Connectionists: Workshop on Canonical Cortical Computations

[Allison Ong]

Simons Foundation Now Accepting Applications for Workshop on Canonical
Cortical Computations

The Center for Computational Neuroscience (CCN)
<https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/center-for-computational-neuroscience/>
at the Flatiron Institute and the Simons Foundation Neuroscience
Collaborations <https://www.simonsfoundation.org/neuroscience/> invite
applications to participate in a workshop aimed at developing a potential
collaborative project focused on a mechanistic understanding of canonical
cortical computations at the circuit level. The workshop will be held April
27–28, 2026, at the Simons Foundation’s offices in New York City.

This workshop represents a new model for fostering large-scale scientific
collaborations between CCN researchers and external scientists. We
particularly encourage applications from experimentalists working in rodent
and/or nonhuman primate models. While the envisioned collaborative project
will primarily support external experimental work, theoretical and
computational neuroscientists are also welcome to apply.

For decades, efforts to fully understand canonical cortical computations
were slowed by limited descriptions of cell types and connections,
technical barriers to measuring and perturbing circuits in vivo and the
abstract nature of theoretical models. Thanks to advances in anatomy,
biophysics, connectomics, developmental biology and circuit-level tools, as
well as powerful new computational and theoretical approaches, researchers
are now poised to build and test models that more faithfully capture the
function of canonical cortical circuits. We believe this will be possible
only through a highly collaborative, vertically integrated partnership
between theorists and experimentalists working together to build a
framework for thinking about canonical circuit computations in the cortex.

Approximately 30 workshop attendees will be selected from these
applications. Participation in this workshop is not a guarantee of
inclusion in a potential collaborative project or future funding.

To apply, please submit your biosketch and a one-page statement describing
your scientific expertise, how it connects to the scientific vision
outlined above and what unique perspectives or contributions you will bring
to the discussions.

Apply here
<https://form.jotform.com/apschaffer/application-cortical-computations> by
January 5, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET.
https://form.jotform.com/apschaffer/application-cortical-computations

You will be notified by February 27, 2026, if you are selected to attend.

For questions or issues with this application, please contact
corticalcomputations at simonsfoundation.org.
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