7DpyBHw7NtZXo=?=) Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2016 22:48:55 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: CFP "The 13th European Workshop on Reinforcement Learning (EWRL 2016)" Message-ID: <578BEF37.8070004@upf.edu> ******************************************************************************** The 13th European Workshop on Reinforcement Learning (EWRL 2016) Dates: December 3-4 2016 Location: Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain (co-located with NIPS) http://ewrl.wordpress.com/ewrl13-2016/ ******************************************************************************** 1. Paper Submission We invite submissions for the 13th European Workshop on Reinforcement Learning (EWRL 2016) from the entire reinforcement learning spectrum. Authors can submit a 2-6 pages paper in JMLR format (excluding references) that will be reviewed by the program committee in a double-blind procedure. The papers can present new work or give a summary of recent work of the author(s). All papers will be considered for the poster sessions. Outstanding long papers (4-6 pages) will also be considered for a 20 minutes oral presentation. Accepted papers are going to be published in anarxiv.org collection. Submission deadline: 16/09/2016 Page limit: 2-6 pages excluding references. Paper format: JMLR format, anonymous. Submission website:https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ewrl2016 2. Description The 13th European workshop on reinforcement learning (EWRL 2016) invites reinforcement-learning researchers to participate in the newest edition of this world class event. We plan to make this an exciting meeting for researchers worldwide, not only for the presentation of top quality papers, but also as a forum for ample discussion of open problems and future research directions. EWRL 2016 will consist of 11+ invited talks, contributed paper presentations, discussion sessions spread over a two day period, and a poster session. Reinforcement learning is an active field of research which deals with the problem of sequential decision making in unknown (and often) stochastic and/or partially observable environments. Recently there has been a wealth of both impressive empirical results, as well as significant theoretical advances. Both types of advances are of significant importance and we would like to create a forum to discuss such interesting results. The workshop will cover a range of sub-topics including (but not limited to): - Exploration/Exploitation and multi-armed bandits - Deep RL - Representation learning for RL - Large-scale RL - Theoretical aspects of RL - Policy search and actor-critic methods - Online learning algorithms - RL in non-stationary environments - Risk-sensitive RL - Transfer and Multi-task RL - Empirical evaluations in RL - Kernel methods for RL - RL in partially observable environments - Imitation learning and Inverse RL - Bayesian RL - Multi agent RL - Applications of RL - Open problems 3. Organizing Committee Gergely Neu Vicen? G?mez Csaba Szepesv?ri For more information, seehttps://ewrl.wordpress.com/ewrl13-2016/ -- Vicen? Gomez Cerda Departament de Tecnologies de la Informacio i les Comunicacions Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona http://www.mbfys.ru.nl/staff/v.gomez/ tel: +34 93 542 29 52 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From margret.franke at bccn-berlin.de Mon Jul 18 05:50:51 2016 From: margret.franke at bccn-berlin.de (Margret Franke) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 11:50:51 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: REMINDER: Bernstein Conference 2016: Early Registration Deadline: July 24, 2016 In-Reply-To: <7fa8dbd3-7857-08b9-fb34-1418391773c1@bccn-berlin.de> References: <7fa8dbd3-7857-08b9-fb34-1418391773c1@bccn-berlin.de> Message-ID: <75aaa8d6-4227-d500-62ad-a8d33dffdcbb@bccn-berlin.de> *BERNSTEIN CONFERENCE 2016 in Berlin* Registration is open! Early registration deadline: July 24, 2016 Please register here: http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2016/registration **************************************************************************** Satellite Workshops http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2016/satellite-workshops Main Conference http://www.nncn.de/de/bernstein-conference/2016 **************************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience Conference in Europe and now regularly attracts more than 500 international participants. This year, the Conference is organized by the Bernstein Center Berlin and will take place in Berlin on September 21-23, 2016. In addition, there will be a series of pre-conference satellite workshops on September 20-21, 2016. The Bernstein Conference is a single-track conference, covering all aspects of Computational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, and sessions for poster presentations are an integral part of the conference. The goal of the satellite workshops is to provide an informal forum for the discussion of timely research questions and challenges. For more information on the conference, please visit: www.bernstein-conference.de CONFERENCE DATE AND VENUE: Satellite Workshops September 20-21, 2016 Venue: Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin, Seminargeb?ude am Hegelplatz, Dorotheenstr. 24, 10117 Berlin Germany Main Conference September 21-23, 2016 Venue: Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin Germany PHD Symposium: September 23-24, 2016 Venue: Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin, Philippstr. 13 Haus 6, 10115 Berlin, Germany ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Michael Brecht Gustavo Deco Alain Destexhe Sophie Den?ve Udo Ernst Adrienne Fairhall Margret Franke Sonja Gr?n John-Dylan Haynes Andreas Herz Philipp H?vel Richard Kempter Klaus Obermayer Stefan Rotter Susanne Schreiber Henning Sprekeler Bernstein Coordination Site: Andrea Huber Br?samle Mareike Kardinal Kerstin Schwarzw?lder We look forward to seeing you in Berlin in September! -- 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 ted.carnevale at yale.edu Mon Jul 18 12:34:15 2016 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 12:34:15 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Neuroscience Gateway Workshop at SFN 2016 meeting Message-ID: <05b786f5-acee-7f56-cea2-c25118798233@yale.edu> Using the Neuroscience Gateway Portal for Parallel Simulation Saturday, Nov. 12 from 9 AM to noon at a site in downtown San Diego This workshop combines didactic presentations and hands-on instruction on how to use the Neuroscience Gateway Portal (NSG) for computationally intensive simulations and data analysis. NSG eliminates most technical and adminstrative barriers to using high performance computing resources, and even gives away free CPU time on parallel supercomputers. Software currently installed on NSG includes Brian, GENESIS, MOOSE, NEST, NEURON, PyNN, Freesurfer, and the Virtual Personalized Multimodal Connectome Pipeline. The registration deadline for this workshop is Friday Oct. 28, but you should sign up early because space is limited. See http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nsg2016/nsg2016.html for more information and a link to the registration form. --Ted From ted.carnevale at yale.edu Mon Jul 18 12:31:31 2016 From: ted.carnevale at yale.edu (Ted Carnevale) Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 12:31:31 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: NEURON course at SFN 2016 meeting Message-ID: <00268b80-09af-8fae-f833-59b33518d981@yale.edu> Using NEURON to Model Cells and Networks Friday, Nov. 11 from 9 AM to 5 PM at a site in downtown San Diego This course provides a practical introduction to building and using models of neurons and networks with NEURON. Covered topics include basic concepts, workflow for building and using models, speeding up simulations with parallel hardware from multicore personal computers to massively parallel supercomputers, using Python with NEURON, and modeling reactive diffusion with the RxD class. The registration deadline for this course is Friday Oct. 28, but you should sign up early because space is limited. See http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/sd2016/sd2016.html for more information and a link to the registration form. --Ted From joseph.lizier at sydney.edu.au Mon Jul 18 19:37:05 2016 From: joseph.lizier at sydney.edu.au (Joseph Lizier) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 09:37:05 +1000 Subject: Connectionists: PhD Scholarships in complex networks & info theory at USyd Message-ID: <1468885025.5078.75.camel@scooby> Dear all, (Apologies for cross-posting) Two PhD scholarships are available to study with Dr. Joseph Lizier in an Australian Research Council DECRA funded project ("Relating function of complex networks to structure using information theory"), within the Complex Systems Research Group in the Faculty of Engineering and IT at The University of Sydney. Both projects involve studying the relationship between complex network structure and dynamics, in terms of information processing. The approach will primarily use information theory (e.g. transfer entropy), with applications to neural data sets: 1. "Inferring information network structure from dynamics" -- http://bit.ly/1SZdnim 2. "Describing network and information processing co-development" -- http://bit.ly/24mp8Vq For any questions, please contact Dr. Lizier (joseph.lizier at sydney.edu.au). The closing date for applications is August 14, with the successful candidate to start by Feb 2017 or earlier. Please forward to any interested parties. Regards, --joe -- Dr. JOSEPH LIZIER | ARC DECRA Fellow | Senior Lecturer Complex Systems Research Group Faculty of Engineering and IT THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 338A, Building J05 | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 T+61 2 9351 3208 | F+61 2 9351 3343 | M+61 408 186 901 E joseph.lizier at sydney.edu.au | W sydney.edu.au TW @jlizier | W lizier.me/joseph CRICOS 00026A This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments. Please think of our environment and only print this e-mail if necessary. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yulia.sandamirskaya at ini.rub.de Tue Jul 19 03:00:42 2016 From: yulia.sandamirskaya at ini.rub.de (Yulia Sandamirskaya) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 09:00:42 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: EUCog Meeting, December 8th-9th, 2016 - Vienna Message-ID: <8EB8E406-9BA8-4F67-97C8-594520D97B82@ini.rub.de> - - - PLEASE CIRCULATE - - - FIRST CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT & CALL FOR PAPERS EUCog 2016 - ?European Society for Cognitive Systems? Theme: ?Cognitive Robot Architectures? December 8th-9th, 2016 TU Vienna, Karlsplatz 13, 1040 Vienna http://www.eucognition.org/index.php?page=2016-vienna-general-info For over a decade, the EUCognition network (EUCog) has brought together academic researchers and industrial partners with a common interest in the design and construction of artificial cognitive systems in ways that are informed by, or attempt to explain, biological cognition. The emphasis is on systems that are autonomous, robust, flexible and self-improving in pursuing their goals in real environments. EUCog not only includes researchers who use insights from natural cognition in creating artificial cognitive systems for robotic and other technical applications but also those interested in using artificial cognitive systems to understand natural cognition. The field includes computer science, robotics, cognitive science, neuroscience, and philosophy as its core disciplines. EUCog will hold its next meeting this coming December in Vienna. The focus of the event will be community building, as well as presenting cutting-edge research in the field of artificial cognitive systems. The meeting is open to all: one need not be a past or current member of the EUCog network to attend. ========================================= THEME: COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES The theme of this meeting will be cognitive architectures, raising such questions/debates as: ? What makes an architecture a cognitive architecture? A good cognitive architecture? ? Implementation-independent architectures vs strongly embodied architectures ? Should/could there be a common framework for comparing cognitive architectures? ? What are the tradeoffs of various architectural features? ? What are the best examples of architecture-based designs of cognitive systems? ? What is the role of architecture in the design-implement-evaluate cycle? Key issues to be explored at the meeting include: ? The role of cognitive architectures in robotic systems ? The role of neural networks in the design of cognitive architectures ? The role of cognitive science in the design of robotic architectures ? Embodiment and robotic architectures ? Architectures for robotic perception (especially vision, audition, haptics, proprioception, kinaesthesia, interoception) ? Architectures for motor control and behavioural organisation ? Architectures for planning and mapping ? Architectures for HRI ? Machine learning and robotic architectures ? Architectures for developmental robotics ? Embodied deliberative architectures ? Embodied reflective architectures ========================================= ORGANISERS Ron Chrisley (University of Sussex) Vincent C. M?ller (Anatolia College/ACT & University of Leeds) Yulia Sandamirskaya (University of Zurich & ETH Z?rich) Markus Vincze (Technical University of Vienna) ========================================= ABSTRACTS We invite submissions for papers and posters. For papers, we invite anonymous long abstracts of 600-1000 words (excluding references) in plain text or PDF. For posters, we require a short abstract of 120 words. Accepted papers and posters will be presented at the conference and published in the proceedings. All submissions will be double-blind reviewed by at least two members of the programme committee. Please, submit online at EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=eucog2016 (please submit your long abstract as ?paper? on that site). ========================================= PUBLICATION The proceedings of the meeting will be published. Publication details will be made available on the conference website soon. ========================================= REGISTRATION Online registration will open in August. Participation fee - including lunch & coffee breaks, and conference dinner: ?160; reduced ?75 (students, privately paying participants) ========================================= KEY DATES Deadline for submission of abstracts and long abstracts: 15.09.2016 Decisions announced: 01.10.2016 Conference: 08.-09.12.16 Deadline for submission of posters/papers for publication: 30.10.16 ========================================= We look forward to seeing you in Vienna in December! Ron Chrisley Vincent C. M?ller Yulia Sandamirskaya Markus Vincze Chairs, EUCog 2016 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From info at ecmlpkdd2017.org Tue Jul 19 05:31:15 2016 From: info at ecmlpkdd2017.org (ECML-PKDD 2017) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 11:31:15 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Journal track submission for ECML-PKDD 2017 is *OPEN* Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Journal track of the European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECMLPKDD) 2017 www.ecmlpkdd2017.org September 18-22, 2017, Skopje, Macedonia We invite submissions for the journal track of the European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECMLPKDD) 2017. The journal track of the conference is implemented in partnership with the Machine learning journal and the Data mining and Knowledge Discovery journal. The conference provides an international forum for the discussion of the latest high-quality research results in all areas related to machine learning, data mining, and knowledge discovery. Eligibility criteria: Papers on all topics related to machine learning, knowledge discovery, and data mining are invited. However, given the special nature of the journal track, only papers that satisfy the quality criteria of journal papers and at the same time lend themselves to conference talks will be considered. This implies that journal versions of previously published conference papers, or survey papers will not be considered for the special issue. Papers that do not fall into the eligible category may be rejected without formal reviews but can of course be resubmitted as regular papers. Authors are encouraged to adhere to the best practices of Reproducible Research (RR), by making available data and software tools for reproducing the results reported in their papers. For the sake of persistence and proper authorship attribution, we require the use of standard repository hosting services such as http://dataverse.org, http://mldata.org, http://openml.org, etc. for data sets, and http://mloss.org, https://bitbucket.org, https://github.com, etc. for source code. Authors who submit their work to the special ECMLPKDD issues of the journals commit themselves to present their results at the ECMLPKDD 2017 conference in case of acceptance. Reviewing process: The journal track allows continuous submissions from the end of July 2016 to the end of March 2017. We start with a single cutoff per month, increasing to two cutoffs per month starting October 2016 on which we distribute papers to reviewers. More precisely, we will have the following cut-off dates: - 31.7.2016, 28.8.2016, 25.9.2016 - 9.10.2016, 23.10.2016, 6.11.2016, 20.11.2016, 4.12.2016, 18.12.2016 - 8.1.2017, 22.1.2017, 5.2.2017, 19.2.2017, 5.3.2017, 19.3.2017 We strive for a high quality and efficient review process. Each submission will be evaluated by three experienced reviewers including members of the Guest Editorial Board. We aim to send the first decision letters 5-7 weeks from submission. This suggests that we should be able to consider all of the submissions for the special issue. However, the experience from the past editions of the journal track shows that often there is a need for revisions of the submissions and this extends the review process. Considering this, for submissions for the 5.2.2017 cut-off date and later, the chance of inclusion in the ECML PKDD 2017 special issue exponentially decreases and, consequently, will not make it on time for presentation at the 2017 conference. Furthermore, submissions after this cut-off date will not adhere to the fast track reviewing procedure but we will employ the review timeline for a normal journal submission (because the reviewing period for the main conference will overlap with these review cycles). Moreover, the 2015 JT chairs recorded a decreasing acceptance rate for submissions after mid-February. Finally, inclusion of the delayed papers in forthcoming special issues and conference editions is subject to approval of the respective Program and Journal track chairs. Submission procedure: To submit to this track, authors have to make a journal submission to either the Springer Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery journal or the Springer Machine Learning journal, and select the type of submission to be for the ECMLPKDD 2017 special issue. It is recommended that submitted papers do not exceed 20 pages including references and appendices, formatted in the Springer journal style (svjour3,smallcondensed). This is a soft limit, but if a submission exceeds the limit, please provide a brief justification regarding the length in the cover letter. For submissions to both journals, authors are required to include an information sheet (up to 2 pages) that contains a short summary of their contribution and specifically address the following questions: 1. What is the main claim of the paper? Why is this an important contribution to the machine learning/data mining literature? 