Global Brain

ISi-CNI is an opportunity for African and international students to learn about cutting edge research techniques in computational neuroscience. This school aims to promote computational neuroscience in Africa by bringing together international and local students under the tutelage of world-leading experts in the field. The format will be a combination of intensive lectures on advanced topics in computational and theoretical neuroscience as well as practical exercises in simulation and data analysis. Deadline to apply: July 1, 2019

The aim of this conference is to gather together a number of key players in the effort for developing methods for dimensionality reduction in neural data and studying the population dynamics of networks of neurons from this angle. We aim to review the current approaches to the problem, identify the major questions that need to be addressed in the future, and discuss how we should move forward with those questions. Application deadline: September 22, 2019

The annual Cosyne meeting provides an inclusive forum for the exchange of experimental and theoretical/computational approaches to problems in systems neuroscience. Cosyne topics include (but are not limited to): neural basis of behavior, sensory and motor systems, circuitry, learning, neural coding, natural scene statistics, dendritic computation, neural basis of persistent activity, nonlinear receptive field mapping, representations of time and sequence, reward systems, decision-making, synaptic plasticity, map formation and plasticity, population coding, attention, and computation with spiking networks. Participants include pure experimentalists, pure theorists, and everything in between.

Main meeting: 27 February-01 March 2020 in Denver, Colorado
Workshops: 02 March-03 March 2020 in Breckenridge, Colorado

The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers interested in developing executable models of neural computation/processing of the brain of model organisms. A major aim of the workshop is to explore the integration of various sensory and control circuits in higher brain centers. A Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon is being conducted in conjunction with the workshop. Workshop participants are welcome to attend the hackathon.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks have long drawn on neuroscience for inspiration. However, in spite of tremendous recent advances in AI, natural intelligence is still far more adept at interacting with the real world in real-time, adapting to changes, and doing so under significant physical and energetic constraints. The goal of this meeting is to bring together researchers at the intersection of AI and neuroscience, and to identify insights from neuroscience that can help catalyze the development of next-generation artificial systems.

Linking Brain Circuits to Behavior: Novel Methods and Biological Insights Derived from Optogenetic Approaches: Optogenetics has revolutionized neurobiology by providing methods to monitor and manipulate the activity of genetically and functionally identified brain cells with light, thus enable testing of the causality of activity to behavior. Although optogenetics is nearly universally used, the proper design and interpretation of optogenetics-based experiments is still challenging. We bring together experts who are providing new innovations in ontogenetic approaches -- such as new sensors, effectors, and microscopes -- with those who are using the approaches to discover the circuit underpinnings of behavior. Application deadline: June 21, 2020