From sandro.bimonte at inrae.fr Sun Feb 1 07:01:58 2026 From: sandro.bimonte at inrae.fr (Sandro Bimonte) Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2026 12:01:58 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: MSCA Double Degree PhD Scolarship: "Optimization-simulation coupling for the GHG emission based supervision and planification of a fleet of autonomous agricultural robots" Position N In-Reply-To: <2596337d60b347f9a4e4099d2e97bf1f@inrae.fr> References: , <2596337d60b347f9a4e4099d2e97bf1f@inrae.fr> Message-ID: Dear collegues please disseminate who could be interested Exceptional 36-months Double Degree PhD Scholarship Phd in Computer Science Position-N ? Optimization-simulation coupling for the GHG emission based supervision and planification of a fleet of autonomous agricultural robots ? All details are avaiable here : https://www.eu4greenfielddata.eu/content/download/191/2067?version=3 EU Recruiting institutions * INRAE (France), Dr Sandro Bimonte, Antoine Daiilly * Aarhus University (Denmark), Prof. Claus Sorensen Exceptional benefits at a glance * International PhD training excellence * Renowned supervisors & top-tier labs * Interdisciplinary & multi sectoral research * Competitive MSCA salary & allowances * Global academic & industrial network * Non-academic secondments Salary (Gross amount) Living Allowance Mobility Allowance* Family Allowance** EUR 4736 EUR 710 EUR 660 How to apply https://www.eu4greenfielddata.eu/phd-positions-application/how-to-apply Timeline ? Application Deadline : April 15th 2026 ? Selection Process : Mai 2026 ? PhD Start Date : September-October 2026 This PhD is fundend by the MSCA JD project GreenFieldData : IoRT Data Management and Analysis for Sustainable Agriculture Project 3-year contract starting September/October 2026 https://www.eu4greenfielddata.eu/ Cordialement Sandro Bimonte Senior Researcher at INRAE, Clermont Ferrand, France -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From d.kollias at qmul.ac.uk Mon Feb 2 05:12:29 2026 From: d.kollias at qmul.ac.uk (Dimitrios Kollias) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 10:12:29 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: (CfP) CVPR 2026: 10th Workshop and Competition on Affective Behavior Analysis in-the-wild (ABAW) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, Please find below the invitation to contribute to the 10th Workshop and Competition on Affective & Behavior Analysis in-the-wild (ABAW) to be held in conjunction with the IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference (CVPR), 2026. (1): The Competition is split into the below six Challenges: * Valence-Arousal Estimation Challenge * Expression Recognition Challenge * Action Unit Detection Challenge * Fine-grained Violence Detection Challenge * Emotional Mimicry Intensity Estimation Challenge * Ambivalence/Hesitancy (AH) Video Recognition Challenge The first 3 Challenges are based on an augmented version of the Aff-Wild2 database; the 4th Challenge is based on the DVD database; the 5th Challenge is based on the Hume-Vidmimic2 dataset; and the 6th Challenge is based on the BAH dataset. More details can be found here. All accepted papers from the Competition will be part of the CVPR 2026 proceedings. Important Dates: ? ? * Call for participation announced, team registration begins, data available: 31January, 2026 * Final submission deadline: 15 March, 2026 * Winners Announcement: 17 March, 2026 * Final paper submission deadline: 18 March, 2026 * Review decisions sent to authors; Notification of acceptance: 7 April, 2026 * Camera ready version deadline: 10 April, 2026 (2): The Workshop is a premier platform highlighting the latest advancements in multimodal analysis, generation, modeling, and understanding of human affect and behavior in real-world, unconstrained environments. Original high-quality contributions, in terms of databases, surveys, studies, foundation models, techniques and methodologies (either uni-modal or multi-modal; uni-task or multi-task ones) are solicited on -but are not limited to- the following topics: i) facial expression (basic, compound or other) or micro-expression analysis ii) facial action unit detection iii) valence-arousal estimation iv) physiological-based (e.g.,EEG, EDA) affect analysis v) face recognition, detection or tracking vi) body recognition, detection or tracking vii) gesture recognition or detection viii) pose estimation or tracking ix) activity recognition or tracking x) lip reading and voice understanding xi) face and body characterization (e.g., behavioral understanding) xii) characteristic analysis (e.g., gait, age, gender, ethnicity recognition) xiii) group understanding via social cues (e.g., kinship, non-blood relationships, personality) xiv) video, action and event understanding xv) digital human modeling xvi) characteristic analysis (e.g., gait, age, gender, ethnicity recognition) xvii) violence detection xviii) autonomous driving xix) domain adaptation, domain generalisation, few- or zero-shot learning for the above cases xx) fairness, explainability, interpretability, trustworthiness, privacy-awareness, bias mitigation and/or subgroup distribution shift analysis for the above cases xxi) editing, manipulation, image-to-image translation, style mixing, interpolation, inversion and semantic diffusion for all afore mentioned cases Accepted workshop papers will appear at CVPR 2026 proceedings. Important Dates: Paper Submission Deadline: 18 March, 2026 Review decisions sent to authors; Notification of acceptance: 7 April, 2026 Camera ready version 10 April, 2026 Chairs: Dimitrios Kollias, Queen Mary University of London, UK Stefanos Zafeiriou, Imperial College London, UK Irene Kotsia, Cogitat Ltd, UK Panagiotis Tzirakis, Hume AI Alan Cowen, Google DeepMind Eric Granger, ?cole de technologie sup?rieure, Canada Marco Pedersoli, ?cole de technologie sup?rieure, Canada Simon Bacon, Concordia University, Canada In case of any queries, please contact d.kollias at qmul.ac.uk Kind Regards, Dimitrios Kollias, on behalf of the organising committee ======================================================================== Dr Dimitrios Kollias, PhD, FHEA, M-IEEE, M-BMVA, M-AAAI, M-ACM, M-TCPAMI, AM-IAPR Associate Professor in Multimodal Artificial Intelligence Member of Centre for Multimodal AI Affiliate Member of Centre for Human Centred Computing Member of Centre of Predictive in vitro Models Member of Multimedia and Vision Group Member of Queen Mary Computer Vision Group Associate Member of Centre for Advanced Robotics Academic Fellow of Digital Environment Research Institute Member of Early Life Research Institute School of EECS Queen Mary University of London ======================================================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cpcourse at biomed.ee.ethz.ch Mon Feb 2 05:25:10 2026 From: cpcourse at biomed.ee.ethz.ch (Computational Psychiatry Course) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 10:25:10 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Computational Psychiatry Course 2026 in Zurich Message-ID: Dear all, We are pleased to announce the dates for the 12th International Computational Psychiatry Course (CPC) Zurich. 07?12 September 2026 Zurich & online (hybrid format) The course is organized by the Translational Neuromodeling Unit (University of Zurich and ETH Zurich) and will again be offered in a hybrid format, allowing participants to join either online via Zoom or in person in Zurich. The CPC is a 6-day course designed for students and scientists from diverse backgrounds (e.g., neuroscience, psychology, medicine, engineering, physics) who are interested in applying computational modeling techniques to study cognition and brain function in mental health. The program combines: * Clinical and modeling lectures (Monday?Thursday) * A poster session and speakers & attendees reception (Tuesday) * Application talks (Friday) * Hands-on tutorials (Saturday) Participants will gain both theoretical foundations and practical experience with open-source modeling tools applied to example data sets. Social events will also provide opportunities for networking and exchange with fellow attendees and speakers. Registration will open soon! Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date. We look forward to welcoming you in September! Best regards, Your CPC Zurich Team -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From d.kollias at qmul.ac.uk Mon Feb 2 06:07:46 2026 From: d.kollias at qmul.ac.uk (Dimitrios Kollias) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 11:07:46 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: (CfP) PHAROS-AIF-MIH Workshop and Competition in CVPR 2026 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, We are inviting you to participate in the PHAROS AI Factory for Medical Imaging & Healthcare Workshop and Competition (PHAROS-AIF-MIH) to be held in conjunction with the IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference (CVPR), 2026. A) The PHAROS-AIF-MIH Workshop (linked to the healthcare vertical of PHAROS AI Factory) aims to foster discussion and presentation of ideas regarding challenges of analysis of CT scans, MRIs, X-rays, EHRs and content metadata in the context of Digital Pathology and Radiology, adopting recent advances in GenAI, multimodal large language models, privacy preserving architectures, ethics by design, AI models trained in supercomputing infrastructures, knowledge distillation and Agentic AI. A Competition will be also organized focusing on multi-disease diagnosis through multiple medical image datasets. Baseline models will be provided to participants who will develop AI models improving performance and fairness of results. The topics covered by the PHAROS-AIF-MIH Workshop are closely related to the focus of the healthcare thematic area (vertical) of the PHAROS AI Factory, one of the first seven AI Factories selected and funded by the European Union in late 2024 (currently EU, through EuroHPC-JU, has selected 19 AI Factories, operating all over Europe). More information can be found here. Important Dates: Paper Submission Deadline: 18 March, 2026 Review Decisions Sent to Authors / Notification of Acceptance: 6 April, 2026 Camera-Ready Version Deadline: 10 April, 2026 For any requests or enquiries, please contact: stefanos at cs.ntua.gr B) The Competition includes two Challenges: i) Multi-Source Covid-19 Detection Challenge and ii) Fair Disease Diagnosis Challenge. The 1st Challenge's goal is to develop accurate models that detect Covid-19 in chest 3D CT scans obtained from multiple sources. The 2nd Challenge's goal is to develop fair and accurate models for diagnosing lung cancer (Adenocarcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma), Covid-19, and healthy cases from chest CT scans. More information can be found here. Important Dates: Call for Participation Announced, Team Registration Begins, Data Available: 30 January, 2026 Final Submission Deadline: 15 March, 2026 Winners Announcement: 17 March, 2026 Final Paper Submission Deadline: 18 March, 2026 Review Decisions Sent to Authors / Notification of Acceptance: 6 April, 2026 Camera-Ready Version Deadline: 10 April, 2026 For registration and further information, please contact d.kollias at qmul.ac.uk General Chair: Stefanos Kollias (National Technical University of Athens & GRNET) Program Chairs: Dimitrios Kollias (Queen Mary University London) Xujiong Ye (University of Exeter) Francesco Rundo (University of Catania) All accepted papers will be part of CVPR 2026 Conference Proceedings. Kind Regards, on behalf of the organising committee, Dimitrios Kollias ======================================================================== Dr Dimitrios Kollias, PhD, FHEA, M-IEEE, M-BMVA, M-AAAI, M-ACM, M-TCPAMI, AM-IAPR Associate Professor in Multimodal Artificial Intelligence Member of Centre for Multimodal AI Affiliate Member of Centre for Human Centred Computing Member of Centre of Predictive in vitro Models Member of Multimedia and Vision Group Member of Queen Mary Computer Vision Group Associate Member of Centre for Advanced Robotics Academic Fellow of Digital Environment Research Institute Member of Early Life Research Institute School of EECS Queen Mary University of London ======================================================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gilles.serasset at imag.fr Mon Feb 2 06:19:25 2026 From: gilles.serasset at imag.fr (=?utf-8?Q?Gilles_S=C3=A9rasset?=) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 12:19:25 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?KG=E2=80=93LLM_=40_LREC_2026_-_Knowledg?= =?utf-8?q?e_Graphs_and_Large_Language_Models_-_Second_Call_for_Paper?= Message-ID: <8B16C903-DE76-4153-80FC-D6D5ABBDCB9E@imag.fr> Knowledge Graphs and Large Language Models (KG?LLM 2026) @ LREC 2026 We are pleased to announce the Workshop on Knowledge Graphs and Large Language Models (KG?LLM 2026), to be held in conjunction with LREC 2026 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, May 16th 2026. We invite submissions of original research that leverages both Knowledge Graphs (KGs) and Large Language Models (LLMs) in any domain of Natural Language Processing or language resource development. More information at https://kg-llm.github.io/ Workshop Overview Large Language Models have become foundational in NLP, yet they continue to face challenges related to bias, hallucination, explainability, environmental impact, and the cost of training. Knowledge Graphs, in contrast, provide high-quality, interpretable, and reusable ontological and linguistic structures that support reasoning, fact checking, and knowledge preservation. The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers working at the intersection of these two paradigms, exploring how explicit knowledge and implicit statistical learning can enhance each other. We welcome contributions that investigate, demonstrate, or evaluate systems, methods, or resources integrating both KGs and LLMs. Topics of Interest We encourage submissions on (but not limited to): 1. LLMs for Knowledge Graph Engineering KG modelling, resource creation, and interlinking Relation extraction Corpus annotation Ontology localization Creation or expansion of linguistic or knowledge graphs KG querying and question answering 2. Knowledge Graphs for Large Language Models Using linguistic or knowledge graphs as training data Fine-tuning LLMs using linked linguistic (meta)data Knowledge/linguistic graph embeddings KGs for model explainability, provenance, and source attribution Neural models for under-resourced languages KG-augmented RAG (KG-RAG) 3. Joint Use of KGs and LLMs in Applications Combined KG?LLM use cases with structured linguistic data Digital humanities applications Question answering over graph data Fake news and misinformation detection Educational applications and assisted learning Visualizing academic writing with KGs and LLMs KG-enhanced chatbots for health and medical contexts Application Domains All application domains are welcome (Digital Humanities, FinTech, Linguistics, Education, Cybersecurity, etc.) as long as the work uses both Knowledge Graphs and Large Language Models. Submission Guidelines Submission Format: Papers up to 8 pages excluding references. Style: All submissions must follow the LREC 2026 format and use the official LREC author kit. (available at https://lrec2026.info/authors-kit/ ) Review Process: Double-blind peer review. Submissions must be fully anonymized. Submission System: Papers must be submitted via the START conference system at https://softconf.com/lrec2026/KGLLM/ Language Resources: In line with LREC policies, authors are encouraged to describe, document, and share language resources, datasets, models, evaluation tools, or annotation guidelines used or created in their work. Accepted Papers: All accepted papers will be included in the LREC 2026 workshop proceedings. Presentation: Accepted papers will be presented as oral or poster sessions during the workshop. Important Dates *All deadlines are 11:59PM UTC-12:00 (?anywhere on Earth?)* Paper submission deadline: 26 February 2026 Notification to authors: 24 March 2026 Camera-ready due: 30 March 2026 Workshop date: 16 May 2026 Contact For questions, please contact the workshop organizers at: kg-llm-26 at googlegroups.com Organizing Committee Gilles S?rasset, Universit? Grenoble Alpes, France Katerina Gkirtzou, Athena Research Center, Greece Michael Cochez, Ellis Institute Finland & ?bo Akademi, Finland Jan-Christoph Kalo, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dhansel0 at gmail.com Mon Feb 2 06:49:43 2026 From: dhansel0 at gmail.com (David Hansel) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 12:49:43 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Fwd: [seminar.wwtns] World wide VVTNS series (6th season): Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 11:00 am ET - Marcella Noorman, University of Chicago In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: [image: VVTNS.png] https://www.wwtns.online - on twitter: wwtns at TheoreticalWide You are cordially invited to the lecture Marcella Noorman University of Chicago on the topic of *Continuous representations in small, discrete circuits* The lecture will be held on zoom on February 4, 2026, at *11:00 am ET * > To receive the link: https://www.wwtns.online/register-page > *Abstract: *Many animals rely on persistent internal representations of continuous angular variables for working memory, motor control, and navigation. Theories have proposed that such representations are maintained by a class of recurrently connected networks called ring attractor networks. These networks rely on large numbers of neurons to maintain continuous and stable representations and to accurately integrate incoming signals. The head direction system of the fruit fly, however, seems to achieve these properties with a remarkably small network. These findings challenge our understanding of ring attractors and their putative implementation in neural circuits. In this talk, I will show analytically how small networks can overcome the constraints of their size to generate a ring attractor and are hence capable of stably maintaining an internal representation of a continuous, periodic variable. Further, I will show how ring attractors emerge in small threshold linear networks through the coordination of a discrete set of line attractors. More broadly, this work informs our understanding of the functional capabilities of small, discrete systems. *About VVTNS : Launched as the World Wide Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar (WWTNS) in November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), Speakers have the occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of experimentalists. The seminars, **held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET,** are 45-50 min long followed by a discussion. The talks are recorded with authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube channel.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: VVTNS.png Type: image/png Size: 41084 bytes Desc: not available URL: From georgios.yannakakis at um.edu.mt Mon Feb 2 11:04:11 2026 From: georgios.yannakakis at um.edu.mt (Georgios N Yannakakis) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:04:11 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: AI and Games Summer School 2026 [Leiden, NL, June 15-19] - Register before Mar-1 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: We are happy to announce that the 8th edition of the AI and Games Summer School will be held in *Leiden, The Netherlands* and will will take place between* 15 to 19 June, 2027*! https://school.gameaibook.org/ The summer school is dedicated to the uses of AI in and for games including AI for playing and testing games, for generating game content, and for modeling players. Our program already features talks and workshops from* Google DeepMind, Activision, EA SEED, CCP, Microsoft, Riot Games, Unity, Sony AI and Sony IE, Arm, Iconic, Humanfeedback.ai,* and a number of independent game AI developers, with more joining soon. Our event has attracted collectively nearly two thousand participants who had fun learning about the various uses of AI in games and implementing their own cool projects! Graduate students, research staff and faculty, and industry professionals are welcome to participate. Check out our current line-up of speakers and stay tuned for more updates. Our early bird registration ends *March 1, 2026*! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us at school at gameaibook.org! We hope to see you all this June in Malm?! Best regards, AI and Games Summer School Organizers > -- *The contents of this email are subject to?*these terms .** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From publicity at acsos.org Mon Feb 2 11:23:54 2026 From: publicity at acsos.org (ACSOS Publicity) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 16:23:54 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: ACSOS 2026 - First Joint Call for Contributions Message-ID: <91cbc9eb-fe4f-46db-ba02-47c45c07f8be@acsos.org> *** IEEE ACSOS 2026 *** First Joint Call for Contributions Call for Papers and Workshop Proposals The 7th IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS) 7-11 September 2026 - Cesena, Italy https://2026.acsos.org https://linktr.ee/acsosconf https:// acsos.org ======================================= The world is increasingly embracing autonomous systems: in robotics, manufacturing, software engineering, vehicles, data center systems, and precision agriculture to name just a few areas. These systems are bringing autonomy to a whole new level of dynamic decision-making under uncertainty, requiring autonomic behavior (e.g., control theory, cybernetics) and self-reference, leading to a range of self-* properties (e.g., self-awareness, self-adaptation, self-organization), and an approach in which system implementation and its environment are holistically considered. Despite this rise in autonomic and self-* systems, there remains a wide range of fundamental challenges in understanding how to design, control, reason about, and trust such systems. The IEEE ACSOS conference solicits novel research on these topics, in fundamentals and methods as well as applications for autonomic and self-* systems. The IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS) is a premier venue for advancing research in autonomic computing, self-adaptation, and? self-organization. Established in 2020 through the merger of two influential IEEE conferences?ICAC (International Conference on Autonomic Computing) and SASO (International Conference on Self-Adaptation and Self-Organization)?ACSOS builds on more than two decades of excellence in these fields. The conference serves as a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration, bridging academic and industrial perspectives across domains such as artificial intelligence, computational biology, and computer systems. ACSOS features a diverse program, including research papers, experience reports, posters, demonstrations, and a doctoral symposium, fostering innovation and knowledge exchange. All submissions are required to be formatted according to the standard IEEE Computer Society Press proceedings style guide: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html Papers are submitted electronically in PDF format through the ACSOS 2026 conference management system: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=acsos2026 All times below are in the Anywhere on Earth (AoE) timezone. > ????