2. What is the evidence provided to support claims? Be precise. 3. Report 3-5 most closely related contributions in the past 7 years (authored by researchers outside the authors? research group) and briefly state the relation of the submission to them. 4. Who are the most appropriate reviewers for the paper? Authors are encouraged to suggest up to four candidate reviewers (especially if external to the Guest Editorial Board), including a brief motivation for each suggestion. 5. Optionally, list up to four researchers/potential reviewers with competing interests that should not be considered for reviewers. Contact: You can contact the Journal Track Chairs at jt_chairs at ecmlpkdd2017.org Best Regards, Nikola Simidjievski & Dragi Kocev Publicity Chairs of ECML-PKDD 2017 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alessandra.sciutti at gmail.com Tue Jul 19 07:41:45 2016 From: alessandra.sciutti at gmail.com (Alessandra Sciutti) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 13:41:45 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Call for participation: Panel on Cognition in humans and Robots at ESOF 2016 Message-ID: <004401d1e1b2$87956c00$96c04400$@gmail.com> **************************** Cognition in Humans and Robots **************************** Panel at the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2016 (http://www.esof.eu/home.html) July 26th, 2016 ??Manchester Central Convention Complex - Manchester (UK) Session room: Charter 2 Time: 8:30 - 9:45 am ==================================== Website: https://www.codefror.eu/events ==================================== **************************************************************************** ******************** A fundamental aspect of cognition, both natural and artificial, is about anticipating the need for action and developing the capacity to predict the outcome of those actions. But how does this capability develop in humans and how can it be developed in robots? This panel will address the implications of these questions for the future society and will discuss which could be the relevance of a multidisciplinary understanding of cognition and what are its possible outcomes for the advancement of Artificial intelligence, Human-Robot interaction and Health. The discussion will be led by the representatives of the CODEFROR project (COgnitive Development for Friendly RObots and Rehabilitation, https://www.codefror.eu/ , FP7-MSCA-PIRSES- 2013-612555), a European project which investigates aspects of human cognitive development with the double goal of developing robots able to interact with humans in a friendly way and of designing and testing protocols for rehabilitation of disabled children. The project, which combines science-driven investigation of human cognitive development and engineering-based implementation of devices and protocols, joins the expertise of the Italian Institute of Technology, Bielefeld University, Osaka University and Tokyo University to help the establishment of an international community of researchers. The aim is to effectively bridge the expertise of different disciplines as robotics and cognitive sciences in the investigation of cognitive development. The session speakers have been selected to provide different perspectives on cognition from diverse disciplines as Robotics, Social Psychology and Sensory Development and Rehabilitation. Come to participate to the debate! **************************************************************************** ********************** ======== Panellists: ======== ? Prof. Dr. Friederike Eyssel (Bielefeld University, Germany) ? Prof. Yukie Nagai (Osaka University, Japan) ? Dr. Monica Gori (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) ? Prof. Giulio Sandini (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) ======== Chair: ======== ? Dr. Martina Mara (Ars Electronica Futurelab) ======== Organizer: ======== ? Dr. Alessandra Sciutti (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy) **************************************************************************** ********************** For further information, please contact: alessandra.sciutti at iit.it From vito.trianni at istc.cnr.it Tue Jul 19 10:27:58 2016 From: vito.trianni at istc.cnr.it (Vito Trianni) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 16:27:58 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: [jobs] Deadline extended: Research position on swarm robotics for precision farming at ISTC-CNR, Rome, Italy In-Reply-To: <7C119DB5-0428-4B7A-B163-F9687F7008FD@istc.cnr.it> References: <7C119DB5-0428-4B7A-B163-F9687F7008FD@istc.cnr.it> Message-ID: <1B564CDE-E654-4A40-BCB4-6EA03C51AC1A@istc.cnr.it> The deadline for applying to the research position below has been extended to August the 1st, 2016, to allow freshly-graduated students to apply. See all details below. --- A new research position is open within the SAGA experiment: swarm robotics for agricultural applications. Experiment description: Robotics is expected to play a major role in the agricultural domain, and often multi-robot systems and collaborative approaches are mentioned as potential solutions to improve efficiency and system robustness. Among the multi-robot approaches, swarm robotics stresses aspects like flexibility, scalability and robustness in solving complex tasks, and is considered very relevant for precision farming and large-scale agricultural applications. However, swarm robotics research is still confined into the lab, and no application in the field is currently available. SAGA will demonstrate for the first time the application of swarm robotics principles to the agricultural domain. Specifically, we target a decentralised monitoring/mapping scenario, and implement a use-case for the detection of volunteer potatoes in sugar beet fields by a group of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The experiment is founded within the context of the ECHORD++ EU project (http://echord.eu/), and will last 18 months. It is carried out in collaboration with the Wageningen University (https://www.wageningenur.nl/) and Avular (http://avular.com/). A graduate research scientist positions is available, at the conditions described below. Job Description: The candidate will develop the main strategy for the decentralised monitoring and mapping problem of volunteer potatoes in a sugar beet field, to be deployed on a swarm of UAVs. The monitoring and mapping problem will be framed in the context of the emergence of a categorisation system within the swarm, so that different categories are associated with different portions of the field. Each category features a semantic label that determines the amount of detected weed. The ideal candidate must demonstrate relevant expertise in swarm robotics, swarm intelligence or in the design of decentralised systems. Analytical skills are an asset in order to develop population-level models in support of the design of self-organising behaviours. Previous experiences with robotics and UAV control are also important, as the candidate will actively participate in deploying the UAV swarm for field experiments. Salary and working conditions: The research positions lasts for one year (starting as soon as possible, no later than mid September 2016), with possible extension until the end of the experiment. The positions will be based in Rome with a standard graduate research fellow contract (about 1450?/month net salary), with the possibility of visiting periods in The Netherlands to work in close collaboration with the project partners (Wageningen University and Avular). For further details about the application procedure, see the notice of selection: http://www.istc.cnr.it/vacancy/assegno-di-ricerca-n?-2312016-rm-monitoraggio-e-mappatura-di-un-campo-da-parte-di-un-gruppo- For any informal enquiry about the eligibility conditions, as well as for more details about the position, please contact Vito Trianni . ======================================================================== Vito Trianni, Ph.D. vito.trianni@(no_spam)istc.cnr.it ISTC-CNR http://www.istc.cnr.it/people/vito-trianni Via San Martino della Battaglia 44 Tel: +39 06 44595277 00185 Roma Fax: +39 06 44595243 Italy ======================================================================== From antonior at ffclrp.usp.br Tue Jul 19 10:58:40 2016 From: antonior at ffclrp.usp.br (Antonio C. Roque) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 11:58:40 -0300 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position at University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto Brazil available Message-ID: I am looking for a PhD candidate in Computational Neuroscience with a background in theoretical physics, specifically in stochastic processes and computer modeling, to work on models of heterogeneous recurrent networks of spiking neurons. The selected candidate will apply to a FAPESP 4-year PhD scholarship under my supervision. If awarded, the student will be part of the DFG (Germany)-FAPESP (Brazil) jointly funded project (IRTG 1740/TRP 2015/501220-0) on Dynamical Phenomena in Complex Networks and will stay up to one year in the lab of our collaborator in Germany, Prof. Benjamin Lindner (Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Humboldt University, Berlin). Please send your application until August 28, 2016 (CV plus letter stating the reasons for your wish to do research in the above field) to me ( antonior at ffclrp.usp.br). -- Dr. Antonio C. Roque Professor Associado Departamento de Fisica FFCLRP, Universidade de Sao Paulo 14040-901 Ribeirao Preto-SP Brazil - Brasil E-mails: antonior at ffclrp.usp.br aroquesilva at gmail.com URL: www.sisne.org Tels: +55 16 3315-3768 (sala/office); +55 16 3315-3859 (lab) FAX: +55 16 3315-4887 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From azahkm at gmail.com Wed Jul 20 00:36:57 2016 From: azahkm at gmail.com (Azah Kamilah Muda) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:36:57 +0800 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_CFP=3A_16th_HIS_and_8th_NaBIC_-_?= =?utf-8?q?Springer_=E2=80=93_Marrakech=2C_Morocco_!?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ** We apologize in advance if you receive multiple copies of this CFP ** ** Kindly help to distribute this CFP to your mailing list ** -- Call For Papers --- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- The 16th International Conference on Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS'16) -- http://www.mirlabs.org/his16 -- The 8th World Congress on Nature and Biologically Inspired Computing (NaBIC'16) -- http://www.mirlabs.net/nabic16 ** Important Dates ** ---------------------------------- Special session proposals: July 15, 2016 Paper submission due: August 15, 2016 Notification of paper acceptance: September 15, 2016 Final manuscript and registration due: September 30, 2016 Conference: November 21-23, 2016 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About HIS'16 : ------------------------- Conference Objective: Hybridization of intelligent systems is a promising research field of modern artificial/computational intelligence concerned with the development of the next generation of intelligent systems. A fundamental stimulus to the investigations of Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS) is the awareness in the academic communities that combined approaches will be necessary if the remaining tough problems in artificial/computational intelligence are to be solved. Hybrid Intelligent Systems are getting popular due to their capabilities in handling several real world complexities involving imprecision, uncertainty and vagueness. HIS'16 invites novel contributions/papers of soft computing and pattern recognition from fundamental aspects to various practical applications. All accepted and registered papers will be included in the conference proceedings to expected be published by Springer. Topics ( not limited to ) ----------------------------- ** Hybrid Intelligent Systems: Architectures ** Interactions between neural networks and fuzzy inference systems. Artificial neural network optimization using global optimization techniques. Fuzzy clustering algorithms and optimization techniques. Fuzzy inference system optimization using global optimization algorithms. Hybrid computing using neural networks - fuzzy systems - evolutionary algorithms. Hybrid optimization techniques (evolutionary algorithms, simulated annealing, tabu search, GRASP etc.). Hybrid of soft computing and statistical learning techniques. Models using inductive logic programming, logic synthesis, grammatical inference, case-based reasoning. Autonomic computing. Hybridizatiion with novel computing paradigms: Qantum computing, DNA computing, membrane computing etc. ** Hybrid Intelligent Systems: Applications ** Image and Signal Processing Internet Modeling, Communication and Networking Data mining Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Business Information Systems Control and Automation Special topics About NaBIC'16 : ------------------------- NaBIC 2016 is organized to provide a forum for researchers, engineers, and students from all over the world, to discuss the state-of-the-art in machine intelligence, and address various issues on building up human friendly machines by learning from nature. The conference theme is Nurturing Intelligent Computing Towards Advancement of Machine Intelligence. All accepted and registered papers will be included in the conference proceedings to expected be published by Springer. Topics ( not limited to ) ----------------------------- ** Computational methods and Innovative approaches ** Artificial Neural Networks Biodegradability Prediction Cellular Automata Evolutionary Algorithms Swarm Intelligence Emergent Systems Artificial Life Lindenmayer Systems Digital Organisms Artificial Immune Systems Membrane Computing Simulated Annealing Communication Networks and Protocols Computing with Words Common Sense Computing Cognitive Modeling and Architecture Connectionism Metaheuristics Hybrid Approaches Quantum Computing Nano Computing ** Industrial Applications of Nature and Biologically Inspired Computing ** Information Retrieval Robotics Fault Diagnosis Bioinformatics Web Intelligence Speech Processing Business Information Systems Knowledge Management Evolvable Hardware Image and Signal Processing Pattern Recognition Traffic and Transportation System Decision Analysis Data Mining Computer Vision Information and Communication Technology Control Systems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Submission Guidelines: ------------------------------------------------------ Submission of paper should be made through the submission page from the conference web page. Please refer to the conference website for guidelines to prepare your manuscript. Paper format templates: http://www.springer.com/series/11156 Proceedings are expected to be published by the Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing, which is now indexed by ISI Proceedings, DBLP. Ulrich's, EI-Compendex, SCOPUS, Zentralblatt Math, MetaPress, Springerlink Proceedings will be made available during the conference. Expanded versions of selected papers will be published in special issues of internationally referred journals (indexed by SCI) and edited volumes. HIS?16 Submission : https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=his20161. NaBIC?16 Submission : https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=nabic2016 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Organizing Committee * ---------------------------------- General Chairs : Abdelkrim Haqiq, FST, Hassan 1st University, Settat, Morocco Ajith Abraham, MIR Labs, USA Adel M. Alimi, University of Sfax, Tunisia Technical Committee ( Please refer website ) : http://www.mirlabs.org/his16/committees.php http://www.mirlabs.net/nabic16/committees.php Local information contact: ---------------------------------- Abdelkrim Haqiq FST, Hassan 1st University, Settat, Morocco Email: abdelkrim.haqiq at uhp.ac.ma Technical contact: ----------------------------- Ajith Abraham Machine Intelligence Research Labs (MIR Labs), USA Email: ajith.abraham at ieee.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From azahkm at gmail.com Wed Jul 20 04:51:14 2016 From: azahkm at gmail.com (Azah Kamilah Muda) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2016 16:51:14 +0800 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?CFP_=3A_The_16th_ISDA=E2=80=9916_=26_Th?= =?utf-8?q?e_4th_WICT=E2=80=9916_-_Springer_=E2=80=93_Porto=2C_Port?= =?utf-8?q?ugal?