Connectionists: International Summer School on Cognitive Computation, University of Stirling, 25-20 Aug, 2013

[Dr Amir Hussain]

Dear all:

Please see below a Call for the 1st International Summer School on
Cognitive Computation, being organized and hosted by the University of
Scotland in Scotland, UK, from 25-20 August 2013.
http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/events/COGCOMP2013

Limited places (some funding available for eligible students). Deadline: 29
Apri 2013. To apply/or for more information: please email:
cogcomp2013 at cs.stir.ac.uk

Please forward to interested colleagues/research students.

Kind regards

Amir Hussain
http://cs.stir.ac.uk/~ahu/

*SICSA International Summer School on:*

*Cognitive Computation*

*25th-30th Aug 2013*

*University of Stirling, Scotland, UK*

*Overview*

Cognitive computation is a new and challenging area, which promises to
facilitate the development of novel brain-inspired cognitive technologies
for engineering the intelligent systems of tomorrow. This Scottish
Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) sponsored International
Summer School on Cognitive Computation is an innovative multidisciplinary
event, aiming to unite young researchers coming from a variety of
backgrounds. The stimulating and relaxed atmosphere will invite a close and
productive interaction between both School participants and their mentors.



The vision of this Summer School is to empower participants with an
interdisciplinary understanding of some of the key underlying
methodologies, concepts and techniques in cognitive computation, and their
strengths and limitations (demonstrated by a range of case studies).
Participants will also learn of future directions in this exciting
multi-disciplinary field. Topics covered will include: perception, action,
attention, learning and memory, decision making and control, language
processing, communication, reasoning, pattern recognition, problem solving,
and consciousness.



The five-day programme will consist of a set of tutorial-style lectures,
all delivered by experts of international standing combined with hands-on
practical sessions for constructing and working with the techniques covered
in the course material. The initial sessions will serve as advanced
introduction to cognitive computation, including practical sessions and a
comprehensive review of the underlying interdisciplinary fields,
specifically:

·       computational modelling in neuroscience: a workshop style
introduction (Dr. *Bruce Graham, Stirling*),

·       computational intelligence and machine learning: methods, theories
and tools for solving key cognition tasks such as learning and pattern
recognition (*Kevin Swingler, Incite Ltd., Stirling*)

·       cognitive augmentations of swarm intelligence & agent-based
simulation: theory & applications (Dr.*Jerry Swan* *Stirling*)

·       social cognition & cognitive behavioural systems: theory to
applications (Dr.*Alessandro Vinciarelli, Glasgow*)

The subsequent sessions will cover more advanced approaches to cognitive
systems research and development (including emerging theories, real-world
application case studies and future challenges), including:

·       informational models of 'mind' theory and practice: from
computational models of consciousness to theories of information
integration and intuitions about the mind and creation of mind-like state
structures - case studies with an exploratory robot (*Keynote Lecturer*:
Prof. *Igor Aleksander, Imperial College*)

·       reverse engineering the brain for cognitive computation:
multi-scale modelling from membranes, to circuits, systems and robots - a
case study with action selection in the basal ganglia (Prof. *Kevin Gurney,
Sheffield*)

·       towards multi-modal cognitive systems: case studies on insect
robotics (Prof. *Barbara Webb, Edinburgh*)

·       novel bayesian approaches to perception, cognition and disease:
case studies using theoretical models and psychophysical experiments
(Dr. *Peggy
Series, Edinburgh*)

·       silicon/neuromorphic cognitive systems: building bridges to build
brains (Prof. *Leslie Smith, Stirling*)

·       towards neurobiologically inspired cognitive control of complex
autonomous agents and their networked systems: case studies in
next-generation intelligent transportation systems and planetary
exploration rovers (Prof. *Amir Hussain *& Dr. *Erfu Yang, Stirling*)

*Audience*

The School is intended for PhD students and researchers working in all
areas of cognitive computation, including its theoretical, applied,
artificial and natural dimensions. More generally, it will appeal to
researchers interested in biologically inspired computing techniques and
applications, for example: machine learning, computational intelligence,
cognitive and computational neuroscience, machine consciousness, neural
hardware implementations and biologically inspired robotics and
systems. Although
the course will have substantial technical content, no prerequisites are
required beyond a good background in computer science/informatics or a
related subject.