*** Main Track *** ACSOS 2026 invites submissions on theoretical aspects, modeling, design, implementation, evaluation, verification, and practical applications of autonomic, self-adaptive, self-organizing, and multi-agent systems, algorithms, and techniques. Abstract submission deadline: April 10, 2026 Paper submission deadline:April 17, 2026 Notification to authors: June 15, 2026 Camera ready deadline:July 20, 2026 Conference:September 7-11, 2026 We solicit: Research papers (up to 10 pages) that present rigorously evaluated novel ideas and techniques. Experience reports(up to 10 pages) that report on practical experiences with deploy systems. Vision Papers(up to 6 pages) introduce groundbreaking, provocative, and even controversial ideas. We intend to continue the tradition of giving the best papers of the conference an opportunity to publish an extended version in a special issue related to ACSOS. Details to follow. ACSOS 2026 plans to award the Karsten Schwan Best Paper Award and the Best Student Paper Award (where the primary author is a student) to papers of outstanding quality. Further details: https://2026.acsos.org/track/acsos-2026-papers >? ? ? ? ? ? ? *** Workshops *** The ACSOS Conference program includes two days dedicated to workshops. The workshops at ACSOS 2026 provide a forum for groups of 20-50 participants to present and discuss novel research ideas on autonomic computing, self-adaptive, and self-organizing systems. Workshops can be organized around emerging research areas such as digital twins/ explainability, challenging problems such as autonomy /self-* properties /scalability /sustainability or industrial applications such as smart mobility /Robotics /autonomous swarms. Workshop proposal submission deadline:February 27th, 2026 Workshop acceptance notification: March 10th, 2026 Workshop call for papers online: March 31th, 2026 Camera Ready submission deadline:July 20th, 2026 Further details: https://2026.acsos.org/track/acsos-2026-workshops -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pkoprinkova at yahoo.com Mon Feb 2 08:37:24 2026 From: pkoprinkova at yahoo.com (Petia Koprinkova) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 13:37:24 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Connectionists: AIMSA 2026: first CFP References: <308317456.6507098.1770039444532.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <308317456.6507098.1770039444532@mail.yahoo.com> AIMSA 2026 The 20th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence: Methodology,Systems, Applications Sofia, Bulgaria, 15-16 October 2026 www.aimsaconference.org Generative and Predictive AI Initiated in 1984, thebiennial Artificial Intelligence: Methodology, Systems, Applications (AIMSA)conference is a premier single-track forum for exchanging information andresearch results on theory and principles of artificial intelligence (AI) alongwith real-world applications of intelligent systems technology. The conferencetraditionally brings together researchers and practitioners in all areas of AIfrom both the academia and industry to meet and share their ideas andexperiences and learn about the recent trends and developments in contemporaryAI. TOPICS Theconference is looking for submissions offering innovative methods, systems andapplications that demonstrate efficiency and sustainability for the future ofAI. Efficiency can be demonstrated against current and traditionalmethods, systems and applications. Sustainability relates to therequired resources, computational power, human wellbeing, positive impact onscience and the society. Two main areas of contemporary AI will be on the focus ofthis conference, generative AI, such as LLM, and predictive AIsystems, such as neuromorphic ones. If properly used, the former can helpimprove human knowledge and cognition and the latter ? to predict early and toprevent mental and other health problems. Contemporary topics for presentationsand discussions will be considered in 3 major themes: (1)?? Innovative methods for efficientand sustainable AI: - Advances in AI theories; - Advances in neural networks and neurocomputers; - Brain-inspired computation; - Multimodal data science and AI; ? - Cooperative agents. (2)?? Systems for the development andthe implementations of efficient and sustainable AI: - LLM based on novel neurocomputers (spike-basedtransformers); - Agentic AI systems; - Neuromorphic agents; - Multi-agent systems on the cloud; (3)?? Novel efficient and sustainableAI applications: - LLM in education, from primary-, to tertiary- and tohigher education for improved learning and cognitive skills; - Improving cognition in elderly population; - AI in professional health practice; - Predictive AI for early prediction of healthproblems, such as: stroke, AD, dementia, MS, ADHD, depression; - AI for environmental prediction; - AI for personalized medicine; - Non-invasive AI methods in health. - AI against fake information; - Ethical use of LLM. ? All submissions will be subjectto a single-blind academic peer review by at least three members of the programcommittee. Selection criteria include accuracy and originality of ideas,clarity and significance of results, and quality of presentation. Theauthor(s) of the best paper (which will be selected based on the votes of theattendees) of the conference will receive the Best Paper Award during theconference. PROGRAMMECOMMITTEE CHAIR Nikola Kasabov AucklandUniversity of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand https://academics.aut.ac.nz/nkasabov Visitingprofessor in: Instituteof Information and Communication Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; Dalian University, China LOCALORGANIZING COMMITTEE CHAIR PetiaKoprinkova-Hristova Instituteof Information and Communication Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Acad. G. Bonchev 2, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria AIMSA e-mail: aimsa.conference at gmail.com LANGUAGE Theofficial language of the conference is English IMPORTANT DATES Submission deadline:? ??????????? ??????????? May 24, 2026 Notification ofacceptance:???? ??????????? July 1, 2026 Deadline forcamera-ready:??? ??????????? July 15, 2026 Conference:???? ??????????????????????? ??????????? October 15-16 2026 PROCEEDINGS Traditionally, proceedings of AIMSA conferences arepublished by Springer Nature in their Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligencesubline of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science series.? LOCATION Sofia is a vibrantEuropean city and capital of Bulgaria. It has a long history and manyhistorical monuments along with a modern architecture. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrea.green at umontreal.ca Mon Feb 2 16:27:13 2026 From: andrea.green at umontreal.ca (Andrea Green) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 21:27:13 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: Doctoral and postdoctoral studies in the neuroscience of dynamic action planning and motor control Message-ID: Doctoral and postdoctoral studies in the neuroscience of dynamic action planning and motor control Department of Neuroscience, University of Montreal Applications are invited for doctoral and postdoctoral studies in systems neuroscience in the laboratories of Andrea Green and Paul Cisek. Successful applicants will join a multidisciplinary research group studying how the primate brain controls real-time, natural behavior in dynamic environments. Different projects address how we specify and plan potential actions such as reaching under changing conditions as we move through our environment, decide between actions even during ongoing behavior, control and learn to execute movements in different behavioral contexts (e.g., body stationary vs. in motion) and integrate multisensory cues to estimate and keep track of our motion through space. Research in our group involves single- and multi-electrode neural recording experiments in non-human primates, human behavioral studies using techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation and galvanic vestibular stimulation, and computational modeling of the nervous system. New collaborative projects will combine use of sophisticated spatial motion systems and virtual reality environments to study naturalistic behavior in both humans and non-human primates and develop computational models of real-time action selection, planning and control. For more information, see: https://neurosciences.umontreal.ca/recherche/les-chercheurs/andrea-green/ and https://cisek.org/pavel/ Multiple positions are available. All students with a strong background in biological sciences, engineering, mathematics, computer science, physics or psychology and an interest in system-level study of the brain are encouraged to apply. Prior experience in neurophysiology, behavioral neuroscience and/or computational modeling of neural systems is highly desirable. Depending on the applicant's qualifications and interests, they will help to design and conduct behavioral and neurophysiological experiments, analyze data, develop theoretical models of neural systems, prepare manuscripts for publication, and participate in international conferences. Interested candidates are asked to send a curriculum vita, copies of academic transcripts, a statement of research interests and the names and contact information for two references, to Andrea Green (andrea.green at umontreal.ca) and Paul Cisek (paul.cisek at umontreal.ca). Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled, but preference will be given to applications received before March 16, 2026. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newsletters at tommasoturchi.fyi Mon Feb 2 08:07:19 2026 From: newsletters at tommasoturchi.fyi (Tommaso Turchi) Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:07:19 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: CfP: SYNERGY 2026 - Designing Hybrid Human-AI Systems (AVI, Venice, June 8-12) Message-ID: *[Apologies for cross-posting]* Please share widely with interested colleagues and networks! SYNERGY 2026: Workshop on Designing and Building Hybrid Human-AI Systems Co-located with AVI 2026 (18th International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces) June 8-12, 2026 - San Servolo Island, Venice, Italy https://synergy.trx.li/ *Important Dates:* - Submission Deadline: March 29, 2026 (AoE) - Notification: April 10, 2026 *ABOUT* In 1960, Joseph Licklider envisioned "Man-Computer Symbiosis" where computation would augment human intellect. Today, as AI becomes increasingly integrated into creative and decision-making processes, the challenge is to design systems that genuinely augment human capabilities through meaningful collaboration?moving beyond human-in-the-loop approaches where humans function as mere cogs in the machine. Following successful editions at AVI 2024 and HHAI 2025 (https://synergy.trx.li), this third workshop brings together researchers and practitioners to advance both theoretical frameworks and practical implementations that preserve human agency while leveraging AI's computational power. Aligned with AVI 2026's theme of "Interactive Creativity: Agencies, Interfaces, and Ethics," we focus on designing truly synergistic human-AI systems where both partners contribute their unique strengths to creative and decision-making processes. *TOPICS* We invite submissions addressing (but not limited to): ? Human-AI collaboration models and interaction patterns ? Design principles for synergistic systems that preserve human agency ? Adaptive interfaces for human-AI partnership ? Ethics, trust, and transparency in human-AI interaction ? Interactive decision-making systems and dynamic task allocation ? Evaluation methods for assessing human-AI collaboration effectiveness ? Cognitive augmentation and distribution in co-creative systems ? Software architectures and implementation patterns for collaborative AI systems ? Visual interfaces for explainable and interpretable AI ? Case studies and real-world applications of human-AI synergy ? Creative agency in AI-augmented workflows ? Bias mitigation and fairness in collaborative decision-making *SUBMISSION* ? Format: CEUR-WS single column format ? Length: Minimum 5 pages ? Submit via Microsoft CMT: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/SYNERGY2026 ? Accepted papers will be published in a dedicated CEUR-WS proceedings volume ? Authors of outstanding contributions will be invited to submit extended versions to a special issue in Interacting with Computers *ORGANIZERS* ? Tommaso Turchi, University of Pisa, Italy ? Alan Dix, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK ? Ben Wilson, Swansea University, UK ? Matt Roach, Swansea University, UK ? Alessio Malizia, University of Pisa, Italy *For more information:* Website: https://synergy.trx.li/ Contact: tommaso.turchi at unipi.it -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nsmattei at gmail.com Mon Feb 2 18:53:42 2026 From: nsmattei at gmail.com (Nicholas Mattei) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:53:42 -0600 Subject: Connectionists: Updated Deadline and Final Call: The 8th Games, Agents, and Incentives Workshop (GAIW)@AAMAS 2026 Message-ID: Call for Papers: The 8th Games, Agents, and Incentives Workshop (GAIW)@AAMAS 2026 Webpage: https://gtep-workshops.github.io/gaiw2026/ - Submission Deadline: February 4, 2026 Feb. 11th, 2026 (AoE) - Acceptance Notification: March 20, 2026 - Camera Ready: TBD (AoE) - Workshop: May 26, 2026 Call for Papers: We invite submissions to the 8th iteration of the Games, Agents and Incentives Workshop, co-located with AAMAS 2026 in Paphos, Cyprus, https://cyprusconferences.org/aamas2026/. Games, Agents and Incentives is a confederated workshop which focuses on agents and incentives in AI. In particular, it promotes approaches that deal with game theory (cooperative and non-cooperative), social choice, and agent-mediated e-commerce aspects of AI systems. The confederated workshop merges multiple workshops that have been associated with AAMAS in the past, which considered different aspects of the general interplay between AI and economics including CoopMAS, AMEC, and EXPLORE. Over the past two decades, the focus of agent incentives in decentralised and centralised AI systems has increased dramatically. These issues come up when designing preference aggregation mechanisms and markets; computing equilibria and bidding strategies; facilitating cooperation among agents; and fairly dividing resources. ********************************************************** PAPER SUBMISSION ********************************************************** Authors should submit full papers electronically in PDF format at: https://openreview.net/group?id=ifaamas.org/AAMAS/2026/Workshop/GAIW Formatting Guidelines: Please format papers according to the AAMAS 2026 format (https://cyprusconferences.org/aamas2026/submission-instructions/). Paper Length: Papers can be at most 8 pages long in AAMAS format. Additional pages may be used for references. Supplemental material can be appended at the end of the paper. However, reviewers are instructed to make their evaluations based on the main submission, and are not obligated to consult the supplemental material. Multiple Submissions: To widen participation and encourage discussion, there will be no formal publication of workshop proceedings. We will, however, post the accepted papers online to the benefit of the participants to the workshop. Therefore, submission of preliminary work and papers to be submitted or in preparation for submission to other major venues in the field are encouraged. Past Submissions: In order to strike a balance between new work and work that may have been presented, but not widely seen, we ask that if authors want to submit published work they do so non-anonymously and clearly indicate when and where the work was published. We will only accept work which has been published in the last calendar year (e.g., IJCAI 2025, NeurIPS 2025, AAAI 2025, AAAI 2026 and any conference held strictly after Jan 1, 2025). We invite papers on topics of game theory, mechanism design, fair allocation, computational social choice, and their applications to multi-agent systems: - Agentic AI Systems - Algorithmic mechanism design - Auctions - Behavioral Game Theory - Bounded rationality - Cooperative Games - Computational advertising - Computational aspects of equilibria - Computational social choice - Coalitions, coordination, collective action, and cooperation - Economic aspects of security and privacy - Economic aspects of distributed and network computing - Equilibrium computation - Empirical approaches to e-markets - Fairness (in ML & elsewhere) - Fair Division - Incentives in machine learning - Information and attention economics - Learning in games (e.g., solution concepts and equilibria) - Matching and Matching Markets - Negotiation - Preference aggregation and reasoning - Price differentiation and price dynamics - Social networks - Trading agent design and analysis - Uncertainty in AI and economic Best Presentation Award: The organizing committee of GAIW will be giving two awards (first-place and runner up) for best paper presentations. The award criteria include the clarity of presentation, the level of engagement, the content, and discussion handling. Inquiries: If you have any questions, direct them to alan.tsang at carleton.ca. ********************************************************** IMPORTANT DATES ********************************************************** - Submission Deadline: February 4, 2026 (AoE) - Acceptance Notification: March 20, 2026 - Camera Ready: TBD (AoE) - Workshop: May 26, 2026 ********************************************************** ORGANIZATION ********************************************************** Program Chairs Ben Armstrong, Tulane University Michael Curry, University of Illinois Chicago Hadi Hosseini, Penn State University Nicholas Mattei, Tulane University Alan Tsang, Carleton University Tomasz W?s, University of Oxford -- *Nicholas Mattei* Associate Professor, Tulane University nsmattei at tulane.edu | www.nickmattei.net Stanley Thomas Hall | 305B +1 504 247 1416 Department of Computer Science Tulane University 6823 St Charles Ave New Orleans, LA 70118 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From marouso_velissariou at imbb.forth.gr Tue Feb 3 03:52:01 2026 From: marouso_velissariou at imbb.forth.gr (marouso_velissariou at imbb.forth.gr) Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:52:01 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: EMBO Dendrites 2026: Abstract submission deadline extended to Feb. 9th Message-ID: <20260203105201.Horde.EWu74aqCQn50FQrfW7u0iA1@webmail.imbb.forth.gr> Dear Colleagues, In response to popular demand, we have extended the deadline for abstract submission until Feb. 9th, 2026. Please register and submit your abstract online at: https://meetings.embo.org/event/26-dendrites No payment is required for abstract submission. Notifications will be provided by February 28th, 2026 Registration payment due by March 15th, 2026 Potential attendees are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract as presenters will have registration priority. For more information about the conference, please refer to our web site or send email to embo2026 at artion.com.gr We look forward to seeing you in person at DENDRITES 2026, in Heraklion, Crete, on 19-22 May 2026! The organizers, Panayiota Poirazi, Lucy Palmer, Mark Harnett -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. From stanciu.cristi12 at gmail.com Tue Feb 3 12:28:20 2026 From: stanciu.cristi12 at gmail.com (Cristian Stanciu) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2026 19:28:20 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Call For Participation: ImageCLEF 2026: Multimodal Challenges in Medicine, Science, Agritech, and Security Message-ID: [Apologies for multiple postings] *ImageCLEF 2026: Multimodal Challenges in Medicine, Science, Agritech, and Security* http://www.imageclef.org/2026/ ****CALL FOR PARTICIPATION**** ImageCLEF 2026 is an evaluation campaign that is being organized as part of the CLEF (Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum) labs. The campaign offers several research tasks that welcome participation from teams around the world. The results of the campaign appear in the working notes proceedings, published by CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org) and are presented in the CLEF conference. Selected contributions among the participants, will be invited for publication in the following year in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) together with the annual lab overviews. Target communities involve (but are not limited to): information retrieval (text, vision, audio, multimedia, social media, sensor data, etc.), machine learning, deep learning, data mining, natural language processing, image and video processing, computer vision, with special attention to the challenges of multi-modality, multi-linguality, and data generation. ****2026 Tasks**** ImageCLEFmedical Caption: Concept Detection, Caption Prediction and Explainability in Radiology images ImageCLEFmedical Visual Question Answering for Gastrointestinal (GI) Imaging ImageCLEFmedical GANs: Evaluation of Quality and Privacy in Synthetic Medical Images Created via GANs ImageCLEFmedical MEDIQA-CORE: Multimodal Reasoning & Reconciliation in Radiology, ImageCLEF ToPicto: Text-to-Pictogram Translation and Pictogram Prediction ImageCLEF Multimodal Reasoning: Multi-domain, Multi-language Viaual Question Answering ImageCLEF Ai4Agriculture: AI in Agriculture, Agriculture Potential Estimation, Crop Identification ImageCLEF Deepfake: Few-Shot Deepfake Generation and Deepfake Detection in Images and Audio *#ImageCLEFmedical Caption (10th edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/medical/caption Interpreting and summarizing the insights gained from medical images such as radiology output is a time-consuming task that involves highly trained experts and often represents a bottleneck in clinical diagnosis pipelines. The Automatic Image Captioning task is split into 2 subtasks: Concept Detection Task, based on identifying the presence and location of relevant concepts in a large corpus of medical images and the Caption Prediction Task, where participating systems are tasked with composing coherent captions for the entirety of an image. *#ImageCLEFmedical Visual Question Answering (4th edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/medical/medvqa-gi The 4th MEDVQA-GI challenge advances Visual Question Answering (VQA) for gastrointestinal (GI) imaging with a continued emphasis on explainability, clinical safety, and multimodal reasoning. The first subtask focuses on developing models to accurately answer clinically relevant questions from GI endoscopy images, while the second subtask focuses on explainability through multimodal justifications, that combine textual and visual evidence aligned with medical reasoning. *#ImageCLEFmedical GANs (4th edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/medical/gans ImageCLEFmedical-GANs 2026 evaluates the quality and privacy of synthetic tuberculosis CT images, with a new generation task requiring participants to produce images while analyzing risks of patient re-identification and data leakage. *#ImageCLEFmedical MEDIQA-CORE (1st edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/medical/mediqa-core The new MEDIQA-CORE 2026 task focuses on multimodal reasoning in radiology, evaluating models on tumor diagnosis using images and reports and on detecting and reconciling discrepancies between conflicting radiology interpretations. *#ImageCLEF ToPicto (3rd edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/topicto ImageCLEFtoPicto 2026 aims to advance research on automatically converting written English text into meaningful sequences of pictograms to support alternative and augmentative communication. The challenge introduces an English text-to-pictogram translation task using aligned text and pictogram data, as well as a new task focused on predicting the most likely next pictogram in an ongoing sequence. *#ImageCLEF Multimodal Reasoning (2nd edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/multimodalreasoning The second edition of the Multimodal Reasoning task evaluates the reasoning abilities of vision?language models through multilingual visual question answering, expanding the multiple-choice setting and introducing open-ended questions that require generating answers directly from visual and textual content. *#ImageCLEF Ai4Agriculture (1st edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/ai4agri The AI for agriculture task includes two sub-tasks: AgriPotential, which evaluates models? ability to estimate land suitability for different crop types using multi-temporal and multi-spectral Sentinel-2 imagery from southern France, and DACIA5, which focuses on crop identification and early crop recognition using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data over agricultural parcels in Romania. *#ImageCLEF Deepfake (1st edition)* https://www.imageclef.org/2026/deepfake-detection-and-generation The first edition of the Deepfake task evaluates both generation and detection of visual and audio deepfakes, measuring how convincingly deepfakes can be created and how effectively state-of-the-art methods can detect them across multiple evaluation criteria. **** IMPORTANT DATES **** (may vary depending on the task) - Run submission deadline: May 7, 2026 - Working notes submission: May 28, 2026 - CLEF 2026 conference: September 21-24, 2026, Jena, Germany **** REGISTRATION **** For registration, follow the instructions here: https://www.imageclef.org/2026, in the "Participant registration" section. **** OVERALL COORDINATION **** Bogdan Ionescu, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania Henning M?ller, HES-SO, Sierre, Switzerland Cristian Stanciu, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania On behalf of the organizers, Cristian Stanciu https://www.aimultimedialab.ro/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ymourchid at cesi.fr Tue Feb 3 15:26:13 2026 From: ymourchid at cesi.fr (MOURCHID Youssef) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2026 20:26:13 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?Call_for_Papers_Now_Open_=7C_Submit_You?