= Message-ID: ** We apologize in advance if you receive multiple copies of this CFP ** ** Kindly help to distribute this CFP to your mailing list ** -- Call For Papers --- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- The 16th International Conference on Intelligent Systems Design and Applications (ISDA?16) -- http://www.mirlabs.org/isda16 http://www.mirlabs.net/isda16 -- The 6th World Congress on Information and Communication Technologies (WICT'16) -- http://www.mirlabs.org/wict16 http://www.mirlabs.net/wict16 ** Important Dates ** ---------------------------------- Special sessions / Track / workshop proposals: July 15, 2016 Paper submission due: August 15, 2016 Notification of paper acceptance: September 16, 2016 Registration and Final manuscript due: September 30, 2016 Conference: December 14 - 16, 2016 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About ISDA?16 : ------------------------- The International Conference on Intelligent Systems Design and Applications (ISDA) is a major international conference bringing together researchers, engineers, and practitioners who work in the areas of intelligent systems and its applications in industry and the real world. Every year, ISDA attracts authors from over 30 countries. The conference will include workshops, special sessions and tutorials, along with prominent keynote speakers and regular paper presentations in parallel tracks. All accepted and registered papers will be included in the conference proceedings to expected be published by Springer. Topics ( not limited to ) ----------------------------- Intelligent Systems Architectures and Applications Intelligent Image and Signal Processing Intelligent Internet Modeling Intelligent Data mining Intelligent Business Systems Intelligent Control and Automation Intelligent Agents Intelligent Knowledge Management Innovative Information Security Innovative Networking and Communication Techniques Web Intelligence Intelligent Software Engineering About WICT'16 : ------------------------- WICT ?16 aims to provide an opportunity for the researchers from academia and industry to meet and discuss the latest solutions, scientific results and methods in the usage and applications of ICT in the real world. The conference programme includes workshops, special sessions and tutorials, along with prominent keynote speakers and regular paper presentations in parallel tracks. In the past century, our society has been through several periods of dramatic changes, driven by innovations such as transportation systems, telephone etc. Last few decades have experienced technologies that are evolving so rapidly, altering the constraints of space and time, and reshaping the way we communicate, learn and think. Rapid advances in information technologies and other digital systems are reshaping our ecosystem. Innovations in ICT allow us to transmit information quickly and widely, propelling the growth of new urban communities, linking distant places and diverse areas of endeavor in productive new ways, which a decade ago was unimaginable. All accepted and registered papers will be included in the conference proceedings to expected be published by Springer. Topics ( not limited to ) ----------------------------- Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Data Mining e-Learning e-Business e-Government Artificial Intelligence Web Services and Semantic Web Grid and Cloud Computing Ambient Intelligence Body Sensor Networks Computational Finance and Economics Cybercrime (Legal and Technical Issues) Computer Network Security Data Mining for Information Security Academic Integrity, Plagiarism Detection and Software Misuse Intrusion Detection and Forensics Scheduling For Large Scale Distributed System Nature Inspired Optimization Algorithms and Their Applications The Role of Technology in Education and Health Data Management Collaborative Design in Knowledge-based Environment Software Engineering ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Submission Guidelines: ------------------------------------------------------ Submission of paper should be made through the submission page from the conference web page. Please refer to the conference website for guidelines to prepare your manuscript. Paper format templates: http://www.springer.com/series/11156 Proceedings are expected to be published by the Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing, which is now indexed by ISI Proceedings, DBLP. Ulrich's, EI-Compendex, SCOPUS, Zentralblatt Math, MetaPress, Springerlink Proceedings will be made available during the conference. Expanded versions of selected papers will be published in special issues of internationally referred journals (indexed by SCI) and edited volumes. ISDA?16 Submission : https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=isda2016 WICT?16 Submission : https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=wict2016 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Organizing Committee * ---------------------------------- General Chairs : Ana Maria Madureira, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Portugal Ajith Abraham, Machine Intelligence Research Labs (MIR Labs), USA Technical Committee (Please refer website ) : http://www.mirlabs.net/isda16/committees.php http://www.mirlabs.net/wict16/committees.php For technical contact: ---------------------------------- Ajith Abraham Email: ajith.abraham at ieee.org -- Best Regards, Azah Muda -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From david.dowe at monash.edu Wed Jul 20 06:51:52 2016 From: david.dowe at monash.edu (David Dowe) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2016 20:51:52 +1000 Subject: Connectionists: JOB: Postdoctoral Fellow in Statistical Inference for Astronomical Data, Monash University Message-ID: Dear Connectionists list, please find the following job ad with deadline soon. RESEARCH FELLOW : in Statistics and Machine Learning for Astrophysics, Monash University, Australia, deadline 31 July. http://www.jobs-monash.jxt.net.au/academic-jobs/research-fellow-in-statistics-and-astrophysics/706686 (deadline 31/July/2016) *Postdoc available* (Postdoctoral Fellowship job available, *deadline: 31 July 2016*) : Research Fellow in Statistics, Machine Learning, Mixture Modelling, Latent Factor Analysis and Astrophysics (deadline 31/July/2016) We seek to fill a 2.5 year post-doctoral fellowship dedicated to extensions and applications of the Minimum Message Length (MML) technique to the analysis of spectroscopic data from recent large astronomical surveys, such as GALAH (GALactic Archaeology with HERMES). The position is based jointly within the Monash Centre for Astrophysics (MoCA, in the School of Physics and Astronomy) and the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT). The successful applicant will develop and extend the MML method as needed, applying it to spectroscopic data from the GALAH project, with an aim to understanding nucleosynthesis in stars as well as the formation and evolution of our Galaxy ("galactic archaeology"). A popular paper relating MML to Solomonoff-Kolmogorov complexity and algorithmic information theory (AIT) is Wallace and Dowe (1999a), ``Minimum Message Length and Kolmogorov Complexity '', Computer J, special issue on Kolmogorov complexity . Further reading on MML in the 2011 Elsevier Handbook of the Philosophy of Science (Vol. 7, Philosophy of Statistics) [including, e.g., dealing with a Neyman-Scott-like problem for panel data] is in Dowe (2011a) , a nice accessible introduction is here , and further reading on MML (hybrid) mixture modelling is in Wallace and Dowe (2000) or sec. 6.8 of Wallace (2005) (with a spatial correlation model here ). The position is based at the Clayton campus (in suburban Melbourne, Australia) of Monash University, which hosts approximately 56,000 equivalent full-time students spread across its Australian and off-shore campuses, and approximately 3500 academic staff. Monash is committed to growing its already established excellence in astrophysics as well as machine learning and statistical inference. MML research at Monash University dates back to the original seminal Wallace and Boulton (1968), ``An information measure for classification'', Computer J. The successful applicant will work with world experts in both the Bayesian information-theoretic MML method as well as nuclear astrophysics. The immediate supervisors will be Professor John Lattanzio (MoCA), Associate Professor David Dowe (FIT) and Dr Aldeida Aleti (FIT). Monash University is based in Melbourne, named the world's most livable city in each of the last 5 years. Melbourne is a highly multi-cultural cosmopolitan city providing extensive cultural and lifestyle opportunities, is situated on the coast with excellent beaches readily accessible, many fine restaurants, etc. Salary will be in the range AUD86,209 to AUD92,541, which includes a 9.5% contribution to superannuation from the University. Further information at http://www.jobs-monash.jxt.net.au/benefits . *Applications due by 31 July 2016* Further Information: Position Description: http://www.jobs-monash.jxt.net.au/academic-jobs/research-fellow-in-statistics-and-astrophysics/706686 Monash University: http://www.monash.edu Monash Centre for Astrophysics http://moca.monash.edu/ School of Physics and Astronomy: http://www.monash.edu/science/schools/physics Faculty of Information Technology: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/ Minimum Message Length: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~dld/CSWallacePublications/#Wallace2005 City of Melbourne: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Pages/Home.aspx http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au Cheers and best, David Dowe. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gangluo at cs.wisc.edu Wed Jul 20 09:39:29 2016 From: gangluo at cs.wisc.edu (Gang Luo) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2016 07:39:29 -0600 Subject: Connectionists: medical informatics postdoc position In-Reply-To: <56ED69AA.4020202@cs.wisc.edu> References: <56ED6924.8070202@cs.wisc.edu> <56ED69AA.4020202@cs.wisc.edu> Message-ID: <2e9751ea-6edc-b62b-0c94-42256aca24ea@cs.wisc.edu> The Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI) program at the University of Washington offers a modest number of postdoctoral training fellowships, funded by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). These fellowships typically begin in the fall of each year, and are usually of two-year duration. Note that ** eligibility ** for these fellowships is limited to US citizens and permanent residents. These fellowships are available to individuals from a variety of backgrounds who are interested in working with our faculty on their ongoing research projects including machine learning, data mining, big data, database, and information retrieval. Funded NLM postdocs who are not also seeking a BHI degree have a small set of coursework requirement. Prospective applicants for a postdoctoral fellowship should contact the program office in advance of the deadline to indicate their interest. For additional information and to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship, please visit: http://www.bhi.washington.edu/postdocprog Application deadline: August 15, 2016 From cruz at informatik.uni-hamburg.de Wed Jul 20 13:08:19 2016 From: cruz at informatik.uni-hamburg.de (Francisco Cruz) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2016 19:08:19 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: [meetings] Last CFP - IROS Workshop on Bio-inspired Social Robot Learning in Home Scenarios Message-ID: <84078a47-8e87-033c-b74e-7e9ea5a4d9be@informatik.uni-hamburg.de> Workshop on Bio-inspired Social Robot Learning in Home Scenarios at IEEE/RSJ IROS - October 10th 2016 www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/wtm/SocialRobotsWorkshop2016/ *Last call for papers* We kindly invite you to submit your contributions to the workshop to be held in Daejeon, Korea. This workshop explores the following question: "How well prepared are learning robots to be social actors in daily-life home environments in the near future?". This workshop is therefore not only an opportunity to address this focus on the latest scientific contributions on bio-inspired learning social robotics, but also links this with the presence of robots in people daily-life environment. Thus, the main goal of this workshop is offering a common space for roboticists from different fields of expertise to discuss the current state-of-the-art of learning methods in robotics specially applied to home scenarios and recent developments in assistive robots. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: - Interactive reinforcement learning - Neural sequence learning - Policy and reward shaping - Learning of object affordances and contextual affordances - Predictive learning from sensorimotor information - Learning understanding of environment ambiguity - Learning with hierarchical and deep neural architectures - Bootstrapping complex action learning in robots - Learning supported by external trainers by demonstration and imitation - Parental scaffolding as a bootstrapping method for learning *Invited speakers* - Angelo Cangelosi, University of Plymouth - Jun Tani, KAIST - Emre Ugur, Bogazici University - Giulio Sandini, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Yukie Nagai, Osaka University - Stefan Wermter, University of Hamburg *Call for contributions* Participants are required to submit a contribution as: - Full paper (maximum 6 pages in length) - Extended abstract (maximum 2 pages in length) Selected contributions will be presented during the workshop as spotlight talks and in a poster session. *Special Issue of IEEE TCDS* Moreover, we are pleased to announce a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems with the same topics of the workshop. Contributors to the workshop will be invited to submit extended versions of the manuscripts to the special issue. Submissions will be peer reviewed consistent with the journal practices and deadline will be in January 2017. *Important dates* August 8, 2016 - Contributions submission deadline August 31, 2016 - Notification of acceptance October 10, 2016 - Workshop *Organizers* Francisco Cruz, University of Hamburg Jimmy Baraglia, Osaka University Yukie Nagai, Osaka University Stefan Wermter, University of Hamburg See more details in: www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/wtm/SocialRobotsWorkshop2016/ -- Francisco Cruz Research Associate Knowledge Technology Institute Department of Informatics University of Hamburg Vogt-K?lln-Str. 30 22527 Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 40 42883 2524 http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/WTM From agabi at koniku.io Wed Jul 20 20:01:43 2016 From: agabi at koniku.io (Oshiorenoya Agabi) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2016 17:01:43 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: Koniku CTO - Neuroelectronic Signal Processing for Koniku. Message-ID: <38AACDFF-798F-465C-8392-9551488FA2B5@koniku.io> Koniku is hiring. We are small team of Neurotechnolgists who feel extremely positive about the future of Neuroscience and its impact on our daily lives. We are looking for an Electrical Engineer to resume immediately at our lab in the Bay Area. You have just finished your PhD or Post Doc with no more than 4 years of post doctoral experience. We are currently recruiting for a engineer role with a potential transition to a CTO role in 6 months. We will consider an outstanding equivalent industry experience ? 5yrs. minimum. You have deep experience with FPGA?s programming (Verilog and/or VHDL) and CMOS chip design for neural signal processing. You will need a deep knowledge of bioelectrical signals amplification, electrode design, control and microelectronic systems (fluidics, MEMS and micro optics) and neuroelectronic interfacing. You have strong (3+ years) skills in design and implementation of embedded firmware applications in C/C++, Python, Matlab and Java. Some experience with multiphoton optics, control and pulsed lasers are a strong plus. If you have some lithography experience that a strong bonus. *You are passionate to see the applications of your work in the real world - now!* At koniku we are also real world results. But you will be required to publish your work for the wider scientific community, nurture and maintain strong relationships with the academia. You are also expected to guide field engineers and be a strong customer advocate. Experience at mid level management position is beneficial. We are a venture backed company providing a very competitive compensation or salary package, medical, dental, vision and an options package. Please get in touch straight away: agabi at koniku.io Best, Osh. ___ _____ Oshiorenoya E. Agabi (Founder & CEO) Strategy | Computational Neuroscience | Bioengineering koniku Inc. 39655 Eureka Dr, Newark, CA 94560 (HQ) | Cambridge, UK o: +1 (510) 269 2688 m: +1 (209) 509 7234 skype: agabi.osh www.koniku.io #onikuo #konikutech https://www.linkedin.com/in/agabi _______________ Disclaimer: The information in this internet mail is confidential and is intended solely for the addressee. Access, copying or re-use of information in it by anyone else is unauthorised. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of koniku Inc. or any of its affiliates. koniku Inc. will not be liable for direct, special, indirect or consequential damages arising from alteration of the contents of this message by a third party or as a result of any indirect or consequential damages arising from alteration of the contents of this message by a third party or as a result of any virus being passed on. If you are not the intended recipient please contact koniku Inc. immediately. _______________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jeremiah.deng at otago.ac.nz Thu Jul 21 18:04:02 2016 From: jeremiah.deng at otago.ac.nz (Jeremiah Deng) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:04:02 +1200 Subject: Connectionists: CFP: ICDM Workshop on Energy Modeling and Optimization Message-ID: <157B4E68-7B4E-4284-9F93-8D855C070B24@otago.ac.nz> Workshop on Energy Modeling and Optimization (DaMEMO?16) at IEEE ICDM Barcelona, December 12, 2016 http://www.covic.otago.ac.nz/DaMEMO16/ * Call for Papers * We kindly invite you to submit your contributions to the workshop to be held in Barcelona, in conjunction with ICDM?16. This workshop aims at addressing the ample opportunities of using data mining techniques to tackle the significant energy challenges we are faced with nowadays in energy modelling, analysis and conservation, for instance: The rising awareness of sustainability and environmental preservation has contributed to a boom in renewable energies such as solar and wind power whose intermittency and dynamics need to be harnessed systematically. A large amount of data from smart meters is being collected and there is a need to understand usage patterns of customers and plan changes and incentives to optimise the electricity usage, ensuring reliable supple at a minimum cost. The increasing use and reliance on digital technologies have contribute to the proliferation of electrical and electronic equipment, devices, phones and sensors which all consume energy constantly. While aggregating computing power, the popularization of cloud computing has led to the colossal energy consumption in data centres, much of which can be adaptively planned and reduced. We welcome researchers from data mining, forecasting, energy and power engineering and other disciplines to join together and explore the utilization of data mining techniques to develop intelligent solutions for energy related modelling and optimization problems. Topics of interest to the workshop include, but are not limited to: Time series prediction of energy related time series Renewable energy (solar, wind, ocean, etc.) modelling and prediction Electricity consumption prediction Electricity price modelling and prediction for energy markets Smart meters and usage patterns data analysis Energy conservation in smart homes Energy efficient compressed sensing Smart grid data analysis Outage and risk prediction Spatial-temporal energy data mining Feature extraction and selection in energy data Anomaly detection in energy data Algorithms for real-time analysis of energy data Kinetic energy modelling Optimized self-organization of micro-grids Energy-optimized cloud computing Distributed data mining on sensor networks Please follow the paper submission instructions to prepare your submission and submit it through the ICDM CyberChair system. All submitted papers will go through a triple-blind review process by the program committee. The workshop proceedings will be published by IEEE Computer Society Press, and will also be included in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. Workshop Co-Chairs - Jeremiah Deng, University of Otago, New Zealand - Irena Koprinska, University of Sydney, Australia - Alicia Troncoso, Pablo de Olavide University, Spain ----- Jeremiah Deng Associate Professor Department of Information Science University of Otago Web: www.covic.otago.ac.nz/~jdeng/ PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054 Email: jeremiah.deng at otago.ac.nz New Zealand Tel: +64 3 479 8090 Fax: ~8311 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chriskanan at gmail.com Thu Jul 21 18:06:03 2016 From: chriskanan at gmail.com (Christopher Kanan) Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:06:03 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc Position Available in Deep Learning for Vision at RIT Message-ID: One postdoctoral position is available in the laboratory of Christopher Kanan at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in Rochester, NY. The lab specializes in applying machine learning algorithms to solve problems in computer vision and related fields. The candidate will be responsible for developing new algorithms for the detecting manipulated and tampered images. They will also work on adversarial networks for image generation and related techniques. Requirements: Ph.D. in computer science or related field; A research record in computer vision and/or machine learning; Familiarity with deep learning The position is initially for one year, but is renewable upon strong performance for an additional year. The salary is significantly above the typical postdoctoral market rate. Applications should be sent by email to ( christopher.kanan at rit.edu) and should include a CV, the expected data of availability, and contact information for two references. The starting date is September 2016. *About the lab*: http://klab.cis.rit.edu/ About Rochester, NY Rochester is the third largest city in the U.S. state of New York. The quality of life in the area is excellent. It has a low cost of living and some of the best K-12 public schools in the US. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.pruszynski at uwo.ca Thu Jul 21 21:26:18 2016 From: andrew.pruszynski at uwo.ca (Andrew Pruszynski) Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:26:18 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral Fellow/Associate - Pruszynski/Diedrichsen Message-ID: Dr. Andrew Pruszynski (?www.pruszynskilab.com?) and Dr. J?rn Diedrichsen (? www.diedrichsenlab.org?) are looking to hire a postdoctoral fellow/associate in sensorimotor neuroscience. The incumbent will help develop and lead a project involving a mix of non?-human primate neurophysiology and computational neuroscience, including (1) large?-scale neural recordings in sensorimotor cortex during complex reaching and grasping actions and (2) biologically?-realistic neural networks (done in collaboration with Dr. Timothy Lillicrap, Google Deepmind). The incumbent must have a PhD in Neuroscience (or related area) and a strong track record with single?-cell electrophysiology in primates as witnessed by excellent peer?-reviewed publications; a strong computational background, particularly experience with machine learning, is also desired. Our labs are located at the Brain and Mind Institute (w? ww.uwo.ca/bmi?) and the Robarts Research Institute (?www.robarts.ca)? , both at Western University in London, Canada. Systems and cognitive neuroscience is a key area of research strength at Western University, with more than 30 Principal Investigators and 200 trainees. Further details about working as a postdoctoral fellow/associate at Western University and about living in London, Canada can be found here: www.grad.uwo.ca/postdoctoral_scholars/prospective/index.html?. Annual salary depends on level of experience but will be no less than $45,000 per year. Funding is available for up to 5 years. Start date is negotiable but ideally would be no later than January 2017. Reimbursement for moving expenses will be available. Applications marked with reference number AP?-CIHR?-PDF?-2016 should be submitted electronically as a single PDF file to andrew.pruszynski at uwo.ca. The application deadline is September 15th, 2016. Please include all the following components: 1.? ?A personal statement describing research interests, experience, and goals (<2 pages) 2.? ?A complete curriculum vitae 3.? ?Names and contact information of three references -- Andrew Pruszynski, PhD Canada Research Chair in Sensorimotor Neuroscience Assistant Professor, Physiology and Pharmacology, Psychology Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University t. 519.663.5777 x24384 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yang at maebashi-it.org Fri Jul 22 04:25:19 2016 From: yang at maebashi-it.org (Yang) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:25:19 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: [BY AUG 11] Brain Informatics and Health - Call for Abstracts Message-ID: <4AA626AA13B9493AA48ABAA40FEB1B9E@yangPC> [Apologies if you receive this more than once] Due to many requests, the submission deadline has been extended. ============================== Type II (Abstract) Submission Deadline: August 11, 2016 ============================== ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR TYPE II SUBMISSIONS The 2016 International Conference on Brain Informatics & Health (BIH'16) October 13-16, 2016, Hilton Omaha, USA Homepage: http://wibih.unomaha.edu/bih ***Type II (Abstract) Submission Deadline*** - August 11, 2016 (EXTENDED!!) *** On-Line Submission *** https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2016/bih16/scripts/submit.php?subarea=B *** KEYNOTE SPEAKERS *** Stephen Smith, Allen Institute for Brain Science Ivan Soltesz, Stanford School of Medicine *** FEATURE SPEAKERS *** Steven Schiff, Pennsylvania State University Kristen Harris, University of Texas at Austin Giulio Tononi, University of Wisconsin-Madison Bob Jacobs, Colorado College Partha Mitra, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Paola Pergami, George Washington University **************** The BIH series provides a premier forum that brings together researchers and practitioners from neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, information communication technologies, and neuroimaging technologies with the purpose of exploring the fundamental roles, interactions as well as practical impacts of Brain Informatics. BIH'16 addresses the computational, cognitive, physiological, biological, physical, ecological and social perspectives of brain informatics, with a strong emphasis on emerging trends of big data analysis and management technology for brain research, behaviour learning, and real-world applications of brain science in human health and well-being. BIH'16 will be co-located with the 2016 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference Web Intelligence (WI'16) (http://wibih.unomaha.edu/wi). Under our theme Connecting Network and Brain with Big Data, BIH'16 and WI'16 will provide a broad forum that academia, professionals and industry can use to exchange their ideas, findings and strategies in utilizing the power of human brains and man-made networks to create a better world. The attendees only need to register for one of the 2 conferences, but they can attend all sessions and social events of the 2 conferences. Tutorial, Workshop and Special-Session proposals and Industry/Demo-Track papers are also welcome. The organizers of Workshops and Special-Sessions are invited to prepare a book proposal based on the topics of the workshop/special session for possible book publication in the Springer Brain Informatics & Health book series. IMPORTANT DATES: ================ Submission of abstracts: August 11, 2016 (EXTENDED!!) Notification of abstract acceptance: August 15, 2016 Tutorials, Workshop and Special-Sessions: October 13, 2016 Main conference: October 14-16, 2016 PAPER SUBMISSIONS & PUBLICATIONS: ================================= TYPE-II (Abstract Submissions; Deadline: August 11, 2016 **EXTENDED**): Abstracts have a word limit of 500 words. Experimental research is particularly welcome. Accepted abstract submissions will be included in the conference program, and will be published as a single, collective proceedings volume. Title: Include in the title of the abstract all words critical for a subject index. Write your title in sentence case (first letter is capitalized; remaining letters are lower case). Do not bold or italicize your full title. Author: List all authors who contributed to the work discussed in the abstract. The presenting author must be listed in the first author slot of the list. Be prepared to submit contact information as well as conflict of interest information for each author listed. Abstract: Enter the body of the abstract and attach any applicable graphic files or tables here. Do not re-enter the title, author, support, or other information that is collected in other steps of the submission form. Presentation Preference: Authors may select from three presentation formats when submitting an abstract: "poster only", "talk preferred" or "no preference". The "talk preferred" selection indicates that you would like to give a talk, but will accept a poster format if necessary. Marking "poster only" indicates that you would not like to be considered for an oral-presentation session. Selecting "no preference" indicates the author's willingness to be placed in the best format for the program. Each paper or abstract requires one sponsoring attendee (i.e. someone who registered and is attending the conference). A single attendee can not sponsor more than two abstracts or papers. Oral presentations will be selected from both full length papers and abstracts. *** Post-Conference Journal Publication *** The BIH conferences have the formal ties with Brain Informatics journal (Springer, http://www.springer.com/40708). Accepted submissions from the conference, including their Best Paper Award papers, will be expanded and revised for possible inclusion in the Brain Informatics journal each year. It is fully sponsored and no any article-processing fee is charged for BIH authors. *** Topics and Areas *** Track 1: Investigations of Human Information Processing Systems (HIPS) and Computational Foundations of Brain Science Track 2: Information Technologies for Curating, Mining and Using Brain Big Data Track 3: Brain-Inspired Technologies, Systems and Applications Please find the topics and areas of interest of BIH'16 at http://wibih.unomaha.edu/bih *** On-Line Submission *** https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2016/bih16/scripts/submit.php?subarea=B ================================ A Celebration to the 60th Anniversary of AI ================================ This year, the Brain Informatics & Health (BIH) conference is especially dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the past years, the attempt by brain scientists to understand how the human brain works has never stopped. Meanwhile, the AI researchers also have been striving to formalize the structure and function of human brain, aiming at creating computers and computer software with capacity of intelligent behavior. By integrating techniques and academic researchers, abundant brain-inspired achievements have been yielded. Recently, the so-called neuromorphic computer architectures-chips, that mimic the human brain's ability to be both analytical and intuitive to deliver context and meaning to big data, have been invented and showed us the promising future of AI. There's never been a more exciting moment than now, in neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, and AI. Brain Informatics (BI) has extended and made use of artificial intelligence for new products, services and frameworks that are empowered by the World Wide Web. By means of brain data collected globally and systematic researches on the human brain across macro, meso, and micro scales, i.e., mind and behavior, brain cognition and structure, neuronal morphology and gene, BI is committed to developing big data for sharing mind on the Wisdom Web of Things (W2T), and disclosing the intrinsic qualities of human intelligence. As a part of the celebration to the sixty years of AI, BIH'16 will be co-located with Web Intelligence (WI) 2016, and proudly host two distinguished brain scientists, Dr. Stephen Smith and Dr. Ivan Soltesz as the BIH keynote speakers, as well as two Turing Award laureates, Dr. Leslie Valiant (Turing Award 2010) and Dr. Butler Lampson (Turing Award 1992) as the WI keynote speakers, for the community to share with their intelligent, wisdom minds. We also will organize a panel on Connecting Network and Brain with Big Data and invite keynote/feature speakers of the 2 conferences as panelists. ORGANIZERS ========== General Chairs Hesham Ali (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Deepak Khazanchi (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Yong Shi (University of Nebraska at Omaha/Chinese Academy of Sciences) BIH'16 PC Chairs Giorgio Ascoli (George Mason University, USA) Michael Hawrylycz (Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA) BIH'16 Workshop/Special-session/Tutorial Chairs Bingni Wen Brunton (University of Washington, USA) Arvind Ramanathan (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA) Yi Zeng (Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) BIH'16 Publicity Chairs Kate Cooper (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Weidong Cai (University of Sydney, Australia) Henning Muller (HES-SO, Switzerland) Local Organizing Committee Prithviraj (Raj) Dasgupta Zhengxin Chen Peter Wolcott Haifeng Guo Mark Pauley Wikil Kwak Kerry Ward Dhundy (Kiran) Bastola Kate Cooper (publicity) Bettina Lechner (webmaster) BIH Steering Committee Co-chairs Ning Zhong (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Hanchuan Peng (Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA) *** Contact Information *** kdempsey at unomaha.edu MikeH at alleninstitute.org ascoli at gmu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From m.reske at fz-juelich.de Fri Jul 22 05:10:53 2016 From: m.reske at fz-juelich.de (Martina Reske) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:10:53 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Open position in Juelich/Freiburg, Germany: Head of the Bernstein Network Coordination Site, (BCOS) Message-ID: <830008c2-58cb-fc32-b5ef-b7e100e1f216@fz-juelich.de> Forschungszentrum J?lich pursues cutting-edge interdisciplinary research on the pressing issues of our time. It helps to solve the grand challenges facing society in the fields of energy and environment as well as information and the brain. With more than 5,700 employees, J?lich ? a member of the Helmholtz Association ? is one of the large interdisciplinary research centres in Europe. The Bernstein Network Coordination Site (www.nncn.de) is a German research network in the interdisciplinary field of Computational Neuroscience. The network was initiated in 2004 by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and connects over 200 research groups at more than 20 locations throughout Germany. The Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) supports the network in all joint activities, represents the network nationally and internationally, is responsible for the joint press and public-relations work, and coordinates all activities of the Smart Start Joint Training Program in Computational Neuroscience. Besides the position of its head announced here, BCOS consists of a scientific officer, a press and public relations officer and a project assistant. BCOS is part of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Computational and Systems Neuroscience (INM-6) of the J?lich Research Centre, one of the largest research centers in Europe. We are looking to recruit a Head of the Bernstein Network Coordination Site (BCOS) Your Job: * fostering the communication and scientific cooperation between the Network partners and international contacts * responsibility for the budget planning * support in the strategic planning and future perspective for the Bernstein Network and lobbying * organizational support for the yearly Bernstein Conference, planning and organization of further events and workshop * further development of the communication with the public and politics * intensifying industry contacts * contact to funding agencies * support of young researchers and training * reporting and summaries Your Profile: * applicants should have a PhD or equivalent (preferentially in the neurosciences) * own research experience * a good overview over the fields of Computational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology * experience in third-party funded projects and science management * excellent command of the German and English languages * experience in the public communication of science * an integrative personality with pronounced social skills and a high degree of self-initiative * the position entails travelling within Germany as well as occasional international travelling Our Offer: * 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). Depending on the applicant?s qualifications and the precise nature of the tasks, salary grade 15 TV?D-Bund. Place of employment is Freiburg. Forschungszentrum J?lich aims to employ more women in this area and therefore particularly welcomes applications from women. We also welcome applications from disabled persons. We look forward to receive your application, preferably via our online recruitment system until August 19, 2016. You can find this job offer including online application form under www.fz-juelich.de/karriere. Kind regards Martina -- 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 Luka.Peternel at iit.it Fri Jul 22 06:03:41 2016 From: Luka.Peternel at iit.it (Luka Peternel) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:03:41 