From springschool at rug.nl Thu Dec 4 08:06:44 2025 From: springschool at rug.nl (Spring School, FA) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2025 14:06:44 +0100 Subject: [ACT-R-users] Eighth Groningen Spring School on Cognitive Modeling Message-ID: ? ACT-R, Nengo, PRIMs, Neuromorphic Intelligence ? Date: *30 March-2 April 2026* Location: *Groningen, the Netherlands* Fee: *? 305 (late fee after February 28 will be ? 355)* More information and registration: www.ai.rug.nl/springschool/ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Dear colleagues and students, We are excited to announce the *Eighth Spring School on Cognitive Modeling in Groningen, from 30 March-2 April 2026!* The Spring School will cover four different modeling paradigms: ACT-R, Nengo, PRIMs, and for the first time Neuromorphic Intelligence! Each of these topics consists of a series of lectures, as well as a number of hands-on exercises (tutorials). *Highlights* - ACT-R, Nengo, PRIMS, Neuromorphic Intelligence all in one place! - A deep immersion through *hands-on-tutorials* and *lectures* in one modeling paradigm - Guest Lectures - Poster Session - Dinner - Fun! We recommend focusing primarily on one modeling paradigm with lectures and hands-on-tutorials. You can choose a second modeling paradigm and attend just the lectures. Of course, you are free to budget your time more or less as you wish, but past experience has found this to be the most fruitful for students. To give students a broader picture of the field, there will be a special session ?Cognitive Modelling in Action?, which will present practical applications of different modelling paradigms and give a taster of modelling approaches not covered in the four main tracks. There will also be two guest lectures. Participants are encouraged to attend both of these events. To kick off the program, there will be a poster session, where students present themselves and their research. We will also get some time together outside of lectures with a city tour and our traditional spring school dinner! *Registration for the Spring School is now open. **Registration closes on March 23. The early registration deadline ends February 28.* Please feel free to forward the information to anyone who might be interested in the Spring School. We are looking forward to welcoming you (again) in Groningen, The Spring School team springschool at rug.nl ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? *ACT-R *Teachers: Jelmer Borst & Stephen Jones (University of Groningen) Website: http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/ ACT-R is a high-level cognitive theory and simulation system for developing cognitive models for tasks that vary from simple reaction time experiments to driving a car, learning algebra, and air traffic control. ACT-R can be used to develop process models of a task at a symbolic level. Participants will follow a compressed five-day version of the traditional summer school curriculum. We will also cover the connection between ACT-R and fMRI. *Nengo * Teacher: Terry Stewart (University of Waterloo) Website: http://www.nengo.ca Nengo is a toolkit for converting high-level cognitive theories into low-level spiking neuron implementations. In this way, aspects of model performance such as response accuracy and reaction times emerge as a consequence of neural parameters such as the neurotransmitter time constants. It has been used to model adaptive motor control, visual attention, serial list memory, reinforcement learning, Tower of Hanoi, and fluid intelligence. Participants will learn to construct these kinds of models, starting with generic tasks like representing values and positions, and ending with full production-like systems. There will also be special emphasis on extracting various forms of data out of a model, such that it can be compared to experimental data. *PRIMs * Teacher: Niels Taatgen (University of Groningen) Website: https://www.ai.rug.nl/~niels/prims/index.html How do people handle and prioritize multiple tasks? How can we learn something in the context of one task, and partially benefit from it in another task? The goal of PRIMs is to cross the artificial boundary that most cognitive architectures have imposed on themselves by studying single tasks. It has mechanisms to model transfer of cognitive skills, and the competition between multiple goals. In the tutorial we will look at how PRIMs can model phenomena of cognitive transfer and cognitive training, and how multiple goals compete for priority in models of distraction. *Neuromorphic Intelligence*Teachers: Giacomo Indiveri (University of Z?rich) & Elisabetta Chicca (University of Groningen) Websites: https://www.ini.uzh.ch/en/research/groups/ncs.html & https://www.rug.nl/research/zernike/bio-inspired-circuits-and-systems/chicca-group/ For the first time, the brand new course *Neuromorphic intelligence using asynchronous mixed-signal neural processing systems* will be part of the Cognitive Modeling Spring School! More details will be announced soon on our website . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From madeleine.bartlett at uwaterloo.ca Tue Dec 9 09:02:07 2025 From: madeleine.bartlett at uwaterloo.ca (Madeleine Bartlett) Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2025 14:02:07 +0000 Subject: [ACT-R-users] [Meetings] Deadline reminder: 2026 Nengo Summer School Call For Applications Message-ID: Dear colleagues, Please note that the deadline for application submission to the Nengo Summer School, December 22nd, 2025, is approaching. For those of you still writing your proposals, we will be hosting a drop-in information session (virtual) Friday, December 12, 2025 at 2PM EST. Please register here. All details about this school can be found online at https://www.nengo.ai/summer-school Date and Location: May 31st to June 12th, 2026 at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Applications: Please visit http://www.nengo.ai/summer-school, where you can find more information regarding costs, travel, lodging, along with an application form listing required materials. If you have any questions about the school or the application process, please contact: Maddy Bartlett: madeleine.bartlett at uwaterloo.ca Kathryn Simone: kpsimone at uwaterloo.ca The school is partly supported by ABR, Inc. We look forward to hearing from you! Maddy ?she/her Postdoctoral Fellow University of Waterloo email: m2bartle at uwaterloo.ca -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kathryn.simone at uwaterloo.ca Mon Dec 22 08:09:24 2025 From: kathryn.simone at uwaterloo.ca (Kathryn Simone) Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:09:24 +0000 Subject: [ACT-R-users] Application Deadline EXTENDED: Nengo Summer School 2026 Message-ID: Dear colleagues, The deadline for application to the 2026 Nengo Summer School has been extended to 15 January, 2026 Anywhere On Earth. All details about this school can be found online at https://www.nengo.ai/summer-school The Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo is excited to announce our 11th annual Nengo summer school on large-scale brain modelling and neuromorphic computing. This two-week school will teach participants to use the Nengo simulation package to build state-of-the-art cognitive and neural models to run both in simulation and on neuromorphic hardware. Summer school participants will be given on-site access to neuromorphic hardware and will learn to run high-level applications using Nengo! More generally, Nengo provides users with a versatile and powerful environment for designing cognitive and neural systems and has been used to build what is currently the world's largest functional brain model, Spaun, which includes spiking deep learning, reinforcement learning, adaptive motor control, and cognitive control networks. For a look at the last in-person summer school, check out this short video: https://youtu.be/hHwIryt053M?si=N70eVlC3Sm_2sDy5 We welcome applications from all interested graduate students, postdocs, professors, and industry professionals with a relevant background. Application Deadline EXTENDED: January 15th, 2026 Format: A combination of tutorials and project-based work. Participants are encouraged to bring their own ideas for projects, which may focus on testing hypotheses, creating models to account for neural or cognitive data, implementing specific behavioural functions with neurons, expanding past models, or providing a proof-of-concept of various neural mechanisms. Hands-on tutorials, individual or group projects, and talks from invited faculty members will make up the bulk of day-to-day activities. A project demonstration event will be held on the last day of the school, with prizes for strong projects! * Participants will have the opportunity to learn how to: * interface Nengo with various kinds of neuromorphic hardware (e.g. BrainDrop, SpiNNaker) * build perceptual, motor, and sophisticated cognitive models using spiking neurons * build models to account for anatomical, electrophysiological, cognitive, and behavioural data * use a variety of single cell models within a large-scale model * integrate machine learning methods into biologically oriented models * interface Nengo with cameras and robotic systems * implement modern nonlinear control methods in neural models * neurally implement vector symbolic architecture algorithms * and much more? Date and Location: May 31st to June 12th, 2026 at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Applications: Please visit http://www.nengo.ai/summer-school, where you can find more information regarding costs, travel, lodging, along with an application form listing required materials. If you have any questions about the school or the application process, please contact: Madeleine Bartlett: madeleine.bartlett at uwaterloo.ca Kathryn Simone: kpsimone at uwaterloo.ca The school is partly supported by ABR, Inc. We look forward to hearing from you! Kathryn Simone, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Neuroscience Research Group Department of Systems Design Engineering University of Waterloo -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: