[vslist] Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course: Call for Applications

[Kenji Doya]

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			Call for Applications
	OKINAWA COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE COURSE
Bayesian Brain: Probabilistic Approaches to Neural Coding and Learning
		November 9-19, 2004. Okinawa, Japan.
			http://www.irp.oist.jp/ocnc
	Application deadline: September 10th, 2004

The aim of Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course is to provide
opportunities for young researchers with theoretical backgrounds to
learn up-to-date neurobiological findings, and those with experimental
backgrounds to have hands-on experience in computational modeling.

We invite graduate students and postgraduate researchers to participate
in the course, to be held from November 9th through 19th at Bankoku
Shinryokan, a seaside conference facility that hosted 2000 Okinawa 
Summit.
The sponsor will provide lodging at the adjacent beach resort, The 
Busena
Terrace, and support for travel to Okinawa.

The special topic for this year's course is "Bayesian Brain: 
Probabilistic
approaches to neural coding and learning." Lectures by leading 
theoretical
and experimental neuroscientists will be given in the morning and 
evening,
and the afternoon will be open for free discussions and student 
projects.
Each student will give a short presentation of his/her current work at 
the
beginning of the course and present the summary of his/her project work 
at
the end of the course.

Those interested in attending the course should send the materials below
by the course web page, e-mail, or postal mail to the course secretariat
by SEPTEMBER 10TH. We will accept 30 students by considering the 
matching
of each student's background and motivation to the course content, and
also by considering the balance of members' research disciplines,
geographic origins, and genders.

This course is the second of the tutorial courses sponsored by the 
Cabinet
Office of the Japanese government as a precursory activity for Okinawa
Institute of Science and Technology. We hope that this course will be a
good opportunity for theoretical and experimental neuroscientists to 
meet
together and to explore the attractive nature and culture of Okinawa, 
the
southernmost island prefecture of Japan.

********
	Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course (OCNC 2004)
	Bayesian Brain: Probabilistic Approaches to Neural Coding and Learning

Date:     November 9th to 19th, 2004
Place:    Bankoku Shinryo-kan (http://www.shinryokan.com)
Lodging:  The Busena Terrace (http://www.terrace.co.jp)

Sponsor:
	Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Project, Cabinet Office,
Japan
Co-sponsors:
	Japanese Neural Network Society
	Center of Excellence Program, Tamagawa University
	Center of Excellence Program, Kyushu Institute of Technology

Advisory Board:
	Sydney Brenner, Salk Institute
	Masao Ito, RIKEN Brain Science Institute
	Terrence Sejnowski, Salk Institute
	Susumu Tonegawa, MIT
	Torsten Wiesel, Rockfeller University

Co-organizers:
	Kenji Doya, Initial Research Project, OIST
	Shin Ishii, Nara Institute of Science and Technology
	Alexandre Pouget, University of Rochester
	Rajesh Rao, University of Washington

CONFIRMED LECTURES (titles with * are tentative)

Theoretical Foundations
	Kevin Murphy (MIT): Bayesian inference and learning*
	Shun-ichi Amari (RIKEN BSI):
		Statistical approach to neural learning and population coding

Neurobiological Foundations
	Adrienne Fairhall (Washington U.): Spike coding
	Alexandre Pouget (U. of Rochester): Population coding
	Barry Richmond (NIH): Neural coding*

Computational Modeling
	Anthony Bell (Redwood Neurosci. Inst.):
		Unsupervised machine learning with spike timings
	Peter Latham (Gatsby Comp. Neuro. Unit):
		Computing with population codes
	Wolfgang Maass (T. U. Graz): Liquid state machine*
	Bruno Olshausen (U. C. Davis):
		Representing what and where in time-varying images
	Rajesh Rao (U. of Washington):
		Bayesian computation in cortical networks*
	Emanuel Todorov (U. C. San Diego):
		Optimality principles in sensorimotor control
	Richard Zemel (U. of Toronto): Coding and decoding uncertainty

Experimental Approaches
	Karl Friston (UCL): Dynamic causal modeling
	David Knill (U. of Rochester):
		Bayesian models of sensory cue integration
	Konrad Koerding (UCL): Bayesian combination of priors and perception
	Tai-Sing Lee (Carnegie Mellon U.):
		Hierarchical Bayesian inference in visual cortex
	Jonathan Pillow (New York U.):
		Estimationg neuron models from spike trains*
	Michael Shadlen (U. of Washington): Decision making*

APPLICATION

Please send the following through the web application page
(http://www.irp.oist.jp/ocnc/), e-mail (ocnc@irp.oist.jp),
or postal mail to the secretariat below.

1) Name, 2) Date of birth, 3) Gender, 4) Nationality, 5) Affiliation,
6) Postal address, 7) Phone, 8) Fax, 9) E-mail, 10) Web page URL (if 
any),
11) Educational background, 12) Work experience, 13) List of 
publications,
14) Research interests (up to 500 words), 15) Motivations for attending
the course (up to 500 words), 16) Two letters of recommendation.

The items 11) to 14) can be replaced by a CV. Letters of recommendation
should be sent directly to the secretariat from the referee by e-mail or
postal mail. Please note the names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses 
of
the referees in the application.

There will be no attendance fee. The sponsor will provide lodging, 
meals,
and travel support for accepted students.

SECRETARIAT

	Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course
	c/o Initial Research Project, Okinawa Institute of Science and
Technology
	12-22 Suzaki, Gushikawa
	Okinawa 904-2234, Japan
	Phone: +81-98-921-3795
	Fax: +81-98-934-1401
	E-mail: ocnc@irp.oist.jp

For more information, please visit the web page:
	http://www.irp.oist.jp/ocnc

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Kenji Doya <doya@irp.oist.jp>
Initial Research Project, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
12-22 Suzaki, Gushikawa, Okinawa 904-2234, Japan
Phone:+81-98-921-3843; Fax:+81-98-921-3873
http://www.irp.oist.jp/