[Comp-neuro] Postdoc in Neuromechanics and Optogenetics at Temple University

Dear colleagues, 

We have the following postdoc position available within the Spence Lab, Department of Bioengineering, at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA. See www.spencelab.com for information about the group.

Cheers!

Andrew Spence

—

Have you ever wondered how legged animals manage to move with dexterity, economy, and robustness over challenging terrain? Or how information from sense organs in different parts of your body is used when you move quickly? Have you heard about some of the new neurogenetic technologies, like optogenetics, that are making it possible for us to switch on and off specific parts of the nervous system with light? Members of the Spence Lab are working to answer these questions, using cutting edge techniques including optogenetics, computer vision, and robotics. We aim to explore and examine, as much as possible, freely behaving animals, with an increasing focus on mice. 

The Spence Lab invites applications from prospective postdocs from a wide range of backgrounds, including neuroscience, biomechanics, physics, physiology, engineering, computer science, and robotics. This postdoc is a three-year Army Research Office funded position that will use optogenetic tools in mice to understand how the structure of the quadrupedal gait controller, and sensory feedback from the limbs, facilitate dynamic locomotion. 

The Department of Bioengineering at Temple University is a brand new department with newly renovated facilities, and the Spence Lab is investing in state of the art equipment. Temple University lies in Philadelphia, a city known for it's restaurants and vibrant culture, housing a large number of universities, and with excellent links to New York City (two hours away) and Washington DC (2.5 hours away).

For further information on the group and it's current activities, please visit www.spencelab.com

If you are interested and qualified, please send a cover letter, CV, transcripts and relevant publications to aspence@temple.edu.

The position is available until filled.

—

Dr. Andrew Spence

Associate Professor

Department of Bioengineering

Engineering Building Room 814

College of Engineering

Temple University

1947 N. 12th St.

Philadelphia, PA 19122

Phone: 215-204-3056

Email: aspence@temple.edu

www.spencelab.com

[Comp-neuro] Bernstein Workshop "Characterizing Natural Scenes": Second Call for Abstracts/Contributed Talks

Second Call for Abstracts/Contributed Talks

You are invited to participate in the pre-conference Bernstein workshop
"Characterizing Natural Scenes: Retinal Coding and Statistical Theory",
taking place in Göttingen, Germany, on September 2-3, 2014. Please find
the preliminary schedule at workshop URL:
https://sites.google.com/site/jiankliu/Meetings/2014bccn_workshop

The workshop chairs will select a couple of abstracts for short oral
presentation at the workshop. All the abstracts will be presented as
posters during the Bernstein conference on September 3-4. However, the
workshop could hold a separate poster session based on the number and
quality of abstracts that we receive.

To participate in the workshop please submit the abstract (an extended
version is preferred) as a PDF attachment via email to Jian Liu
(jian.liu@med.uni-goettingen.de) or Arno Onken (arno.onken@iit.it). The
deadline for submission is August 1.

Please note that abstract submission for the main conference is already
closed while abstract submission for this workshop is still open.


REGISTRATION:
Please refer to the Bernstein Conference 2014 for registration and venue
information.
http://www.bernstein-conference.de/


WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
How does the retina process natural visual inputs? What role do the many
types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) play in this? Experiments with
specific artificial stimuli have suggested that individual types of RGCs
may have specific functional roles in visual processing, yet it is not
clear how these simplified functional investigations relate to the
processing of natural images and movies. An important ingredient for
future analysis will be a better understanding of the complex
statistical properties of natural scenes, as revealed by theoreticians.

The relationship between natural visual statistics and retinal coding
provides a promising direction for improving our understanding of the
visual system. But we still lack a systematic framework for
understanding the underlying mechanisms of how relevant features of
natural scenes are encoded by the retina.

In this workshop, we expect mutual benefits for both natural scene
statistics and retinal coding. We will bring together experimentalists
and theoreticians in order to highlight recent progress, encourage
exchange of insights, and stimulate new ideas for future work with the
following core questions:

1) How can we develop useful descriptions of the statistics of natural
scenes that are relevant for retinal coding?
2) How can we characterize the functional roles of different RGC types
in processing natural scenes?
3) Which coding strategies are present at the level of RGC populations?
4) How can we unify the acquired knowledge of natural scenes and neural
data to develop better tools for analysis?

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
* Vijay Balasubramanian (University of Pennsylvania)
* Philipp Berens (BCCN, Tübingen)
* Thomas Euler (University of Tübingen)
* Felix Franke (ETH Zurich)
* Olivier Marre (Vision Institute, Paris)
* Aman Saleem (University College London)
* Maneesh Sahani (University College London)
* Rava A. da Silveira (ENS, Paris)

We are looking forward to seeing you in Göttingen.

