[Comp-neuro] Convergence in Computational Neuroscience: Joint BrainScaleS CodeJam/NeuroML workshop

** Please accept our apologies for cross postings **

Dear all,

Announcing the Convergence in Computational Neuroscience 2012 workshop which will be held in Edinburgh from 12-16th March. The NeuroML Development Workshop and the BrainScaleS (previously FACETS) CodeJam have been two important workshops for developers of software tools for computational neuroscience for the past number of years, and this year they are being held over the same week.

The first 2 days will focus on the specifications & tool support for NeuroML, which has traditionally been focused on multicompartmental, conductance based neuronal models, but with version 2.0 is being extended to allow greater flexibility in creating new synapse, ion channel and abstract/point neuron models. Machine readable model definitions allow low level access to model parameters and equations, facilitating interoperability across simulators. Presentations and discussions will include updates on developments towards NeuroML 2, relationships to other modelling and neuroinformatics initiatives including COMBINE and the INCF, and talks on the latest developments in the Blue Brain Project, the Neural Tissue Simulator and the OpenWorm project.

More details for these days are here: http://www.neuroml.org/workshop2012

The remaining 3 days will have a similar format to previous CodeJams: presentations in the mornings with discussions & code sprints in the afternoon. The goal will be to catalyze open-source, collaborative software development in computational and systems neuroscience and neuroinformatics, by bringing together researchers, students and engineers to share ideas, present their work, and write code together. CodeJam #5 will focus on multi-compartmental modelling APIs, data analysis libraries, code generation and best practices in open source software development, with a slant towards the Python programming language. Speakers from a range of active areas in neuroscience-tool development have been invited; we will be hearing about the latest developments in NeuroDebian, Genesis 3.0, MOOSE, Topographica, OpenElectrophy, PyNN and many others. If you are starting a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience and want to get involved with the tool-building community, or are just interested in the state of the field, the CodeJam is a great opportunity to meet the developers behind the projects in an informal setting and discuss about ideas and future projects.

More details can be found here: http://neuralensemble.org/meetings/CodeJam5

Wednesday afternoon includes a mini workshop with the theme "Convergence, Interoperability and Reuse in Neuroscience Modelling Software", which seeks to develop a perspective on where the field is at and where we are going to.

This should be a very informative and useful week for anyone interested in learning about/sharing/integrating software tools for computational neuroscience.

There will be a limited number of bursaries available for travel to the meeting for UK based attendees through the UK Node of the INCF (http://www.neuroinformatics.org.uk/special-interest-groups-sigs/18-sig4). Contact p.gleeson@ucl.ac.uk for more details.

Regards,

Padraig Gleeson

On behalf of the NeuroML & CodeJam workshop organisers

  ----------------------------------------------------- Padraig Gleeson Room 321, Anatomy Building Department of Neuroscience, Physiology&  Pharmacology University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom  +44 207 679 3214 p.gleeson@ucl.ac.uk -----------------------------------------------------