[visionlist] COSYNE 2018: Meeting announcement and Call for workshop proposals

[Tomas Hromadka]

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    Computational and Systems Neuroscience 2018 (Cosyne)

    MAIN MEETING
    01 - 04 March 2018
    Denver, Colorado

    WORKSHOPS
    05 - 06 March 2018
    Breckenridge, Colorado

    www.cosyne.org

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                    MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
    ----------------------------------------------------

    The annual Cosyne meeting provides an inclusive forum for the
exchange of empirical and theoretical approaches to problems in systems
neuroscience, in order to understand how neural systems function.

    The MAIN MEETING is single-track. A set of invited talks is selected
by the Executive Committee, and additional talks and posters are
selected by the Program Committee, based on submitted abstracts. The
WORKSHOPS feature in-depth discussion of current topics of interest, in
a small group setting. For details on workshop proposals please see
below or visit Cosyne.org -> Workshops.

    Cosyne topics include but are not limited to: 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.

    This year we would like to foster increased participation from
experimental groups as well as computational ones. Please circulate
widely and encourage your students and postdocs to apply.


    IMPORTANT DATES

      Abstract submission opens: 10 October 2017
      Abstract submission deadline: 20 November 2017
      Workshop pre-proposal deadline: 01 October 2017
      Workshop proposal deadline: 31 October 2017


    COSYNE SPEAKERS

      Tim Behrens (Oxford)
      Josh Berke (UCSF)
      Tiago Branco (UCL)
      Jessica Cardin (Yale)
      Claudia Clopath (Imperial)
      Marlene Cohen (Pittsburgh)
      Iain Couzin (Max-Planck)
      Carina Curto (Penn State)
      Ann Graybiel (MIT)
      Vivek Jayaraman (Janelia)
      Mate Lengyel (Cambridge)
      Joni Wallis (Berkeley)
      Byron Yu (CMU)

    When preparing an abstract, authors should be aware that not all
abstracts can be accepted for the meeting, due to space constraints.
Abstracts will be selected based on the clarity with which they convey
the substance, significance, and originality of the work to be presented.


    ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
      General Chairs: Ilana Witten (Princeton) and Eric Shea-Brown (U
Washington)
      Program Chairs: Linda Wilbrecht (Berkeley) and Brent Doiron (U
Pittsburgh)
      Workshop Chairs: Laura Busse (LMU) and Ralf Haefner (U Rochester)
      Undergraduate Travel Chairs: Angela Langdon (Princeton) and Robert
Wilson (U Arizona)
      Publicity Chair: Il Memming Park (Stony Brook)


    EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
      Stephanie Palmer (U Chicago)
      Zachary Mainen (Champalimaud)
      Alexandre Pouget (U Geneva)
      Anthony Zador (CSHL)


    CONTACT
       meeting [at] cosyne.org


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          CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS
-----------------------------------------------


    PRE-PROPOSALS

    In an effort to coordinate submissions, the organizers are *strongly
encouraged* to submit a pre-proposal by *01 October 2017.* Pre-proposals
will be shared among submitters. Pre-proposals are not mandatory but
workshops with a pre-proposal will have priority. The organizers may
submit the full proposal by its deadline.

    A series of workshops will be held after the main Cosyne meeting
(www.cosyne.org). The goal is to provide an informal forum for the
discussion of important research questions and challenges. Controversial
issues, open problems, comparisons of competing approaches, and
alternative viewpoints are encouraged.

    The overarching goal of all workshops should be the integration of
empirical and theoretical approaches, in an environment that fosters
collegial discussion and debate. Preference will be given to proposals
that differ substantially in content, scope, and/or approach from
workshops of recent years (examples available at Cosyne.org -> Workshops).

    Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: sensory processing;
motor planning and control; functional neural circuits; motivation,
reward and decision making; learning and memory; adaptation and
plasticity; neural coding; neural circuitry and network models; and
methods in computational or systems neuroscience.

    In order to foster discussion within Workshops and reduce overlap
between workshops, organizers should inform invited speakers that a
single person should not speak in more than one of the Workshops taking
place on the same day.


    WORKSHOP DETAILS

    - There will be 4-8 workshops/day, running in parallel.
    - Each workshop is expected to draw between 15 and 80 people.
    - The workshops will be split into morning (8.00-11.00 AM) and
afternoon (4.30-7.30 PM) sessions.
    - Workshops will be held at Breckenridge, CO, a ski resort located
100 miles (approximately two hours) from the Denver International
Airport. Buses from the main conference will be provided.


    SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

    Deadline for pre-proposals: 01 October 2017
    Deadline for proposals: 31 October 2017

    Format: plain text only, please no attachments, email to workshops
[at] cosyne.org (Laura Busse, Ralf Haefner)


    PRE-PROPOSALS should include:

    - Name(s) and email address(es) of the organizers (no more than 2
organizers per session, please). A primary contact should be designated.

    - A title.
    - A brief description of 1) what the workshop will address and
accomplish, 2) why the topic is of interest, 3) who is the targeted
group of participants.
    - Names of potential invitees, with indication of confirmed
speakers. Preference will be given to workshops with the most confirmed
speakers.
    - Proposed workshop length (1 or 2 days). Most workshops will be
limited to a single day. If you think your workshop needs 2 days, please
explain why.
    - A brief resume of the workshop organizer along with a short list
of workshop-relevant publications (about half a page total).


    FULL PROPOSALS should include the list of confirmed speakers in
addition to components required for a pre-proposal.

    Workshop organizer responsibilities include coordinating workshop
participation and content, scheduling all speakers and submitting a
final schedule for the workshop program, and moderating the discussion.
Organizers can be speakers but need not speak depending on scheduling
constraints.


    SUGGESTIONS

    Experience has shown that the best discussions during a workshop are
those that arise spontaneously. A good way to foster these is to have
short talks and long question periods (e.g. 30+15 minutes), and have
plenty of breaks. We recommend fewer than 10 talks.


    WORKSHOP COSTS

    Detailed registration costs, etc, will be available at
www.cosyne.org. Please note: Cosyne does NOT provide travel funding for
workshop speakers. All workshop speakers are expected to pay for
workshop registration fees. Participants are encouraged to register
early, in order to qualify for discounted registration rates. One
complementary (free) organizer registration is provided per workshop.
For workshops with 2 organizers, the free registration can be given to
one of the organizers or split evenly between them.


    COSYNE WORKSHOP QUESTIONS
      workshops [at] cosyne.org


    COSYNE MAILING LISTS

    Please consider adding yourself to Cosyne mailing lists (groups) to
receive email updates with various Cosyne-related information and join
in helpful discussions. See Cosyne.org -> Mailing lists for details.