From fhamker at uni-muenster.de Thu Feb 2 07:10:52 2012 From: fhamker at uni-muenster.de (Fred Hamker) Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 13:10:52 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD or Post-Doc Position for modeling object recognition and masking Message-ID: A PhD (E 13 TV-L, 65%) or postdoctoral (E 13 TV-L) position is available at the Technical University of Chemnitz (Germany) in the Department of Computer Science. The position is funded initially for two years, which is renewable pending availability of future funds. Starting date is Mai 2012 or later. The research position is part of the research network ?Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception? (http://www.uni-ulm.de/unbewusst/index.htm). In this project we aim to build neural models of learning object recognition in the human brain and elucidate the role of reentrant processing for visual masking and stimulus encoding. Among other scientists in the network, we will cooperate with Niko Busch in the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, who will perform experimental studies of visual masking. The candidate should have interest in developing neurocomputational systems and learning rules, particularly with respect to data in the neurosciences and psychology. Good programming experience and solid english language skills are essential. The university is an equal opportunity employer. Women are encouraged to apply. Disabled applicants will receive priority in case they have equal qualifications. Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the state of Saxony and close to scenic mountains. Major cities nearby are Leipzig and Dresden with a rich tradition of music and culture. Applications should be sent by email (preferably in PDF format) to (fred.hamker at informatik.tu-chemnitz.de) as soon as possible. Applications shall be sent by March 1st, but later applications will be considered until the position is filled. -------------------- Prof. Dr. Fred H Hamker Artificial Intelligence & Neuro Cognitive Systems Department of Computer Science Chemnitz University of Technology Strasse der Nationen 62 D - 09107 Chemnitz Germany Tel: +49 (0)371 531-37875 Fax: +49 (0)371 531-25739 email: fred.hamker at informatik.tu-chemnitz.de www: http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/informatik/KI/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120202/97719e90/attachment-0001.html From minaiaa at gmail.com Wed Feb 1 09:03:20 2012 From: minaiaa at gmail.com (Ali Minai) Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 09:03:20 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Abstracts: IJCNN 2012 (2012 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks) Message-ID: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Neuroscience & Neurocognition 2012 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN 2012) Brisbane, Australia June 10-15, 2012 Following the successful experience of IJCNN11, abstract submissions are invited for a special Neuroscience and Neurocognition Track at IJCNN 2012. Abstracts must focus on areas broadly related to neurobiology, cognitive science and systems biology, including - but not limited to - the following: ? Theory & models of biological neural networks. ? Computational neuroscience. ? Computational models of perception, cognition and behavior. ? Models of learning and memory in the brain. ? Brain-machine interfaces and neural prostheses. ? Brain-inspired cognitive models. ? Neuroinformatics. ? Neuroevolution and development. ? Models of neurological diseases and treatments. ? Systems and computational biology Recognizing that some of the most exciting current research in neural networks is being done by researchers in neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, and systems biology, the abstracts program seeks participation from the broader community of scientists in these areas by offering an accessible forum for the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas. It will also provide researchers - especially doctoral students and postdocs - with an opportunity to showcase ongoing research in advance of its publication in journals. Abstracts can be submitted through the IJCNN 2012 online submission system at: http://ieee-cis.org/conferences/ijcnn2012/upload.php?abstract=1 They must be no longer than 500 words plus as many as 4 bibliographic citations. No figures or tables can be included. Unlike full papers, abstracts will receive only limited review to ensure their appropriateness for IJCNN and consistency with the focus areas of the abstracts program. Authors of accepted abstracts will be guaranteed a poster presentation at the conference after regular registration. Abstracts will not be included in the conference proceedings, but will be published in the IJCNN 2012 program (including the printed conference book) and on-line at the IJCNN 2012 web site along with abstracts of all presentations. Important Dates Abstract Submission : February 1, 2012 - March 15, 2012 Decision Notification : March 20, 2012 Final Submission : April 2, 2012 IJCNN 2012 is part of the 2012 World Congress on Computational Intelligence. For more information on the conference, please visit the conference website: http://www.ieee-wcci2012.org/ For IJCNN inquiries please contact Conference Chair: Cesare Alippi at cesare.alippi at polimi.it For Neuroscience-track inquiries please contact The Neuroscience liaison: Ali Minai at minaiaa at gmail.com -- Ali A. Minai, Ph.D. Professor Complex Adaptive Systems Lab School of Electronic & Computing Systems University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0030 Phone: (513) 556-4783 Fax: (513) 556-7326 Email: Ali.Minai at uc.edu minaiaa at gmail.com WWW: http://www.ece.uc.edu/~aminai/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120201/76193c32/attachment.html From pascal.hitzler at wright.edu Wed Feb 1 15:33:24 2012 From: pascal.hitzler at wright.edu (Pascal Hitzler) Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:33:24 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: CALL FOR PAPERS: 8th International Workshop on Neural-Symbolic Learning and Reasoning (NeSy'12) In-Reply-To: <3A9DCBE6325C3D41B65DAEBDB7AB173303E4C1955E@NSQ161EX.enterprise.internal.city.ac.uk> References: <3A9DCBE6325C3D41B65DAEBDB7AB173303E4C1955E@NSQ161EX.enterprise.internal.city.ac.uk> Message-ID: <4F29A194.10408@wright.edu> CALL FOR PAPERS 8th International Workshop on Neural-Symbolic Learning and Reasoning (NeSy'12) In conjunction with AAAI-12, Toronto, Canada July 22nd or 23rd 2012. Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers continue to face huge challenges in their quest to develop truly intelligent systems. The recent developments in the area of neural-symbolic integration offer an opportunity to combine symbolic AI and robust neural computation to help tackle some of these challenges. The Workshop on Neural-Symbolic Learning and Reasoning attracts researchers and practitioners in the areas of Neural Computation, Artificial Intelligence, Logic, Complex Networks and Cognitive Science. It is intended to create an atmosphere of exchange of ideas, providing a forum for the presentation and discussion of the key multidisciplinary topics related to neural-symbolic integration. Topics of interest include: 1. The representation of symbolic knowledge by sub-symbolic systems; 2. Integrated neural-symbolic approaches to machine learning; 3. Extraction of symbolic knowledge from trained neural networks; 4. Integrated neural-symbolic approaches to human and logical reasoning; 5. Cognitive and biologically-inspired neural-symbolic agents; 6. Integration of logic and probabilities in neural networks; 7. Structured learning and relational learning in neural networks; 8. Applications in robotics, simulation, fraud prevention, semantic web, software engineering, fault diagnosis, verification and validation, bioinformatics, visual intelligence, etc. Keynote Speaker: To be confirmed. Submission You are invited to submit papers through easychair at http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=nesy12. Submitted papers must not have been published elsewhere, must be written in English and should not exceed 6 pages in the case of research and experience papers or 3 pages in the case of position papers (including figures, bibliography and appendices). All submitted papers will be refereed based on their quality, relevance, originality, significance and soundness. Presentation and Participation Accepted papers must be presented during the workshop. The workshop will also include extra time for discussion, allowing the audience to get a better understanding of the issues, challenges and ideas being presented. The workshop is open to all members of the AI community, but the number of attendees may have to be limited. Publication Accepted papers will be published in the AAAI Technical Report series and will be included in the official workshop proceedings. Authors of the best papers will be invited to submit a revised and extended version of their papers to the Journal of Logic and Computation, reasoning and learning corner, Oxford University Press. Important Dates Deadline for paper submission: March 30th, 2012 Notification of acceptance: April 20th, 2012 Camera-ready paper due: May 7th, 2012 Workshop date: July 22nd or 23rd, 2012 AAAI-12 dates: July 22nd to 26th, 2012 Workshop Organisers Artur d'Avila Garcez (City University London, UK) Pascal Hitzler (Wright State University, USA) Luis C. Lamb (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) Additional Information General questions concerning the workshop should be addressed to Artur d'Avila Garcez at aag at soi.city.ac.uk. The workshop webpage (and information about all the previous meetings) is available at http://www.neural-symbolic.org/ -- Prof. Dr. Pascal Hitzler Dept. of Computer Science, Wright State University, Dayton, OH pascal at pascal-hitzler.de http://www.knoesis.org/pascal/ Semantic Web Textbook: http://www.semantic-web-book.org Semantic Web Journal: http://www.semantic-web-journal.net From erik at oist.jp Wed Feb 8 20:46:37 2012 From: erik at oist.jp (Erik De Schutter) Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2012 10:46:37 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course 2012: Applications deadline this Sunday Message-ID: OKINAWA COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE COURSE 2012 Methods, Neurons, Networks and Behaviors June 11 - June 29, 2012. Okinawa, Japan http://www.irp.oist.jp/ocnc/2012 The aim of the Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course is to provide opportunities for young researchers with theoretical backgrounds to learn the latest advances in neuroscience, and for those with experimental backgrounds to have hands-on experience in computational modeling. We invite graduate students and postgraduate researchers to participate in the course, held from June 11th through June 29th, 2012 at an oceanfront seminar house of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University. Applications are through the course web page only; they close February 12th, 2012. Applicants are required to propose a project at the time of application. Applicants will receive confirmation of acceptance in March. Like in preceding years, OCNC will be a comprehensive three-week course covering single neurons, networks, and behaviors with ample time for student projects. The first week will focus exclusively on methods with hands-on tutorials during the afternoons, while the second and third weeks will have lectures by international experts. Students receive individualized tutoring for their projects. We invite those who are interested in integrating experimental and computational approaches at each level, as well as in bridging different levels of complexity. The sponsor will provide lodging and meals during the course and support travel for those without funding. No tuition fee is charged. We hope that this course will be a good opportunity for theoretical and experimental neuroscientists to meet each other and to explore the attractive nature and culture of Okinawa, the southernmost island prefecture of Japan. Invited faculty: ? Abbott, Larry ? Arbuthnott, Gordon ? Bialek, William ? Buzsaki, Gyorgy ? Canavier, Carmen ? De Schutter, Erik ? Diesmann, Markus ? Doya, Kenji ? H?usser, Michael ? Ishii, Shin ? Izhikevich, Eugene ? Kuhn, Bernd ? Lee, Daeyeol ? Marder, Eve ? Stephens, Greg From jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com Thu Feb 9 06:50:09 2012 From: jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com (Jesus Cortes) Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2012 12:50:09 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Two Positions for Young Postdocs, Computational NeuroImaging Message-ID: Technical: We are offering two positions for Young Postdocs. Duration of the positions is 6 months. We are covering 1700EUR per month for allowances (so no contract) plus travelling costs. Due to the short duration of the positions, ideal candidates are young postdocs, who recently defended their PhD Thesis, and that, at this moment they are preparing applications for a first postdoc. So, using any of these 6 months position, applicants achieve a nice transition between finishing the PhD and finding a new position. Interesting to know, Granada University is managing single bed apartments for visitors with independent kitchen and bathroom. They are well located in city center and price is about 700EUR per month. Where: We are located at University of Granada, at the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Granada University, South Spain, is a leading University in Spain. Position 1. Similarity in Causal Graphs from EEG data. Causal Graphs have to be obtained from EEG high-density data (128 electrodes). Data were collected by Eduardo Madrid in the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab in Granada University. We have developed efficient code to compute Causal Graphs from EEG data, based on the measure of Transfer Entropy. The aim of this position is to apply this code to different data sets employing different cognitive tasks. After obtaining different graphs, belonging to same-subject and inter-subjects, we need new methods to quantify the similarities between the different sets of graphs. Requirements to apply: Experience in Matlab and C programming. Knowledge in graphs. Not necessary but advisable knowledge in the processing of EEG data. Position 2. Degradation noise effects in the Bayesian Localization of the EEG Sources This position will be co-supervised in collaboration with Prof. Rafael Molina at the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in Granada University. We want to explore how different assumptions in the nature of the degradation noise affect the Bayesian localization of the EEG sources. Requirements to apply: Experience in Bayesian Inference in Signal Processing. Experience in Matlab. How to apply: Applicants must send by email to Jesus Cortes (jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com) the next 2 docs: 1) one single page CV including: Name, Insitution, PhD Supervisor and best publications (no more than 5). 2) A pdf copy of the PhD Dissertation. Deadline: Last day to receive applications will be Feb 25th, 2012. 5.00pm CET. Selected candidates will be able to start the position about Middle of March 2012. From jpezaris at gmail.com Mon Feb 6 11:03:58 2012 From: jpezaris at gmail.com (John Pezaris) Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 11:03:58 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: AREADNE 2012 -- Call for Abstracts Message-ID: CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT -- and -- CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AREADNE 2012 Research in Encoding and Decoding of Neural Ensembles 21-24 June 2012 Nomikos Conference Center Santorini, Greece http://www.areadne.org info at areadne.org INTRODUCTION One of the fundamental problems in neuroscience today is to understand how the activation of large populations of neurons give rise to higher order functions of the brain including learning, memory, cognition, perception, action and ultimately conscious awareness. Electrophysiological recordings in behaving animals over the past forty years have revealed considerable information about what the firing patterns of single neurons encode in isolation, but it remains largely a mystery how collections of neurons interact to perform these functions. Recent technological advances have provided a glimpse into the global functioning of the brain. These technologies include functional magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging methods including intrinsic, voltage-sensitive dye, and two-photon imaging, high-density electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography, and multi-microelectrode array electrophysiology. These technologies have expanded our knowledge of brain functioning beyond the single neuron level. At the same time, our understanding of how neuronal ensembles carry information has allowed the development of brain-machine interfaces (BMI) to enhance the capabilities of patients with sensory and motor deficits. Knowledge of how neuronal ensembles encode sensory stimuli has made it possible to develop perceptual BMIs for the hearing and visually impaired. Likewise, research in how neuronal ensembles decode motor intentions has resulted in motor BMIs by which people with severe motor disabilities can control external devices. CONFERENCE MISSION First and foremost, this conference is intended to bring scientific leaders from around the world to present their recent findings on the functioning of neuronal ensembles. Second, the meeting will provide an informal yet spectacular setting on Santorini in which attendees can discuss and share ideas outside of the presentations at the conference center. Third, this conference continues our long term project to form a systems neuroscience research institute within Greece to conduct state-of-the-art research, offer meetings and courses, and provide a center for visiting scientists from around the world to interact with Greek researchers and students. FORMAT AND SPEAKERS The conference will span four days, in morning and early evening sessions. Confirmed speakers include experts in the field of multi-neuron experiment, theory, and analysis (in alphabetic order): Dora Angelaki (Baylor College of Medicine) Sliman Bensmaia (U. Chicago) Davi Bock (HHMI Janelia Farm) Emery Brown (MIT) EJ Chichilnisky (Salk Institute) Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor) Michael Dickinson (U. Washington) David Dickman (Baylor College of Medicine) Catherine Dulac (Harvard University) Suzanne Haber (U. Rochester) Michael Hasselmo (Boston University) Peter Latham (UCL) Jean Livet (INSERM) Tirin Moore (Stanford) John O'Keefe (UCL) Leslie Osborne (U. Chicago) Panayiota Poirazi (FORTH / IMBB) Hans Scherberger (DPZ) Elad Schneidman (Weizmann Institute) Idan Segev (Hebrew University) Peter Strick (U. Pittsburgh) Tali Tishby (Hebrew University) CALL FOR ABSTRACTS We are currently soliciting abstracts for poster presentation. Submissions will be accepted electronically, and must be received by 14 March 2012. Automated email acknowledgment of submission will be provided, and manual verification will be made a few days after submission. Notification of acceptance will be provided by 11 April 2012. Please see our on-line Call for Abstracts for additional details and submission templates: http://areadne.org/call-for-abstracts.html ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Nicho Hatsopoulos, Co-Chair John Pezaris, Co-Chair Catherine Ojakangas Yiota Poirazi Thanos Siapas Andreas Tolias FOR FURTHER INFORMATION For further information please see the conference web site http://www.areadne.org or send email to info at areadne.org. -- Dr. J. S. Pezaris AREADNE 2012 Co-Chair Massachusetts General Hospital 55 Fruit Street Boston, MA 02114, USA john at areadne.org From Julien.Mayor at unige.ch Thu Feb 9 05:03:57 2012 From: Julien.Mayor at unige.ch (Julien Mayor) Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:03:57 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Call of abstracts for the 13th Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop Message-ID: <14405084-F4B7-4E67-8FF8-1DE8FC95741D@unige.ch> Dear colleague, We cordially invite you to participate in the Thirtienth Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop (NCPW13) to be held in San Sebastian (Spain) from July 12-14, 2012: http://www.bcbl.eu/events/ncpw13 This well-established and lively workshop aims at bringing together researchers from different disciplines such as artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, neurobiology, philosophy and psychology to discuss their work on models of cognitive processes. Previous themes have encompassed categorisation, language, memory, development, action. There will be no specific theme, but papers must be about emergent models -- frequently, but not necessarily -- of the connectionist/neural network kind, applied to cognition. These workshops have always been characterised by their limited size, high quality papers, the absence of parallel talk sessions, and a schedule that is explicitly designed to encourage interaction among the researchers present in an informal setting. Furthermore, this workshop will feature a unique set of invited speakers: ? Mark Seidenberg. University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. ? Jeffrey Elman. University of California, San Diego. USA. ? Randall C. O'Reilly. University of Colorado. USA. ? Kim Plunkett. University of Oxford, UK. Important dates to remember: Abstract deadline: March 31st, 2012 Notification of abstract acceptance: May 1st, 2012 Early registration deadline: June 1st, 2012 Online registration deadline: July 1st, 2012 Conference dates: July 12 - 14, 2012 Looking forward to your participation, On the behalf of the organizing committee, Julien Mayor --- Julien Mayor University of Geneva 40 Bd Pont d'Arve 1205 Gen?ve Tel: +41 (0)22 3798150 http://www.unige.ch/fapse/psycholinguistique/model.