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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">******************************************<br>
INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLEGE 2016 SPRING SCHOOL: <br>
Transitions and Transformations in Cognition,<br>
Biology and Interactive Systems<br>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><br>
Dates: March 4-11, 2016<br>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Location: Günne at Lake Möhne, Germany</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Website: <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.interdisciplinary-college.de"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.interdisciplinary-college.de">http://www.interdisciplinary-college.de</a></a><br>
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<br>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">=== THE SCHOOL ===<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">The Interdisciplinary College (IK) is
an intense annual one-week spring school, offering a dense
state-of-the-art program in neurobiology, neural computation,
cognitive science and psychology, artificial intelligence,
robotics and philosophy. It provides a unique training opportunity
for students, postgraduates and researchers, from academia and
industry. The courses and discussions combine perspectives from
the sciences and technology with those from philosophy and the
humanities, to promote dialogue and connectedness between the
various disciplines. The IK courses are taught by top lecturers
from all over the world; all courses are offered in English. The
course sequence begins with introductory lectures on the main
fields of the IK, followed by a series of in-depth lectures on the
focus topics for each year. Each year’s program also includes
special lectures, which connect between focal topics and the arts,
including music, collective movement and dance.</p>
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<br>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">=== THE FOCAL TOPIC: TRANSITIONS AND
TRANSFORMATIONS IN COGNITION, BIOLOGY AND INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS ===<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Both biological and artificial systems
are built around collections of individual units, which create a
network of interacting parts. In these dynamically interacting
environments, the system as a whole becomes more than the sum of
its parts. Such systems often undergo transitions and
transformations, defining changes in the fundamental character of
that entity. Organisms undergo natural processes of change linked
to age and development, as they grow from juvenile to adult, and
continue into seniority. Neural and cognitive processes also
dynamically change across different time scales, as we age and as
we respond to the immediate world around us. Transitional and
transformational processes additionally occur on across levels of
organization, from the self-organization of cells and the
emergence of life; to the transformations of groups of individuals
into cooperative societies; from groups of cells into
multicellularity. These transformations are fundamental to how
biological systems are defined.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">In parallel with the natural world,
artificial systems also act and interact over different time
scales, and across levels of complexity. To function in real world
environments, artificial systems (like natural systems) must adapt
to change. The Interdisciplinary College 2016 will consider
Transitions and Transformations in Cognition, Biology and
Interactive Systems from diverse perspectives across the natural
and AI worlds. <br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">The taught courses will present
research insights and discussion to address questions such as:</p>
- When does a group of cells become an organism, or a group of
organisms become a society?<br>
- Can artificial systems of collective subunits self-organize into a
group with defined purpose?<br>
- How do natural systems survive and adapt to changing external
environments?<br>
- What do we need to capture from a computing perspective to
duplicate natural transformations?<br>
- How do humans change in individual and social function as they
age?<br>
- What processes drive cell growth, death, and cooperation, during
organismal or neural development?<br>
- Can cancer cells cheat cooperation and death to become immortal?<br>
- How do social groups change through life and into death, and can
groups become immortal?<br>
<br>
<br>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">=== Registration Deadlines ===<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Early-bird registration deadline:
January 9, 2016<br>
Regular registration deadline: February 14, 2016<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Registration website: <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.interdisciplinary-college.de/registration"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.interdisciplinary-college.de/registration">http://www.interdisciplinary-college.de/registration</a></a></p>
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