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: [meetings] IROS 2016 Workshop on Human-Robot Collaboration: Towards Co-Adaptive Learning Through Semi-Autonomy and Shared Control Message-ID: ***Second Call for Participation*** Workshop on Human-Robot Collaboration: Towards Co-Adaptive Learning Through Semi-Autonomy and Shared Control IROS 2016, 10 October, Daejeon, Korea WORKSHOP WEBSITE: http://www.ausy.tu-darmstadt.de/Workshops/IROS2016 CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: We welcome prospective participants to submit extended abstracts (up to 4 pages) to be presented as posters. The manuscripts should use the IEEE IROS two-column format. Please submit a PDF copy of your manuscript through our EasyChair platform before August 8. Each paper will receive a minimum of two reviews. Papers will be selected based on their originality, relevance to the workshop topics, contributions, technical clarity, and presentation. Accepted papers require that at least one of the authors register to the workshop. This workshop is an excellent opportunity to present and discuss your ongoing work and get an early feedback from the participants. To submit the paper please follow: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iroshrc2016 Important dates: -Submission deadline for papers: 8 August, 2016 -Notification of acceptance: 29 August, 2016 SPECIAL ISSUE: Our workshop is associated with a special issue in Autonomous Robots. We would like to invite participants to submit significant research results to Autonomous Robots: Special Issue on Learning in Human-Robot Cooperation. http://static.springer.com/sgw/documents/1576377/application/pdf/AURO+CFP+-+Human-Robot+Collaboration.pdf TOPICS OF INTEREST: -Co-adaptation between human and robot -Learning and modelling human-robot interaction, human instructions and collaborative behaviour -Methods for self-improvement, interactive and incremental learning of collaborative tasks -Shared control between human and robot in online learning of coupled tasks -Intention recognition, skill level/gap evaluation and role allocation -Transferring and reusing skills from human-human tasks and from existing human-robot tasks to new scenarios -Discussion on current and future applications of semi and shared autonomy in human-robot collaboration: industrial, rescue, surgical, rehabilitation, home-care, companion, etc. SPEAKERS: -Heni Ben Amor (Arizona State University, USA) -Sylvain Calinon (Idiap Research Institute, Switzerland) -Abderrahmane Kheddar (CNRS, France) -Anca Dragan (University of California, Berkeley, USA) -Ross Knepper (Cornell University, USA) -Dongheui Lee (TU Munich, Germany) -Manuel Lopes (Inria Bordeaux, France) -Yukie Nagai (Osaka University, Japan) -Patrick van der Smagt (TU Munich, Germany) -Fumihide Tanaka (University of Tsukuba, Japan) MAIN ORGANISERS: Luka Peternel (HRI2, ADVR, IIT, Italy) Guilherme Maeda (IAS, TU Darmstadt, Germany) CO-ORGANISERS: Leonel Rozo (IIT, Italy) Serena Ivaldi (INRIA Nancy Grand-Est, France) Claudia P?rez D'Arpino (MIT, USA) Julie A. Shah (MIT, USA) Jan Babi? (JSI, Slovenia) Tamim Asfour (KIT, Germany) Erhan Oztop (Ozyegin University, Turkey) ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This workshop receives support from the European Community?s Seventh Framework Programmes (FP7-ICT-2013-10) under grant agreement 610878 3rd Hand Robot Project, under grant agreement 600716 CoDyCo Project and FP7 MC-CIG under grant agreement 321700 Converge Project (Convergent Human Learning for Robot Skill Generation); and from the European Community?s Horizon 2020 under grant agreement 687662 SPEXOR Project. This workshop is supported by the IEEE Robotics and Automation?s Technical Committee on Human-Robot Interaction & Coordination, the Technical Committee on Cognitive Robotics (CORO), the Technical Committee on Humanoid Robotics, and the Technical Committee on Telerobotics. Best regards, Luka Peternel, Ph.D. _________________________________ Post-Doctoral researcher HRI2 lab, Advanced Robotics, Italian Institute of Technology, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova www.iit.it/en/people/luka-peternel -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From margret.franke at bccn-berlin.de Mon Jul 25 04:21:05 2016 From: margret.franke at bccn-berlin.de (Margret Franke) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 10:21:05 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Reminder: Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 2016, deadline August 1 In-Reply-To: <5714C8EB.8090502@bccn-berlin.de> References: <5714C8EB.8090502@bccn-berlin.de> Message-ID: Call for Abstracts: Bernstein Conference 2016 ************************************************************** Satellite Workshops September 20-21, 2016 Main Conference September 21-23, 2016 PhD Symposium September 23-24, 2016 ************************************************************** The Bernstein Conference started out as the annual meeting of the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience and has become the largest annual Computational Neuroscience conference in Europe with more than 500 international participants in recent years. This year the conference is organized by the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin at the Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin. The main conference (Sep 21-23, 2016) will be accompanied by satellite workshops (Sep 20-21, 2016) and a PhD symposium (Sep 23-24, 2016). An important part of the main conference will be the two poster sessions. We are now inviting the submission of abstracts from all relevant areas. Authors of accepted abstracts will get the chance for a poster presentation. All accepted abstracts will be published online and will be citable via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). DETAILS FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: Please note that the submission of an abstract does not replace the conference registration (www.bernstein-conference.de/registration). Poster space is limited and early submission is encouraged. For abstract submission visit: http://g-node.org/abstracts/bc16/ ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: August 1, 2016 NEW THIS YEAR ? TRAVEL GRANTS This year for the first time, the Bernstein Association offers Travel Grants for participation in the Bernstein Conference. Each of the 10 Travel Grants is endowed with 500 ?. Please find further information under the link: www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-conference/2016/travel-grant CONFERENCE DETAILS: Early registration deadline: July 24, 2016 Hotel rooms are relatively pricy and limited due to a huge trade fair at the same time. We offer a small contingent of hotel rooms close to conference venue on the conference website. Please book by yourself. VENUE Satellite Workshops and Main Conference: Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin, Germany VENUE PhD Symposium: Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin, Campus Nord, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstr. 13 Haus 6, 10115 Berlin, Germany VENUE Public Lecture: Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin, Audimax, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin, Germany, September 21, 2016, 8 pm For more information on the conference, please visit the website http://www.bernstein-conference.de We are looking forward to welcoming you in Berlin! Local organizer: Michael Brecht Program chair: Richard Kempter Managing director: Margret Franke Co-Organizers: Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS): Mareike Kardinal, Kerstin Schwarzwaelder -- 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 Stephen.Coombes at nottingham.ac.uk Fri Jul 22 15:55:46 2016 From: Stephen.Coombes at nottingham.ac.uk (Stephen Coombes) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 19:55:46 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Transitional Assistant Professor in Data Science/Statistics Message-ID: <9FA0E4F5-238C-408D-8D16-D1AB562DCC84@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk> Transitional Assistant Professor in Data Science/Statistics Reference SCI180116 Closing Date Monday, 15th August 2016 Job Type Research & Teaching School of Mathematical Sciences Salary ?34576 to ?46414 per annum, depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance. For further details and to apply: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/currentvacancies/ref/SCI180116 --- Broaden your Horizons: A Transitional Assistant Professor based in the School of Mathematical Sciences. The Digital Economy is reshaping the world around us, but the very nature of this disruption to businesses, society and people demands interdisciplinary research to understand and shape how the Digital Economy matures. The RCUK funded Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute centred at the University of Nottingham brings together an interdisciplinary team with expertise from a wide variety of backgrounds including computer science, engineering, psychology, sociology, business, social science and the arts. An on-going research challenge for the Digital Economy is how to promote deep personalization whilst providing control and privacy to citizens, even as we develop new blended experiences that converge traditional and digital artefacts, services and media. The Transitional Assistant Professor in Mathematical Sciences, jointly funded for the first four years by Horizon and the School of Mathematical Sciences, provides a pathway to a permanent academic position for an early career researcher. In the first year the fellow is expected to concentrate on research within Horizon, with a minimal teaching load, while by the fourth year the workload is evenly distributed between research within Horizon and teaching in the School of Mathematical Sciences. At the end of the four years, the fellow will become a permanent member of staff within the School of Mathematical Sciences. We are particularly seeking candidates with experience of computational statistics, especially the development and implementation of Bayesian approaches, and machine learning. However, candidates who can show how their research fits with the Horizon research agenda and how their skills complement those within the Statistics and Probability research group and/or other research groups within the School of Mathematical Sciences, are also welcome to apply. Importantly, candidates must be keen to bring their skills and experience into the interdisciplinary team within Horizon addressing the overall socio-technical challenges of the future Digital Economy. This is a full-time permanent post available from 1 September 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter. In recognition of its commitment to promoting women in science, the University of Nottingham is one of a small number of universities to hold a Silver Athena SWAN Award. Informal enquiries may be addressed to Professor Andrew Wood by email at andrew.wood at nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted. Further information about the School of Mathematical Sciences and Horizon is available at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mathematics/index.aspx and http://www.horizon.ac.uk. The University of Nottingham is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pgarner at idiap.ch Mon Jul 25 08:18:22 2016 From: pgarner at idiap.ch (Phil Garner) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 14:18:22 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position at Idiap Research Institute Message-ID: In the context of a Swiss NSF grant, we seek a PhD student to work on multilingual and affective speech synthesis. http://www.idiap.ch/education-and-jobs/job-10193 The research will begin with the state of the art in speech synthesis, probably based around deep neural networks (DNNs). Such networks have been shown recently to produce synthetic speech with better overall quality, especially with respect prosody, than other techniques. The student will then focus on modelling of speech with a view to extraction, modeling and adaptation of emotion (affect) in synthetic speech. To demonstrate the language independence of the models, it will be necessary to work in two or three languages. Several research threads are possible; one thread will involve creating a neural model of prosodic features. It will build upon recent work here at Idiap where we have created a general physiologically plausible model for prosody. Another research thread will involve analysis and modification of the phonetic quality of the synthetic speech. This is in keeping with observations that formant positions can change with affective indicators such as valence and arousal. Depending on progress, there is also the possibility to address cross-lingual modelling of affect. Here, the goal would be to detect emotion in one language and reproduce it in another language. Owing to availability of data, the work will probably proceed using German data. However, our locality dictates that evaluation will be easier in French. Amongst the Swiss languages, Italian is also appealing. The ideal Ph.D student should have a master (or equivalent) degree in engineering, computer science, or applied mathematics. S/he should have a good background in mathematics, statistics, and programming (C/C++, Python, scripting langages). Given the multlingual nature of the project, the position would suit someone with some knowledge of one or more of the languages described above. In order to balance the group, we especially encourage female applicants. However, all applications will be judged on merit. Applications will be considered as they are received; the position will remain open until filled. About Idiap: Idiap is an independent, non-profit research institute recognized and supported by the Swiss Government, and affiliated with the Ecole Polytechnique F?d?rale de Lausanne (EPFL). It is located in the town of Martigny in Valais, a scenic region in the south of Switzerland, surrounded by the highest mountains of Europe, and offering exciting recreational activities, including hiking, climbing and skiing, as well as varied cultural activities. It is within close proximity to Geneva and Lausanne. Although Idiap is located in the French part of Switzerland, English is the working language. Free French lessons are provided. Idiap offers competitive salaries and conditions at all levels in a young, dynamic, and multicultural environment. Idiap is an equal opportunity employer and is actively involved in the "Advancement of Women in Science" European initiative. The Institute seeks to maintain a principle of open competition (on the basis of merit) to appoint the best candidate, provides equal opportunity for all candidates, and equally encourage both genders to apply. -- Phil Garner http://www.idiap.ch/~pgarner From giles at ist.psu.edu Fri Jul 22 16:47:50 2016 From: giles at ist.psu.edu (Lee Giles) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:47:50 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Director position for the Institute of CyberScience, Pennsylvania State University In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Penn State is seeking a dynamic, innovative scholar to lead the Institute for CyberScience (ICS), a critically important cross-university, interdisciplinary, research organization. The successful candidate will be an accomplished researcher with the vision and leadership skills to direct the ICS and its advanced computing resources. The Institute for CyberScience (ics.psu.edu) is one of Penn State?s five university-wide research institutes that are centrally positioned within the Office of the Vice President for Research to accelerate discovery and advance interdisciplinary, collaborative team science. The ICS works across all colleges at the University to cultivate a community of scholars engaged in interdisciplinary computation- and data-enabled research and learning. The ICS has already coordinated over 20 faculty co-hires across six different colleges, and has over 120 faculty associates in a broad range of substantive fields. The ICS figures prominently in Penn State?s strategic plan (http://strategicplan.psu.edu). To this end, the director will lead the ongoing institutional cluster-hire initiative in cyberscience, direct Penn State?s Advanced Cyber Infrastructure (ICS-ACI), and set priorities for the ICS (http://ics.psu.edu/who-we-are/mission/). Applicants should possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to move with ease across disciplinary boundaries to develop new initiatives among faculty with diverse areas of expertise. The Director will report to the Vice President for Research and is expected to work collaboratively with the directors of Penn State?s other major research institutes?the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, the Materials Research Institute, the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, and the Social Science Research Institute?and also with the Director of the Applied Research Laboratory and the deans of Penn State?s 12 colleges. The successful applicant is expected to develop and maintain a research program leading to national and international recognition relevant to computation- and data-enabled research and to participate in the teaching mission of the academic unit in which the candidate is appointed. The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) is a public research university with annual research expenditures exceeding $800M for the past six years. As Pennsylvania?s land-grant institution, it serves over 97,000 students at 24 campuses. Penn State is one of the leading research universities in the country with a long-standing tradition of proven success in interdisciplinary research. The 2015 National Science Foundation (NSF) Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey ranked Penn State 12th among the nation?s public universities for total R&D expenditures. To apply, please submit a cover letter, curriculum vita, and the names and contact information of at least three references. Apply online at https://psu.jobs/job/63752 Review of applications will begin on May 31, 2016, and will continue until the position is filled. From juxi.leitner at gmail.com Sun Jul 24 21:07:24 2016 From: juxi.leitner at gmail.com (Juxi Leitner) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 11:07:24 +1000 Subject: Connectionists: [journals] [CfP] Limits and Potentials of Deep Learning in Robotics - IJRR Special Issue Message-ID: <5F3BDCD7-FB10-4A69-B02B-6FB6E80161CD@gmail.com> Dear colleagues, following up on our deep learning workshop at RSS (Webpage here: http://Juxi.net/workshop/deep-learning-rss-2016/ ), we are running a special issue of