Grad Training - BU Cognitive & Neural Systems

[CAS/CNS]

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GRADUATE TRAINING IN THE 
DEPARTMENT OF COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS (CNS) 
AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

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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, 1997, 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 AND NEURAL SYSTEMS 
Boston University
677 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215

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

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

rll at cns.bu.edu  (Ms. Robin L. Locke)

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.

Stephen Grossberg, Chairman 
Gail A. Carpenter, Director of Graduate Studies

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 outstanding 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; cooperative and competitive
network dynamics and short-term memory; reinforcement,
motivation, and attention; adaptive sensory-motor control and
robotics; 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 features. It has
developed a curriculum that consists of 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. Additional advanced courses,
including research seminars, are also offered. Each course is
typically taught once a week in the afternoon or evening to make
the program available to qualified students, including working
professionals, throughout the Boston area. 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
curriculum.

The CNS Department prepares students for 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.  Students interested in neural
network hardware work with researchers in CNS, at 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 conducts a seminar series, as well as conferences and
symposia, which bring together distinguished scientists from
both experimental and theoretical disciplines.

The department is housed in its own new four story building which
includes ample space for faculty and student offices and
laboratories, as well as an auditorium, classroom and seminar
rooms, library, and faculty-student lounge.

1996-97 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
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
Memory disorders

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
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 robotics, vision, adaptive
sensory-motor control, and behavioral neurobiology

Jean Berko Gleason 
Professor of Psychology 
PhD, Harvard University 
Psycholinguistics

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

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 
Professor of Electrical, Computer and Systems 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 
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 
PhD, Warsaw Medical Academy
Retinal physiology, mathematical and computer modeling of
dynamical properties of neurons in the visual system

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

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 
Sc.M., PhD, Brown University

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham
Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Psychoacoustics, audition, auditory localization, binaural hearing,
sensorimotor adaptation, mathematical models of human performance

Takeo Watanabe
Assistant Professor of Psychology
PhD, Behavioral Sciences, University of Tokyo
Perception of objects and motion and effects of attention on perception
using psychophysics and brain imaging (f-MRI)

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
Visual search

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DEPARTMENT OF COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS GRADUATE TRAINING ANNOUNCEMENT

Boston University
677 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215

Phone: 617/353-9481 
Fax:   617/353-7755 
Email: rll at cns.bu.edu 

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