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120209/0f8b3077/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: banner_ncpw13.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 64717 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120209/0f8b3077/banner_ncpw13-0001.jpg From n.lepora at sheffield.ac.uk Thu Feb 9 06:28:03 2012 From: n.lepora at sheffield.ac.uk (Nathan Lepora) Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2012 11:28:03 -0000 Subject: Connectionists: Living Machines 2012: 3rd Call for Papers, deadline 20th February Message-ID: ______________________________________________________________ 3rd Call for Papers for LIVING MACHINES 2012: The First International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems 9th-12th July 2012 La Pedrera, Barcelona, Spain http://csnetwork.eu/conf2012 Proceedings to be published by Springer LNCS **Latest news: Selection of best papers to be invited for inclusion in a special issue of the IOP Science journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics Submission deadline for paper submissions: 20th February 2012 Submit your paper at http://senldogo0039.springer-sbm.com/ocs/home/LM2012 (12th March for Workshop proposals) ______________________________________________________________ ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2012 The development of future real-world technologies will depend strongly on our understanding and harnessing of the principles underlying living systems and the flow of communication signals between living and artificial systems. Biomimetics is the development of novel technologies through the distillation of principles from the study of biological systems. The investigation of biomimetic systems can serve two complementary goals. First, a suitably designed and configured biomimetic artefact can be used to test theories about the natural system of interest. Second, biomimetic technologies can provide useful, elegant and efficient solutions to unsolved challenges in science and engineering. Biohybrid systems are formed by combining at least one biological component-an existing living system-and at least one artificial, newly-engineered component. By passing information in one or both directions, such a system forms a new hybrid bio-artificial entity. The development of either biomimetic or biohybrid systems requires a deep understanding of the operation of living systems, and the two fields are united under the theme of "living machines"-the idea that we can construct artefacts, such as robots, that not only mimic life but share the same fundamental principles; or build technologies that can be combined with a living body to restore or extend its functional capabilities. Biomimetic and biohybrid technologies, from nano- to macro-scale, are expected to produce major societal and economical impacts in quality of life and health, information and communication technologies, robotics, prosthetics, brain-machine interfacing and nanotechnology. Such systems should also lead to significant advances in the biological and brain sciences that will help us to better understand ourselves and the natural world. The following are some examples: . Biomimetic robots and their component technologies (sensors, actuators, processors) that can intelligently interact with their environments. . Active biomimetic materials and structures that self-organize and self-repair. . Biomimetic computers-neuromimetic emulations of the physiological basis for intelligent behaviour. . Biohybrid brain-machine interfaces and neural implants. . Artificial organs and body-parts including sensory organ-chip hybrids and intelligent prostheses. . Organism-level biohybrids such as robot-animal or robot-human systems. ACTIVITIES The main conference, 10th-12th July, will take the form of a three-day single-track oral and poster presentation programme that will include six plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems. The proceedings of the conference will be published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). Submissions will be in the form of full papers or extended abstracts. Submissions are also invited for an exhibition to feature working biomimetic or biohybrid systems and biomimetic/biohybrid art. Active researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems are also invited to propose topics for 1-day tutorials or workshops on related themes, to be held on the 9th July. Plenary speakers are: Joseph Ayers (Northeastern University) on synthetic neuroethology; Dieter Braun (Ludwig Maximilians University) on synthetic life, Peter Fromherz (Max Plank Institute) on neuroelectronic hybrids; Toshio Fukuda (Nagoya University) on micro-nano biomimetic and biohybrid devices; David Lentink (Stanford University) on fluid dynamics of flight; and Barry Trimmer (Tufts University) on soft, invertebrate-inspired robots. ABOUT THE VENUE The organisers are delighted to have secured La Pedrera (www.lapedreraeducacio.org/) as the venue for our conference. La Pedrera, designed by the modernist, nature-inspired Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, is a world heritage site, and one of the best known buildings in Barcelona. The conference will make use of the modern conference facilities provided by the La Pedrera Auditorium, whilst the exhibition will take place in the adjacent Gaudi Hall. La Pedrera is located within the fashionable Eixample district and within walking distance of Barcelona's old city, including the Gotic quarter, the cathedral, and the Playa Catalunya. The workshops/tutorial day will be hosted at the University Pompeu Fabra, Campus Poblenou. SUBMITTING TO LIVING MACHINES 2012 We invite both full papers (12 pages, LNCS format) and extended abstracts (2 pages, LNCS format). All contributions will be refereed. Full papers are invited from researchers at any stage in their career but should present significant findings and advances in biomimetic or biohybid research; more preliminary work would be better suited to extended abstract submission. Full papers will be accepted for either oral presentation (single track) or poster presentation. Extended abstracts will be accepted for poster presentation only. All submissions must be formatted according to Springer LNCS guidelines (http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0). Submissions of papers are invited in, but not limited to, the following topics and related areas. Biomimetics can, in principle, extend to all fields of biological research from physiology and molecular biology to ecology, and from zoology to botany. Promising research areas include system design and structure, self-organization and co-operativity, new biologically active materials, self-assembly and self-repair, learning, memory, control architectures and self-regulation, movement and locomotion, sensory systems, perception, and communication. Biomimetic research, particularly at the nano-scale, should also lead to important advances in component miniaturisation, self-configuration, and energy-efficiency. A key focus of the conference will be on complete behaving systems in the form of biomimetic robots that can operate on different substrates on sea, on land, or in the air. A further central theme will be the physiological basis for intelligent behaviour as explored through neuromimetics-the modelling of neural systems. Exciting emerging topics within this field include the embodiment of neuromimetic controllers in hardware, termed neuromorphics, and within the control architectures of robots, sometimes termed neurorobotics. Biohybrid systems usually involve structures from the nano-scale (molecular) through to the macro-scale (entire organs or body parts). Important implementation examples are: Brain-machine interfaces where neurons and their molecular machineries are connected to microscopic sensors and actuators by means of electrical or chemical communication, either in vitro or in the living organism. Intelligent prostheses such as artificial limbs, wearable exoskeletons, or sensory organ-chip hybrids (such cochlear implants, and artificial retina devices) designed to assist the disabled or elderly, or to aid in rehabilitation from illness. Implantable or portable devices that have been fabricated for monitoring health care or for therapeutic purposes such as artificial implants to control insulin release. Biohybrid systems at the organism level such as robot-animal or robot-human communities. Contributions from biologists, neuroscientists, and theoreticians, that are of direct relevance to the development of future biomimetic or biohybrid devices are also welcome, as are papers considering ethical issues and/or societal impacts arising from the advances made in this field. DEADLINES February 20th 2012. Paper submission deadline March 12th 2012. Workshop and tutorial proposals (but please contact us sooner if possible) April 16th 2012. Notification of acceptance April 30th 2012. Camera ready copy July 9-12th 2012. Conference (9th July is workshops/tutorials) SPONSORSHIP Living Machines 2012 is sponsored by the Convergent Science Network (CSN) for Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems which is an EU FP7 Future Emerging Technologies Co-ordination Activity (FP7-ICT-CSN-248986). CSN currently organises two highly successful workshop series: the Barcelona Summer School on Brain, Technology and Cognition (http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt11/) and the Capoccaccia Neuromorphic Cognitive Engineering Workshop (http://capocaccia.ethz.ch/capo/wiki/2011). The conference is delighted to be associated with the Institute of Physics journal Biomimetics & Bioinspiration who will have a stand at meeting. Other organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products to through conference publications, the conference web-site, and conference publicity are encouraged to contact the conference organisers to discuss the terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements. We are looking forwards to seeing you in Barcelona. Conference Secretariat: info.csnetwork at upf.edu Laboratory Of Synthetic Perceptive, Emotive And Cognitive Systems - SPECS Institute Of Audio-Visual Studies (IUA) Universitat Pompeu Fabra Communication-Poblenou Campus (La Nau Building) Postal address: Roc Boronat, 138. 08018 Barcelona Phone: (34) 93 542 22 01 Fax: (34) 93 542 22 02 Organising Committee: Tony Prescott (co-chair) Paul Verschure (co-chair) Giacomo Indiveri Stefano Vassanelli Ian Gwilt Carme Buisan Nathan Lepora Anna Mura Programme Committee Andy Adamatzky, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK Robert Allan, Southampton University. UK Joseph Ayers, Northeastern University, USA Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Jet Propulsion Lab, USA Jennifer Basil, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA Frederic Boyer, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, France Dieter Braun, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany Darwin Caldwell, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy Frederico Carpi, University of Pisa, Italy Maria Chiara Carrozza, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy Hillel Chiel, Case Western Reserve University, USA Paul Cisek, University of Montreal, Canada Anders Lyhne Christensen, Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Portugal Roberto Cingolani, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy Fred Claeyssens, University of Sheffield, UK Noah Cowan, Johns Hopkins University, USA Holk Cruse, University of Bielefeld, Germany Mark Cutkosky, Stanford University, CA, USA Paolo Dario, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy Danilo de Rossi, University of Pisa, Italy Mathew Diamond, International School of Advanced Studies, Italy Stephane Doncieux, Universit? Pierre et Marie Curie, France Marco Dorigo, Universit? Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Volker Durr, University of Bielefeld, Germany Charles Fox, University of Sheffield, UK Michele Giugliano, University of Antwerp, Belgium Frank Grasso, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA Roderich Gross, University of Sheffield, UK John Hallam, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Jose Halloy, Universit? Diderot Paris VII, France Mitra Hartmann, Northwestern University, USA Huosheng Hu, University of Essex, UK Auke Ijspeert. ?cole Polytechnique F?d?rale de Lausanne,Switzerland Akio Ishiguro, Tohoku University, Japan Serge Kernbach, Universit?t Stuttgart, Germany Holger Krapp, Imperial College, London, UK Jeff Krichmar, University of California, Irvine, USA Maarja Kruusmaa, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia David Lane, Heriot Watt University, Scotland Andres Diaz Lantada, Universidad Polit?cnica de Madrid, Spain Cecilia Laschi, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy David Lentink, Wageningen University, Belgium Nathan Lepora, University of Sheffield, UK Giorgio Metta, Universit? degli Studi di Genova, Italy Ben Mitchinson, University of Sheffield, UK Jiro Okada, Nagasaki University, Japan Tim Pearce, University of Leicester, UK Martin Pearson, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK Rolf Pfeifer, Universit?t Z?rich, Switzerland Andy Phillipides, University of Sussex, UK Tony Pipe, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK Roger Quinn, Case Western Reserve University, USA Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Imperial College London, UK Jonathan Rossiter, University of Bristol, UK Giulio Sandini, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy Thomas Schmickl, Karl-Franzens-Universit?t Graz, Austria Andre Seyfarth, University of Jena, Germany Scott Simon, University of California, Davis, USA Mototaka Suzuki, Columbia University, USA Roland Thewes, Technical University of Berlin, Germany Jon Timmis, University of York, UK Julian Vincent, University of Bath, UK Barbara Webb, University of Edinburgh, UK Hartmut Witte, Technische Universit?t Ilmenau, Germany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120209/51be4c12/attachment-0001.html From p.gleeson at ucl.ac.uk Mon Feb 6 14:28:57 2012 From: p.gleeson at ucl.ac.uk (P Gleeson) Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 19:28:57 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Convergence in Computational Neuroscience: Joint BrainScaleS CodeJam/NeuroML workshop Message-ID: <4F3029F9.8010308@ucl.ac.uk> ** Please accept our apologies for cross postings ** Dear all, Announcing the Convergence in Computational Neuroscience 2012 workshop which will be held in Edinburgh from 12-16th March. The NeuroML Development Workshop and the BrainScaleS (previously FACETS) CodeJam have been two important workshops for developers of software tools for computational neuroscience for the past number of years, and this year they are being held over the same week. The first 2 days will focus on the specifications & tool support for NeuroML, which has traditionally been focused on multicompartmental, conductance based neuronal models, but with version 2.0 is being extended to allow greater flexibility in creating new synapse, ion channel and abstract/point neuron models. Machine readable model definitions allow low level access to model parameters and equations, facilitating interoperability across simulators. Presentations and discussions will include updates on developments towards NeuroML 2, relationships to other modelling and neuroinformatics initiatives including COMBINE and the INCF, and talks on the latest developments in the Blue Brain Project, the Neural Tissue Simulator and the OpenWorm project. More details for these days are here: http://www.neuroml.org/workshop2012 The remaining 3 days will have a similar format to previous CodeJams: presentations in the mornings with discussions & code sprints in the afternoon. The goal will be to catalyze open-source, collaborative software development in computational and systems neuroscience and neuroinformatics, by bringing together researchers, students and engineers to share ideas, present their work, and write code together. CodeJam #5 will focus on multi-compartmental modelling APIs, data analysis libraries, code generation and best practices in open source software development, with a slant towards the Python programming language. Speakers from a range of active areas in neuroscience-tool development have been invited; we will be hearing about the latest developments in NeuroDebian, Genesis 3.0, MOOSE, Topographica, OpenElectrophy, PyNN and many others. If you are starting a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience and want to get involved with the tool-building community, or are just interested in the state of the field, the CodeJam is a great opportunity to meet the developers behind the projects in an informal setting and discuss about ideas and future projects. More details can be found here: http://neuralensemble.org/meetings/CodeJam5 Wednesday afternoon includes a mini workshop with the theme "Convergence, Interoperability and Reuse in Neuroscience Modelling Software", which seeks to develop a perspective on where the field is at and where we are going to. This should be a very informative and useful week for anyone interested in learning about/sharing/integrating software tools for computational neuroscience. There will be a limited number of bursaries available for travel to the meeting for UK based attendees through the UK Node of the INCF (http://www.neuroinformatics.org.uk/special-interest-groups-sigs/18-sig4). Contact p.gleeson at ucl.ac.uk for more details. Regards, Padraig Gleeson On behalf of the NeuroML & CodeJam workshop organisers ----------------------------------------------------- Padraig Gleeson Room 321, Anatomy Building Department of Neuroscience, Physiology& Pharmacology University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom +44 207 679 3214 p.gleeson at ucl.ac.uk ----------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120206/0df36061/attachment.html From smart at neuralcorrelate.com Mon Feb 6 20:33:09 2012 From: smart at neuralcorrelate.com (Susana Martinez-Conde) Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 18:33:09 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: 2nd call for illusion submissions: the world's 8th annual Best illusion of the Year Contest Message-ID: <001f01cce538$746e80b0$5d4b8210$@com> ****2ND CALL FOR ILLUSION SUBMISSIONS: THE WORLD?S 8TH ANNUAL BEST ILLUSION OF THE YEAR CONTEST**** http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com *** We are happy to announce the world's 8th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest!!*** Submissions are now welcome! The 2012 contest will be held in Naples, Florida (Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts, http://www.thephil.org/) on Monday, May 14th, 2012, as an official satellite of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS) conference. The Naples Philharmonic Center is an 8-minute walk from the main VSS headquarters hotel in Naples, and is thus central to the VSS conference. Past contests have been highly successful in drawing public attention to perceptual research, with over ***FIVE MILLION*** website hits from viewers all over the world, as well as hundreds of international media stories. The First, Second and Third Prize winners at the 2011 contest were Jordan Suchow and George Alvarez (Harvard University, USA), Erica Dixon, Arthur Shapiro & Kai Hamburger (American University, USA, & Universit?t Giessen, Germany), and Mark Wexler (Universit? Paris V, France). To see the illusions, photo galleries and other highlights from the 2011 and previous contests, go to http://illusionoftheyear.com. Eligible submissions are novel perceptual or cognitive illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2011) of all sensory modalities (visual, auditory, etc.) in standard image, movie or html formats. Exciting new variants of classic or known illusions are admissible. An international panel of impartial judges will rate the submissions and narrow them to the TOP TEN. Then, at the Contest Gala in Naples, the TOP TEN illusionists will present their contributions and the attendees of the event (that means you!) will vote to pick the TOP THREE WINNERS! Illusions submitted to previous editions of the contest can be re-submitted to the 2012 contest, so long as they meet the above requirements and were not among the TOP THREE winners in previous years. Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the panel of judges and the authors/creators will retain full copyright. The TOP TEN illusions will be posted on the illusion contest's website *after* the Contest Gala. Illusions not chosen among the TOP TEN will not be disclosed. As with submitting your work to any scientific conference, participating in to the Best Illusion of the Year Contest does not preclude you from also submitting your work for publication elsewhere. Submissions can be made to Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde (Illusion Contest Executive Producer, Neural Correlate Society) via email (smart at neuralcorrelate.com) until February 14, 2012. Illusion submissions should come with a (no more than) one-page description of the illusion and its theoretical underpinnings (if known). Illusions will be rated according to: . Significance to our understanding of the mind and brain . Simplicity of the description . Sheer beauty . Counterintuitive quality . Spectacularity Visit the illusion contest website for further information and to see last year's illusions: http://illusionoftheyear.com. Submit your ideas now and take home this prestigious award! On behalf of the Executive Board of the Neural Correlate Society: Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse ---------------------------------------------------------------- Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD Executive Producer, Best Illusion of the Year Contest President, Neural Correlate Society Columnist, Scientific American Mind Author, Sleights of Mind Director, Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience Division of Neurobiology Barrow Neurological Institute 350 W. Thomas Rd Phoenix AZ 85013, USA Phone: +1 (602) 406-3484 Fax: +1 (602) 406-4172 Email: smart at neuralcorrelate.com http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120206/98646bd4/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: ATT00963.txt Url: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120206/98646bd4/ATT00963-0001.txt From tt at cs.dal.ca Mon Feb 6 20:39:55 2012 From: tt at cs.dal.ca (Thomas Trappenberg) Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 21:39:55 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Machine Learning Intro with Matlab examples Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, I just wrote a little introductory review on machine learning, which you can download at www.cs.dal.ca/~tt/papers/MLintro2012.pdf The paper is a draft for a workshop on development and learning, and my hope is that this introduction is useful since it surveys and relates several prominent approaches including Boltzmann machines, Maximum Likelihood, Support Vector Machines, Bayesian Networks, Temporal Difference Learning etc. Feedback would be highly appreciated. The paper includes some Matlab examples. Cheers, Thomas ------ Dr. Thomas Trappenberg Professor Faculty of Computer Science Dalhousie University Halifax. NS Canada From wsenn at cns.unibe.ch Thu Feb 9 05:38:06 2012 From: wsenn at cns.unibe.ch (Walter Senn) Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:38:06 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Biological Cybernetics: vol 105, issue 5-6 --- Table of Content Message-ID: <4F33A20E.2010708@cns.unibe.ch> Biological Cybernetics: vol 105, issue 5-6 --- Table of Content Original papers: "Stationarity stopping criterion for matching pursuit?framework and encephalographic illustration" Lech Kipinski http://www.springerlink.com/content/v3013m64623mv030/ "Navigating sensory conflict in dynamic environments using adaptive state estimation" Theresa J. Klein, John Jeka, Tim Kiemel & M. Anthony Lewis http://www.springerlink.com/content/q4627670j4m5j4n2/ "Spatial heterogeneity of passive electrical transfer properties of neuronal dendrites due to their metrical asymmetry" Sergey M. Korogod & Anton V. Kaspirzhny http://www.springerlink.com/content/w0238u58h2478333/ "On the effect of scene motion on color constancy" Marc Ebner http://www.springerlink.com/content/0225363667226464/ "On the spectral formulation of Granger causality" D. Chicharro http://www.springerlink.com/content/11q774pjmm40221n/ "Influence of connection type on phase synchrony: analysis of a neural mass model" Yuji Takeda http://www.springerlink.com/content/e86752176q7w3726/ "Towards a theoretical foundation for morphological computation with compliant bodies" Helmut Hauser, Auke J. Ijspeert, Rudolf M. F?chslin, Rolf Pfeifer & Wolfgang Maass http://www.springerlink.com/content/j236312507300638/ "Modeling habituation in rat EEG-evoked responses via a neural mass model with feedback" Srinivas Laxminarayan, Gilead Tadmor, Solomon G. Diamond, Eric Miller, Maria Angela Franceschini & Dana H. Brooks http://www.springerlink.com/content/d583438768402554/ "Dominance of local sensory signals over inter-segmental effects in a motor system: experiments" Anke Borgmann, Tibor I. Toth, Matthias Gruhn, Silvia Daun-Gruhn & Ansgar B?schges http://www.springerlink.com/content/h8782878264g1604/ "Dominance of local sensory signals over inter-segmental effects in a motor system: modeling studies" Silvia Daun-Gruhn, Tibor I. T?th & Anke Borgmann http://www.springerlink.com/content/a522l03t5156075m/ ---- Biological Cybernetics, all issues: http://www.springerlink.com/content/100465/ From A.Cangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk Mon Feb 13 06:00:51 2012 From: A.Cangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk (Angelo Cangelosi) Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:00:51 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Two Lecturer / Senior Lecturer positions in computational neuroscience, Plymouth University, UK Message-ID: <1038F6B357C5004FA619C32FB3DB9957699AA77CD9@ILS130.uopnet.plymouth.ac.uk> Can you please forward to the connectionist mailing list? Plymouth University (UK) is advertising two permanent positions for people with research expertise in computational neuroscience, and/or cognitive robotics or artificial intelligence. One post is at Lecturer or Senior Lecturer level (respectively Assistant/Associate Professor), and this is specifically allocated to the Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems. http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ADY391/lecturer-associate-professor-senior-lecturer/ The second post is at Lecturer level and this is for any areas of research in the School of Computing and Mathematics, and for which we also particularly welcome applicants from the field of computational neuroscience and/or cognitive robotics, artificial intelligence, as in first post. http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ADY214/lecturer/ Both post holders are expected to contribute to teaching computer science subjects. Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics are considered research topics of software engineering in the UK (hence the focus in the title on software eng). We recommend that you apply for both posts, explaining in the cover letter that you can contribute to teaching in computing and software engineering, and that your research contributes to the CRNS Centre. For informal enquiry, please email acangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk . Application deadline is 9 March 2012. See here for online application . ---------------- Angelo Cangelosi, PhD ---------------- Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Cognition Chair, IEEE AMD Technical Committee Director, Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems University of Plymouth Portland Square Building (A316) Plymouth PL4 8AA (UK) E-mail: acangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk http://www.tech.plym.ac.uk/soc/staff/angelo (tel) +44 1752 586217 (fax) +44 1752 586300 Visit: italkproject.org Visit: robotdoc.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120213/1293e7c2/attachment.html From A.K.Seth at sussex.ac.uk Tue Feb 14 04:27:04 2012 From: A.K.Seth at sussex.ac.uk (Anil Seth) Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:27:04 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: ASSC16 call for abstracts: deadline extension FEB 29th 2012 Message-ID: <8E7D4FC4-A6F5-46D8-BABC-A8654AE0299F@sussex.ac.uk> Due to multiple requests the deadline for submission of abstracts to ASSC16 has been extended to FEB 29TH 2012. There will be no further extensions. Please see the full call-for-abstracts below. Apologies for cross-posting. ASSC16: ASSOCIATION FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF CONSCIOUSNESS BRIGHTON, UK, JULY 02-06 2012 http://www.theassc.org/conferences_assc16 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS, DEADLINE FEB 29 2012 http://www.theassc.org/assc16_abstract_submission. ASSC16 is the 16th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. It will take place in Brighton, UK, from July 02-06, 2012. The 4 day meeting (plus 1 day of tutorial sessions) brings together leading researchers in neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, psychiatry, neurology, and computer science in a forum dedicated to showcasing and advancing rigorous scientific approaches to understanding the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of conscious experience. Attendees are drawn from researchers, clinicians, students at all levels, as well as the interested media and public. (Please note that ASSC16 does not clash with London olympics!) ASSC16 will be organized by the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex (www.sussex.ac.uk/sackler). Brighton, affectionately known as ?London by the sea? is a popular international conference destination. It is only 49 minutes by train from central London and just 30 minutes from Gatwick International Airport (LGW; there are also easy transport links from Heathrow). Brighton is a small city with conference facilities, hotels, restaurants, pubs, transport links, and the beach all within easy walking distance. ASSC16 is will be held in the superb Dome and Corn Exchange theatre complex, in the heart of Brighton?s artistic & cultural quarter (http://www.brightondome.org/). Provisional registration fees are now shown at http://www.theassc.org/assc16_registration. Conference registration will open on March 1st 2012. ASSC16 abstracts: General submission for abstracts for ASSC16 is now open. The final deadline for abstract submission is 29 February 2012. All abstracts will be carefully considered by the ASSC16 scientific committee; accepted abstracts will be allocated either a poster presentation, or an oral presentation slot in one of the concurrent sessions. Any person may present just one submission but may be a co-author on more than one. For more details, please see http://www.theassc.org/assc16_abstract_submission. Oral and poster presentations will complement the exciting plenary programme below: Keynote speakers: Victor Lamme (University of Amsterdam, President) Josef Perner (University of Salzburg) Geriant Rees (University College London) Tania Singer (Max Planck Institute, Leipzig) Tim Bayne (University of Oxford) Christof Koch (Caltech, Special Lecture) Plenary symposia: 1. Consciousness fading: key mechanisms of anaesthesia-induced loss-of-consciousness Andreas Engel (Chair), Gernott Supp, Melanie Boly, Emery Brown 2. Bringing the in-depth body to the surface: Interoception, awareness, and prediction Manos Tsakiris (Chair), Hugo Critchley, Jim Hopkins 3. Perceptual consciousness and cognitive access Ned Block (Chair), Ilja Sligte, Jerome Sackur, James Stazicker 4. Balancing the self: Vestibular contributions to self-consciousness Christophe Lopez (Chair), Bigna Lenggenhager, Gabriela Bottini Tutorials: 1. Heather Berlin, Nicholas Medford: The phenomenology, neurobiology, and neurocognitive basis of depersonalization 2. Sue Blackmore: Meditation and consciousness: Two ways meditation can contribute to consciousness science 3. Olaf Blanke, Thomas Metzinger: Towards a comprehensive theory of subjectivity and selfhood: Philosophy, cognitive science, neurology, and neuroimaging 4. Axel Cleeremans, Morten Overgaard, Bert Timmermans, Ryan Scott: Behavioural methods to assess awareness 5. Gustav Kuhn, Ronald Rensink: The science of magic: Turning magic into science! 6. James Laban, Harutomo Hasegawa, Keyoumars Ashkan: Neurosurgery and its role in studying consciousness 7. Devin Terhune: A primer on experimental hypnosis research 8. Jamie Ward: Sensory substitution Please direct any enquiries about ASSC16 to D.Schwartzman-at-sussex.ac.uk. On behalf of the local organizing committee, we look forward to welcoming you to Brighton in July! Anil Seth (programme chair) Zoltan Dienes (scientific committee chair) --------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Anil Seth Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Dept of Informatics, University of Sussex www.anilseth.com www.sussex.ac.uk/sackler -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120214/8e16c25a/attachment-0001.html From ahu at cs.stir.ac.uk Fri Feb 10 05:05:16 2012 From: ahu at cs.stir.ac.uk (Dr Amir Hussain) Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:05:16 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Final Call for Papers: Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems (BICS 2012), Shenyang, China, July 11-14, 2012 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear friends: (NOTE: FINAL DEADLINE FOR PAPER SUBMISSIONS: 15 Feb 2012) On behalf of the General Chair, Professor Derong Liu, and the Program Chairs: Robert Kozma (USA), Amir Hussain (UK), Liang Zhao (Brazil) and Leslie Smith (UK), we are pleased to invite you to submit your work(s) to "The 2012 International Conference on Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems (BICS 2012)" to be held in Shenyang, China, as a sequel of BICS 2004 (Scotland), BICS 2006 (Greece), BICS 2008 (Brazil), and BICS 2010 (Spain). Venue: Shenyang is the capital city of Liaoning Province with a long history and rich heritages. Shenyang was first used by the Manchu people as their capital in the 17th century and is today the biggest city in Northeastern China. Shenyang is now an important political, industrial, and cultural center, and serves as the transportation and commercial hub of Northeastern China. The city is well-known for its modern infrastructure, convenient land and air transport network, and abundant natural resources. Scope: BICS 2012 aims to provide a high-level international forum for scientists, engineers, and educators to present the state-of-the-art in brain-inspired cognitive systems research and applications in diverse fields, under the following four Symposia/Tracks: Cognitive Neuroscience (CNS), Models of Consciousness (MoC), Neural Computation (NC) and Biologically Inspired System (BIS). The conference will feature plenary lectures given by world renowned scholars, regular sessions with broad coverage, and some special sessions focusing on popular and timely topics. All papers accepted by and presented at BICS 2012 will be published by Springer as multiple volumes of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI) which will be indexed by EI and ISTP. Selected papers will be published in special issues of several SCI journals. Important Dates: Special session proposals deadline---------------------January 1, 2012 Paper submission deadline------------------------------- February 15, 2012 Notification of acceptance----------------------------------March 15, 2012 Camera-ready copy and author registration-----------April 5, 2012 Paper submission & Conference Proceedings: Prospective authors are invited to submit full-length papers (6-8 pages normally and 10 pages maximum) by the submission deadline - through the online submission system (http://bics2012.mae.cuhk.edu.hk). The submission of a paper implies that the paper is original and has not been submitted under review or copyright protected elsewhere and will be presented by an author if accepted. All submitted papers will be refereed by experts in the field based on the criteria of originality, significance, quality, and clarity. The authors of accepted papers will have an opportunity to revise their papers and take consideration of the referees' comments and suggestions. BICS 2012 Sponsors: Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences University of Stirling, Scotland Chinese University of Hong Kong University of Illinois at Chicago National Natural Science Foundation of China Springer, Germany (Technical sponsors): IEEE Computational Intelligence Society International Neural Network Society Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behavior (AISB) ICSC Interdisciplinary Research Further details about the Conference, including the on-line submission link for authors, can be found in the Conference website: http://bics2012.mae.cuhk.edu.hk/index.html -- The Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year 2009/2010 The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159. From gpu-computing at g-node.org Tue Feb 14 11:02:31 2012 From: gpu-computing at g-node.org (G-Node workshop on neuronal GPU computing) Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:02:31 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: G-Node Workshop on Neuronal GPU Computing, Munich, April 11-13, 2012 Message-ID: <1329235351.2903.31.camel@endlich.meins> G-Node Workshop on Neuronal GPU Computing ========================================= Graphics processing units (GPUs) offer a low-cost approach to parallel high-performance computing. Neuronal simulations can be parallelized efficiently and are particularly well suited for implementation on GPUs. There is also great potential for GPU-based high-throughput analysis of neuronal data. The field is progressing at rapid pace, and has reached a point where it may strongly benefit from some kind of convergence between the different approaches. To facilitate communication and foster collaboration in the field, the German INCF Node (G-Node) organizes a one-day symposium on neuronal GPU computing with an adjoint two-day developer workshop. *Symposium* Invited Speakers (preliminary): Romain Brette (?cole Normale Sup?rieure, Paris) Andreas Fidjeland (Imperial College, London) Dan Goodman (?cole Normale Sup?rieure, Paris) Thomas Nowotny (University of Sussex, Brighton-Falmer) Pierre Yger (Imperial College, London) Applications are encouraged for talks at the symposium. Topics may cover one or more of the following: - GPU-based neuronal simulation: development, applications, user reports - GPU-based data analysis: software and use-cases - Reports on GPU-powered neuronal research - Comparison of GPU-based neuronal applications with other high-throughput technologies (e.g. clusters, neuromorphic hardware) Participation in the symposium is free, but registration is required. *Developer workshop* We encourage applications for participation in the developer workshop. The workshop's aim is to bring together developers of GPU-based applications for neuroscience and to enable exchange of ideas, knowledge, and code. Enthusiastic users of GPU-based tools with programming skills are also warmly invited. The number of participants in the workshop is limited to 20. Invited symposium speakers will also be present at the developer workshop. *Application and registration:* To apply for a presentation slot at the symposium, send us an abstract (approx. 