the International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) entitled "Limits and Potentials of Deep Learning in Robotics?. Attached is the call for contributions! Call for Papers: The International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) Special Issue: Limits and Potentials of Deep Learning in Robotics This special issue invites papers that identify the limits and potentials of current deep learning techniques in robotics, and that propose directions for future research to overcome those limits and realize the promising potentials. The special issue particularly encourages contributions that analyse why deep learning has not yet had the wide impact in robotics that it had in neighboring research disciplines, especially in computer vision. Call for Papers in PDF: http://Juxi.net/special-issue/ijrr-deep-learning-2016/deep-learning-cfp-2016-ijrr.pdf *Important Dates* 1 October 2016: Submission deadline April 2017: Online publication of accepted articles Summer 2017: Online and hard copy publication *Motivation* Deep learning techniques have revolutionised many aspects of computer vision over the past three years and have been tremendously successful at tasks like object recognition and detection, scene classification, action recognition, and caption generation. Despite deep learning thriving in computer vision, it has not yet been nearly as impactful in robotic vision. Although deep learning techniques are successfully applied by a few groups for tasks like visually guided robotic grasping and manipulation, they have not yet evolved into mainstream approaches that are generally adopted and applied. In a recent workshop at the Robotics: Science and Systems Conference (RSS), the participants and invited speakers identified both advantages and shortcomings/missing features of current deep learning techniques for robotic applications. This special issue will collect contributions that identify such challenges, and propose novel methods to overcome current limits. The topics of interest for contributed papers comprise, but are not limited to: * limits of deep learning for robotics * case studies: when does state-of-the-art deep learning fail in robotics? * success stories: where did deep learning enable breakthroughs in robotics? * fundamental differences between typical computer vision tasks and robotic vision * deep learning for perception, action, and control in robotics contexts * reliable confidence measures for deep classifiers * exploitation of semantic information and prior knowledge for deep learning * deep learning in the context of open set classification * incremental learning, incorporation of human feedback for classification * utilizing robotic technology to create novel datasets comprising interaction, active vision etc. * deep learning for embedded systems or platforms with limited computational power *Manuscript Submission* Please submit papers to: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijrr Under ?Manuscript Type? select ?Deep Learning?. Submission instructions for authors, including information on how to submit multimedia, are available online at: http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal201324#tabview=manuscriptSubmission *Guest Editors* Niko S?nderhauf (niko.suenderhauf at qut.edu.au>) ? Queensland University of Technology, ACRV J?rgen Leitner (j.leitner at qut.edu.au ? Queensland University of Technology, ACRV Ben Upcroft (ben.upcroft at qut.edu.au) ? Queensland University of Technology, ACRV Nicholas Roy (nickroy at csail.mit.edu) ? Massachusetts Institute of Technology *Website* http://Juxi.net/special-issue/ijrr-deep-learning-2016/ -- Juxi Leitner | http://Juxi.net Research Fellow | ARC Centre of Excellence for Robotic Vision E: j.leitner at qut.edu.au | W: www.roboticvision.org | P: +61 7 3138 2363 Science and Engineering Faculty | Queensland University of Technology Gardens Point, S Block 11 30 | 2 George Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000 | CRICOS No. 00213J From yael at Princeton.EDU Fri Jul 22 16:52:56 2016 From: yael at Princeton.EDU (Yael Niv) Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 20:52:56 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc position available at the Rivlin lab in the Weizmann neurobiology department Message-ID: <556CC38B-516A-4FB7-A0E2-B3EC5C18202B@exchange.princeton.edu> Postdoc position available at the Rivlin lab in the Weizmann neurobiology department Massive work was done to decipher the neural code of the visual information at the retina level. How do retinal targets integrate and process the retinal output is still an unsolved question. The aim of the project is to reveal how visual information is processed along the main visual pathway. For that, advanced in vivo imaging techniques will be used in combination with retinal manipulations using pharmacogenetics and other methods. Computational/engineering background and programming experience are required. Experience with two-photon imaging is an advantage. Good social skills and a sense of humour are a must. Interested candidates with proven academic record are requested to send their CV and contact details of 3 referees to michal.rivlin at weizmann.ac.il Michal Rivlin, Ph.D. Incumbent of the Sara Lee Schupf family chair Department of Neurobiology Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot 76100, Israel +972-8-9342792 Lab website: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/neurobiology/labs/rivlin/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From EPNSugan at ntu.edu.sg Sat Jul 23 13:28:37 2016 From: EPNSugan at ntu.edu.sg (Ponnuthurai Nagaratnam Suganthan) Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2016 17:28:37 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: CIEL 2016: Ensemble Learning Symposium in SSCI 2016 in Greece Message-ID: http://ssci2016.cs.surrey.ac.uk/ Final Extended Paper Submission Deadline: 15th August 2016 2016 IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Ensemble Learning (IEEE CIEL'2016) Ensemble learning attempts to enhance the performance of systems (clustering, classification, prediction, feature selection, search, optimization, rule extraction, etc.) by using multiple models instead of using a single model. This approach is intuitively meaningful as a single model may not always be the best for solving a complex problem while multiple models are more likely to yield results better than each of the constituent models. Although in the past, ensemble methods have been mainly studied in the context of classification and time series prediction, recently they are being used in algorithms in other scenarios such as clustering, fuzzy systems, evolutionary algorithms, dimensionality reduction and so on. The aim of this symposium is to bring together researchers and practitioners who are working in the overlapping fields of ensemble methods and Machine Learning. Papers dealing with theory, algorithms, analysis, and applications of ensemble of computational intelligence methods are sought for this symposium. Scopes and Topics The symposium topics include, but are not limited to: * * Ensemble methods such as boosting, bagging, random forests, multiple classifier systems, mixture of experts, multiple kernels, etc. * Ensemble methods for regression, classification, clustering, ranking, feature selection, prediction, etc. * Issues such as selection of constituent models, fusion and diversity of models in an ensemble, etc. * Hybridization of computational intelligence ensemble systems * Applications of ensemble of computational intelligence methods in any field Organisers P. N. Suganthan Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Email:epnsugan at ntu.edu.sg Nikhil R Pal Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, India. Email:nikhil at isical.ac.in Xin Yao University of Birmingham, UK. Email:x.yao at cs.bham.ac.uk ________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY: This email is intended solely for the person(s) named and may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it, notify us and do not copy, use, or disclose its contents. Towards a sustainable earth: Print only when necessary. Thank you. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davrot at neuro.uni-bremen.de Mon Jul 25 10:02:26 2016 From: davrot at neuro.uni-bremen.de (David Rotermund) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 16:02:26 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Workshop on brain stimulation for neuro-prosthetic applications Message-ID: <57961BF2.6020600@neuro.uni-bremen.de> We would like to invite you to participate in our excellence workshop "Naturalistic integration of information from external stimulation into ongoing neuronal activities of the brain". It will take place October 20-23, 2016 at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg in Delmenhorst (near Bremen), Germany. The invited main speakers are Costas Anastassiou, Sliman Bensmaia, Anythony N. Burkitt, Ilka Diester, Jannis Hildebrandt, Eduardo Fernandez Jover, Andreas Kreiter, Kristine Krug, Walter Lang, Mikhail A. Lebedev, Thomas Lenarz, Hubert H Lim, Tobias Moser, Klaus Obermayer, Ramesh Rajan, Christopher J. Rozell, Mohamad Sawan, Alessandro Vato, G?nther Zeck, Eberhart Zrenner. A preliminary program can be found under http://www.nncn.de/en/news/events/11th-bernstein-sparks-workshop As you might know quite well from your own experience, it is a huge problem to interface with the brain and to successfully introduce artificial, meaningful signals into on-going neural information processing. On the other hand, exciting possibilities in medical and fundamental research are waiting to be explored and to be realized. This workshop will address major challenges in this field: * Ideas and technologies for improving functional neuro-prostheses. Besides presenting general advances, we will specifically focus on artificial vision and hearing, and on building better prosthetic limbs providing touch sensation feedback * Using causal interference with neural processing as a tool for understanding how the brain works and processes information * Establishing stimulation protocols and designing algorithms for providing external information with dynamics matching spatio-temporal activation patterns observed under 'normal' conditions, encoded in a format that the brain can 'understand'. Our workshop will bring together experimentalists, technologists, medical scientists, and theoreticians who are the experts in getting meaningful signals into neuronal circuits actively engaged in information processing. The workshop will provide a platform allowing you to present your work and to have discussions with other researchers (especially from other disciplines, who use different methods or work on other areas of the brain) about putative solutions for solving this puzzle. Besides the talks of the main speakers with plenty of time for discussions there will be a poster session. Participation in the workshop will be limited to about 60 attendees (20 main speakers, 40 postdocs + PhD students) on a first come first serve basis. In case you are interested in participating, we would ask you to send your reply to _ajanssen at neuro.uni-bremen.de_. In order to cover all costs, may we ask for a registration fee in the amount of ? 60,00 (? 40,00 for Bernstein members) for PhD students and ? 120,00 (? 80,00 for Bernstein members) for postdocs/professors. You will understand that we cannot cover your costs for accommodation and travelling. The meeting is part of the "Bernstein Sparks Workshops series" and will be supported and partly financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS) of the Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience. Further support and financing is provided by the "Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study" ( http://www.h-w-k.de/index.php?id=2213 ). Yours sincerely Udo Ernst and David Rotermund -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From missura.olana at gmail.com Mon Jul 25 10:56:03 2016 From: missura.olana at gmail.com (Olana Missura) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 10:56:03 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: ECML PKDD 2016 early registration deadline July 31st, 2016 Message-ID: *ECML PKDD 2016 early registration deadline is approaching!* Registration link and full information available at http://www.ecmlpkdd2016.org/attending.html#Registration *Registration Fees and Deadlines* Early Registration up to July 31st, 2016 (11.59 p.m. CET): Regular -- 450 euros Student -- 370 euros Accompanying person -- 100 euros Mid Registration up to September 11th (11:59 p.m. CET): Regular -- 550 euros Student -- 470 euros Accompanying person -- 150 euros Late Registration from September 12th: Regular -- 650 euros Student -- 570 euros Accompanying person -- 150 euros Regular and Student Registration Fee Includes: - Admission to all sessions of main conference, workshops and tutorials; - Conference materials; - Finger Food during Poster Sessions on September 20th and 22nd; - Welcome Cocktail on September 19th, 2016; - Conference Dinner on September 21st, 2016. Accompanying Person Fee Includes: - Welcome Cocktail on September 19th, 2016; - Conference Dinner on September 21st, 2016. See you there! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nguyensmai at gmail.com Mon Jul 25 07:47:00 2016 From: nguyensmai at gmail.com (Nguyen, Sao Mai) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 13:47:00 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Post-doc position in robotic learning Message-ID: Hello, I am sorry, there was a mistake in the previous email. Please read for the duration of the position: "The position starts in October 2016 and finishes in February 2018. " ----- a post-doc position is available at Telecom Bretagne, Brest, France to work with Mai Nguyen funded by the European FP-7 project ECHORD++ for the experiment KERAAL. PROJECT: The experiment KERAAL is a 18-month project funded by the European Union. KERAAL aims to provide robot mediated physical exercises for people suffering from low back pain. Since physiotherapists are not able to spend enough time with patients, the robot coach will demonstrate the exercise, monitor the patients exercise, correct the exercises and suggest right methods using expert Human Robot Interaction and Intelligent Tutoring System, thereby providing physical presence which is not acquired via Virtual Reality systems. The project is lead by a consortium including the hospital CHU Brest, the robotics startup Generation Robots, and the university (Grande Ecole) Telecom Bretagne. Using the kinect v2 and the open source poppy human robot ( https://www.poppy-project.org/en/robots/poppy-humanoid), Telecom Bretagne is in charge of developing the intelligent tutoring system that enables the system to evaluate the performance of the patients. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES The position starts in October 2016 and finishes in February 2018. The postdoc will be in charge of: - developing an algorithm for an intelligent tutoring system, based on probabilistic models, to assess the patient?s movement and give feedback to help him improve on rehabilitation exercises. - cooperate with the partners to integrate their HRI. - carry out clinical evaluations in partnership with physiotherapists from the rehabilitation centre. - analyse the clinical results. - contribute to the updating and support of the robotic platforms. The candidate : - must hold a Ph.D. related to machine learning and/or robotics, and in particular imitation learning. - are expected to be experienced in programming in python and using linux and windows. - are fluent in spoken and written English. - familiarity with the Kinect v2 and Poppy platforms are a plus. CONTACTS AND APPLICATIONS: The leader of the project is Mai Nguyen, lecturer at T?l?com Bretagne. Please send your curriculum vitae, contacts for two references, as well as a cover letter to echordkeraal-recrutement at mlistes.telecom-bretagne.eu. Feel free to contact us for further information too. For any contact, please start the subject of the email by ?[KERAAL postdoc 2016]" The deadline for applying to the position is 31st August. --- Nguyen Sao Mai nguyensmai at gmail.com Researcher in Cognitive Developmental Robotics http://nguyensmai.free.fr -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timvogels at gmail.com Tue Jul 26 05:03:22 2016 From: timvogels at gmail.com (Tim Vogels) Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:03:22 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: DEADLINE: Comp Neuro Imbizo in Cape Town Message-ID: <6E269707-EBCC-4DD3-800F-E57397D3CC4E@gmail.com> Dear all, this is a quick reminder that the deadline for the isiCNI is approaching quickly (5 days to go): *IBRO SIMONS COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE IMBIZO* 9 - 28 January 2017, Muizenburg Beach Cape Town, South Africa http://isicni.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk *Applications deadline: 31st July 2016* The #isiCNI2017 is a (southern hemisphere) summer school aiming to promote computational neuroscience in Africa by bringing together international and local students under the tutelage of world-leading experts in the field. Like its international sister courses, this three-week summer school aims to teach central ideas, methods, and practices of modern computational neuroscience through a combination of lectures and hands-on project work. Mornings will be devoted to lectures given by distinguished international faculty on topics across the breadth of experimental and computational neuroscience. The rest of the day will be spent working on research projects in teams of 2-3 people under the close supervision of expert tutors and faculty. Research projects decided with the students and focus on 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 aimed at graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from various disciplines, including neuroscience, physics, electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, psychology and biology. Students are expected to have a keen interest and basic background in neurobiology, a solid foundation in mathematics, as well as some computer experience. *Essential details: ** Fee (which covers tuition, lodging, and meals): 1000 EUR * Generous scholarships and travel stipends are available. Successful African applicants will likely be fully subsidised. * Application deadline: 31 July 2016 * Notification of results: September 2016 *Information and application* http://isicni.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk > >> *POSTER DOWNLOAD:* http://tinyurl.com/isiCNI2017 > (please distribute this is you can) *Imbizo* \?m?bi?z?