Connectionists: Postdoctoral positions in retinal population coding

[liam@stat.columbia.edu]

Apologies for the cross-posting.

Full-time postdoctoral positions are available for collaborative research in 
computational modeling of the neural coding properties of populations of cells 
in primate retina. This is a three-way collaboration between the laboratories 
of Liam Paninski (http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~liam/), Eero Simoncelli 
(http://www.cns.nyu.edu/~lcv/), and E.J. Chichilnisky 
(http://www.snl-e.salk.edu/).

Examples of previous related publications include:

- Prediction and decoding of retinal responses with a probabilistic spiking model
J W Pillow, L Paninski, V J Uzell, E P Simoncelli, and EJ Chichilnisky.
Journal of Neuroscience, 25(47):11003-11013, 23 Nov 2005.
http://www.cns.nyu.edu/~lcv/ABSTRACTS/pillow05-abstract.html

- Statistical models for neural encoding, decoding, and optimal stimulus design
L Paninski, J W Pillow, and J Lewi.
To appear in Computational Neuroscience: Progress in Brain Research, eds. P 
Cisek, T Drew and J Kalaska.
http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~liam/research/abstracts/pbr-abs.html

Requirements: The work is highly interdisciplinary, and applicants must have 
strong mathematical and computational skills. Preferred educational background 
is a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Statistics, Physics, or Applied 
Mathematics. Previous experience with signal/image processing, statistical 
modeling, machine learning, and/or computational neuroscience is highly 
desirable.

Environment: The computational aspects of the work will be carried out in two 
locations:

- the Paninski group at Columbia University, based in the Statistics department 
(http://www.stat.columbia.edu/) and the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience 
(http://www.neurotheory.columbia.edu/)

- the Simoncelli group at New York University, based in the Center for Neural 
Science (http://www.cns.nyu.edu/), with connections to the Courant Institute of 
Mathematical Sciences (http://www.cims.nyu.edu/).

Appointments: Initial appointments are for one year, and are renewable. 
Salaries will be covered by an NIH grant for Collaborative Research in 
Computational Neuroscience, and will be set based on experience and skills.

Applicants should send email to Eero Simoncelli and/or Liam Paninski (email 
addresses on web pages given above) providing:

- a one-page description of research interests and goals
- a resume of educational and research experience, including publications
- names of at least two people that could provide letters of reference

All materials should be in Acrobat (pdf) or plain text (no MS Word documents, 
please), and may be included as a URL, or as an email attachment.