500 words) of your presentation. A note with your name and affiliation is sufficient if you only want to register for the symposium. To apply for the developer workshop, please send a us a short letter of motivation stating your background, why you want to participate, and what you could contribute to the workshop. *Contact:* Direct your applications, registrations and any questions to gpu-computing at g-node.org . Deadline for application: 28 Feb 2012 Workshop website: https://portal.g-node.org/gpu-workshop-2012/ Current information about speakers will be posted there. *Dates:* April 11, 2012 (Symposium) April 12-13, 2012 (Developer Workshop) *Venue:* LMU Biocenter Gro?haderner Str. 2 82152 Planegg-Martinsried Hope to see you in Munich in April! The organizers Michael Schmuker, Freie Universit?t Berlin & BCCN Berlin Christian Kellner and Thomas Wachtler, G-Node, LMU M?nchen From jbednar at inf.ed.ac.uk Wed Feb 15 11:07:58 2012 From: jbednar at inf.ed.ac.uk (James A. Bednar) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:07:58 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: PhD studentships in Neuroinformatics and Computational Neuroscience Message-ID: <20283.55390.597187.493103@cortex.inf.ed.ac.uk> Second-round applications for 2012-2013 fully-funded PhD studentships at the University of Edinburgh Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) in Neuroinformatics and Computational Neuroscience are now being considered. The DTC is a world-class centre for research at the interface between neuroscience and the engineering, computational, and physical sciences. Our four-year programme is ideal for students with strong computational and analytical skills who want to employ cutting-edge methodology to advance research in neuroscience and related fields, or to apply ideas from neuroscience to computational problems. The first year consists of courses in neuroscience and informatics, as well as lab projects. This is followed by a three-year PhD project done in collaboration with one of the many departments and institutes affiliated with the DTC. Current DTC PhD topics fall into five main areas: * Computational neuroscience: Using analytical and computational models, potentially supplemented with experiments, to gain quantitative understanding of the nervous system. Many projects focus on the development and function of sensory and motor systems in animals, including neural coding, learning, and memory. * Biomedical imaging algorithms and tools: Using advanced data analysis techniques, such as machine learning and Bayesian approaches, for imaging-based diagnosis and research. * Cognitive science: Studying human cognitive processes and analysing them in computational terms. * Neuromorphic engineering: Using insights from neuroscience to help build better hardware, such as neuromorphic VLSI circuits and robots that perform robustly under natural conditions. * Software systems and applications: Using discoveries from neuroscience to develop software that can handle real-world data, such as video, audio, or speech. Other related areas of research are also encouraged. Edinburgh has a large, world-class research community in these areas and leads the UK in creating a coherent programme in neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience. Edinburgh has often been voted 'best place to live in Britain', and has many exciting cultural and student activities. Students with a strong background in computer science, mathematics, physics, or engineering are particularly encouraged to apply. Highly motivated students with other backgrounds will also be considered. Three full studentships (including stipend of 14,215-17,326 UK pounds/year) are still available to EU citizens who have been residing in the UK for the past three years (whether for work or for education); see the web site (below) for full details. Other applicants can be accepted if they provide their own funding, typically via a scholarship from their country of origin. Further information and application forms can be obtained from: http://www.anc.ed.ac.uk/dtc For full consideration for entry in September 2012, the deadline for complete applications is March 31st, 2012. -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. From raphael.ritz at incf.org Fri Feb 10 07:51:50 2012 From: raphael.ritz at incf.org (Raphael Ritz) Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:51:50 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Job offer: INCF Scientific Program Officer Message-ID: <4F3512E6.3070200@incf.org> [sorry for the cross post] The International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) seeks a Scientific Program Officer Job Description INCF coordinates collaborative neuroinformatics infrastructure and promotes the sharing of data and computing resources to the international research community. We also aim to foster scientific interaction through information flow within our global network; valuate neuroinformatics activities and infrastructures; and to facilitate training in neuroinformatics. The INCF Secretariat is hosted by Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. We are now looking for a scientific program officer with a strong background in neuroscience and/or neuroinformatics to play a key role in managing at least one of our scientific programs. The INCF scientific programs represent long-term strategic undertakings to address issues of high importance to the neuroscience community. Main responsibilities will include strategic and tactical planning of INCF scientific programs, facilitating communication within and between programs, engaging stakeholders, and managing the program projects by documenting progress, and establishing and managing related contracts. Tasks include planning of and attendance at task force meetings, coordinating of semi-annual reports and maintenance of program-related sections ofwww.incf.org. This position is full-time, based at Karolinska Institute, and involves travel and some irregular working hours due to collaborators in different time-zones. The successful candidate should have the ability to balance perspectives, prioritize and maintain focus of the program. He or she must be able and comfortable communicating with scientists of various levels of seniority. For this position, a solid neuroscience background is required, with experience in neuroinformatics and experience as a program officer being highly advantageous. Fluency in written and spoken English is required. The position is a one year contract, tentatively from May 1, 2012 to May 1, 2013, with a possibility for prolongation. Qualifications The candidate must be a stress-hardy and creative individual, able to deliver excellent work to short deadlines as well as handle complex long-term projects and multiple conflicting deadlines. The candidate should be comfortable working alone and in collaboration with others. Required skills: - Post-graduate degree in neuroscience and experience in a research environment in a relevant area of neuroscience or neuroinformatics, such as computational neuroscience, neuroimaging or ontological representation. - fluency in spoken and written English - excellent organizational, communication and social skills Desired skills: - project or program management, and budgeting experience - knowledge of neuroinformatics Applications should be marked ?Program officer? and include: - A complete CV - 2 letters of reference Applications and inquiries should be sent in English as soon as possible tojobs at incf.org. Applications should be received by the Secretariat latest March 12, 2012. For more information please contact: Karin Buzzi-Donato Head of INCF Administration +46 (0)8 52487027 -- Dr. Raphael Ritz Scientific Officer International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility Karolinska Institutet Nobels v?g 15 A SE-171 77 Stockholm Sweden Email: raphael.ritz at incf.org Phone: +46 8 524 87017 Fax: +46 8 524 87150 web: www.incf.org From retienne at jhu.edu Wed Feb 15 13:00:06 2012 From: retienne at jhu.edu (retienne) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:00:06 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Participation: 2012 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop Message-ID: <4F3BF2A6.5060708@jhu.edu> ------------------ *2012 Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop / Telluride, Colorado, July 1^st -July 21^st , 2012/* *CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Deadline is March 30th, 2012* NEUROMORPHIC COGNITION ENGINEERING WORKSHOP www.ine-web.org Sunday July 1^st - Saturday July 21^st , 2012, Telluride, Colorado We invite applications for a three-week summer workshop that will be held in Telluride, Colorado Sunday July 1^st - Saturday July 21^st , 2012, 2012. The application deadline is *Friday, March 30th* and application instructions are described at the bottom of this document. The 2012 Workshop and Summer School on Neuromorphic Engineering is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Institute of Neuromorphic Engineering, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Institute for Neuroinformatics - University and ETH Zurich, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Maryland - College Park, Johns Hopkins University, Boston University, University of Sydney, University of Florida - Gainesville and the Salk Institute. Directors: Ralph Etienne-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University Timothy Horiuchi, University of Maryland, College Park Tobi Delbruck, Institute for Neuroinformatics, Zurich Workshop Advisory Board: Andreas ANDREOU (The Johns Hopkins University) Andre van SCHAIK (University Western Sydney) Avis COHEN (University of Maryland) Barbara SHINN-CUNNINGHAM (Boston University) Giacomo INDIVERI (Institute of Neuroinformatics, UNI/ETH Zurich, Switzerland) Jonathan TAPSON (University Western Sydney and University of Cape Town) Paul HASLER (Georgia Institute of Technology) Rodney DOUGLAS (Institute of Neuroinformatics, UNI/ETH Zurich, Switzerland) Shihab SHAMMA (University of Maryland) Malcolm SLANEY (Yahoo Research) Previous year workshop can be found at: http://ine-web.org/workshops/workshops-overview/index.html and last year's wiki is _https://neuromorphs.net/nm/wiki/2011_ . GOALS: Neuromorphic engineers design and fabricate artificial neural systems whose organizing principles are based on those of biological nervous systems. Over the past 17 years, this research community has focused on the understanding of low-level sensory processing and systems infrastructure; efforts are now expanding to apply this knowledge and infrastructure to addressing higher-level problems in perception, cognition, and learning. In this 3-week intensive workshop and through the Institute for Neuromorphic Engineering (INE), the mission is to promote interaction between senior and junior researchers; to educate new members of the community; to introduce new enabling fields and applications to the community; to promote on-going collaborative activities emerging from the Workshop, and to promote a self-sustaining research field. FORMAT: The three week summer workshop will include background lectures on systems and cognitive neuroscience (in particular sensory processing, learning and memory, motor systems and attention), practical tutorials on analog VLSI design, mobile robots, hands-on projects, and special interest groups. Participants are required to take part and possibly complete at least one of the projects proposed. They are furthermore encouraged to become involved in as many of the other activities proposed as interest and time allow. There will be two lectures in the morning that cover issues that are important to the community in general. Because of the diverse range of backgrounds among the participants, some of these lectures will be tutorials, rather than detailed reports of current research. These lectures will be given by invited speakers. Projects and interest groups meet in the late afternoons, and after dinner. In the early afternoon there will be tutorials on a wide spectrum of topics, including analog VLSI, mobile robotics, auditory systems, central-pattern-generators, selective attention mechanisms, cognitive systems, etc. 2012 TOPIC AREAS: "Learning and Computational Intelligence in Neuromorphic Cognitive Systems" (Gert Cauwenberghs and Giacomo Indiveri) "Integrating Perception, Cognition, and Action in Neuromorphic Hardware and Software" (Kwabena Boahen and Chris Eliasmith) "Human Attention in the Machine" (Shihab Shamma and Barbara Shinn-Cunningham) "Social Neuroscience and Robotic Pet Project" (Sergi Bermudez and Ulysses Bernardet) In addition, there will be a number of ad-hoc tutorials (featuring Rajit Monahar, Jennifer Hasler and Scott Koziol), demonstrations, and discussion groups that will focus on important issues in the research community. Terry Sejnowski -- Computational Neuroscience (invitational mini-workshop) LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENTS: The summer school will take place in the small town of Telluride, 9000 feet high in southwest Colorado, about 6 hours drive away from Denver (350 miles). Great Lakes Aviation and America West Express airlines provide daily flights directly into Telluride. All facilities within the beautifully renovated public school building are fully accessible to participants with disabilities. Participants will be housed in ski condominiums, within walking distance of the school. Participants are expected to share condominiums. The workshop is intended to be very informal and hands-on. Participants are not required to have had previous experience in analog VLSI circuit design, computational or machine vision, systems level neurophysiology or modeling the brain at the systems level. However, we strongly encourage active researchers with relevant backgrounds from academia, industry and national laboratories to apply, in particular if they are prepared to work on specific projects, talk about their own work or bring demonstrations to Telluride (e.g. robots, chips, software). Wireless internet access will be provided. Technical staff present throughout the workshops will assist with software and hardware issues. We will have a network of PCs running LINUX and Microsoft Windows for the workshop projects. We encourage participants to bring along their personal laptop. No cars are required. Given the small size of the town, we recommend that you do not rent a car. Bring hiking boots, warm clothes, rain gear, and a backpack, since Telluride is surrounded by beautiful mountains. Unless otherwise arranged with one of the organizers, we expect participants to stay for the entire duration of this three week workshop. ------ FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS: ------ Notification of acceptances will be mailed out around the April 15^th , 2012. The Workshop covers all your accommodations and facilities costs for the 3 weeks duration. You are responsible for your own travel to the Workshop. For expenses not covered by federal funds, a Workshop registration fee is required. The fee is $700 per participant, however, due to the difference in travel cost, we offer a discount to participants outside of the US, Canada and Mexico. European registration fees will be reduced to $450; non-US/non-European registration fees will be reduced to $300. The cost of a shared condominium will be covered for all academic participants but upgrades to a private room will cost extra. Participants from National Laboratories and Industry are expected to pay for these condominiums. ------ HOW TO APPLY: ------- Applicants should be at the level of graduate students or above (i.e. postdoctoral fellows, faculty, research and engineering staff and the equivalent positions in industry and national laboratories). We actively encourage women and minority candidates to apply. Anyone interested in proposing or discussing specific projects should contact the appropriate topic leaders directly. The application website is (after February 15th, 2012): http://ine-web.org/telluride-conference-2012/apply-info Application information needed: * contact email address * First name, Last name, Affiliation, valid e-mail address. * Curriculum Vitae (a short version, please). * One page summary of background and interests relevant to the workshop, including possible ideas for workshop projects. Please indicate which topic areas you would most likely join. * Two letters of recommendation (uploaded directly by references). The application deadline is March 30^th , 2012. Applicants will be notified by e-mail. 15^th February, 2012 - Applications accepted on website 30^th March, 2012 - Applications Due 15^th April, 2012 - Notification of Acceptance -- ------------------------------------------------- Ralph Etienne-Cummings Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering The Johns Hopkins University 105 Barton Hall 3400 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 Tel: (410) 516 3494 Fax: (410) 516 2939 Email:retienne at jhu.edu URL:http://etienne.ece.jhu.edu/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120215/8166aa18/attachment-0001.html From sen.cheng at rub.de Sun Feb 12 15:07:32 2012 From: sen.cheng at rub.de (Sen Cheng) Date: 12 Feb 2012 21:07:32 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Call for fellowships - Center for Mind, Brain & Cognitive Evolution at the Ruhr-University Bochum Message-ID: Call for fellowships 2012/2013 -Deadline for applications: June 1st, 2012 homepage: http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/mibra/index_en.html The Center for Mind, Brain and Cognitive Evolution is a platform at the Ruhr-University Bochum that aims to foster interdisciplinary research projects and support special master-programs at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. We are pleased to announce an international call for fellowships for the academic year Sept. 2012 until July 2013 aimed at outstanding researchers. We are flexible concerning the exact visiting period: 1) Senior fellowship in philosophy and psychiatry (for one month): Applicants must have been awarded a doctoral degree and they must have an outstanding publication record in the area of philosophy or psychiatry, with a strong interdisciplinary connection to the respective counterpart. The applicants are expected to work at least on the level of an associate professor. The research should be related to the research area of social cognition, especially to the projects Applications are due by June 1st, 2012. Please send your application as well as requests for further information to Prof. Dr. Martin Br?ne (martin.bruene at rub.de ) and Prof. Dr. Albert Newen (albert.newen at rub.de). 2) Senior fellowship in animal mind research (for one month): Applicants are expected to work at least on the level of an associate professor and should be able to connect with the animal studies in the lab of Prof. Onur G?nt?rk?n. They must have an outstandingpublication record based on animal studies. We expect strong interdisciplinary interests and the publications should also contribute to the theoretical understanding of animal minds. Applications are due by June 1st, 2012. Please send your application as well as requests for further information to Prof. Dr. Onur G?nt?rk?n (onur.g?nt?rk?n at rub.de) or Prof. Dr. Albert Newen (albert.newen at rub.de) 3) Senior- or junior-fellowship in philosophy and developmental aspects of social and cultural cognition (for two to three months): Applicants must have been awarded a doctoral degree and they must have an outstanding publication record in the area of philosophy, with a strong interdisciplinary connection to developmental psychology or neuroscience. The applicants for the junior fellowship are expected to work at least on the level of an advanced postdoc. The applicants for the senior fellowship are expected to work at least on the level of an associate professor. A research proposal of the candidate should be related to the research project "Self-Consciousness, Intentionality and Intersubjectivity" or to the research project "Social information processing and Culture". Applications are due by June 1st, 2012. For further information and application please contact Prof. Dr. Albert Newen (albert.newen at rub.de) or Prof. Dr. Tobias Schlicht (tobias.schlicht at rub.de). 4) Senior or junior-fellowship in neurosciences with focus on memory function (for three to six months): Applicants must have been awarded a doctoral degree and have an outstanding publication record in the area of molecular, behavioral, and electrophysiological neurosciences or neuroimaging. The applicants are expected to work at least on the level of an associate professor, or at the level of an advanced post-doctoral fellow. The research proposal should focus on a multidisciplinary or comparative approach to memory function, preferably oriented towards the medial temporal lobe and associated areas. No application deadline. For further information or application please contact Prof. Dr. Magdalena Sauvage (Magdalena.sauvage at rub.de); Homepage: www.rub.de/fam. 5) Senior or junior fellowship in neurophilosophy/philosophy of mind (one to six months): Applicants must hold a doctoral degree and must have an outstanding publication record in the area of philosophy of mind (eventually bordering philosophy of language or epistemology) and their research attitude should demonstrate a strong connection to the cognitive and neurosciences. Applicants for the senior fellowship are expected to work at least on the level of an associate or advanced assistant professor. The successful applicant will be given the opportunity to take part in designing a cooperative EEG study on a research question of relevance for the philosophy of mind and language and/or epistemology. Applications are due by June 1, 2012. Please send your application as well as requests for further information to Prof. Dr. Markus Werning (markus.werning at rub.de). 6) Senior or junior fellowship in philosophy of language or in linguistics/neurolinguistics (one to twelve months): Applicants must hold a doctoral degree and they must have an outstanding publication record in philosophy of language or linguistics/neurolinguistics. Applicants for the senior fellowship (max. six months) are expected to work at least on the level of an associate or advanced assistant professor. The applicant should be open to both empirical and theoretical approaches towards language comprehension and semantics stemming from philosophy, linguistics, and neuroscience. Applications are due by June 1, 2012. Please send your application as well as requests for further information to Prof. Dr. Markus Werning (markus.werning at rub.de) 7) Junior fellowship for an outstanding female reseacher (for two months): We offer a postdoctoral research fellowship for up-and-coming female researchers with a promising track record in the field of philosophy of neuroscience. The candidate should either be a philosopher with a strong track record in philosophy of mind/psychology/neuroscience and a background in experimental cognitive science, or a cognitive scientist with a strong track record of interacting with philosophy. A PhD is required by the time of application. Applications are due by June 1, 2012. Please direct your application as well as requests for further information to Prof. Dr. Albert Newen (albert.newen at rub.de) 8) Senior fellowship in computational models of memory (up to four months): Applicants are expected to be internationally known scientists in the field of computational neuroscience and to have an outstanding publication record in memory research. Their research interests should overlap with the modeling work on the hippocampal formation conducted in the group of Prof. Dr. Sen Cheng (www.rub.de/cns). The fellow will be tightly integrated into the interdisciplinary Center for Mind, Brain and Cognitive Evolution. Applications are due by June 1, 2012. Please send your application as well as requests for further information to Prof. Dr. Sen Cheng (sen.cheng at rub.de). 