\ | Xhosa - Zulu A gathering of the people to share knowledge. *DIRECTORS* Peter Latham (Gatsby Unit for Computational Neuroscience, University College London, UK) Joseph Raimondo (University of Cape Town, South Africa) Tim Vogels (University of Oxford, UK) *FACULTY* Larry Abbott - Columbia University Emery Brown - Harvard University / MIT Nando deFreitas - Google DeepMind Adrienne Fairhall - Washington University Surya Ganguli - Stanford University Wulfram Gerstner - EPFL Lausanne Peter Latham - University College London Timothy Lillicrap - Google DeepMind Mate Lengyel - University of Cambridge Eve Marder - Brandeis University Joseph Raimondo - University of Cape Town Yiota Poirazi - Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas Srikanth Ramaswamy - EPFL Lausanne Rajnish Ranjan - EPFL Lausanne Tim Vogels - University of Oxford Daniel Wolpert - University of Cambridge Special Guests: Alyssa Piccini Schaffer - Simons Foundation Arthur Wingfield - Brandeis University *Local Organiser:* Alex Antrobus (isicn.imbizo at gmail.com ) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sml at essex.ac.uk Tue Jul 26 16:53:31 2016 From: sml at essex.ac.uk (Lucas, Simon M) Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2016 20:53:31 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: IEEE CIG 2016 Game AI Competitions Message-ID: <9187053B-7F52-46EB-AB08-C302A600BAE8@essex.ac.uk> We have a great set of AI competitions for IEEE CIG in September - including Doom, Angry Birds AI, Starcraft and General Video Game AI - most have a deadline some time in September, so still plenty of time to crank up your deep NNs or MCTS or whatever and take a trophy. http://cig16.image.ece.ntua.gr/competitions/ Best wishes, Simon Lucas From petzschner at biomed.ee.ethz.ch Wed Jul 27 08:55:30 2016 From: petzschner at biomed.ee.ethz.ch (Petzschner Frederike) Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2016 12:55:30 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: International Computational Psychiatry Course: Registration closing soon References: <3B102E8E-9AB2-46D7-B6C2-8D669E40E8C3@biomed.ee.ethz.ch> Message-ID: <901BF029-10B9-4590-A6A9-7511D6D6FAFF@biomed.ee.ethz.ch> [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/88baa34a20b71f6c68e5a0adc/images/3b98f9d1-def6-41fb-a05d-3c61c6be5055.png] International Computational Psychiatry Course Zurich, 29th August - 2nd September 2016 The registration for the international Computational Psychiatry Course at Zurich (29th of August - 2nd September 2016) is closing soon. ABOUT The course is meant to be practically useful for students and scientists who would like to apply modelling techniques to study learning, decision-making and brain physiology in patients with psychiatric disorders. It will not only teach the theory of computational modeling, but also demonstrate open source software from multiple labs in it?s application to example data sets. The goal is that students attending this course can go home with a clear idea of which freely available software exists and how it can be applied to concrete problems, enabling them to use computational models with more expertise and confidence in their own scientific work. STRUCTURE The course will consist of four parts: The first day will cover topics in Psychiatry (Mood disorders, Autism, Addiction, Psychosis) providing a conceptual basis for the type of questions that Computational Psychiatry will need to address. The second day will explain basic modelling principles (Model Selection, Model Averaging, Inversion Techniques...) The third and forth day will include presentations on existing modelling techniques and the application of open source software to concrete problems and datasets. The last day will feature a series of talks on practical applications of computational models to problems from psychiatry and neuroeconomics. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/88baa34a20b71f6c68e5a0adc/images/ca4f5609-8ff7-4b46-acee-eb39eb0312d6.png] SPEAKER Eduardo Aponte (Zurich) Dominik Bach (Zurich) Rafal Bogacz (Oxford) Ed Bullmore (Cambridge) Christian B?chel (Hamburg) Huang Crane (Tulsa) Jean Daunizeau (Paris) Nathaniel Daw (Princeton) Hanneke Den Ouden (Nijmegen) Stefan Fr?ssle (Zurich) Karl Friston (London) Helene Haker Rosser (Zurich) Jakob Heinze (Zurich) Quentin Huys (Zurich) Christoph Mathys (London) Janaina Miranda (London) Read Montague (Virginia Tech) Rosalyn Moran (Virginia Tech) Saee Paliwal (Zurich) Martin Paulus (Tulsa) Frederike Petzschner (Zurich) Lionel Rigoux (Cologne) Katharina Schmack (Hamburg) Dario Sch?bi (Zurich) Philipp Schwartenbeck (London) Peggy Series (Edinburgh) Klaas Enno Stephan (Zurich) Lilian Weber (Zurich) REGISTRATION Course registration is closing soon: http://www.translationalneuromodeling.org/cpcourse/ [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/color-link-48.png] [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/color-facebook-48.png] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From k.wong-lin at ulster.ac.uk Wed Jul 27 13:34:54 2016 From: k.wong-lin at ulster.ac.uk (Wong-Lin, Kongfatt) Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2016 17:34:54 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: PhD Studentship in Computational Neuroscience - Ulster-Oxford Collaboration Message-ID: Applications are invited for a Research Challenge Fund PhD studentship in Computational Neuroscience tenable in the Faculty of Computing and Engineering at Ulster University, UK. This PhD project, based on a recently awarded UK BBSRC project, is a collaboration between Ulster University and Oxford University on the development of an advanced and realistic computational model of neuronal circuit involves in emotional learning. For more information, please refer to: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/95519/BBSRC-2016-2017-v2.pdf The computational neuroscience and neural systems research community at the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) at Ulster University focuses on both fundamental brain and behavioural sciences, and their applications, including clinical neuroscience and neural engineering. The successful PhD candidate will benefit from the expertise of Ulster's computational neuroscience and machine learning community, and will interact closely with collaborators at Oxford University. The application process for the Ph.D. studentship is opened with a closing date for applications on the 26th August 2016. All applicants should hold a first or upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Statistics, Neuroscience, Biology, or a cognate area. Applications will be considered on a competitive basis with regard to the candidate's qualifications, skills, experience and interests. Successful candidates will enrol as of 1st October 2016, on a full-time programme of research studies leading to the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The studentships, which are highly competitive, will comprise fees together (Home/EU Rate) with an annual stipend of ?14,296 and will be awarded for a period of up to three years' subject to satisfactory progress. Applicants must be highly motivated and willing to pursue research and develop skills across disciplines. If you wish to apply for this studentship, please follow the instructions and procedures at: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/phdresearch-degrees/how-to-apply and https://srssb.ulster.ac.uk/PROD/bwskalog.P_DispChoices The successful student will be based primarily at the ISRC with opportunities to interact with other related ISRC research teams, the Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Centre for Stratified Medicine, and other collaborators. The ISRC is situated in the city of Derry~Londonderry, which received the City of Culture 2013 award. If you wish to discuss your proposal or receive advice on this project, please contact: Dr. KongFatt Wong-Lin (k.wong-lin at ulster.ac.uk). ------------------- Dr. KongFatt Wong-Lin Intelligent Systems Research Centre School of Computing and Intelligent Systems Faculty of Computing and Engineering Ulster University http://isrc.ulster.ac.uk/kwonglin/contact.html ________________________________ This email and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information which is covered by legal, professional or other privilege. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager at postmaster at ulster.ac.uk and delete this email immediately. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ulster University. The University's computer systems may be monitored and communications carried out on them may be recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes. Ulster University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of a separate attachment, the text of email is not intended to form a binding contract. Correspondence to and from the University may be subject to requests for disclosure by 3rd parties under relevant legislation. The University of Ulster was founded by Royal Charter in 1984 and is registered with company number RC000726 and VAT registered number GB672390524.The primary contact address for Ulster University in Northern Ireland is Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry BT52 1SA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From c.clopath at imperial.ac.uk Wed Jul 27 19:20:01 2016 From: c.clopath at imperial.ac.uk (Claudia Clopath) Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2016 00:20:01 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc position in Computational Neuroscience in the Clopath lab. Message-ID: Postdoc position in Computational Neuroscience in the Clopath lab. ----------------------------------------------------- Computational Neuroscience Laboratory Headed by Dr. Claudia Clopath Department of Bioengineering Imperial College London -----------------Requirements:----------------- The Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, headed by Dr. Claudia Clopath, is looking for a talented Postdoc, interested in working in the field of computational neuroscience, specifically addressing questions of learning and memory. The perfect candidate has a strong mathematical, physical or engineering background (or equivalent), programming skills, and a keen interest in biological and neural systems. A PhD in the field of computational neuroscience is a plus. -----------------Research topic:----------------- Learning and memory are among the most fascinating topic of neuroscience, yet our understanding of it is only at the beginning. Learning is thought to change the connections between the neurons in the brain, a process called synaptic plasticity. Using mathematical and computational tools, it is possible to model synaptic plasticity across different time scales, which helps understand how different types of memory are formed. The Postdoc candidate will be working to build those models of synaptic plasticity, and study the functional role of synaptic plasticity in artificial neural networks. ----------------- The lab:----------------------- The Computational Neuroscience Laboratory is very young and dynamic, and publishes in prestigious journals, such as Nature and Science. It is part of the Department of Bioengineering, which conducts state-of-the-art multidisciplinary research in biomechanics, neuroscience and neurotechnology. The lab is at Imperial College London, the 3rd ranked university in Europe, is in the top 10 worldwide, and is located in the city centre of London. More information can be found at: *http://www.bg.ic.ac.uk/research/c.clopath/ * ----------------- How to apply:----------------- Candidates should send a single pdf file, consisting of a 1-page motivation letter and CV (including publication list) to *clopathlab.imperial at gmail.com *, with the subject containing 'Postdoc2016'. In addition, candidates should organize two letters of reference to be sent to *clopathlab.imperial at gmail.com *, with the subject containing 'Postdoc2016'. The position is open until filled but the earlier applications will be considered first. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Uwe.Aickelin at nottingham.edu.cn Fri Jul 29 01:47:53 2016 From: Uwe.Aickelin at nottingham.edu.cn (Uwe Aickelin) Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2016 05:47:53 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Datamining PhD Scholarships Message-ID: <9a133e6320f54ae98f4899854f488a81@MTAMBX02.nottingham.edu.cn> Hello, The University of Nottingham Ningbo has PhD scholarships for suitable candidates who are interested in Datamining, Optimisation, Artificial Intelligence and related subjects such as: * Data mining/machine learning challenges: large data sets, mixture of data types (including images), data quality and security issues. * Optimisation challenges: dealing with uncertainty, dynamic problems, large scale optimization problem, new optimization and data mining combinations such as simulation and machine learning. * Social challenges - users need to understand and trust the solution methods or they will not use them optimally. What technical implications does this have in application areas such as medical data, logistic problems and other areas of the digital economy. The research projects are multidisciplinary in nature and will involve solving business problems related to designing, planning, controlling and improving of operations and management processes. The scholarships will be attractive to researchers from a range of industrial, engineering, computer science or management backgrounds. PhD Scholarship package: The scholarships are based at The University of Nottingham's campus in Ningbo, China. They are available from September 2016 for a period of three years, with a stipend of up RMB 3,000 per month and an accommodation allowance of RMB 4,800 per year for local students and RMB 12,000 per year for international students. Tuition fees are fully funded and medical insurance is provided. Teaching assistantships with extra payment may be available for talented PhD students. How to Apply: The application deadline is 15 August 2016. To apply please send an email with the subject IAMET scholarships and the following attachments to PHDAdmissions at nottingham.edu.cn : * Application Form (please download here: http://www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/admissions/domestic-students/phdprogramme/how-to-apply/application--assessment-procedure.aspx * A brief research proposal (1-2 pages) * Copies of degree certificate for both undergraduate and postgraduate study (Xueli certificates required for applicants from Chinese universities) * Official transcripts showing marks for both undergraduate and postgraduate study (in English only, with university's official stamp on) * Two references which can be emailed by the referees directly toPHDAdmissions at nottingham.edu.cn * English proficiency test report (not required for native English speakers or those with degrees from English speaking countries)) * A copy of passport-sized colour photograph * A copy of your passport. For Chinese applicants a copy of ID card is accepted Informal inquiries may be addressed to Professor Uwe Aickelin uwe.aickelin at nottingham.edu.cn This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of The University of Nottingham Ningbo China. This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system: you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with The University of Nottingham Ningbo China may be monitored as permitted by UK and Chinese legislation. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yang at maebashi-it.org Fri Jul 29 04:05:36 2016 From: yang at maebashi-it.org (Yang) Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2016 17:05:36 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: [BY AUG 11] Brain Informatics and Health - Call for Abstracts Message-ID: [Apologies if you receive this more than once] The titles of Keynote & Feature Talks for BIH'16 are now open. ============================== Type II (Abstract) Submission Deadline: August 11, 2016 (EXTENDED!!) ============================== ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR TYPE II SUBMISSIONS The 2016 International Conference on Brain Informatics & Health (BIH'16) October 13-16, 2016, Hilton Omaha, USA Homepage: http://wibih.unomaha.edu/bih *** On-Line Submission *** https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2016/bih16/scripts/submit.php?subarea=B *** KEYNOTE TALKS *** Stephen Smith, Allen Institute for Brain Science Title: Shotgun Connectomic Analysis of Cortical Synaptic Networks Ivan Soltesz, Stanford School of Medicine Title: Mechanisms of Network Oscillations in Data-Driven Full-Scale and Rationally Derived Simple Models of the Hippocampus *** FEATURE TALKS *** Steven Schiff, Pennsylvania State University Title: Model-Based Observation and Control for the Brain: From Control of Seizures and Migraines, to Reducing Infant Brain Infections in Africa Kristen Harris, University of Texas at Austin Title: Analytical Challenges to Understanding Subcellular Resource Allocation for Synaptic Plasticity and Homeostasis Giulio Tononi, University of Wisconsin-Madison Title: Consciousness: From Theory to Practice Bob Jacobs, Colorado College Title: Cortical Neuromorphology beyond Rodents and Primates: A Personal Journey Partha Mitra, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Title: Neuron Trees in the Brain Jungle: Mapping Brainwide Connectivity Paola Pergami, George Washington University Title: Big Data and Advanced Imaging in Clinical Decision Making: Are We There Yet? **************** The BIH series provides a premier forum that brings together researchers and practitioners from neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, information communication technologies, and neuroimaging technologies with the purpose of exploring the fundamental roles, interactions as well as practical impacts of Brain Informatics. BIH'16 addresses the computational, cognitive, physiological, biological, physical, ecological and social perspectives of brain informatics, with a strong emphasis on emerging trends of big data analysis and management technology for brain research, behaviour learning, and real-world applications of brain science in human health and well-being. BIH'16 will be co-located with the 2016 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference Web Intelligence (WI'16) (http://wibih.unomaha.edu/wi). Under our theme Connecting Network and Brain with Big Data, BIH'16 and WI'16 will provide a broad forum that academia, professionals and industry can use to exchange their ideas, findings and strategies in utilizing the power of human brains and man-made networks to create a better world. The attendees only need to register for one of the 2 conferences, but they can attend all sessions and social events of