= =?utf-8?q?r_Work_to_ISCS_2026__=7C_June_03=E2=80=9305=2C_La_Rochelle=2C_F?= =?utf-8?q?rance?= Message-ID: ? Call for Papers ? ISCS 2026 The International Conference on Complex Systems (ISCS 2026) invites researchers and practitioners to submit original contributions on all aspects of Complex Systems. Submission formats * Long Papers: up to 12 pages * Short Papers: up to 8 pages * Extended Abstracts: 3?4 pages ? Submission deadline: March 2, 2026 ? Submit via CMT: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/ISCS2026/ (Please select ?ISCS 2026?) ? Conference website: https://iutdijon.u-bourgogne.fr/iscs/ Join us in shaping the future of Complex Systems Science and engaging with an international, interdisciplinary community. ? ISCS 2026 Organizing Committee [cid:image001.png at 01DC9553.9BADE000] Youssef MOURCHID Enseignant-Chercheur UR 7527 Tel : +33 (0)7 88 33 17 65 22 B Rue du Cap Vert, 21800 Quetigny [cid:image002.png at 01DC9553.9BADE000] [cid:image003.png at 01DC9553.9BADE000] [cid:image004.png at 01DC9553.9BADE000] [cid:image005.png at 01DC9553.9BADE000] [cid:image006.png at 01DC9553.9BADE000] lineact.cesi.fr -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 5253 bytes Desc: image001.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.png Type: image/png Size: 577 bytes Desc: image002.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: image006.png Type: image/png Size: 714 bytes Desc: image006.png URL: From dayan at tue.mpg.de Tue Feb 3 09:53:30 2026 From: dayan at tue.mpg.de (Peter Dayan) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2026 15:53:30 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoc in statistical/computational models of birdsong Message-ID: <20260203145330.2lehtelrlrqjnmmb@tuebingen.mpg.de> The Computational Neuroscience lab led by Peter Dayan of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and the University of T?bingen, in collaboration with the Neurobiology of Vocal Communication Lab led by Lena Veit, invites applications for a Postdoc Research Fellow (m/f/d; E13 TV?D, 100%, 2 years). This role involves developing statistical and computational models for characterizing and understanding the structure of animal vocal communication, starting with the songs of the Bengalese Finch. This position is suited for researchers who have finished or are about to finish their PhD in a relevant discipline, such as computational neuroscience, cognitive (neuro-)science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer science, or psychology. The ideal candidate is self-motivated, comfortable with both analytic and critical thinking, and has a strong background in computational neuroscience, machine learning, or related fields. Relevant areas of expertise include computational modelling, signal processing, machine learning, and cognitive modeling. The applicant should have excellent programming skills, experience with advanced data analysis, and a strong publication record. The candidate should have a solid knowledge of the literature in relevant areas, and ideally have experience working in close collaboration with experimentalists. The working language is English; command of the German language is not necessary. What we offer: The position, initially limited to 2 years with the possibility of an extension, is part of a newly established DFG research unit "Neural Basis of Vocal Communication" (FOR 5768), which investigates, through a collaborative approach across four research sites, how vocal communication is produced, coordinated, and learned across vertebrate species by mapping and comparing the underlying neural networks. Using behavioral studies, neurophysiological recordings, and computational modeling, we aim to uncover shared principles and species-specific adaptations of vocal communication. The position will be supervised by Peter Dayan and Lena Veit. We offer remuneration in accordance with TV?D (collective wage agreement for the Public Service of the German Federal States) in addition to all the customary benefits granted to employees working in Public Services. The position is based at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics along with the Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neuroscience which are both in T?bingen. There are no formal teaching duties, allowing full flexibility for conducting research. There will be opportunities to mentor and work with PhD and MSc students working on related topics. About T?bingen: Tu?bingen is a scenic university town on the Neckar River in South-Western Germany. The quality of life is exceptionally high, and the atmosphere is diverse, inclusive, and most locals speak English. Tu?bingen offers excellent research opportunities due to the University, three Max Planck institutes, the University Hospital, and Europe?s largest AI research consortium. You can find out more about Tu?bingen here: https://www.tuebingen.de/ How to apply: If you are interested in the position, please get in touch with Peter Dayan via email (agpd-applications at tue.mpg.de) enclosing your CV. For formal applications, please send a motivation letter, your CV, up to two representative publications, and the contact information of two referees as a single PDF to Susan Fischer (susan.fischer at tuebingen.mpg.de). The MPI for Biological Cybernetics is an equal opportunities employer. Applications of qualified women academics are especially encouraged; applications of disabled persons will be given preferential treatment to those of other candidates with equal qualifications. Preference will be given to applications received by 28th February 2026, but applications might be considered thereafter until the position is filled. From dhansel0 at gmail.com Tue Feb 3 17:12:11 2026 From: dhansel0 at gmail.com (David Hansel) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2026 23:12:11 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: REMINDER: World wide VVTNS series (6th season): Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 11:00 am ET - Marcella Noorman, University of Chicago In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: [image: VVTNS.png] https://www.wwtns.online - on twitter: wwtns at TheoreticalWide You are cordially invited to the lecture Marcella Noorman University of Chicago on the topic of *Continuous representations in small, discrete circuits* The lecture will be held on zoom on February 4, 2026, at *11:00 am ET * > To receive the link: https://www.wwtns.online/register-page > *Abstract: *Many animals rely on persistent internal representations of continuous angular variables for working memory, motor control, and navigation. Theories have proposed that such representations are maintained by a class of recurrently connected networks called ring attractor networks. These networks rely on large numbers of neurons to maintain continuous and stable representations and to accurately integrate incoming signals. The head direction system of the fruit fly, however, seems to achieve these properties with a remarkably small network. These findings challenge our understanding of ring attractors and their putative implementation in neural circuits. In this talk, I will show analytically how small networks can overcome the constraints of their size to generate a ring attractor and are hence capable of stably maintaining an internal representation of a continuous, periodic variable. Further, I will show how ring attractors emerge in small threshold linear networks through the coordination of a discrete set of line attractors. More broadly, this work informs our understanding of the functional capabilities of small, discrete systems. *About VVTNS : Launched as the World Wide Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar (WWTNS) in November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), Speakers have the occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of experimentalists. The seminars, **held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET,** are 45-50 min long followed by a discussion. The talks are recorded with authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube channel.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: VVTNS.png Type: image/png Size: 41084 bytes Desc: not available URL: From matteo.zavatteri at unipd.it Wed Feb 4 01:52:38 2026 From: matteo.zavatteri at unipd.it (Matteo Zavatteri) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 07:52:38 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: [ICANN 2026] - CALL FOR WORKSHOPS (DEADLINE EXTENSION) Message-ID: ====================================================================== ICANN 2026 - CALL FOR WORKSHOPS (DEADLINE EXTENSION) ====================================================================== On behalf of the ICANN 2026 Organizing Committee, we would like to inform you that the deadline for Workshop Proposal submission has been extended to February 16, 2026. We encourage colleagues interested in organizing a Workshop session at the 35th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN 2026) to take advantage of this extended deadline. Workshops focus on well-defined topics within the scope of the conference. Further details on Workshops and submission guidelines are available on the conference website: https://e-nns.org/icann2026/call-for-papers-2/call-for-workshops-and-special-sessions/ Workshop Proposal Submission Form: https://forms.gle/HyBNwFXfjBZ4hEzZ9 Updated Important Dates: - Workshop Proposal Submission: February 16, 2026 - Workshop Acceptance Notification: February 26, 2026 - Conference Dates: September 14-17, 2026 Special Session and Workshop Chairs: - Luca Oneto - Valerie Vaquet For questions, please contact: icann2026 at e-nns.