*Programme & Venue*

The summer school will run from 10am to 5pm each day (9.30am-6pm on
Tuesday, 27th, and Thursday, 29th Aug 2013). Springer’s Neuroscience
Publishing Editor, Dr Martijn Roelandse, will also give a talk on
“publishing interdisciplinary research in scientific journals” on the first
day, Monday, 26 August, from 4pm-5pm, which will be followed by a PhD
Posters Session, and Exhibition organized by Springer, from 5pm-7pm (with
prize awarded to the best poster). Authors of selected posters, judged by
the Keynote Guest Lecturer: Professor Igor Aleksander, will be invited to
submit extended/full papers to Springer’s Cognitive Computation journal (
http://www.springer.com/12559). The full (draft) School programme is
available below.

The summer school will be held in the Division of Computing Science, School
of Natural Sciences at the University of Stirling. Activities will take
place in the Cottrell Building. Travel directions and maps can be found at:
http://www.stir.ac.uk/about/getting-here/

*Registration*

£250 (no accommodation) or £450 for 4 nights accommodation (breakfast and
dinner inclusive, with arrival on Mon, 26 Aug, departure on Fri, 30 Aug),
£500 for 5 nights accommodation (arrival: Sun, 25 Aug, departure: Fri, 30
Aug, or arrival: Mon, 26 Aug, departure: Sat, 31 Aug), £550 for 6 nights
(arrival: Sun, 25 Aug, departure: Sat, 31 Aug -no other options are
available and only Sun-Fri nights are guaranteed - other options, e.g. Sat
nights on 24 Aug and/or 31 Aug, only if available). Accommodation is on
campus and will be in single en-suite rooms. The registration fee (without
accommodation) covers the Workshop, the School dinner on Wednesday 28 Aug
(at 7pm), along with lunches and teas/coffees each day. Students are
responsible for their own travel arrangements and expenses to get to
Stirling. SICSA students can access local support from their own
Schools/Departments to support such travel

SICSA will cover the £500 registration fee for PhD students in computer
science departments of SICSA member Scottish universities (for a full list
of SICSA Universities, see: http://www.sicsa.ac.uk/about/SICSA_Universities).
The number of SICSA students is limited and a decision on ranking will be
taken if necessary. Up to two competitive places are also being sponsored
by the IEEE UKRI Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) Chapter - please
indicate if you wish to be considered for these in your application.

*Application Procedure and Deadlines: Round 1: **April 29th, 2013*. If
there are places remaining, the second round of applications will close on
May 20th 2013.

Please email your application consisting of the following to the Stirling
Summer School Administration team cogcomp2013 at cs.stir.ac.uk and include the
following details:

   - First Name and Last Name, Email & Website
   - Current degree, field of study and Institution (including country)
   - Accommodation needed, for how many nights (minimum 4), arrival and
   departure dates
   - Supervisor’s Name and full contact details
   - Your biography (maximum 250 words), including titles of up to 3 of
   your relevant publications (if any)
   - Description of your research activities and interests (250 words)
   - Your motivation & expectations of a summer school in Cognitive
   Computation (250 words)
   - Skills (experience with systems, languages, toolkits, research
   methods) (100 words)
   - Title and abstract of your Poster (maximum 500 words) - optional

All applications will be used to screen potential attendees to ensure their
suitability for the content of the summer school. If your application is
successful, you will be contacted by email (within one week of the relevant
deadline) to arrange the applicable payments.

*Organisers*

The summer school is organised by the Division of Computing Science at the
University of Stirling. The School co-ordinator is Professor Amir Hussain,
E-mail: ahu at cs.stir.ac.uk

*Contact*

For more information, please contact the Administration Team (E-mail:
cogcomp2013 at cs.stir.ac.uk )**

*This school is funded by the Scottish Informatics & Computer Science
Alliance (SICSA: http://www.sicsa.ac.uk/), & technically co-sponsored by
Springer and the IEEE UKRI IAS and CIS Chapters*

* *

-- 
The University of Stirling is ranked in the top 50 in the world in The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 table, which ranks the world's best 100 universities under 50 years old.
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, 
 number SC 011159.

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