Workshop organizers:
Jian Liu (University Medical Center Göttingen and BCCN Göttingen)
Arno Onken (Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems
_______________________________________________
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[visionlist] Bernstein Workshop "Characterizing Natural Scenes": Second Call for Abstracts/Contributed Talks

Second Call for Abstracts/Contributed Talks

You are invited to participate in the pre-conference Bernstein workshop
"Characterizing Natural Scenes: Retinal Coding and Statistical Theory",
taking place in Göttingen, Germany, on September 2-3, 2014. Please find
the preliminary schedule at workshop URL:
https://sites.google.com/site/jiankliu/Meetings/2014bccn_workshop

The workshop chairs will select a couple of abstracts for short oral
presentation at the workshop. All the abstracts will be presented as
posters during the Bernstein conference on September 3-4. However, the
workshop could hold a separate poster session based on the number and
quality of abstracts that we receive.

To participate in the workshop please submit the abstract (an extended
version is preferred) as a PDF attachment via email to Jian Liu
(jian.liu@med.uni-goettingen.de) or Arno Onken (arno.onken@iit.it). The
deadline for submission is August 1.

Please note that abstract submission for the main conference is already
closed while abstract submission for this workshop is still open.


REGISTRATION:
Please refer to the Bernstein Conference 2014 for registration and venue
information.
http://www.bernstein-conference.de/


WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
How does the retina process natural visual inputs? What role do the many
types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) play in this? Experiments with
specific artificial stimuli have suggested that individual types of RGCs
may have specific functional roles in visual processing, yet it is not
clear how these simplified functional investigations relate to the
processing of natural images and movies. An important ingredient for
future analysis will be a better understanding of the complex
statistical properties of natural scenes, as revealed by theoreticians.

The relationship between natural visual statistics and retinal coding
provides a promising direction for improving our understanding of the
visual system. But we still lack a systematic framework for
understanding the underlying mechanisms of how relevant features of
natural scenes are encoded by the retina.

In this workshop, we expect mutual benefits for both natural scene
statistics and retinal coding. We will bring together experimentalists
and theoreticians in order to highlight recent progress, encourage
exchange of insights, and stimulate new ideas for future work with the
following core questions:

1) How can we develop useful descriptions of the statistics of natural
scenes that are relevant for retinal coding?
2) How can we characterize the functional roles of different RGC types
in processing natural scenes?
3) Which coding strategies are present at the level of RGC populations?
4) How can we unify the acquired knowledge of natural scenes and neural
data to develop better tools for analysis?

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
* Vijay Balasubramanian (University of Pennsylvania)
* Philipp Berens (BCCN, Tübingen)
* Thomas Euler (University of Tübingen)
* Felix Franke (ETH Zurich)
* Olivier Marre (Vision Institute, Paris)
* Aman Saleem (University College London)
* Maneesh Sahani (University College London)
* Rava A. da Silveira (ENS, Paris)

We are looking forward to seeing you in Göttingen.

Workshop organizers:
Jian Liu (University Medical Center Göttingen and BCCN Göttingen)
Arno Onken (Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems
_______________________________________________
visionlist mailing list
visionlist@visionscience.com
http://visionscience.com/mailman/listinfo/visionlist

[Comp-neuro] Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience - Call for Nominations

Dear Colleagues,

The Bernstein Association for Computational Neuroscience invites nominations for the Valentino Braitenberg Award for Computational Neuroscience.

The award is biannually presented by the Bernstein Association to a scientist in recognition of outstanding research that contributes to our understanding of the functioning of the brain. The major criterion for the award is the impact or potential impact of the recipient's research on the field of brain science. In the spirit of Valentino Braitenberg's research, special emphasis is given to theoretical studies elucidating the functional implications of brain structures and their neuronal network dynamics.

The awardee receives a €5.000 prize donated by the Autonome Provinz Bozen Südtirol as well as complimentary participation (registration, travel, and hotel accomodation) in the Bernstein Conference 2014. Here, the prize is awarded together with a Golden Neuron pin badge in a special ceremony that includes the Valentino Braitenberg lecture given by the awardee.