the 2 conferences. IMPORTANT DATES: ================ Submission of Abstracts: August 11, 2016 (EXTENDED!!) Notification of Abstract Acceptance: August 15, 2016 Registration for Type II Authors: August 22, 2016 Tutorials, Workshop and Special-Sessions: October 13, 2016 Main Conference: October 14-16, 2016 PAPER SUBMISSIONS & PUBLICATIONS: ================================= TYPE-II (Abstract Submissions; Deadline: August 11, 2016 **EXTENDED**): Abstracts have a word limit of 500 words. Experimental research is particularly welcome. Accepted abstract submissions will be included in the conference program, and will be published as a single, collective proceedings volume. Title: Include in the title of the abstract all words critical for a subject index. Write your title in sentence case (first letter is capitalized; remaining letters are lower case). Do not bold or italicize your full title. Author: List all authors who contributed to the work discussed in the abstract. The presenting author must be listed in the first author slot of the list. Be prepared to submit contact information as well as conflict of interest information for each author listed. Abstract: Enter the body of the abstract and attach any applicable graphic files or tables here. Do not re-enter the title, author, support, or other information that is collected in other steps of the submission form. Presentation Preference: Authors may select from three presentation formats when submitting an abstract: "poster only", "talk preferred" or "no preference". The "talk preferred" selection indicates that you would like to give a talk, but will accept a poster format if necessary. Marking "poster only" indicates that you would not like to be considered for an oral-presentation session. Selecting "no preference" indicates the author's willingness to be placed in the best format for the program. Each paper or abstract requires one sponsoring attendee (i.e. someone who registered and is attending the conference). A single attendee can not sponsor more than two abstracts or papers. Oral presentations will be selected from both full length papers and abstracts. *** Post-Conference Journal Publication *** The BIH conferences have the formal ties with Brain Informatics journal (Springer, http://www.springer.com/40708). Accepted submissions from the conference, including their Best Paper Award papers, will be expanded and revised for possible inclusion in the Brain Informatics journal each year. It is fully sponsored and no any article-processing fee is charged for BIH authors. *** Topics and Areas *** Track 1: Investigations of Human Information Processing Systems (HIPS) and Computational Foundations of Brain Science Track 2: Information Technologies for Curating, Mining and Using Brain Big Data Track 3: Brain-Inspired Technologies, Systems and Applications Please find the topics and areas of interest of BIH'16 at http://wibih.unomaha.edu/bih *** On-Line Submission *** https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2016/bih16/scripts/submit.php?subarea=B ================================ A Celebration to the 60th Anniversary of AI ================================ This year, the Brain Informatics & Health (BIH) conference is especially dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the past years, the attempt by brain scientists to understand how the human brain works has never stopped. Meanwhile, the AI researchers also have been striving to formalize the structure and function of human brain, aiming at creating computers and computer software with capacity of intelligent behavior. By integrating techniques and academic researchers, abundant brain-inspired achievements have been yielded. Recently, the so-called neuromorphic computer architectures-chips, that mimic the human brain's ability to be both analytical and intuitive to deliver context and meaning to big data, have been invented and showed us the promising future of AI. There's never been a more exciting moment than now, in neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, and AI. Brain Informatics (BI) has extended and made use of artificial intelligence for new products, services and frameworks that are empowered by the World Wide Web. By means of brain data collected globally and systematic researches on the human brain across macro, meso, and micro scales, i.e., mind and behavior, brain cognition and structure, neuronal morphology and gene, BI is committed to developing big data for sharing mind on the Wisdom Web of Things (W2T), and disclosing the intrinsic qualities of human intelligence. As a part of the celebration to the sixty years of AI, BIH'16 will be co-located with Web Intelligence (WI) 2016, and proudly host two distinguished brain scientists, Dr. Stephen Smith and Dr. Ivan Soltesz as the BIH keynote speakers, as well as two Turing Award laureates, Dr. Leslie Valiant (Turing Award 2010) and Dr. Butler Lampson (Turing Award 1992) as the WI keynote speakers, for the community to share with their intelligent, wisdom minds. We also will organize a panel on Connecting Network and Brain with Big Data and invite keynote/feature speakers of the 2 conferences as panelists. ORGANIZERS ========== General Chairs Hesham Ali (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Deepak Khazanchi (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Yong Shi (University of Nebraska at Omaha/Chinese Academy of Sciences) BIH'16 PC Chairs Giorgio Ascoli (George Mason University, USA) Michael Hawrylycz (Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA) BIH'16 Workshop/Special-Session/Tutorial Chairs Bingni Wen Brunton (University of Washington, USA) Arvind Ramanathan (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA) Yi Zeng (Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) BIH'16 Publicity Chairs Kate Cooper (University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA) Weidong Cai (University of Sydney, Australia) Henning Muller (HES-SO, Switzerland) Local Organizing Committee Prithviraj (Raj) Dasgupta Zhengxin Chen Peter Wolcott Haifeng Guo Mark Pauley Wikil Kwak Kerry Ward Dhundy (Kiran) Bastola Kate Cooper (publicity) Bettina Lechner (webmaster) BIH Steering Committee Co-chairs Ning Zhong (Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan) Hanchuan Peng (Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA) *** Contact Information *** kdempsey at unomaha.edu MikeH at alleninstitute.org ascoli at gmu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Roland.W.Fleming at psychol.uni-giessen.de Fri Jul 29 07:27:18 2016 From: Roland.W.Fleming at psychol.uni-giessen.de (Roland Fleming) Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2016 13:27:18 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Deadline Extension: PRISM6 Conference on Illumination, Shape and Materials: 19-23 Oct 2016 References: <745A9A0C-588D-4014-B36B-D67BE07637C2@psychol.uni-giessen.de> Message-ID: <50ECED01-00E9-4DBF-B751-5BF6EFF5756A@psychol.uni-giessen.de> SIXTH CONFERENCE ON THE PERCEPTUAL REPRESENTATION OF ILLUMINATION, SHAPE AND MATERIALS (PRISM6) 19th-23rd October 2016, Rauischholzhausen Castle, Germany DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 9th AUG! Applicants are invited to submit an abstract to take part in the 6th (and final) Conference on the Perceptual Representation of Illumination, Shape and Materials. The goal of the meetings is to bring together researchers from different fields to present their latest research related to the perception of shape, shading and materials, and more broadly to discuss important emerging areas at the intersection between psychology, neuroscience, machine learning, computer graphics, industry and design. CONFIRMED PRESENTERS: KEYNOTE: Hidehiko Komatsu (NIPS) Bart Anderson (Sydney) Kavita Bala (Cornell) Pascal Barla (INRIA Bordeaux) Johannes Burge (UPenn) Alexei Efros (UC Berkeley) Jiri Filip (Czech Academy of Sciences) Bill Geisler (UT Austin) Julie Harris (St Andrews) Anya Hurlbert (Newcastle) Peter Janssen (KU Leuven) Bobby Klatzky (Carnegie Mellon) Shin'ya Nishida (NTT Research) Ga?l Obein (LNE-CNAM) Flip Phillips (Skidmore) Sylvia Pont (TU Delft) Holly Rushmeier (Yale) Ohad Ben Shahar (Ben Gurion) Romain Vergne (Grenoble) Greg Ward (Anyhere Software) Andrew Welchman (Cambridge) John Winawer (NYU) Nathan Witthoft (Stanford) Plus industrial perspectives from: Thomas Dauser (Audi) Bill Eibon (PPG) Frank Maile (Schlenk) LOCATION / TRAVEL: Rauischholzhausen Castle (http://schloss.faber-management.de ) is a splendid residence, owned by the University of Giessen, with scenic gardens, creaky spiral staircases and a nice beer cellar. Full board and lodging are included in the price. The closest airport is Frankfurt (FRA), the closest train station is Marburg. We?ll arrange some shuttles directly from the airport, but if you are coming in from Marburg, we recommend just catching a taxi. Further travel details will be given to participants. On Saturday afternoon, there will a sightseeing trip for visitors. APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Participation, which includes food board and lodging, costs 750 Euros. To apply, please submit a max 1-page abstract as a PDF or Word File to roland.w.fleming at psychol.uni-giessen.de AND to matteo.valsecchi at gmail.com . The top two abstracts will be asked to present a 15 minute talk, the remaining accepted abstracts will present posters (size A0). The deadline has been extended to 9th August 2016, but please note that place is extremely limited and it is possible that will not be able to accept everyone, so it is better to submit sooner than later. Additional information will be posted in the coming weeks at: http://prism-network.eu/events/prism6-final-conference -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From osporns at indiana.edu Fri Jul 29 11:23:15 2016 From: osporns at indiana.edu (Sporns, Olaf) Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2016 11:23:15 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Network Neuroscience Message-ID: *Announcing a new open-access journal published by MIT Press: Network Neuroscience* http://www.mitpressjournals.org/netn *CALL FOR PAPERS* *Network Neuroscience *aims to publish innovative scientific work that significantly advances our understanding of *network organization and function in the brain across all scales, from molecules and neurons to circuits and systems.* Positioned at the intersection of brain and network sciences, the journal covers empirical and computational studies that record, analyze or model relational data capturing connections and interactions among elements of neurobiological systems. Examples include neuronal signaling and information flow in circuits, patterns of functional connectivity recorded with electrophysiological or imaging methodology, studies of anatomical connections among neurons and brain regions, and interactions among biomolecules or genes. The journal aims to cover studies carried out in all neurobiological systems and all species, including humans. Articles addressing developmental, evolutionary, social and clinical/translational aspects of neurobiological networks as well as articles describing significant new network data, tools and methods are welcome. Network Neuroscience will publish *Research, Methods, Data, Review and Perspective Articles*. Editor: Olaf Sporns (Indiana University, USA) ? Senior Editors: Danielle Bassett (University of Pennsylvania, USA), Ed Bullmore (University of Cambridge, UK), Alex Fornito (Monash University, Australia), Dan Geschwind (UCLA, USA), Claus Hilgetag (UMC Hamburg Eppendorf, Germany) *OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS (single pdf upload) - AUGUST 1, 2016* -- Olaf Sporns -- @spornslab Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Programs in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47405 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terry at salk.edu Sat Jul 30 11:48:48 2016 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2016 08:48:48 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION - August 1, 2016 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Neural Computation - Volume 28, Number 8 - August 1, 2016 Available online for download now: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/neco/28/8 ----- Article Scalable Semi-supervised Functional Neurocartography Reveals Canonical Neurons in Behavioral Networks Edward Paxon Frady, Ashish Kapoor, Eric Horvitz, and William B. Kristan, Jr. Note The Leaky Integrator with Recurrent Inhibition as a Predictor Henning U. Voss Letters Bayesian Inference and Online Learning in Poisson Neuronal Networks Yanping Huang, Rajesh P.N. Rao Asymmetry of Neuronal Combinatorial Codes Arises From Minimizing Synaptic Weight Change Christian Leibold, Mauro M. Monsalve-Mercado Clique Based Neural Associative Memories with Local Coding and Pre-Coding Asieh Abolpour Mofrad, Phd, Matthew G. Parker, Zahra Ferdosi, and Mohammad H. Tadayon Hermite Functional Link Neural Network For Solving the Van der Pol-Duffing Oscillator Equation Susmita Mall, S. Chakraverty Optimal Curiosity-Driven Modular Incremental Slow Feature Analysis Varun Raj Kompella, Matthew Luciw, Marijn Frederik Stollenga, and Jurgen Schmidhuber A Quasi-likelihood Approach to Non-negative Matrix Factorization Karthik Devarajan, Vincent Chi-Kwan Cheung Credible Intervals for Precision and Recall Based on a K-fold Cross-validated Beta Distribution Wang Yu, Li Jihong ------------ 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 pablo.varona at uam.es Sat Jul 30 16:27:05 2016 From: pablo.varona at uam.es (Pablo Varona) Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2016 22:27:05 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Two PhD positions in closed-loop neural information processing Message-ID: Dear colleagues, Two doctoral positions are available at the Biological Neurocomputation Group, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. The research will focus on novel experimental protocols in neuroscience assessing closed-loop information processing. We seek two highly motivated PhD students with a Master's degree at the time of the formalization of the contracts in one of the following (or related) disciplines: computer science, biology, physics, engineering, prosthetics, etc. The first position is available starting October 1st 2016. This position is focused to develop real-time software for neural close-loop interactions. Advanced programming skills are required for this position. Prior experience in real-time software programming will be valuable. Enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research is required. The second position has a mixed experimental and modeling focus and is available starting January 1st 2017. Prior experience in the fields of /in vitro/ electrophysiological recordings, dynamic clamp, EEG, neuroimaging, or computational neuroscience will be valuable. Enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research is required. How to apply: The application deadline for the two positions is September, 15h 2016. Interested candidates, please send CV and two reference letters (including contact information) to gnbuam at gmail.com http://www.ii.uam.es/~pvarona http://www.ii.uam.es/~gnb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From morr9 at vbi.vt.edu Sun Jul 31 22:39:04 2016 From: morr9 at vbi.vt.edu (Mark Orr) Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2016 22:39:04 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: 9th Intl Conf. on Agents and AI - ICAART Submission Deadline Oct. 4th Message-ID: <3ADA4675-9421-4CD2-AE1B-D62DBFFFED34@vbi.vt.edu> Hi All, The submission deadline for the 9th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence is coming up. See below. UPCOMING DEADLINES Regular Paper Submission: October 4, 2016 Regular Paper Authors Notification: November 28, 2016 Regular Paper Camera Ready and Registration: December 13, 2016 The purpose of the International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence is to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the theory and applications in the areas of Agents and Artificial Intelligence. Two simultaneous related tracks will be held, covering both applications and current research work. One track focuses on Agents, Multi-Agent Systems and Software Platforms, Distributed Problem Solving and Distributed AI in general. The other track focuses mainly on Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Representation, Planning, Learning, Scheduling, Perception Reactive AI Systems, and Evolutionary Computing and other topics related to Intelligent Systems and Computational Intelligence. See conference website at: http://www.icaart.org ------------------------------------------------------- Mark Orr Research Associate Professor Social and Decision Analytics Laboratory Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech 900 North Glebe Rd. Arlington, VA 22203 p: 571-858-3116 f: 571-858-3015 morr9 at vbi.vt.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dwang at cse.ohio-state.edu Sun Jul 31 21:23:44 2016 From: dwang at cse.ohio-state.edu (DeLiang Wang) Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2016 21:23:44 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL NETWORKS, August 2016 Message-ID: <63688cb4-01ea-a0ed-1977-a6029b413411@cse.ohio-state.edu> Neural Networks - Volume 80, August 2016 http://www.journals.elsevier.com/neural-networks Generating action descriptions from statistically integrated representations of human motions and sentences Wataru Takano, Ikuo Kusajima, Yoshihiko Nakamura A swarm-trained k-nearest prototypes adaptive classifier with automatic feature selection for interval data Telmo M. Silva Filho, Renata M.C.R. Souza, Ricardo B.C. Prudencio Distributed semi-supervised support vector machines Simone Scardapane, Roberto Fierimonte, Paolo Di Lorenzo, Massimo Panella, Aurelio Uncini Binary classification SVM-based algorithms with interval-valued training data using triangular and Epanechnikov kernels Lev V. Utkin, Anatoly I. Chekh, Yulia A. Zhuk Meta-cognitive online sequential extreme learning machine for imbalanced and concept-drifting data classification Bilal Mirza, Zhiping Lin Global exponential stability for switched memristive neural networks with time-varying delays Youming Xin, Yuxia Li, Zunshui Cheng, Xia Huang MIMO transmit scheme based on morphological perceptron with competitive learning Raul Ambrozio Valente, Taufik Abrao Synthesis of recurrent neural networks for dynamical system simulation Adam P. Trischler, Gabriele M.T. D'Eleuterio Parsimonious kernel extreme learning machine in primal via Cholesky factorization Yong-Ping Zhao A recurrent neural network for adaptive beamforming and array correction Hangjun Che, Chuandong Li, Xing He, Tingwen Huang