9) Junior fellowship for philosophy of language, mind or cognition concerning concepts and/or content (for two months): Applicants must have been awarded a doctoral degree and an outstanding publication record in the area of philosophy, with a strong interdisciplinary connection to animal cognition, developmental psychology or neuroscience. The applicants are expected to work at least on the level of an advanced postdoc. The research proposal should be related to the research area of understanding concept possession and categorization in humans and animals. Applications are due by June 1st, 2012. Please send your application as well as requests for further information to Prof. Dr. Albert Newen (albert.newen at rub.de) All fellows are invited to deliver a fellow lecture and will participate in an interdisciplinary research program and are asked to offer some presentations for master students of the new program ?Cognitive Science?. Applications should include: 1. A (brief) letter of application including personal information academic background, and research interests (please indicate the number and the title of the fellowship you apply for). 2. A brief proposal for a research project (1-2 pages) if the fellowship is planned for at least two months) 3. CV including a list of publications, talks, conferences attended and teaching experience. 4. One representative article as PDF document. 5. Only for applicants for a junior fellowship: one letter of recommendation addressing the applicants? qualification for a research project. This should be send from the referees directly or through a letter service. All documents of the candidate should be sent electronically. We regret that we will not be able to return any submitted material. From smart at neuralcorrelate.com Mon Feb 13 17:18:43 2012 From: smart at neuralcorrelate.com (Susana Martinez-Conde) Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:18:43 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: final call for illusion submissions: the world's 8th annual Best illusion of the Year Contest Message-ID: <014701ccea9d$73acc7d0$5b065770$@com> ****FINAL CALL FOR ILLUSION SUBMISSIONS: THE WORLD?S 8TH ANNUAL BEST ILLUSION OF THE YEAR CONTEST**** http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com *** We are happy to announce the world's 8th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest!!*** Submissions are now welcome! The 2012 contest will be held in Naples, Florida (Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts, http://www.thephil.org/) on Monday, May 14th, 2012, as an official satellite of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS) conference. The Naples Philharmonic Center is an 8-minute walk from the main VSS headquarters hotel in Naples, and is thus central to the VSS conference. Past contests have been highly successful in drawing public attention to perceptual research, with over ***FIVE MILLION*** website hits from viewers all over the world, as well as hundreds of international media stories. The First, Second and Third Prize winners at the 2011 contest were Jordan Suchow and George Alvarez (Harvard University, USA), Erica Dixon, Arthur Shapiro & Kai Hamburger (American University, USA, & Universit?t Giessen, Germany), and Mark Wexler (Universit? Paris V, France). To see the illusions, photo galleries and other highlights from the 2011 and previous contests, go to http://illusionoftheyear.com. Eligible submissions are novel perceptual or cognitive illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2011) of all sensory modalities (visual, auditory, etc.) in standard image, movie or html formats. Exciting new variants of classic or known illusions are admissible. An international panel of impartial judges will rate the submissions and narrow them to the TOP TEN. Then, at the Contest Gala in Naples, the TOP TEN illusionists will present their contributions and the attendees of the event (that means you!) will vote to pick the TOP THREE WINNERS! Illusions submitted to previous editions of the contest can be re-submitted to the 2012 contest, so long as they meet the above requirements and were not among the TOP THREE winners in previous years. Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the panel of judges and the authors/creators will retain full copyright. The TOP TEN illusions will be posted on the illusion contest's website *after* the Contest Gala. Illusions not chosen among the TOP TEN will not be disclosed. As with submitting your work to any scientific conference, participating in to the Best Illusion of the Year Contest does not preclude you from also submitting your work for publication elsewhere. Submissions can be made to Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde (Illusion Contest Executive Producer, Neural Correlate Society) via email (smart at neuralcorrelate.com) until February 14, 2012. Illusion submissions should come with a (no more than) one-page description of the illusion and its theoretical underpinnings (if known). Illusions will be rated according to: . Significance to our understanding of the mind and brain . Simplicity of the description . Sheer beauty . Counterintuitive quality . Spectacularity Visit the illusion contest website for further information and to see last year's illusions: http://illusionoftheyear.com. Submit your ideas now and take home this prestigious award! On behalf of the Executive Board of the Neural Correlate Society: Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse ---------------------------------------------------------------- Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD Executive Producer, Best Illusion of the Year Contest President, Neural Correlate Society Columnist, Scientific American Mind Author, Sleights of Mind Director, Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience Division of Neurobiology Barrow Neurological Institute 350 W. Thomas Rd Phoenix AZ 85013, USA Phone: +1 (602) 406-3484 Fax: +1 (602) 406-4172 Email: smart at neuralcorrelate.com http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120213/1b80d5f0/attachment-0001.html From t.heskes at science.ru.nl Mon Feb 13 15:14:52 2012 From: t.heskes at science.ru.nl (Tom Heskes) Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:14:52 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD Student Positions in Machine Learning at Radboud University Nijmegen Message-ID: <4F396F3C.6020906@science.ru.nl> The Machine Learning group at Radboud University Nijmegen is looking for two PhD students. Both PhD students will be working on the development and application of machine learning algorithms for improved analysis of data related to neurological disorders. First, a PhD position is available within the NWO project MacBrain. The goal of MacBrain is to mine data from the Netherlands Brain Bank (NBB) describing clinical and pathological information collected from thousands of donors who are either healthy or affected by neuro-degenerative diseases (including Alzheimer's). Your task will be to develop machine learning methods for discovering computational disease profiles characterized by few features, which may be used by domain experts to perform targeted studies aimed at improving the prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases. Second, a PhD position is available within the EU FP7 project TACTICS. The goal of TACTICS is to better understand the neural, genetic and molecular bases of compulsivity disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Your task will be to design machine learning methods that can integrate the different sources of data gathered by the various partners within the consortium. Requirements As a PhD student you should meet the following requirements: - a Master's degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Mathematics or a related field, with a strong interest in machine learning; - commitment and a cooperative attitude; - excellent proficiency in written and spoken English. You will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years. The gross starting salary amounts to ?2,042 per month based on full-time employment, and will increase to ?2,612 per month in the fourth year. About Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University Nijmegen is one of the leading academic communities in the Netherlands and is renowned for its leafy campus, modern buildings and state-of-the-art equipment. It has seven faculties and enrols over 17,500 students in approximately 90 study programmes. The university is situated in Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, which has a rich history and one of the liveliest city centres in the Netherlands. The Intelligent Systems section of the Institute for Computing and Information Sciences (iCIS) at Radboud University Nijmegen conducts research on machine learning for applications in, for example, neuroscience and bioinformatics. iCIS in general and the Intelligent Systems section in particular received excellent scores in a recent national research assessment. Additional information Dr. Elena Marchiori (main contact for MacBrain) +31 24 3652467 elenam at cs.ru.nl Prof.dr. Tom Heskes (main contact for TACTICS) +31 24 3652696 tomh at cs.ru.nl http://www.ru.nl/vacatures/details/details_vacature_0?recid=507799 From terry at salk.edu Tue Feb 14 17:22:27 2012 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:22:27 -0800 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION - March 2012 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Neural Computation - Contents -- Volume 24, Number 3 - March 1, 2012 Article MOSAIC for Multiple-Reward Environments Norikazu Sugimoto, Masahiko Haruno, Kenji Doya and Mitsuo Kawato Note Efficient Calculation of the Gauss-Newton Approximation of the Hessian Matrix in Neural Networks Michael Fairbank and Eduardo Alonso Letters Computational Advantages of Reverberating Loops for Sensorimotor Learning Kristen Fortney and Douglas B. Tweed Theoretical and Evolutionary Parameter Tuning of Neural Oscillators with a Double-chain Structure for Generating Rhythmic Signals Yuya Hattori, Michiyo Suzuki Zu Soh, Yasuhiko Kobayashiand and Toshio Tsuji Noninvertibility, Chaotic Coding and Chaotic Multiplexity of Synaptically Modulated Neural Firing Yoram Baram Graph Transduction as a Non-Cooperative Game Aykut Erdem and Marcello Pelillo Simple Modification of Oja Rule Limits L1-Norm of Weight Vector and Leads to Sparse Connectivity Vladimir Aparin Diffusive Feedback Influences on Hierarchical Information Processing Ai Miyamoto, Jun Hasegawa, Meihong Zheng and Osamu Hoshino A General Framework for Dimensionality-Reducing Data Visualization Mapping Kerstin Bunte, Michael Biehl and Barbara Hammer Spiking Neural P Systems with Astrocytes Linqiang Pan, Jun Wang and Hendrik Hoogeboom ----- ON-LINE - http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/neco SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2012 - VOLUME 24 - 12 ISSUES USA Others Electronic only Student/Retired $70 $193 $65 Individual $124 $187 $115 Institution $1,035 $1,098 $926 Canada: Add 5% GST MIT Press Journals, 238 Main Street, Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-9902. Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-orders at mit.edu http://mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp ----- From trentin at dii.unisi.it Wed Feb 15 08:49:46 2012 From: trentin at dii.unisi.it (trentin@dii.unisi.it) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:49:46 +0100 (CET) Subject: Connectionists: CFP: ANNPR 2012 (Trento, Italy) Message-ID: ANNPR 2012 5th INNS IAPR TC3 GIRPR International Workshop on Artificial Neural Networks in Pattern Recognition September 17 - 19, 2012 Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy *** Call for Papers *** We are pleased to announce that the 5th INNS IAPR TC3 GIRPR International Workshop on Artificial Neural Networks in Pattern Recognition will be held at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento, Italy. ANNPR 2012 follows the success of ANNPR 2003 (Florence), ANNPR 2006 (Ulm), ANNPR 2008 (Paris), and ANNPR 2010 (Cairo). This 5th ANNPR workshop will act as a major forum for international researchers and practitioners working in all areas of neural network- and machine learning-based pattern recognition to present and discuss the latest research, results, and ideas in these areas. This year the workshop received the endorsement from the International Neural Network Society (INNS), from the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), from the Technical Committees 3 (TC3) of IAPR ("Neural Networks & Computational Intelligence"), and from GIRPR (Gruppo Italiano Ricercatori in Pattern Recognition). Papers are solicited dealing with neural networks, machine learning and pattern recognition which emphasize methodological issues possibly arising in applications. Topics: Methodological Issues - Supervised learning - Unsupervised learning - Combination of supervised and unsupervised learning - Feedforward, recurrent, and competitive neural nets - Kernel machines - Hierarchical modular architectures and hybrid systems - Combination of neural networks and Hidden Markov models - Multiple classifier systems and ensemble methods - Probabilistic graphical models - Kernel methods - Deep architectures Applications in Pattern Recognition - Image processing and segmentation - Sensor-fusion and multi-modal processing - Feature extraction, dimension reduction - Clustering and vector quantization - Speech and speaker recognition - Data, text, and web mining - Bioinformatics/Cheminformatics Paper Submission: Potential participants should submit a paper describing their work in one of the areas described above. Proceedings will be published as a volume in the Springer LNAI, maximum paper length is 12 pages in LNCS/LNAI format. Instructions for authors, LaTeX templates, etc. are available at the Springer LNCS/LNAI web-site. Submission of a paper constitutes a commitment that, if accepted, one or more authors will attend the workshop. On-line submission via EasyChair will be made available on the web-site of the workshop (http://annpr2012.fbk.eu) timely. Special Sessions: Fellow scientists wishing to organize a special session are invited to submit a proposal to the ANNPR 2012 Chairs (or, to annpr2012 at fbk.eu). Proposals should include the session title and a list of topics covered by the session. Three to six papers will be required for a special session to take place. Once the special session proposal has been approved by the ANNPR 2012 Chairs, the session organizers are expected to carry out the review process for the papers submitted to their session. Proposals must be received by March 8, 2012. Important Dates: May 6, 2012 - Deadline for electronic paper submission June 3, 2012 - Notification of paper acceptance June 17, 2012 - Deadline for final, camera-ready submission June 17, 2012 - Deadline for Early Registration Contacts and Further Info: annpr2012 at fbk.eu http://annpr2012.fbk.eu/ General Chairs: Nadia Mana Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy Friedhelm Schwenker University of Ulm, Institute of Neural Information Processing, Germany Edmondo Trentin Universit? di Siena, Dip. di Ingegneria dell' Informazione, Italy Local Organization Chairs: Oswald Lanz Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy Stefano Messelodi Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy Program Committee: Shigeo Abe, Japan Amir Atiya, Egypt Erwin Bakker, The Netherlands Yoshua Bengio, Canada Ludovic Denoyer, France Neamat El Gayar, Canada Antonino Freno, France Markus Hagenbuchner, Australia Barbara Hammer, Germany Tom Heskes, The Netherlands Lakhmi Jain, Australia Nik Kasabov, New Zealand Hans A. Kestler, Germany Oswald Lanz, Italy Marco Loog, The Netherlands Simone Marinai, Italy Stefano Messelodi, Italy Heiko Neumann, Germany Erkki Oja, Finland G?nther Palm, Germany Lionel Prevost, France Raul Rojas, Germany Stefan Scherer, USA Alessandro Sperduti, Italy Ah-Chung Tsoi, Macau Ian Witten, New Zealand From ubjta99 at mail.bbk.ac.uk Wed Feb 15 12:17:19 2012 From: ubjta99 at mail.bbk.ac.uk (Denis Mareschal) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:17:19 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Phd positions in London on Action Selection Message-ID: *Marie Curie PhD positions in London* * * *The Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development and School of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London*,* *are offering 2 3-year fully funded PhD studentships to be supervised by Professor Denis Mareschal and Dr. Richard Cooper. The projects are part of a European Commission ITN project exploring the mechanisms development of action, and action selection infancy and childhood. Although it is expected that there will be substantial interactions between the projects, they can broadly be characterized as follows: *(1) The interplay between top-down and bottom-up constraints in the selection of action: *This project will combine diverse empirical methods and possibly EMG methods to investigate how perceptual processes induce constraints in choosing an action to perform and how this interacts with decision-making processes and judgments. The successful candidate will have experience or a strong interest in working with children and toddlers. *(2) Using reinforcement learning and internal models to map between intention and action: *This project will use *computational modelling* and behavioural methods to explore the mechanisms underlying how learning takes place and how it interacts with internal processes related to the perception and production of intentional action. *The successful candidate will be expected to have advanced computational skills*. Mobility constraints apply. *Successful applicants cannot have resided more the 12 months in the past 36 months in the UK.* The position must be taken up no later than October 1st, 2012. Further details can be found at: http://www.cbcd.bbk.ac.uk/research/mcphddevcompneuro Informal enquiries can be sent to d.mareschal at bbk.ac.uk or r.cooper at bbk.ac.uk. Procedural enquiries concerning application to the Department of Psychological Sciences PhD programme should be directed to James Vallerine (j.vallerine at bbk.ac.uk). -- Professor Denis Mareschal Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development School of Psychology Birkbeck College University of London Malet St., London WC1E 7HX, UK tel +44 (0)20 7079-0751/7631-6582 reception: 7631-6207 fax +44 (0)20 7631-6312 http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psyc/staff/academic/dmareschal Neuroconstructivism books: http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198529910 http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198529934 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120215/c79e4c75/attachment.html From William.Bosl at childrens.harvard.edu Mon Feb 6 14:40:32 2012 From: William.Bosl at childrens.harvard.edu (Bosl, William) Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:40:32 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc opening in neuroinformatics In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi, I'd like to post the attached postdoctoral opening in neuroinformatics at Harvard Medical School / Children's Hospital Boston on the connectionist mailing list. I'm not sure if this is the proper place to send it. If not, my apologies; please advise how to post. Many thanks, Bill =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ William J. Bosl, Ph.D. Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Research Scientist, Children's Hospital Informatics Program at Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (CHIP at HST) Adjunct lecturer, Boston University Behavioral Neurosciences Program Email: william.bosl at childrens.harvard.edu Web: http://tinyurl.com/62kypmo Office: 617-919-2517 Cell: 209-518-3219 =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ ----------- From attachment ------------------- Postdoctoral position in Neuroinformatics: Children's Hospital Informatics Program, in collaboration with the Division of Developmental Medicine and Epilepsy Clinic An immediate opening is available for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the laboratory of William J. Bosl, Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Research Scientist at Children's Hospital Boston. This position provides an extraordinary opportunity to work collaboratively in the neuroinformatics laboratory, in collaboration with the divisions of Developmental Medicine, Neurology and the Epilepsy Research Center to participate in the discovery of early biomarkers for autism and pediatric neurological disorders. The position is funded for one year and is renewable annually pending availability of future funds. DUTIES: The position involves working in close collaboration with the PI in the Informatics Program and with researchers and students in the Nelson lab in Developmental Medicine. Specific duties include organizing and evaluating diagnostic test scores (ADOS, ADI, Mullen, others) and other medical data; implementation and execution of various programs to compute EEG signal features, map signal features and other physiological measures to behavioral assessments; statistical analysis of data; preparation and presentation of results at seminars; preparation of papers for publication. Development and application of novel pattern recognition algorithms to discover biomarkers in complex system parameters extracted from electrophysiological data is highly desired for candidates with skills or interest in machine learning. Candidates will have opportunities to explore new applications of neuroinformatics to meet the needs of global pediatric neurological healthcare. QUALIFICATIONS: Successful candidates should have an PhD or equivalent in computer science, engineering, physics, cognitive or computational neuroscience, machine learning or a related field or equivalent experience, with an interest in clinical applications of nonlinear EEG signal processing and psychiatric biomarkers to pediatric healthcare. Experience with one or more of the following will be helpful and enable a broader research experience: * Machine learning and feature extraction methods * Python, C/C++ or similar programming skills * Signal processing, especially EEG data * Complex systems analysis, including Recurrence Plot Analysis * Statistical data analysis, data mining * Experience with neuropsychological assessments Successful candidates will have the opportunity to gain skill in each of these areas. Most importantly, creativity and boldness in exploring novel methods, learning new approaches, and focus on clinical practicality are highly valued. Applicants should send a CV or resume, statement of research interests and the names and contact information for two or three references to Dr. William Bosl at william.bosl at childrens.harvard.edu =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ William J. Bosl, Ph.D. Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Research Scientist, Children's Hospital Informatics Program at Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (CHIP at HST) Adjunct lecturer, Boston University Behavioral Neuroscience Program Email: william.bosl at childrens.harvard.edu Web: http://www.chip.org/~wbosl Office: 617-919-2517 =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ ------ End of Forwarded Message -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: posting_postdoc_04Feb2012.pdf Type: application/msword Size: 61948 bytes Desc: posting_postdoc_04Feb2012.pdf Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120206/bd0d0049/posting_postdoc_04Feb2012-0001.dot From v.steuber at herts.ac.uk Thu Feb 16 13:09:52 2012 From: v.steuber at herts.ac.uk (Steuber, Volker) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:09:52 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: CfP EvoNet2012@Alife13, 19#22 July 2012, East Lansing, Michigan, USA Message-ID: <18EF08266D889C41A14D1099C7102CE2BDDC7AC225@UH-MAILSTOR.herts.ac.uk> ==================================================== CALL FOR PAPERS [Apologies if you receive multiple postings] EvoNet2012: Evolving Networks, from Systems/Synthetic Biology to Computational Neuroscience A workshop at Alife13, 19?22 July 2012, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA ==================================================== EvoNet2012 is a workshop organized in conjuction with Alife13, 13th International Conference on the Simulation & Synthesis of Living Systems. The workshop aims to bring together researchers interested in investigating computational properties of networks that: (i) have evolved in real life (Systems Biology, Systems Neuroscience) or (ii) were evolved artificially, (iii) could be implemented in hardware, software or "wet-ware", (iv) are of interest as a general approach to understand how biological networks work, or (v) as an approach towards biologically-inspired computation. We encourage presentations that link the Artificial Life, Systems Biology and Computational Neuroscience communities, either from the point of view of common theoretical approaches, computational tools, or interfacing platforms (for example, Systems Biology Markup Language and other XML-based formats). We invite papers in the form of extended abstracts (2-4 pages). We are especially interested in papers which have tutorial value, that synthesize existing results, or present a research portfolio. Papers describing new work are, of course, also welcome. Submission deadline: 20 March 2012 More details: http://www.evosys.org/evonet.html Programme Committee: Wolfgang Banzhaf, Stephane Doncieux, Rodney Douglas, Rene Doursat, Taras Kowaliw, Nikola Markov, Arjen van Ooyen, Maria Schilstra, Volker Steuber, Yaochu Jin, Borys Wrobel Organizing Committee: Taras Kowaliw Maria Schilstra Volker Steuber Borys Wrobel From smart at neuralcorrelate.com Thu Feb 16 18:51:21 2012 From: smart at neuralcorrelate.com (Susana Martinez-Conde) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:51:21 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: Illusion submission EXTENSION: 8th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest! Message-ID: <017c01cced05$e4076110$ac162330$@com> ***DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND*** --The deadline for the 7th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest has been extended. The FINAL (no exceptions) submission date is now ***March 1st***! http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com *** We are happy to announce the world's 8th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest!!*** Submissions are now welcome! The 2012 contest will be held in Naples, Florida (Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts, http://www.thephil.org/) on Monday, May 14th, 2012, as an official satellite of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS) conference. The Naples Philharmonic Center is an 8-minute walk from the main VSS headquarters hotel in Naples, and is thus central to the VSS conference. Past contests have been highly successful in drawing public attention to perceptual research, with over ***FIVE MILLION*** website hits from viewers all over the world, as well as hundreds of international media stories. The First, Second and Third Prize winners at the 2011 contest were Jordan Suchow and George Alvarez (Harvard University, USA), Erica Dixon, Arthur Shapiro & Kai Hamburger (American University, USA, & Universit?t Giessen, Germany), and Mark Wexler (Universit? Paris V, France). To see the illusions, photo galleries and other highlights from the 2011 and previous contests, go to http://illusionoftheyear.com. Eligible submissions are novel perceptual or cognitive illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2011) of all sensory modalities (visual, auditory, etc.) in standard image, movie or html formats. Exciting new variants of classic or known illusions are admissible. An international panel of impartial judges will rate the submissions and narrow them to the TOP TEN. Then, at the Contest Gala in Naples, the TOP TEN illusionists will present their contributions and the attendees of the event (that means you!) will vote to pick the TOP THREE WINNERS! Illusions submitted to previous editions of the contest can be re-submitted to the 2012 contest, so long as they meet the above requirements and were not among the TOP THREE winners in previous years. Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the panel of judges and the authors/creators will retain full copyright. The TOP TEN illusions will be posted on the illusion contest's website *after* the Contest Gala. Illusions not chosen among the TOP TEN will not be disclosed. As with submitting your work to any scientific conference, participating in to the Best Illusion of the Year Contest does not preclude you from also submitting your work for publication elsewhere. Submissions can be made to Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde (Illusion Contest Executive Producer, Neural Correlate Society) via email (smart at neuralcorrelate.com) until February 14, 2012. Illusion submissions should come with a (no more than) one-page description of the illusion and its theoretical underpinnings (if known). Illusions will be rated according to: . Significance to our understanding of the mind and brain . Simplicity of the description . Sheer beauty . Counterintuitive quality . Spectacularity Visit the illusion contest website for further information and to see last year's illusions: http://illusionoftheyear.com. Submit your ideas now and take home this prestigious award! On behalf of the Executive Board of the Neural Correlate Society: Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse ---------------------------------------------------------------- Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD Executive Producer, Best Illusion of the Year Contest President, Neural Correlate Society Columnist, Scientific American Mind Author, Sleights of Mind Director, Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience Division of Neurobiology Barrow Neurological Institute 350 W. Thomas Rd Phoenix AZ 85013, USA Phone: +1 (602) 406-3484 Fax: +1 (602) 406-4172 Email: smart at neuralcorrelate.com http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120216/b8bf2ab5/attachment.html From ala at csc.kth.se Thu Feb 16 16:55:12 2012 From: ala at csc.kth.se (Anders Lansner) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:55:12 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Open position: Application expert in Neuroinformatics at KTH Message-ID: <010701ccecf5$abcccc50$036664f0$@csc.kth.se> Application Expert in Neuroinformatics at PDC KTH, The School of Computer Science and Communication (CSC) announces a position as application expert in neuroinformatics at PDC. The successful candidate will join the user support team working closely with academic researchers to help them optimize their usage of neuroinformatics applications especially simulation of neural processes on PDC systems and also work with neuroinformatics applications in the context of the International Neuroinformatics Coordination Facility (INCF -www.incf.org ). Particular focus will be laid on improving the scalability of neurinformatics applications, like e.g. neuronal simulators and associated tools, and the successful candidate is expected to spend part of his/her working time at neuroinformatics research labs, like INCF or KTH's Department of Computational Biology at CSC. Candidates need to have an academic education (preferably PhD) in computer science, neuroinformatics, or related fields and proven experiences in scaling complex applications on HPC systems. Good knowledge of parallel environments (MPI, OpenMP, etc.) are required. For more information please visit: http://www.pdc.kth.se/about/openings/application-expert-in-neuroinformatics ****************************************** Anders Lansner Professor in Computer Science, Computational biology School of Computer Science and Communication Stockholm University and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) ala at kth.se, +46-70-2166122 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120216/4aa2dfd4/attachment-0001.html From axel.hutt at inria.fr Fri Feb 17 06:24:58 2012 From: axel.hutt at inria.fr (Axel Hutt) Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:24:58 +0100 (CET) Subject: Connectionists: Position for scientific software engineer at INRIA - France In-Reply-To: <1394615.423726.1318242460744.JavaMail.root@zmbs1.inria.fr> Message-ID: <584529791.637815.1329477898658.JavaMail.root@zmbs1.inria.fr> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Software engineer in computational neuroscience at INRIA in Nancy, France --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A full-time scientific software engineer position is available in the INRIA-team CORTEX on programming of a visualization tool for spatio-temporal neural dynamics. The simulated dynamics reflects neural signals observed in general anaesthesia and obeys stochastic integral-differential equations involving delays. The projects objective is the publication of an open-source software package involving a GUI to simulate the neural activity. Preferably the software will be developed in a combination of C/C++ and python, but this choice is not mandatory. The position will start spring/summer 2012 and is financed for two years by the ERC Starting Grant MATHANA. The optimal candidate holds a degree in computational science, theoretical physics or applied mathematics with focus on mathematical programming, dynamical systems or computational neuroscience. Please send electronically applications including a CV to Axel Hutt (axel.hutt at inria.fr). -- Axel Hutt INRIA CR Nancy - Grand Est Equipe CORTEX 615, rue du Jardin Botanique 54603 Villers-les-Nancy Cedex France http://www.loria.fr/~huttaxel From jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com Fri Feb 17 04:28:42 2012 From: jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com (Jesus Cortes) Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:28:42 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Granada Seminar 2012: Physics, Computation and the Mind Message-ID: Dear Colleague, You are cordially invited to participate and submit an abstract to the 12th Granada Seminar, this time focused on ?Physics, Computation, and the Mind ? advances and challenges at interfaces? (17-21 September 2012, La Herradura, Granada, Spain). This is organized by the University of Granada, and sponsored and/or endorsed by the European (EPS) and American (APS) Physical Societies among others. You may find updated information concerning submission of abstracts, scholarships, lodging, program, etc. at http://ergodic.ugr.es/cp/. Scheduled participants tentatively include up until now Laurence F. Abbott, Lucilla de Arcangelis, William Bialek, Gy?rgy Buzs?ki, Dante Chialvo, Javier de Felipe, Stephen Grossberg, Ram?n Huerta, Gilles J. Laurent, Joel L. Lebowitz, Henry Markram, Mar?a V. S?nchez-Vives, and Lai-Sang Young. Other talks will be invited from submitted abstracts. Hoping to meet you at La Herradura next September, Sincerely Yours, J. Cort?s, P.L. Garrido, J. Marro, J.J. Torres Institute "Carlos I" for Theoretical and Computational Physics University of Granada - 18071, Spain From robbie at bcs.rochester.edu Thu Feb 16 14:32:27 2012 From: robbie at bcs.rochester.edu (Robert Jacobs) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:32:27 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: CVS Symposium -- Computational Foundations of Perception and Action Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20120216143117.06fa8ee8@bcs.rochester.edu> *************************************** SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCEMENT *************************************** Announcing the Center for Visual Science's 28th Symposium Computational Foundations of Perception and Action June 1-3, 2012 University of Rochester Rochester, New York Conference Website: Http://www.cvs.rochester.edu/symposium.html Overview ************** The 28th Symposium of the Center for Visual Science will bring computational, neurophysiological and psychophysical researchers together who study the computational foundations of problems in sensory and perceptual processing ranging from low-level sensory coding to higher-level aspects of perception and action such as cue integration, decision-making and sensorimotor control. Much of the research discussed at the meeting focuses on the visual system; however, included in the symposium will be speakers who study other sensory and motor systems, and multisensory processing involving vision and other modalities. The goal is to provide a forum for investigating the common foundational computational principles that underlay the many seemingly different functions of sensory systems (as well as how they differ) and to discuss how to link computational theories to underlying mechanisms to gain a deeper understanding of perceptual behavior. With this in mind, we have invited speakers who bring together computational and experimental approaches - whether that be by developing computational theories of human / animal performance, by conceptualizing and designing experimental studies to test computational theories or both. Confirmed Speakers ************************* Sensory coding Sheila Nirenberg (Cornell University) Mate Lengyel (University of Cambridge) Adam Kohn - (Albert Einstein) Adrienne Fairhall (University of Washington) Integration and prediction in perception Dora Angelaki (Washington University) Ladan Shams (UCLA) Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories) Paul Schrater (University of Minnesota) Sensorimotor control Flip Sabes (UC-San Francisco) Daniel Wolpert (University of Cambridge) Joern Diedrichsen (University College London Mark Churchland (Columbia University) Decision-making and cognition Ben Hayden (University of Rochester) Antonio Rangel (Cal. Tech.) Daeyeol Lee (Yale University) Christopher Harvey (Princeton) Memory and learning Chris Sims (University of Rochester) Josh Gold (University of Pennsylvania Aaron Seitz (Univ. Cal. Riverside) Jeff Beck (University College London) Key Dates oPoster abstract submission: Monday, April 2 oTravel fellowship application deadline: Monday, April 16 oNotification of poster abstract acceptance: Monday, April 9 oNotification of travel fellowship funding: Monday, April 30 oRegistration closes: Friday, May 4 Registration Fees Graduate students and postdocs: $100 All others: $200 Program Committee David Knill Robert Jacobs Alex Pouget Greg DeAngelis For queries about the meeting, contact Debbie Shannon at 585-275-2459 or Debbie at cvs.rochester.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Jacobs Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences University of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627-0268 phone: 585-275-0753 fax: 585-442-9216 email: robbie at bcs.rochester.edu web: http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/people/robbie/jacobslab/people.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120216/da1645d1/attachment.html From jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com Mon Feb 20 04:02:21 2012 From: jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com (Jesus Cortes) Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:02:21 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Two Positions for Young Postdocs. Computational NeuroImaging. [5 days to deadline] Message-ID: Hello, we are offering two positions for Young Postdocs. Technical: Duration of the positions is 6 months. We are covering 1700EUR per month for allowances (so no contract) plus travelling costs. Due to the short duration of the positions, ideal candidates are young postdocs, who recently ?defended ?their PhD Thesis, and that, at this moment they are preparing applications for a first ?postdoc. So, using any of these 6 months position, applicants achieve a nice transition between finishing the PhD and finding a new position. Interesting to know, Granada University is managing ?single bed apartments for visitors with independent kitchen and bathroom. They are well located in city center and price is about 700EUR per month. Where: We are located at University of Granada, at the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Granada University, South Spain, is a leading University in Spain. Position 1. Similarity in Causal Graphs from EEG data. Causal Graphs have to be obtained from EEG high-density data (128 electrodes). Data were collected by Eduardo Madrid in the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab in Granada University. We have developed efficient code to compute Causal Graphs from EEG data, based on the measure of Transfer Entropy. The aim of this position is to apply this code to different data sets employing different cognitive tasks. After obtaining different graphs, belonging to same-subject and inter-subjects, we need new methods to quantify the similarities between the different sets of graphs. Requirements to apply: Experience in Matlab and C programming. Knowledge in graphs. ?Not necessary but advisable knowledge in the processing of EEG data. Position 2. Degradation noise effects in the Bayesian Localization of the EEG Sources This position will be co-supervised in collaboration with Prof. Rafael Molina at the ?Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in Granada University. We want to explore how different assumptions in the nature of the degradation noise affect the Bayesian localization of the EEG sources. Requirements to apply: Experience in Bayesian Inference in Signal Processing. Experience in Matlab. How to apply: Applicants must send by email to Jesus Cortes (jesus.m.cortes at gmail.com) the next 2 docs: 1) one single page CV ?including: Name, Insitution, PhD Supervisor and ?best publications (no more than 5). 