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Davide Rigoni and Matteo Zavatteri Communicator Chairs On behalf of the General Chairs: Alessio Micheli, Nicol? Navarin, and Alessandro Villa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sara.ershadmanesh at tuebingen.mpg.de Wed Feb 4 03:36:35 2026 From: sara.ershadmanesh at tuebingen.mpg.de (Sara Ershadmanesh) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 09:36:35 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Master Thesis: Information Under Fire:, POMDP Models of Information Seeking in VR Threat Environments Message-ID: *Master thesis: * *Information Under Fire:*** *POMDP Models of Information Seeking in VR Threat Environments* ** **Responsible co-supervisor:*Sara Ershadmanesh* Formal supervisor:*Peter Dayan* Supervising Collaborator:*Dominik Bach (Bonn)* ** The Department of Computational Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics focuses on building and testing theories and computational models of neural processing, with a particular emphasis on decision-making, learning, and representation. In dangerous or unpredictable environments, humans must decide whether to keep collecting rewards (e.g., food) or to seek information that helps them stay safe. In this project, you will analyse how people plan under threat and how they trade off explicit reward against information-seeking for safety. We have build a scenario in which biological agents forage for food and must stay clear of threats. We have also collected data from humans performing this task in virtual reality. The goal of the project is to develop computational models based on Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs). These models characterize belief formation about a threat?s distance and speed, and how these beliefs guide planning in this situation. We will study both optimal behavior and heuristics computational strategies that may explain individual differences in this experiment. *What is available:* * Behavioral dataset from a VR experiment * Collaboration with researchers at the University of Bonn (VR expertise and behavioral analyses) * The active and rich environment at the Computational Neuroscience lab (supervised by Peter Dayan), where you are expected to participate in group activities as well as pursue your Master?s project. *Q**ualifications**/Experience:* * Strong programming skills are essential (Python or R) * Knowledge of POMDPs and experience implementing related models (more experience is a plus) *Student tasks:* * Improve and clean existing code * Extend POMDP model to generate optimal behavior * Compare model predictions to human behavior * Writethe Master thesis Remuneration is based on qualifications and professional experience. The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunity employer: Handicapped individuals are strongly encouraged to apply, and so are women in areas in which they are underrepresented. The Max Planck Society strives for gender and diversity equality. We welcome applications from all backgroundsand aim for a fair hiring process?so applicants should not include a photo in their application documents. Max-Planck-Institut f?r biologische Kybernetik Max-Planck-Ring 8 72076 T?bingen www.kyb.mpg.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Master-POMDP-AGPDpdf.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 425557 bytes Desc: not available URL: From paolo.dini at cttc.es Wed Feb 4 06:31:15 2026 From: paolo.dini at cttc.es (Paolo Dini) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 12:31:15 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Call for papers: EMPOWER workshop (co-located with ACM MobiSys 2026) Message-ID: <17499fc1-cf7c-440d-adaa-68b989757d63@cttc.es> Dear Colleagues, The evolution of mobile networks into heterogeneous ecosystems of wearables and edge infrastructure has brought us to a critical junction: the *"AI Compute-Energy Crisis."* As modern models push the thermal and energy limits of constrained hardware, how do we make intelligence truly sustainable? We invite you to submit your latest research to *EMPOWER 2026* (Energy-efficient Machine learning for Performance-Optimized Wireless and Edge NetwoRks), held in conjunction with *MobiSys 2026* in Cambridge, UK. About EMPOWER 2026 EMPOWER bridges the gap between the machine learning and mobile systems communities. We explore the full lifecycle of mobile intelligence through two primary lenses: * *AI for Networks:* Scalable, trustworthy intelligence to optimize non-stationary network conditions and next-gen connectivity. * *Systems for AI:* Lightweight architectures, brain-inspired computing, and intelligent workload scheduling for viable edge intelligence. *Key Topics Include:* * AI-native 6G architectures and trustworthy network operations. * On-device Generative AI and model compression. * Brain-inspired (neuromorphic) systems and hardware-aware ML. * Real-world system deployments and experimental testbeds. Important Dates (2026) *Milestone* *Date (AoE)* *Submission Deadline* *April 02, 2026* Notification of Acceptance April 20, 2026 Camera-Ready Deadline April 27, 2026 *Workshop Date* *June 25/26, 2026 (TBC)* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Submission & Details For submission guidelines and the full Call for Papers, please visit our website: *https://empower-mobisys.github.io/* *Workshop Chairs:* Matteo Mendula (CTTC), Lintao Ye (HUST), Paolo Dini (CTTC), Gustavo de Veciana (UT Austin), Carla Fabiana Chiasserini (Politecnico di Torino), Sujata Pal (IIT Ropar), Vidushi Agarwal (U of Guelph), Omer Rana (Cardiff), Sushmita Ruj (UNSW), Balaji Palanisamy (U of Pittsburgh), Nitin Auluck (IIT Ropar). We look forward to seeing your work in Cambridge! Best regards, The EMPOWER 2026 Organizing Committee -- *Paolo Dini* Researcher (R4) ** Sustainable Artificial Intelligence (SAI) research unit Centre Tecnol?gic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss, 7 - Building B4 08860 - Castelldefels Tel.: +34 93 645 29 00 _DATA PROTECTION INFORMATION. Data controller: CENTRE TECNOLOGIC DE TELECOMUNICACIONS DE CATALUNYA (G62616586):_ We inform you that your identification data and the data contained in the emails and attached files can be incorporated into our databases, in order to maintain professional and / or commercial relationships, and that it will be preserved throughout the relationship. According to the current regulations, you can exercise your right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, to portability and to object by sending an email to dpo at cttc.cat. This message and any attached document, where appropriate, may be confidential and intended for the original recipient only. L'informem que les seves dades identificatives i les compreses als correus electr?nics i fitxers adjunts poden ser incorporades a les nostres bases de dades amb la finalitat de mantenir relacions professionals i/o comercials i, que seran conservades mentre es mantingui aquesta relaci?. Si ho desitja, pot exercir el seu dret d'acc?s, rectificaci?, supressi?, limitaci? del tractament, portabilitat i objecci? enviant un correu electr?nic a dpo at cttc.cat. Aquest missatge i qualsevol document adjunt, en el seu cas, pot ser confidencial i destinat ?nicament a la persona o entitat a qui s'hagi enviat. Before printing this e-mail or attachments, be sure it is necessary. It is in our hands to protect the environment. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From marco.miozzo at cttc.cat Wed Feb 4 07:48:09 2026 From: marco.miozzo at cttc.cat (Marco Miozzo) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 13:48:09 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Learning Over Time (LOT 2.0) Spring School - Barcelona, April 27-30 2026 Message-ID: Dear all, The second edition of the *Spring School on Learning Over Time (LOT 2.0)* will be held in Barcelona from *April 27 to 30, 2026*. Save the date! (Previous edition: Siena, Italy - https://collectionless.ai/school) The school focuses on machines that continuously and sustainably learn over time, with a particular emphasis on rethinking the role of data in this process and on lean learning solutions, inspired by Collectionless AI (https://collectionless.ai/). The school is organized by: - Paolo Dini (CTTC) - Marco Miozzo (CTTC) - Vincenzo Lomonaco (LUISS University) - Stefano Melacci (University of Siena) Fees: 500? Academy, 700? Industry (50? Gala Dinner). *Are you planning to participate? * Register your contact here now! More info (we will send a new message soon with further details) ...Beyond training, test and deploy ...Beyond datasets ...Beyond CENTRALIZED LEARNING (and energy-hungry datacenters) ...Back to lean and optimized learning algorithms Topics * Collectionless AI * Continual/Lifelong Learning * Reinforcement Learning * Time Series * Representation Learning and Universal Representation * Collaborative Learning * Distributed / Decentralized Learning * Brain-inspired Computing * Online Learning * Active Learning * Curriculum Learning * Domain Adaptation * Transfer Learning * In-Context Learning * On-device Learning When: *April 27-30, 2026* Where: Centre Tecnol?gic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) Parc Mediterrani de la Tecnologia Castelldefels, Barcelona (Spain) See you there! Paolo Dini, Marco Miozzo, Vincenzo Lomonaco, Stefano Melacci -- *Marco Miozzo* Senior Researcher Sustainable Artificial Intelligence (SAI) Research Unit marco.miozzo at cttc.cat Centre Tecnol?gic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss, 7 - Building B4 08860 - Castelldefels Tel.: +34 93 645 29 00 _DATA PROTECTION INFORMATION. Data controller: CENTRE TECNOLOGIC DE TELECOMUNICACIONS DE CATALUNYA (G62616586):_ We inform you that your identification data and the data contained in the emails and attached files can be incorporated into our databases, in order to maintain professional and / or commercial relationships, and that it will be preserved throughout the relationship. According to the current regulations, you can exercise your right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, to portability and to object by sending an email to dpo at cttc.cat. This message and any attached document, where appropriate, may be confidential and intended for the original recipient only. L'informem que les seves dades identificatives i les compreses als correus electr?nics i fitxers adjunts poden ser incorporades a les nostres bases de dades amb la finalitat de mantenir relacions professionals i/o comercials i, que seran conservades mentre es mantingui aquesta relaci?. Si ho desitja, pot exercir el seu dret d'acc?s, rectificaci?, supressi?, limitaci? del tractament, portabilitat i objecci? enviant un correu electr?nic a dpo at cttc.cat. Aquest missatge i qualsevol document adjunt, en el seu cas, pot ser confidencial i destinat ?nicament a la persona o entitat a qui s'hagi enviat. Before printing this e-mail or attachments, be sure it is necessary. It is in our hands to protect the environment. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terry at salk.edu Wed Feb 4 09:50:02 2026 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2026 06:50:02 -0800 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION February 1, 2026 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: NEURAL COMPUTATION - Volume 38, Number 2 - February 1, 2025 http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/neco/38/2 http://cognet.mit.edu/content/neural-computation Article Simulated Complex Cells Contribute to Object Recognition Through Representational Untangling Mitchell Slapik, Harel Z. Shouval Letters Approximation Rates in Fr?chet Metrics: Barron Spaces, Paley-Wiener Spaces, and Fourier Multipliers Ahmed Abdeljawad, Thomas Dittrich Unsupervised Learning in Echo State Networks for Input Reconstruction Taiki Yamada, Yuichi Katori, and Kantaro Fujiwara Sum-of-norms Regularized Nonnegative Matrix Factorization Man Shun Ang ----- ON-LINE -- http://www.mitpressjournals.org/neco MIT Press Journals, One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209 Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-cs at mit.edu ----- From steve at bu.edu Wed Feb 4 12:32:23 2026 From: steve at bu.edu (Grossberg, Stephen) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 17:32:23 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: My new book on YOUR CREATIVE BRAIN AND AI was just published In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Connectionists colleagues, My new book was published yesterday by Oxford University Press! Lots of readers may be interested in it because it discusses topics that are relevant to neural networks, computational neuroscience, connectionist cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, engineering, technology, and AI, as well as to the arts and humanities. Here is information about the book: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ YOUR CREATIVE BRAIN AND AI: How We Learn and Consciously Experience ART, MUSIC, and MEANING https://academic.oup.com/book/61813 It is also available on Amazon in hardcopy and Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Creative-Brain-Consciously-Experience/dp/0198965370 Here is the book blurb: ?How do our brains give rise to our conscious minds? How do our minds learn and consciously experience miraculous creations of our civilizations, such as visual art, music, and the languages whose meanings enable us to think and communicate about our experiences in the world? ?How does human learning and language differ from some Artificial Intelligence algorithms that fail to explain how human minds work? Unlike these AI algorithms, whose flaws are explained in the book, human brains provide a blueprint for the paradigm of autonomous adaptive intelligence that promises to revolutionize all aspects of society during this century and beyond. ?This book provides an introductory and self-contained description of exciting answers to these questions that modern theories of mind and brain have proposed. For over 50 years, Stephen Grossberg has been internationally acknowledged to be the most important pioneer and current research leader whose work explains how our brains make our minds. He is often called the FATHER OF AI because he introduced the modern neural networks paradigm in 1957 as a Dartmouth college Freshman, as well as the main equations that help to explain how our brains make our minds. He has also been called the NEWTON AND EINSTEIN OF THE MIND because he and many gifted collaborators have subsequently developed neural network models of essentially all the main processes whereby our brains make our conscious and unconscious minds in both healthy individuals and clinical patients. ?Grossberg published his award-winning Magnum Opus, Conscious Mind, Resonant Brain: How Each Brain Makes a Mind, in 2021 to provide a self-contained and non-technical overview and synthesis of these discoveries. The current book describes his recent discoveries about art, music, and meaning in accessible language intended to appeal to all readers who love art and music, and who wonder about the mystery of how languages acquire meaning.? ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Best, Steve Stephen Grossberg Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems Director, Center for Adaptive Systems Emeritus Professor of Mathematics & Statistics, Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Biomedical Engineering Boston University sites.bu.edu/steveg/ steve at bu.edu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Grossberg http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3BIV70wAAAAJ&hl=en https://sites.bu.edu/steveg/files/2021/08/Grossberg-CV-8-14-21.pdf https://youtu.be/9n5AnvFur7I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hBye6JQCh4 https://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Mind-Resonant-Brain-Makes/dp/0190070552 [Grossberg cover.jpeg] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: Grossberg cover.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 268805 bytes Desc: Grossberg cover.jpeg URL: From dhansel0 at gmail.com Wed Feb 4 17:05:57 2026 From: dhansel0 at gmail.com (David Hansel) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 23:05:57 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: New on the VVTNS YouTube channel: Continuous representations in small, discrete circuits | Marcella Noorman University of ChicagoMarcella Noorman University of Chicago In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: [image: VVTNS.png] > > > https://www.wwtns.online > > - on twitter: wwtns at TheoreticalWide - on Youtube > New on the VVTNS YouTube Channel https://www.wwtns.online/past-seminars-2025-2026 *Continuous representations in small, discrete circuits* lecture delivered on February 4, 2026 by Marcella Noorman University of Chicago *Abstract: *Many animals rely on persistent internal representations of continuous angular variables for working memory, motor control, and navigation. Theories have proposed that such representations are maintained by a class of recurrently connected networks called ring attractor networks. These networks rely on large numbers of neurons to maintain continuous and stable representations and to accurately integrate incoming signals. The head direction system of the fruit fly, however, seems to achieve these properties with a remarkably small network. These findings challenge our understanding of ring attractors and their putative implementation in neural circuits. In this talk, I will show analytically how small networks can overcome the constraints of their size to generate a ring attractor and are hence capable of stably maintaining an internal representation of a continuous, periodic variable. Further, I will show how ring attractors emerge in small threshold linear networks through the coordination of a discrete set of line attractors. More broadly, this work informs our understanding of the functional capabilities of small, discrete systems. *About VVTNS : Launched as the World Wide Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar (WWTNS) in November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), Speakers have the occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of experimentalists. The seminars, **held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET,** are 45-50 min long followed by a discussion. The talks are recorded with authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube channel.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: VVTNS.png Type: image/png Size: 41084 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ahmed.imprs at gmail.com Wed Feb 4 12:17:55 2026 From: ahmed.imprs at gmail.com (Ahmed El Hady) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 18:17:55 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Konstanz School of Collective Behaviour 2026 (Deadline : March 15th, 2026) Message-ID: <4cc93753-833d-4ebc-8e7f-ca29bf82e303@gmail.com> *Konstanz School of Collective Behaviour 2026* *Konstanz, Germany * *20th?July 2026 ? 7th August 2026 *** *Deadline to apply: March 15th, 2026* The Konstanz School of Collective Behaviour (KSCB) will take place between 20th?July ? 7th August 2026 ?at the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour (CASCB) at the University of Konstanz . Konstanz ?is a vibrant, small city located on the border between Germany and Switzerland, on the shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance). Over three weeks, students will delve deeply into the topic of collective behaviour with lectures, hands-on tutorials, and projects, making it a unique and unforgettable experience. The school faculty will cover collective behaviours across a variety of species from cells, worms, drosophila, fish to non ? human primates and human. A set of tutorials delving into state-of-the-art quantitative methods used to study collective behaviour will complement the lectures. At the end of the school, students will work on independent projects guided by our resident faculty and tutors. The Konstanz School of Collective Behaviour is intended for graduate students, doctoral researchers, and early postdoctoral researchers. We consider applicants with strong quantitative background including but not limited to physics, computer science, mathematics and engineering. Applicants with biological and experimental background will be considered if they demonstrate in their application extensive quantitative and mathematical background as the focus of the school is quantitative study of collective behaviours. Accommodation will be provided and paid by the organizers. A limited number of travel support will be provided and a registration fee will be due (500 Euros) once the student is admitted to the Konstanz School of Collective Behaviour. The registration fee will be waived to those coming from underrepresented minorities and those in need of financial support. The submission of applications for the fourth Konstanz School of Collective Behaviour is currently open until March 15, 2026. We will inform the applicants during the month of April whether their application was successful For further information about the school and the application procedure , visit our website: _https://www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/kscb/application-procedure/ _ *KSCB 2026 faculty : * ?Anastasia Bizyaeva ( Cornell University, USA) ?Iain Couzin ( University of Konstanz / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior) ?Einat Couzin-fuchs ( University of Konstanz ) ?David Garcia ( University of Konstanz ) ?Dan Gorbonos ( Holon Institute of Technology, Israel and Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior) ?Stefan Krapitscka ( University of Konstanz ) ?Zachary Kilpatrick ( University of Colorado Boulder, USA) ?Liang Li ( Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior) ?Yonatan Loewenstein ( Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) ?Ran Nathan ( Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel ) ?Mor Nitzan ( Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) ?Britta Renner ( University of Konstanz ) ?Allyson Sgro ( Janelia Farm Research Campus, Virginia, USA) ?Joshua Shaevitz ( Princeton University, USA) ?Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin ( Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior) ?Katrin Vogt ( University of Konstanz ) *In case you have any questions, please contact: **ahmed.el-hady at uni-konstanz.de ** * All the best regards, Ahmed El Hady On behalf of the KSCB organizational committee Dr. Ahmed El Hady Principal Investigator Cluster for Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Universit?tsstra?e 10, 78464 Konstanz Room ZT 907 Postbox 687 Tel.: +49 7531 88-4742 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kuleuven-postdoc-2026a at renaud-detry.net Thu Feb 5 04:10:35 2026 From: kuleuven-postdoc-2026a at renaud-detry.net (kuleuven-postdoc-2026a at renaud-detry.net) Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 10:10:35 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: [Jobs] Postdoc position: Robot Learning, KU Leuven, Belgium Message-ID: <4A118FC8-D8BB-4F2C-8622-8CB965A20D28@renaud-detry.net> Postdoc position: Robot Learning, KU Leuven, Belgium Summary: * Position: postdoc * Location: KU Leuven, Belgium * Starting Date: Spring/summer 2026 * Duration: 2-3Y * Supervisor: Renaud Detry * Announcement Posted On: January 19, 2026 * Status and additional information: https://renaud-detry.net/jobs/kuleuven-postdoc-2026a ## Project KU Leuven's robot-learning group is seeking a highly motivated postdoc to work on problems at the intersection of machine learning and robotics, of a nature similar to [recent publications of the group](https://renaud-detry.net/publications/). ## Offer KU Leuven is Belgium's largest university and a leading higher education and research institution, ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide. The offer includes: - A fully funded position at one of Europe's top universities, - A competitive salary or tax-free scholarship, - State-provided health insurance, - Working with two thriving research teams: group PSI (Electrical Engineering) and group RAM (Mechanical Engineering), - Working in Leuven, a charming city located a short 20-min train ride from Brussels. ## Responsibilities - Carry out research and publish findings in top-tier robotics, computer-vision and machine-learning journals and conferences, - Co-supervise Ph.D. students. ## Profile The successful candidate must: - Hold a Ph.D. in engineering, physics, math, computer science, or a related field, - Demonstrate a strong track record in machine learning, data-driven computer vision, or robot learning. ## Application Applications can be sent immediately and will be evaluated until the position is filled. Applications submitted before April 15, 2026, will be given preference. To apply, please visit https://renaud-detry.net/jobs/kuleuven-postdoc-2026a . (Do NOT apply via the university's application portal, use https://renaud-detry.net/jobs/kuleuven-postdoc-2026a instead). -- renaud-detry.net esat.kuleuven.be/psi & mech.kuleuven.be/ram office: esat/01.07 renaud-detry.net/reachme landline+cell: +32 16 37 70 36 From gdrion at uliege.be Thu Feb 5 05:10:03 2026 From: gdrion at uliege.be (Drion Guillaume) Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 10:10:03 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: =?utf-8?q?Two_PhD_positions_-_MSCA_Doctoral_Netwo?= =?utf-8?b?cmsg4oCcRUxFVkFUReKAnSAoMTAxMjI3NDUzKQ==?