Nominations may be submitted by scientists working in the field of Computational Neuroscience and should include toe following documents:
- One-page laudation, in which the scientific work of the candidate is honored with regard to the award's criteria
- CV and list of publications

Deadline for nominations is June 16, 2014 by e-mail to info@bcos.uni-freiburg.de

The call for nominations can be found under the followingn URL:
www.nncn.de/en/bernstein-association/valentino-braitenberg-award-for-computational-neuroscience

For inquiries please contact info@bcos.uni-freiburg.de

Best regards,
Andrea Huber Brösamle

--   Dr. Andrea Huber Brösamle  Head of the Bernstein Coordination Site (BCOS)  Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience  Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg  Hansastr. 9A  79104 Freiburg, Germany    phone: +49 761 203 9583  fax: +49 761 203 9585  andrea.huber@bcos.uni-freiburg.de  www.nncn.de    Twitter: NNCN_Germany  YouTube: Bernstein TV  Facebook: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany  LinkedIn: Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience, Germany 

[Comp-neuro] Special Issue on "Underwater Sensor Networks" in (JSAN)

===================================================

Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (JSAN)

Special Issue "Underwater Sensor Networks"

http://www.mdpi.com/journal/jsan/special_issues/usn

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2014

----------------------------------------------------


=== SPECIAL ISSUE ===

New advances in information technologies, circuits, systems and communication protocols have made possible the deployment of underwater sensor networks. These issues have lead researchers to propose new underwater sensor nodes, sensor node placement, protocols for their communication, architectures, and study new ways to communicate with higher bandwidth at higher distances. Moreover, the range of underwater applications is growing fast because of the last research in oceanography, marine science and aquiculture, so there is a need of underwater sensor networks in order to support these disciplines.

This special Issue is tries to collect unpublished works on theory and practice on underwater sensor networks, with special interest on real implementations and deployments. We also seek new proposals on wireless communication technologies.


=== KEYWORDS ===

The Special Issue "Underwater Sensor Networks" topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

- Underwater sensor nodes
- Underwater sensor node placement
- Routing protocols for underwater sensor networks
- Underwater communications
- Underwater architectures
- Underwater wireless communications
- Underwater sensor network deployments


=== SUBMISSION ===

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form (http://www.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload/?journal=jsan). Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page (http://www.mdpi.com/journal/jsan/instructions) before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues the Article Processing Charge (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.


=== SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS ===

Guest Editors

Prof. Dr. Jaime Lloret Mauri (jlloret@dcom.upv.es)
Integrated Management Coastal Research Institute, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera 46022, Valencia, Spain

Dr. Sandra Sendra (sansenco@posgrado.upv.es)
Integrated Management Coastal Research Institute, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera 46022, Valencia, Spain


===================================================
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Comp-neuro@neuroinf.org
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[Comp-neuro] NIPS 2014 Call for Workshops

NIPS*2014 Post-Conference Workshops
Friday December 12 and Saturday December 13, 2014
Palais des Congrès de Montréal/Convention and Exhibition Center,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Following the NIPS*2014 main conference, workshops on a variety of current
topics will be held on Friday December 12 and Saturday December 13, 2014, in
Montreal, Canada. We invite researchers interested in chairing one of these
workshops to submit workshop proposals. The goal of the workshops is to
provide an informal forum for researchers to discuss important research
questions and challenges. Controversial issues, open problems, and
comparisons of competing approaches are encouraged as workshop topics. There
will be seven hours of workshop meetings per day, split into morning and
afternoon sessions, with free time between the sessions for individual
exchange or outdoor activities. Note that this year, there is no skiing at
NIPS; the workshop schedule will thus differ from past NIPS workshops (the
morning session will be 8:30am-12pm, and the afternoon session will be
3pm-6:30pm).

Francis Bach and Amir Globerson
NIPS*2014 Workshops Chairs

Web URL: http://nips.cc/Conferences/2014/CallForWorkshops
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[Comp-neuro] Call for Demonstrations, NIPS 2014

The Neural Information Processing Systems Conference 2014 http://nips.cc/Conferences/2014/ has a Demonstration Track running in parallel with some of the evening Poster Sessions, December 8-11, 2014, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Demonstration Proposal Deadline: Monday September 15, 2014, 11pm Universal Time (4pm Pacific Daylight Time).

http://nips.cc/Conferences/2014/CallForDemonstrations

Demonstrations offer a unique opportunity to showcase:

• Hardware technology

• Software systems

• Neuromorphic and biologically-inspired systems

• Robotics

or other systems, which are relevant to the technical areas covered by NIPS (see Call for Papers http://nips.cc/Conferences/2014/CallForPapers).

Demonstrations must show novel technology and must be run live, preferably with some interactive parts. Unlike poster presentations or slide shows, live action and interaction with the audience are critical elements.

Submissions:

Submission of demo proposals at the following URL:

https://nips.cc/Demonstrators/

You will be asked to fill a questionnaire and describe clearly:

• the technology demonstrated

• the elements of novelty

• the live action part

• the interactive part

• the equipment brought by the demonstrator

• the equipment required at the place of the demo

Evaluation Criteria: 

Submissions will be refereed on the basis of technical quality, novelty, live action, and potential for interaction.

Demonstration chair: Hugo Larochelle <demonstration-ch...@nips.cc>

http://nips.cc/Conferences/2014/CallForDemonstrations