2) A pdf copy of the PhD Dissertation. Deadline: Last day to receive applications will be Feb 25th, 2012. 5.00pm CET. Selected candidates will be able to start the position ?about Middle of March 2012. From n.lepora at sheffield.ac.uk Mon Feb 20 10:27:39 2012 From: n.lepora at sheffield.ac.uk (Nathan Lepora) Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:27:39 -0000 Subject: Connectionists: Living Machines 2012: Extended Deadline February 27th In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5D5DBFBA474C44588119468DC6EC9D51@PSYAK> ______________________________________________________________ 4th Call for Papers for LIVING MACHINES 2012: The First International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems 9th-12th July 2012 La Pedrera, Barcelona, Spain http://csnetwork.eu/conf2012 Proceedings to be published by Springer LNCS **Latest news: Selection of best papers to be invited for inclusion in a special issue of the IOP Science journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics Revised submission deadline for paper submissions: 27th February 2012 Submit your paper at http://senldogo0039.springer-sbm.com/ocs/home/LM2012 (12th March for Workshop proposals) ______________________________________________________________ ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2012 The development of future real-world technologies will depend strongly on our understanding and harnessing of the principles underlying living systems and the flow of communication signals between living and artificial systems. Biomimetics is the development of novel technologies through the distillation of principles from the study of biological systems. The investigation of biomimetic systems can serve two complementary goals. First, a suitably designed and configured biomimetic artefact can be used to test theories about the natural system of interest. Second, biomimetic technologies can provide useful, elegant and efficient solutions to unsolved challenges in science and engineering. Biohybrid systems are formed by combining at least one biological component?an existing living system?and at least one artificial, newly-engineered component. By passing information in one or both directions, such a system forms a new hybrid bio-artificial entity. The development of either biomimetic or biohybrid systems requires a deep understanding of the operation of living systems, and the two fields are united under the theme of ?living machines??the idea that we can construct artefacts, such as robots, that not only mimic life but share the same fundamental principles; or build technologies that can be combined with a living body to restore or extend its functional capabilities. Biomimetic and biohybrid technologies, from nano- to macro-scale, are expected to produce major societal and economical impacts in quality of life and health, information and communication technologies, robotics, prosthetics, brain-machine interfacing and nanotechnology. Such systems should also lead to significant advances in the biological and brain sciences that will help us to better understand ourselves and the natural world. The following are some examples: ? Biomimetic robots and their component technologies (sensors, actuators, processors) that can intelligently interact with their environments. ? Active biomimetic materials and structures that self-organize and self-repair. ? Biomimetic computers?neuromimetic emulations of the physiological basis for intelligent behaviour. ? Biohybrid brain-machine interfaces and neural implants. ? Artificial organs and body-parts including sensory organ-chip hybrids and intelligent prostheses. ? Organism-level biohybrids such as robot-animal or robot-human systems. ACTIVITIES The main conference, 10th?12th July, will take the form of a three-day single-track oral and poster presentation programme that will include six plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems. The proceedings of the conference will be published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). Submissions will be in the form of full papers or extended abstracts. Submissions are also invited for an exhibition to feature working biomimetic or biohybrid systems and biomimetic/biohybrid art. Active researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems are also invited to propose topics for 1-day tutorials or workshops on related themes, to be held on the 9th July. Plenary speakers are: Joseph Ayers (Northeastern University) on synthetic neuroethology; Dieter Braun (Ludwig Maximilians University) on synthetic life, Peter Fromherz (Max Plank Institute) on neuroelectronic hybrids; Toshio Fukuda (Nagoya University) on micro-nano biomimetic and biohybrid devices; David Lentink (Stanford University) on fluid dynamics of flight; and Barry Trimmer (Tufts University) on soft, invertebrate-inspired robots. ABOUT THE VENUE The organisers are delighted to have secured La Pedrera (www.lapedreraeducacio.org/) as the venue for our conference. La Pedrera, designed by the modernist, nature-inspired Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, is a world heritage site, and one of the best known buildings in Barcelona. The conference will make use of the modern conference facilities provided by the La Pedrera Auditorium, whilst the exhibition will take place in the adjacent Gaudi Hall. La Pedrera is located within the fashionable Eixample district and within walking distance of Barcelona?s old city, including the Gotic quarter, the cathedral, and the Playa Catalunya. The workshops/tutorial day will be hosted at the University Pompeu Fabra, Campus Poblenou. SUBMITTING TO LIVING MACHINES 2012 We invite both full papers (12 pages, LNCS format) and extended abstracts (2 pages, LNCS format). All contributions will be refereed. Full papers are invited from researchers at any stage in their career but should present significant findings and advances in biomimetic or biohybid research; more preliminary work would be better suited to extended abstract submission. Full papers will be accepted for either oral presentation (single track) or poster presentation. Extended abstracts will be accepted for poster presentation only. All submissions must be formatted according to Springer LNCS guidelines (http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0). Submissions of papers are invited in, but not limited to, the following topics and related areas. Biomimetics can, in principle, extend to all fields of biological research from physiology and molecular biology to ecology, and from zoology to botany. Promising research areas include system design and structure, self-organization and co-operativity, new biologically active materials, self-assembly and self-repair, learning, memory, control architectures and self-regulation, movement and locomotion, sensory systems, perception, and communication. Biomimetic research, particularly at the nano-scale, should also lead to important advances in component miniaturisation, self-configuration, and energy-efficiency. A key focus of the conference will be on complete behaving systems in the form of biomimetic robots that can operate on different substrates on sea, on land, or in the air. A further central theme will be the physiological basis for intelligent behaviour as explored through neuromimetics?the modelling of neural systems. Exciting emerging topics within this field include the embodiment of neuromimetic controllers in hardware, termed neuromorphics, and within the control architectures of robots, sometimes termed neurorobotics. Biohybrid systems usually involve structures from the nano-scale (molecular) through to the macro-scale (entire organs or body parts). Important implementation examples are: Brain-machine interfaces where neurons and their molecular machineries are connected to microscopic sensors and actuators by means of electrical or chemical communication, either in vitro or in the living organism. Intelligent prostheses such as artificial limbs, wearable exoskeletons, or sensory organ-chip hybrids (such cochlear implants, and artificial retina devices) designed to assist the disabled or elderly, or to aid in rehabilitation from illness. Implantable or portable devices that have been fabricated for monitoring health care or for therapeutic purposes such as artificial implants to control insulin release. Biohybrid systems at the organism level such as robot-animal or robot-human communities. Contributions from biologists, neuroscientists, and theoreticians, that are of direct relevance to the development of future biomimetic or biohybrid devices are also welcome, as are papers considering ethical issues and/or societal impacts arising from the advances made in this field. DEADLINES February 20th 2012. Paper submission deadline March 12th 2012. Workshop and tutorial proposals (but please contact us sooner if possible) April 16th 2012. Notification of acceptance April 30th 2012. Camera ready copy July 9-12th 2012. Conference (9th July is workshops/tutorials) SPONSORSHIP Living Machines 2012 is sponsored by the Convergent Science Network (CSN) for Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems which is an EU FP7 Future Emerging Technologies Co-ordination Activity (FP7-ICT-CSN-248986). CSN currently organises two highly successful workshop series: the Barcelona Summer School on Brain, Technology and Cognition (http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt11/) and the Capoccaccia Neuromorphic Cognitive Engineering Workshop (http://capocaccia.ethz.ch/capo/wiki/2011). The conference is delighted to be associated with the Institute of Physics journal Biomimetics & Bioinspiration who will have a stand at meeting. Other organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products to through conference publications, the conference web-site, and conference publicity are encouraged to contact the conference organisers to discuss the terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements. We are looking forwards to seeing you in Barcelona. Conference Secretariat: info.csnetwork at upf.edu Laboratory Of Synthetic Perceptive, Emotive And Cognitive Systems - SPECS Institute Of Audio-Visual Studies (IUA) Universitat Pompeu Fabra Communication-Poblenou Campus (La Nau Building) Postal address: Roc Boronat, 138. 08018 Barcelona Phone: (34) 93 542 22 01 Fax: (34) 93 542 22 02 Organising Committee: Tony Prescott (co-chair) Paul Verschure (co-chair) Giacomo Indiveri Stefano Vassanelli Ian Gwilt Carme Buisan Nathan Lepora Anna Mura Programme Committee Andy Adamatzky, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK Robert Allan, Southampton University. UK Joseph Ayers, Northeastern University, USA Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Jet Propulsion Lab, USA Jennifer Basil, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA Frederic Boyer, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, France Dieter Braun, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany Darwin Caldwell, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy Frederico Carpi, University of Pisa, Italy Maria Chiara Carrozza, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy Hillel Chiel, Case Western Reserve University, USA Paul Cisek, University of Montreal, Canada Anders Lyhne Christensen, Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Portugal Roberto Cingolani, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy Fred Claeyssens, University of Sheffield, UK Noah Cowan, Johns Hopkins University, USA Holk Cruse, University of Bielefeld, Germany Mark Cutkosky, Stanford University, CA, USA Paolo Dario, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy Danilo de Rossi, University of Pisa, Italy Mathew Diamond, International School of Advanced Studies, Italy Stephane Doncieux, Universit? Pierre et Marie Curie, France Marco Dorigo, Universit? Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Volker Durr, University of Bielefeld, Germany Charles Fox, University of Sheffield, UK Michele Giugliano, University of Antwerp, Belgium Frank Grasso, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA Roderich Gross, University of Sheffield, UK John Hallam, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Jose Halloy, Universit? Diderot Paris VII, France Mitra Hartmann, Northwestern University, USA Huosheng Hu, University of Essex, UK Auke Ijspeert. ?cole Polytechnique F?d?rale de Lausanne,Switzerland Akio Ishiguro, Tohoku University, Japan Serge Kernbach, Universit?t Stuttgart, Germany Holger Krapp, Imperial College, London, UK Jeff Krichmar, University of California, Irvine, USA Maarja Kruusmaa, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia David Lane, Heriot Watt University, Scotland Andres Diaz Lantada, Universidad Polit?cnica de Madrid, Spain Cecilia Laschi, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy David Lentink, Wageningen University, Belgium Nathan Lepora, University of Sheffield, UK Giorgio Metta, Universit? degli Studi di Genova, Italy Ben Mitchinson, University of Sheffield, UK Jiro Okada, Nagasaki University, Japan Tim Pearce, University of Leicester, UK Martin Pearson, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK Rolf Pfeifer, Universit?t Z?rich, Switzerland Andy Phillipides, University of Sussex, UK Tony Pipe, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK Roger Quinn, Case Western Reserve University, USA Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Imperial College London, UK Jonathan Rossiter, University of Bristol, UK Giulio Sandini, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy Thomas Schmickl, Karl-Franzens-Universit?t Graz, Austria Andre Seyfarth, University of Jena, Germany Scott Simon, University of California, Davis, USA Mototaka Suzuki, Columbia University, USA Roland Thewes, Technical University of Berlin, Germany Jon Timmis, University of York, UK Julian Vincent, University of Bath, UK Barbara Webb, University of Edinburgh, UK Hartmut Witte, Technische Universit?t Ilmenau, Germany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120220/5588fbee/attachment-0001.html From oby at cs.tu-berlin.de Tue Feb 21 08:53:46 2012 From: oby at cs.tu-berlin.de (Klaus Obermayer) Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:53:46 +0100 (CET) Subject: Connectionists: faculty position, Modeling of Cognitive Processes Message-ID: Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience & School for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Fakultaet IV) Technische Universitaet Berlin Applications are solicited for the post of a Professor for "Modeling of Cognitive Processes" (tenured) salary grade W2 / W3 corresponding to an associate (W2) or a full (W3) professor position. The department encourages both senior scientists and scientists, who are still earlier in their career, to apply. The successful candidate will join the faculty of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin (cf. http://www.bccn-berlin.de/) as well as the School for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Fakultaet IV, cf. http://www.eecs.tu-berlin.de/) of the Berlin University of Technology. She/he is expected to conduct collaborative research in the area of "Modeling of Cognitive Processes". She/he will join the teaching efforts within the Master/PhD program in Computational Neuroscience of the Bernstein Center as well as within the departmental graduate programs in electrical engineering and computer science in abovementioned area. The successful candidate is expected to contribute to the department's undergraduate teaching programs. She/he shall also be open for scientific collaborations with the department's engineering-oriented research groups, for example in the areas machine learning, computer vision, intelligent agents, or robotics. Candidates must meet the requirements of the Berlin Higher Education Act (Par. 100 BerlHG). These requirements include a completed university degree or PhD, the Habilitation or equivalent achievements, educational and didactic competences. More detailed information are available on request; strong research experience in the field of "Modeling of Cognitive Processes". Additional experience in one application domain (intelligent agents, cognitive robotics, human-machine systems, etc.) and a solid track record in the acquisition of research grants are desirable. Contact person for more information: Prof. Dr. Klaus Obermayer, E-Mail: oby at cs.tu-berlin.de, Tel. +49 (0) 30 314-73120 or -73442. To ensure equal opportunities between men and women, applications from women with the respective qualifications are explicitly encouraged. Handicapped applicants with the same qualifications are preferred. Please send your written application (including CV, publication list, teaching experience, research statement) inside by four weeks with the job reference number IV-55 to: Praesident der Technischen Universitaet Berlin Dean of School IV, Sekr. FR 5-1 Franklinstrasse 28/29 10587 Berlin, Germany Please send only copies and not original documents, as they will not be returned. This description is also available at http://www.personalabteilung.tu-berlin.de/menue/jobs/. From weng at cse.msu.edu Mon Feb 20 22:19:46 2012 From: weng at cse.msu.edu (Juyang Weng) Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:19:46 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Brain-Mind Institute, Summer School and International Conference on Brain-Mind (ICBM) Message-ID: <4F430D52.8020405@cse.msu.edu> Brain-Mind Institute Summer School Mon. June 25 - Fri., August 3, 2012 and International Conference on Brain-Mind (ICBM) Sat. July 14, 2012 - Sun. July 15, 2012 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan USA http://www.brain-mind-institute.org/ Collectively, the human race seems ready to unveil one of its last mysteries ? how its brain-mind works at computational depth. The term computational depth here means not only qualitative mechanisms, but also quantitative mechanisms that are sufficient to give rise to major brain-mind functions, from earlier animals, to humans, to machines, and to group intelligence thereof, through computation. From the knowledge required for a recently synthesized grand computational picture of the brain-mind and many other partial computational pictures, it seems that the research community urgently needs a large number of leaders who have sufficient knowledge in at least six disciplines conjunctively ? Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Mathematics (6 disciplines). Such knowledge is further needed for understanding brain-mind, either natural or artificial, in many scales that the Institute is interested in ? genes, cells, circuits, streams, brain ways, experiences, behaviors, societies, and diseases. While increasingly more researchers are converging to this high-impact brain-mind subject, they face great challenges: The existing educational and research infrastructure was not meant for this brain-mind scale (6 disciplines). The Brain-Mind Institute (BMI) provides an integrated 6-discipline academic and research infrastructure for future leaders of brain-mind research. The BMI is a new kind of institute, not limited by boundaries of disciplines, organizations, and geographic locations. Important dates: Full papers: by Sunday, March 4, 2012 Abstracts: by Sunday, March 11, 2012 Course applications: by Sunday, March 18, 2012 Advance registration: Sunday, April 15, 2012 Instructor applications: Sunday, April 22, 2012 Keynote Talks Toward an Integrated Science of Decision Making: Bridging Levels of Analysis with the Leaky Competing Accumulator Model James L. McClelland Lucie Stern Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology Director, Center for Mind, Brain, and Computation Stanford University Abstract: http://www.brain-mind-institute.org/jay-mcclelland-summer-2012.html Foundations and New Paradigms of Brain Computing: Attention, Search, Recognition, Oscillations, Working Memory, Speech Perception, Social Cognition Stephen Grossberg Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems Professor of Mathematics, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering Director, Center for Adaptive Systems Boston University Abstract: http://www.brain-mind-institute.org/stephen-grossberg-summer-2012.html More to be added ... Committees: http://www.brain-mind-institute.org/committees.html Call for Papers and Abstracts BMI Internal Conference on Brain-Mind (ICBM) calls for papers in all subjects related to brain-mind to be presented during July 14-15, 2012. The subjects of interest include, but not limited to: 1. Genes: inheritance, evolution, species, environments, nature vs. nurture, and evolution vs. development. 2. Cells: cell models, cell learning, cell signaling, tissues, morphogenesis, and tissue development. 3. Circuits: features, clustering, self-organization, cortical circuits, Brodmann areas, representation, classification, and regression. 4. Streams: pathways, intra-modal attention, vision, audition, touch (including kinesthetics, temperature), smell, and taste. 5. Brain ways: neural networks, brain-mind architecture, inter-modal attention, multisensory integration, and neural modulation (punishment/serotonin/pain, reward/dopamine/pleasure/sex, novelty/acetylcholine/norepinephrine, higher emotion). 6. Experiences: learning, perceptual development, cognitive development, value development, functions of genome. 7. Behaviors: actions, motor development, concept learning, abstraction, languages, decision making, reasoning, and creativity. 8. Societies: joint attention, swarm intelligence, group intelligence, genders, races, science of organization, constitutions, and laws. 9. Diseases: depression, ADD/ADHD, drug addiction, dyslexia, autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, vision loss, hearing loss, and prosthetics. For more detail, visit http://www.brain-mind-institute.org/ From brody at princeton.edu Thu Feb 23 11:47:14 2012 From: brody at princeton.edu (Carlos Brody) Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:47:14 -0500 Subject: Connectionists: Biophysics and Computation in Neurons and Networks Summer Course Message-ID: <4B960225-A9E9-45EB-9CD4-0E17250BFB99@princeton.edu> NEW INTERDISCIPLINARY SUMMER COURSE Biophysics and Computation in Neurons and Networks Directors: David W. Tank and Michael Berry, Princeton University Course Date: June 17 ? July 14, 2012 Location: Princeton University Application Deadline: April 1, 2012 Application Forms: www.princeton.edu/neuroscience/bcnn This new course, supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, targets students with training in the physical sciences, mathematics or engineering who seek an introduction to the concepts and research methodologies of modern neuroscience. No previous training in biology is required. Topics covered will range from cellular biophysics to systems neuroscience, including particularly imaging methods for the study of single neurons, networks of neurons and human brain dynamics during execution of behavioral computations. The course will be unique in its focus on neural dynamics at several scales of complexity ? cells, circuits, intact brains ? and the combination of didactic lectures and laboratory exercises, including cellular biophysics, synaptic interactions and plasticity in neuronal networks, and fMRI imaging of targeted brain regions in human subjects. The capstone of this course will be one-week student-designed research projects integrating concepts and methodologies encountered during the initial formal lectures and laboratory exercises. Course work will include morning lectures and tutorials and laboratory exercises selected to complement and extend the themes presented in morning lectures. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120223/49d70add/attachment-0002.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: BCNN ad for connectionists.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 173598 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120223/49d70add/BCNNadforconnectionists-0001.pdf -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120223/49d70add/attachment-0003.html From morgado at uma.pt Sun Feb 26 07:33:53 2012 From: morgado at uma.pt (Morgado Dias) Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:33:53 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: CFP: 10th Portuguese Conference on Automatic Control - CONTROLO'12 Message-ID: <4F4A26B1.5030904@uma.pt> The following conference has one strong area of Artificial Neural Networks. A special issue of Neural Computing and Applications will be issued containing the best papers in the Neural Networks and one of the invited speakes is Professor Jos? Carlos Pr?ncipe of University of Florida, so it should be interesting to the connectionist members. Best regards, Morgado -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Researcher, It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the 10th Portuguese Conference on Automatic Control -- CONTROLO'12, to be held in Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal, from 16 to 18 of July 2012. The conference is organized by University of Madeira and APCA the Portuguese Association of Automatic Control which is the national member of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). Contributions are welcome in both theoretical developments and practical implementations in all areas involving systems and control. Such topics include, but are not limited to: * Adaptive control * Aerospace control * Agricultural processes * Automotive control * Behavioral systems * Biotechnological and environmental systems * Control applications * Control architectures * Control education * Control technology, sensors and actuators * Control teaching * Control theory * Discrete-event systems * Distributed control * Emerging control technologies * Fault-tolerant control * Fuzzy and neuro-fuzzy systems * Genetic algorithms * Hardware for control systems * Hybrid systems * Industrial automation * Industrial networking * Instrumentation * Linear and nonlinear control * Manufacturing systems and scheduling * Marine control * Mechatronics * Modeling, simulation and identification * Networked Fault Tolerant Control * Neural networks * Optimal control * Process control * Real time systems architectures * Remote control (web) * Remote Laboratories in Control Education * Renewable energy * Robotics and automation * Robust control * Sensors * Smart structures control * Stochastic control * Transportation systems * Virtual Laboratories * Wireless Applications Special Session proposals are also welcome and must be received by the 1st of December. The important dates of the conference are: Submission: 15 March 2012 Notification: 1 May 2012 Camera Ready: 15 May 2012 Registration: 15 May 2012 Conference: 16-18 July 2012 The organizing committee: Morgado Dias, University of Madeira Paula Castilho, University of Madeira Gl?ria Cravo, University of Madeira Dion?sio Barros, University of Madeira Pedro Campos, University of Madeira Lina Brito, University of Madeira Eduardo Marques, University of Madeira Nuno Ferreira, University of Madeira Tiago Meireles, University of Madeira E-mail: controlo2012 at uma.pt Web Site: http://www.uma.pt/controlo2012 Poster: http://www4.uma.pt/controlo2012/files/controlo2012CFP.pdf Our apologies if you receive multiple copies of this CfP. -- Com os melhores cumprimentos, Morgado Dias *Universidade da Madeira * *Morgado Dias * Electr?nica e Telecomunica??es Pr?-Reitor da Universidade da Madeira *morgado at uma.pt* Tel.: 291-705307 *10^th CONTROLO July 2012 Funchal * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120226/466d7955/attachment-0001.html From A.Cangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk Mon Feb 27 03:15:54 2012 From: A.Cangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk (Angelo Cangelosi) Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:15:54 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Three postdocs in computational neuroscience and neurorobotics, University of Plymouth UK In-Reply-To: <7791465.01330072995047.JavaMail.ILS475$@ILS475> Message-ID: Please forward to the connectionist mailing list. Thanks, angelo Post-doctoral Research Fellows (BABEL Project) - 3 Posts Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems, Plymouth University UK http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AEA080/post-doctoral-research-fellows-in-computational-neuroscience-cognitive-robotics-babel-project/ The Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems at Plymouth University (UK) is seeking three post-doctoral research fellows for a period of up to 48 months to work on the EPSRC funded collaborative project "BABEL: Bio-inspired Architecture for Brain Embodied Language" The three posts will respectively focus on: Postdoc RF1: You will carry out research on neuro-robotics and cognitive robotics experiments. A PhD in Computer science, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence or allied disciplines is required. Excellent programming skills are essential. Knowledge of computational neuroscience and/or human-robot interaction research is a desirable skill. Postdoc RF2: You will carry out research on computational neuroscience (e.g. spiking neural networks). A PhD in Computer science, Neuroscience, Robotics, or allied disciplines is required. Computational neuroscience skills are essential. Cognitive neuroscience knowledge is a desirable skill. Postdoc RF3: You will carry out research on computational neuroscience and brain imaging. A PhD Computer science, Neuroscience, Psychology or allied disciplines is required. Experience related brain imaging of language and combined computational/cognitive neuroscience is desirable. All three posts are fixed-term for 4 years working 37 hours per week, with a start date of 1 June 2012 (or as soon as possible after this date, subject to negotiation). You will be working collaboratively as part of a larger inter-disciplinary research team at the School of Computing and Mathematics, and the School of Psychology, under the supervision of Professor Angelo Cangelosi, Dr Thomas Wennekers, Professor Sue Denham and Professor Friedemann Pulvermueller. You will also collaborate with the other partners in the BABEL consortium, such as Professor Steve Furber and Dr David Lester (Manchester University) and Pulvermueller's lab at Free University Berlin. The research fellows might be required to travel for project meetings and between partners' sites. For informal enquiry, email acangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk Recruitment and selection will be based on individual merit, however, we should particularly like to encourage applications from women, black and minority ethnic who are under-represented in the Faculty of Technology. Job reference : A2465 Application closing date : 22/03/2012 Salary : ?31020 to ?31948 pa - Grade 7 Application deadline : 22 March 2012 http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AEA080/post-doctoral-research-fellows-in-computational-neuroscience-cognitive-robotics-babel-project/ To view job details or apply on-line click here. From j.ito at fz-juelich.de Wed Feb 29 06:06:47 2012 From: j.ito at fz-juelich.de (Junji Ito) Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:06:47 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?Open_Position_on_the_PhD_Level=3A_Forsc?= =?utf-8?q?hungszentrum_J=C3=BClich=2C_INM-6=2C_Germany?= Message-ID: <4F4E06C7.4020905@fz-juelich.de> Dear connectionists, I'd like to announce a call for PhD student in Forschungszentrum J?lich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6), J?lich, Germany. Those who are interested in this offer, please contact Prof. Sonja Gr?n (s.gruen at fz-juelich.de) with the application material described below. Best, Junji Ito ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Open Position on the PhD Level A PhD position is available in a BMBF-funded research project ?Impact of top-down influence on visual processing during free viewing: multi-scale analysis of multi-area massively parallel recordings of the visual pathway?. This project is in the framework of Strategic Japanese?German Cooperative Research Program on Computational Neuroscience jointly funded by JST and BMBF. As the German part of the project team, the group of Prof. Sonja Gr?n in INM-6 for Computational and Systems Neuroscience is seeking an outstanding PhD candidate highly motivated to work on the analysis of massively parallel recordings (spikes and local field potentials) from monkey visual cortices. Applicants should primarily have background(s) in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics or related areas. Good programming skills in Python, MATLAB or C/C++ are preferable. The position is open from April of 2012, and the project will last for 3 years. This project will be conducted under a tight collaboration with Japanese experimental and theoretical partners (Prof. Hiroshi Tamura, Osaka Univ.; Prof. Shigeru Shinomoto, Kyoto Univ.), including annual progress meetings and associated long-term work stays in Japan (for a month). Applicants should enjoy this interdisciplinary and international research environment. The working place will be INM-6 for Computational and Systems Neuroscience, which is a part of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) in Forschungszentrum J?lich, Germany. The working language will be English. The call remains open until the position is filled. If you are interested please contact s.gruen at fz-juelich.de with your electronic CV, list of publication (if applicable), letters of reference, research interests and a statement of motivation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kennen Sie schon unsere app? http://www.fz-juelich.de/app From jms at isep.ipp.pt Wed Feb 29 08:32:05 2012 From: jms at isep.ipp.pt (Jorge M. Santos) Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:32:05 -0000 Subject: Connectionists: First Announcement NN2012 - Summer School on Neural Networks in Classification, Regression and Data Mining, Porto, Portugal Message-ID: <006701ccf6e6$86fe8580$94fb9080$@isep.ipp.pt> Apologies for multiple copies. We appreciate if you can forward this Announcement to potential candidates. ============================================================= SUMMER SCHOOL NN2012 NEURAL NETWORKS in CLASSIFICATION, REGRESSION and DATA MINING July 2-6, 2012, Porto, Portugal ============================================================= http://www.isep.ipp.pt/nn email: nn-2012 at isep.ipp.pt GENERAL INFORMATION The Summer School will be held at Porto, Portugal, jointly organized by the Engineering Biomedical Institute (INEB) and the School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP), with the collaboration of LEMA and GECAD. This year's edition also includes a POSTER/WORKSHOP SESSION providing a discussion forum where the participants can obtain peer guidance for their projects. PROGRAMME COMMITTEE ? Colin Campbell (Reader, Merchant Venturer's School of Engineering, Bristol, UK) ? Craig Saunders (Research Scientist, Xerox Research Centre Europe, France) ? Hans-Georg Zimmermann (Senior Principal Research Scientist, Siemens AG, Corporate Technology Dpt., Munich, Germany) ? Igor Aizenberg (Department Chair and Professor, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Texas A&M University-Texarkana, USA) ? Joaquim Marques de S? (Full Professor, University of Porto and INEB, Portugal) ? Jorge M. Santos (Assistant Professor, School of Engineering and INEB Porto, Portugal) ? Jos? Carlos Pr?ncipe (Distinguished Professor of ECE, BellSouth Professor, Director Computational NeuroEngineering Laboratory, Florida, USA) ? Luis Silva (Assistant Professor, University of Aveiro and INEB, Portugal) ? Mark Embrechts (Associate Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, U.S.A.) ? Markus Hofmann (Lecturer in Informatics, Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, Dublin, Ireland) ? Noelia S?nchez Maro?o (Assistant Professor, Coruna University, Spain) ? Petia Georgieva (Assistant Professor, University of Aveiro, Portugal) COURSE CONTENTS Neural networks (NN) have become a very important tool in classification and regression tasks. The applications are nowadays abundant, e.g. in the engineering, economy and biology areas. The Summer School on NN is dedicated to explain relevant NN paradigms, namely multilayer perceptrons (MLP), radial basis function networks (RBF) and support vector machines (SVM) used for classification and regression tasks, illustrated with applications to real data. Specific topics are also presented, namely Deep Neural Networks, Recurrent Neural Networks, Functional Networks, Multi-Valued and UB Neurons, Entropic Neural Networks Criteria and Data Mining using NN. Classes include practical sessions with appropriate software tools. The trainee has, therefore, the opportunity to apply the taught concepts and become conversant with a broad range of NN topics and applications. A special poster session will also provide a discussion forum where the participants can obtain peer guidance for their projects PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME A preliminary programme and further information about the classes are available at the school webpage ( http://www.isep.ipp.pt/nn ) IMPORTANT DEADLINES Early Registration: 20 May 2012 Poster Submission: 15 June 2012 Hotel booking : 15 June 2012 Summer School: 2-6 July 2012 All participants are required to register prior to the start of the School - until the June 15 - even if you choose to pay the late registration fee at the registration desk. Please note that only a LIMITED number of participants can be accepted. REGISTRATION In order to attend the School you must fill in the registration form, available at the School web page. Please note that if you have any guests who would like to take part in the social programme, you must register them as well, by filling in the corresponding field in the registration form. SCHOOL FEES The registration fee for participants amounts to: - Early registration fee (paid until May 20th) * 370 Euro (students or ISEP/INEB members) * 420 Euro (all other participants) - Late registration fee (paid after May 20th) * 420 Euro (students, ISEP/INEB members) * 470 Euro (all other participants) The registration fee includes: * school package (manuscripts, lecture's notes, CD) * coffee breaks * daily lunch * welcome reception * school banquet NOTE: The registration fee for those who attended previous editions amounts to 30/35 euro per lecture and includes the school package and coffee-breaks. Please, contact the LOC for further details. LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (LOC) ? Alexandra Oliveira - Assistant Professor, ESTSP, IPP, Portugal ? Chen Ning - Researcher, ISEP(GECAD), Portugal ? Jorge M. Santos - Assistant Professor, ISEP(LEMA) and INEB, Portugal ? Lu?s Silva, Assistant Professor, INEB, Portugal ? Rui Chibante - Assistant Professor, ISEP(LEMA), Portugal ? V?nia Lopes - Research Technician, INESC, Portugal CONTACT ADDRESS Local Organizing Committee (LOC) - Summer School NN2012 A/C Jorge M. Santos Departamento de Matem?tica Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Rua Dr. Ant?nio Bernardino de Almeida 431 4200-072 PORTO / PORTUGAL Email: nn-2012 at isep.ipp.pt NN2012 Secretariat Ms. Ana Costa Email: amac at isep.ipp.pt Programme Chair: Prof. Jorge M. Santos Tel. +351 228340500 ext. 1571 - Email: jms at isep.ipp.pt ============================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120229/afe5337b/attachment-0001.html From Julien.Mayor at unige.ch Tue Feb 28 07:49:18 2012 From: Julien.Mayor at unige.ch (Julien Mayor) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:49:18 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: 13th Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop (NCPW13), 2nd call of abstracts + Rumelhart Memorial Travel Awards Message-ID: <25ABB96A-A67C-427C-98D2-96435A5E4DE7@unige.ch> *** NEW!!! Rumelhart Memorial Travel Awards for the best students submissions!!! (see details below) *** Dear colleague, We cordially invite you to participate in the 13th Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop (NCPW13) to be held in San Sebastian (Spain) from July 12-14, 2012: http://www.bcbl.eu/events/ncpw13 This well-established and lively workshop aims at bringing together researchers from different disciplines such as artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, neurobiology, philosophy and psychology to discuss their work on models of cognitive processes. Previous themes have encompassed categorisation, language, memory, development, action. There will be no specific theme, but papers must be about emergent models -- frequently, but not necessarily -- of the connectionist/neural network kind, applied to cognition. These workshops have always been characterised by their limited size, high quality papers, the absence of parallel talk sessions, and a schedule that is explicitly designed to encourage interaction among the researchers present in an informal setting. Furthermore, this workshop will feature a unique set of invited speakers: ? Mark Seidenberg. University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. ? Jeffrey Elman. University of California, San Diego. USA. ? Randall C. O'Reilly. University of Colorado. USA. ? Kim Plunkett. University of Oxford, UK. Important dates to remember: Abstract deadline: March 31st, 2012 Notification of abstract acceptance: May 1st, 2012 Early registration deadline: June 1st, 2012 Online registration deadline: July 1st, 2012 Conference dates: July 12 - 14, 2012 The Rumelhart Memorial Travel awards, generously funded by Professor Jay McClelland, will provide funding to support travel costs for students presenting at the conference. Awards of US$250 are available to students from Western European countries, and US$750 for students from elsewhere. Looking forward to your participation! On the behalf of the organizing committee, Julien Mayor --- Julien Mayor University of Geneva 40 Bd Pont d'Arve 1205 Gen?ve Tel: +41 (0)22 3798150 http://www.unige.ch/fapse/psycholinguistique/model.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120228/c2b4eb3a/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: banner_ncpw13.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 64717 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20120228/c2b4eb3a/banner_ncpw13-0001.jpg