= Message-ID: <85CB465D-8900-46F6-BA13-6FE6872A3C65@uliege.be> The Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of Liege has two open PhD positions connected to the MSCA Doctoral Network ?ELEVATE? (101227453) (R15 and R16 in https://www.elevate-dn.eu/). The proposed PhD projects will be hosted by the ULi?ge Neuroengineering Lab, whose mission is to understand biological intelligence and leverage this understanding to design more resilient and green machines and computing architectures. Deadline: 05/03/2026. Detailed information can be found in the links below. Project R15: Leveraging neuron rhythmic transitions in SNNs to develop novel bio-inspired learning rules [preview.png] job_vacancy_msca_docnet_elevate_r15 PDF Document ? 295 KB One major challenge facing neuromorphic chips is the ability to improve their performance and learn novel tasks online while interacting with the environment. In biological brains, such online learning is performed through the use of synaptic plasticity rules that depend on spike timing between presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons. Although mathematical models of such rules have been available for a while, they have been shown to be difficult to parametrize and they underperform in SNNs. Furthermore, learning and behavior happening in parallel, both often interfere with each other. In this project, we aim to develop novel bio -inspired plasticity rules to allow for online learning in neuromodulable SNNs. We will combine rhythmic transitions observed in biological systems with novel local learning rules to achieve robust online memory consolidation in neuromorphic systems. Project R16: Neuromodulation for stable learning in recurrent neural networks [preview.png] job_vacancy_msca_docnet_elevate_r16 PDF Document ? 294 KB Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are emerging as a powerful model for efficient processing of temporal data in low-footprint edge devices. However, while local learning rules have recently been shown to enable high-performance learning with RNNs, they are notoriously unstable. To solve this problem, this project aims to develop stable local learning rules for RNNs by taking inspiration from a central aspect of stable learning in the brain, rhythmic activity, thereby outlining a flexible spectrum from regulation to adaptation. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: preview.png Type: image/png Size: 340740 bytes Desc: preview.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: preview.png Type: image/png Size: 313036 bytes Desc: preview.png URL: From robert.legenstein at tugraz.at Thu Feb 5 04:42:43 2026 From: robert.legenstein at tugraz.at (Robert Legenstein) Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 10:42:43 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: PhD position for MSCA doctoral network in the field of neuromorphic neural networks Message-ID: The group of Robert Legenstein at the Institute of Machine Learning and Neural Computation (IML) at Graz University of Technology (Austria) is seeking a candidate for a PhD position?to research advanced training strategies for neuromorphic neural networks. For details, please see https://jobs.tugraz.at/en/jobs/d47ebc7b-f32e-11b7-f9b1-695e35cc59a0?preview=true -- Dr. Robert Legenstein Univ.-Professor Institute of Machine Learning and Neural Computation Graz University of Technology Inffeldgasse 16b/I, 8010 Graz, Austria http://www.iml.tugraz.at/legi/ WebEx: https://tugraz.webex.com/meet/robert.legenstein ++43/316/873-5824 ---------------------------------- From emergingtechnetwork.publicity at gmail.com Thu Feb 5 07:59:49 2026 From: emergingtechnetwork.publicity at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Gizem_G=C3=BCltekin_Varkonyi?=) Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 15:59:49 +0300 Subject: Connectionists: ICSC2026 CFP: The 6th Intelligent Cybersecurity Conference, 15 - 18 September 2026 | Abu Dhabi, UAE Message-ID: [Apologies if you got multiple copies of this invitation] The Sixth Intelligent Cybersecurity Conference (ICSC2026) https://icsc-conference.org/2026/ 15 - 18 September 2026 | Abu Dhabi, UAE Hybrid Event and Technically Co-Sponsored by IEEE UAE Section *ICSC 2026 CFP:* In today?s world, connected systems, social networks, and mobile communications create a massive flow of data, which is prone to cyberattacks. This needs fast and accurate detection of cyber-attacks. Intelligent systems and Data analytics are important components when issues pertaining to effective security solutions become the subject of discussion. This is because there is an impending need for high volume and high velocity data from different sources to detect anomalies as soon as they are discovered. This will help reduce significantly the vulnerability of the systems as well as improve their resilience to cyber Attacks. The capability to process large volumes of information at real time through utilization of tools for data analytics has many advantages vital for analysis of cybersecurity systems. Moreover, the data collected from sophisticated intelligent systems, cloud systems, networks, sensors, computers, intrusion detection systems could be used to identify vital information. This information could be used to detect how vulnerable the systems are to risk factors, and so effective cyber security solutions can be developed. In addition to that, the utilization of data analytics tools in the cybersecurity field gives new insights through considering factors such as zero-day attack detection, real time analysis, resource constrained data processing among others. The Intelligent Cybersecurity Conference (ICSC) addresses the use of advanced intelligent systems in providing cybersecurity solutions in many fields, and the challenges, approaches, and future directions. We invite the submission of original papers on all topics related to Intelligent Systems for Cybersecurity, with special interest in but not limited to: - Intelligent systems for effective detection of cyber-attacks - Advanced Intelligent systems and data analytics for Cloud/Edge systems security - Malware detection using intelligent systems Vulnerability assessment - Intelligent systems for intrusion detection in Internet of Things (IoT) systems - Network forensics using intelligent systems and data analytics - Data Analytics for privacy-by-design in smart health - Datasets, benchmarks, and open-source packages - Recourse efficient deep learning - Adversarial Machine learning and Backdoor Attacks - Blockchain Systems for Cyber Security - Trustworthy AI Systems - Intelligent Systems for Misinformation Detection *Submissions Guidelines and Proceedings* Manuscripts should be prepared in 10-point font using the IEEE 8.5" x 11" two-column format. All papers should be in PDF format, and submitted electronically at Paper Submission Link. A full paper can be up to 8 pages (including all figures, tables and references). Submitted papers must present original unpublished research that is not currently under review for any other conference or journal. Papers not following these guidelines may be rejected without review. Also submissions received after the due date, exceeding length limit, or not appropriately structured may also not be considered. Authors may contact the Program Chair for further information or clarification. All submissions are peer-reviewed by at least three reviewers. Accepted papers will appear in the ICSC Proceeding, and be published by the IEEE Computer Society Conference Publishing Services and be submitted to IEEE Xplore for inclusion. *Important Dates:* - Paper Submission: *April 15, 2026* - Notification to Authors: July 10, 2026 - Camera Ready Submission: July 30, 2026 *Contact:* Please send any inquiry on ICSC to : info at icsc-conference.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From serafeim.perdikis at essex.ac.uk Thu Feb 5 08:33:56 2026 From: serafeim.perdikis at essex.ac.uk (Perdikis, Serafeim) Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 13:33:56 +0000 Subject: Connectionists: =?cp1250?q?Essex_BCI-NE_webinar=3A_A_fNIRS-based_?= =?cp1250?q?BCI_for_Human_Space_Exploration_by_Dariusz_Zapa=B3a?= Message-ID: https://www.linkedin.com/company/essex-bcine-lab/ The Essex BCI-NE Lab invites you to join our next monthly webinar: A fNIRS-based BCI for Human Space Exploration Delivered by Dr Dariusz Zapa?a John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), Poland The webinar will take place over Zoom on Wednesday, 11th February 2026, at 2pm UK time RSVP: https://www.linkedin.com/events/essexbci-newebinarspresents-drd7425165445328011265/ Abstract: Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are promising for maintaining operational performance in the extreme environment of space, where conventional motor control is frequently impaired and cognitive demands are heightened. The adaptation of BCIs from laboratory environments to spaceflight, however, introduces both physiological and technical challenges. Notably, the redistribution of bodily fluids toward the head in microgravity alters cerebral hemodynamics and may compromise signal quality. The PhotonGrav project, a collaborative initiative with the European Space Agency (ESA), evaluates the feasibility of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based BCI communication in low Earth orbit (LEO) during the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). By targeting hemodynamic responses in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC), the PhotonGrav project investigates the capacity to decode real-time resting-state and cognitive workload in microgravity. The findings validate the stability of neurovascular coupling in LEO and indicate differences in BCI performance between terrestrial and spaceflight conditions. During his presentation, Dr Zapa?a will provide an evaluation of the neurophysiological and psychological results and detail the technical refinements required for the deployment of an orbital BCI. Furthermore, he will discuss the broader implications of these findings for the future operational protocols in space exploration. Speaker Biography: Dariusz Zapa?a received his PhD in psychology in 2016 from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), Poland. Following his doctoral studies, he gained research experience as a visiting scholar at the Laboratory for Neural Injury and Repair at the New York State Department of Health (USA) in 2014?2015, and as a fellow at the International Research Centre for Intelligent Technologies of Brain-Machine Synergy at Hangzhou Dianzi University (China) in 2018?2019. In 2022, he was awarded the "France Excellence SSHN" scholarship by the French government. Currently, Dr. Zapa?a serves as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Experimental Psychology at KUL and as the Chief Scientific Officer at the neurotechnology company Cortivision. His interdisciplinary research focuses on the development and application of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), with an emphasis on the psychophysiological mechanisms of movement perception and motor imagery. Throughout his career, he has led research projects funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Science Centre (NCN) and the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR). Dr. Zapa?a is an active member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) Committee on Neuroscience and Neurpsychology, the Polish Neuroscience Society (PTBUN), and The Psychonomic Society. The Essex BCI-NE Lab webinars series takes place monthly (usually, on the second or third Wednesday of the month) over Zoom and is open to all. Speakers are invited to talk about their research for 45-50 minutes followed by Q&A. Where speakers allow it, we record the talks and make them available to everyone on our YouTube channel. You can watch previous talks at: https://www.youtube.com/@essexbcis If you don?t want to miss our next webinars, please email serafeim.perdikis at essex.ac.uk to ask to be added to our webinars mailing list. Best wishes, Simis Dr Serafeim Perdikis, Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) Brain-Computer Interfaces and Neural Engineering Laboratory School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering University of Essex Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ United Kingdom -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: