Boston University - Cognitive & Neural Systems

[BU CNS]

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                                         DEPARTMENT OF 
                        COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS (CNS) 
                                 AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

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Ennio Mingolla, Acting Chairman, 1995-96 Stephen Grossberg,
Chairman Gail A. Carpenter, Director of Graduate Studies

The Boston University Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
offers comprehensive graduate training in the neural and
computational principles, mechanisms, and architectures that
underlie human and animal behavior, and the application of
neural network architectures to the solution of technological
problems.

Applications for Fall, 1996, admission and financial aid are now
being accepted for both the MA and PhD degree programs.

To obtain a brochure describing the CNS Program and a set of
application materials, write, telephone, or fax:

DEPARTMENT OF COGNITIVE & NEURAL SYSTEMS 
Boston University 
111 Cummington Street, 2nd Floor      (ON OR AFTER 10/30/95, PLEASE ADDRESS 
Boston, MA 02215                         MAIL TO 677 BEACON STREET)

617/353-9481 (phone) 
617/353-7755 (fax)

or send via email your full name and mailing address to:

rll at cns.bu.edu

Applications for admission and financial aid should be received
by the Graduate School Admissions Office no later than January
15.  Late applications will be considered until May 1; after
that date applications will be considered only as special cases.

Applicants are required to submit undergraduate (and, if
applicable, graduate) transcripts, three letters of
recommendation, and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores.
The Advanced Test should be in the candidate's area of
departmental specialization. GRE scores may be waived for MA
candidates and, in exceptional cases, for PhD candidates, but
absence of these scores may decrease an applicant's chances for
admission and financial aid.

Non-degree students may also enroll in CNS courses on a
part-time basis.

Description of the CNS Department:

The Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems (CNS) provides
advanced training and research experience for graduate students
interested in the neural and computational principles,
mechanisms, and architectures that underlie human and animal
behavior, and the application of neural network architectures to
the solution of technological problems. Students are trained in
a broad range of areas concerning cognitive and neural systems,
including vision and image processing; speech and language
understanding; adaptive pattern recognition; cognitive
information processing; self-organization; associative learning
and long-term memory; computational neuroscience; nerve cell
biophysics; cooperative and competitive network dynamics and
short-term memory; reinforcement, motivation, and attention;
adaptive sensory-motor control and robotics; active vision; and
biological rhythms; as well as the mathematical and
computational methods needed to support advanced modeling
research and applications. The CNS Department awards MA, PhD,
and BA/MA degrees.

The CNS Department embodies a number of unique offerings. It has
developed a curriculum that features 15 interdisciplinary graduate
courses each of which integrates the psychological,
neurobiological, mathematical, and computational information
needed to theoretically investigate fundamental issues
concerning mind and brain processes and the applications of
neural networks to technology.  Each course is typically taught
once a week in the evening to make the program available to
qualified students, including working professionals, throughout
the Boston area.  Nine additional research course are also
offered.  In these courses, one or two students meet regularly
with one or two professors to pursue advanced reading and
collaborative research.  Students develop a coherent area of
expertise by designing a program that includes courses in areas
such as Biology, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and
Psychology, in addition to courses in the CNS Department.

The CNS Department prepares students for PhD thesis research
with scientists in one of several Boston University research
centers or groups, and with Boston-area scientists collaborating
with these centers. The unit most closely linked to the
department is the Center for Adaptive Systems (CAS). Students
interested in neural network hardware work with researchers in
CNS, the College of Engineering, and at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
Other research resources include distinguished research groups
in neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, and neuropharmacology at the
Medical School and the Charles River campus; in sensory
robotics, biomedical engineering, computer and systems
engineering, and neuromuscular research within the Engineering
School; in dynamical systems within the Mathematics Department;
in theoretical computer science within the Computer Science
Department; and in biophysics and computational physics within
the Physics Department.

In addition to its basic research and training program, the
Department offers a colloquium series, seminars, conferences,
and special interest groups which bring many additional
scientists from both experimental and theoretical disciplines
into contact with the students.

The CNS Department is moving in October, 1995 into its own new
four-story building, which features a full range of offices, 
laboratories, classrooms, library, lounge, and related facilities
for exclusive CNS use.

1995-96 CAS MEMBERS and CNS FACULTY:

Jelle Atema
Professor of Biology
Director, Boston University Marine Program (BUMP) 
PhD, University of Michigan 
Sensory physiology and behavior

Aijaz Baloch 
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Electrical Engineering, Boston University 
Neural modeling of role of visual attention of 
recognition, learning and motor control, computational 
vision, adaptive control systems, reinforcement learning

Helen Barbas 
Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University 
PhD, Physiology/Neurophysiology, McGill University 
Organization of the prefrontal cortex, evolution of the neocortex

Jacob Beck 
Research Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Psychology, Cornell University 
Visual Perception, Psychophysics, Computational Models

Daniel H. Bullock 
Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Psychology 
PhD, Psychology, Stanford University
Real-time neural systems, sensory-motor learning and control,
evolution of intelligence, cognitive development

Gail A. Carpenter 
Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Mathematics 
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
PhD, Mathematics, University of Wisconsin, Madison 
Pattern recognition, categorization, machine learning, differential equations

Laird Cermak 
Professor of Neuropsychology, School of Medicine 
Professor of Occupational Therapy, Sargent College 
Director, Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston Veterans Affairs
Medical Center 
PhD, Ohio State University

Michael A. Cohen 
Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Computer Science 
Director, CAS/CNS Computation Labs
PhD, Psychology, Harvard University 
Speech and language processing, measurement theory, neural modeling, dynamical
systems

H. Steven Colburn 
Professor of Biomedical Engineering 
PhD, Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Audition, binaural interaction, signal processing models of hearing

William D. Eldred III 
Associate Professor of Biology
BS, University of Colorado; PhD, University of Colorado, Health Science Center 
Visual neural biology

Paolo Gaudiano 
Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University
Computational and neural models of vision and adaptive sensory-motor control

Jean Berko Gleason 
Professor of Psychology AB, Radcliffe College; AM, PhD, Harvard University 
Psycholinguistics

Douglas Greve 
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University

Stephen Grossberg 
Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Professor of Mathematics, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering
Director, Center for Adaptive Systems 
Chairman, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
PhD, Mathematics, Rockefeller University 
Theoretical biology, theoretical psychology, dynamical systems, applied
mathematics

Frank Guenther 
Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University
Biological sensory-motor control, spatial representation, speech production

Thomas G. Kincaid 
Chairman and Professor of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering,
College of Engineering 
PhD, Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
Signal and image processing, neural networks, non-destructive testing

Nancy Kopell 
Professor of Mathematics 
PhD, Mathematics, University of California at Berkeley 
Dynamical systems, mathematical physiology, pattern formation in
biological/physical systems

Ennio Mingolla
Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Psychology 
Acting Chairman 1995-96, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Psychology, University of Connecticut 
Visual perception, mathematical modeling of visual processes

Alan Peters 
Chairman and Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine 
PhD, Zoology, Bristol University, United Kingdom 
Organization of neurons in the cerebral cortex, effects of aging on 
the primate brain, fine structure of the nervous system

Andrzej Przybyszewski 
Senior Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
MSc, Technical Warsaw University; MA, University of Warsaw; 
PhD, Warsaw Medical Academy

Adam Reeves
Adjunct Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Professor of Psychology, Northeastern University 
PhD, Psychology, City University of New York 
Psychophysics, cognitive psychology, vision

William Ross 
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
BSc, Cornell University; MA, PhD, Boston University

Mark Rubin 
Research Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
Research Physicist, Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, CA (on leave) 
PhD, Physics, University of Chicago 
Neural networks for vision, pattern recognition, and motor control

Robert Savoy 
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
Scientist, Rowland Institute for Science 
PhD, Experimental Psychology, Harvard University 
Computational neuroscience; visual psychophysics of color, form, and motion
perception

Eric Schwartz 
Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems; Electrical, Computer and Systems 
Engineering; and Anatomy and Neurobiology 
PhD, High Energy Physics, Columbia University 
Computational neuroscience, machine vision, neuroanatomy, neural modeling

Robert Sekuler 
Adjunct Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, 
BioMolecular Engineering Research Center 
Jesse and Louis Salvage Professor of Psychology, Brandeis University 
AB,MA, Brandeis University; Sc.M., PhD, Brown University

Allen Waxman 
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
Senior Staff Scientist, MIT Lincoln Laboratory 
PhD, Astrophysics, University of Chicago 
Visual system modeling, mobile robotic systems, parallel computing,
optoelectronic
hybrid architectures

James Williamson 
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University
Image processing and object recognition.  Particular interests are:
dynamic binding, 
self-organization, shape representation, and classification

Jeremy Wolfe 
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems 
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School 
Psychophysicist, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Surgery Dept. 
Director of Psychophysical Studies, Center for Clinical Cataract Research 
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology