IBRO-Simons Computational Neuroscience Imbizo

Apr 13, 2023 - May 07, 2023

Noordhoek, Cape Town, South Africa

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Imbizo is a Xhosa word meaning “a gathering to share knowledge”. The IBRO-Simons Computational Neuroscience Imbizo, or isiCNI is exactly that: an opportunity for African and international students to learn about cutting edge research techniques in computational neuroscience.

The school

Duration

Apr 13, 2023 - May 07, 2023

The school will consist of four 5-day work weeks with 1 day off in-between. Each week will be focused on one of the themes appearing below. Your day off will be spent exploring some of the beautiful wonders around Cape Town. Each workday will consist of lectures in the morning, followed by either further lectures/practical tutorials in the afternoons.

Biophysics, Plasticity and Neural Recordings

What makes a neurons special? How do we model them mathematically? How do we model synapses and why are they important for neural function? These questions will guide the first part of the Imbizo. We will also learn about cutting-edge techniques used for large-scale neural data recording from world experts in patch-clamping techniques and from the NEUROPIXEL project.

Network Dynamics

The functioning of the brain is ultimately an emergent phenomenon; a result of the complex interactions between billions of neurons. We will learn how to model and analyse these dynamic networks, and how biological trends like Dale's Law make understanding these system more difficult and fascinating.

Higher Level Function, Motor Control & Decision Making

This cycle will try to bridge the gap from what we have learnt about the biology and dynamics of brains to what we observe in behaviour. We will also learn about cutting-edge research in brain-computer interfacing and what this is revealing about how brains work.

Machine Learning

We will also learn what the modern field of machine learning can teach us about learning in network architectures and how these artificial systems are similar and different to biological neural systems.

Sponsors

Partners

Simons Foundation

Simons Foundation

International Brain Research Organization

International Brain Research Organization

Donors

Google

Wellcome

Supporters

CoE-MaSS

Affiliates

University of Cape Town

University of Cape Town

University College London

University College London

Insitute of Science and Technology Austria

Insitute of Science and Technology Austria

Gastby Institute

Gastby Institute

Neuroscience Institute

TReND in Africa

TReND in Africa

IBRO African Center for Advanced Training in Neurosciences at UCT

Faculty

Blake Richards

MILA

Joseph Raimondo

University of Cape Town

Tim Vogels

Institute of Science and Technology Austria

Peter Latham

University College London

Demba Ba

Harvard University

Henning Sprekeler

Technical University Berlin

Tor Stensola

University of Agder

Daniela Vallentin

Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (In Foundation)

SueYeon Chung

New York University

Aza Allsop

Yale School of Medicine

Silke Anders

Universität zu Lübeck - Clinic for Neurology

Guillaume Lajoie

University of Montreal & MILA

Damian Okaibedi Eke

De Montfort University

Arif Hamid

University of Minnesota Medical School

Bard Ermentrout

University of Pittsburgh

Franck Kalume

University of Washington

Rachael Dangarembizi

University of Cape Town

Anne-Marie Oswald

University of Pittsburgh

Brent Doiron

University of Chicago

Teaching assistants

Nina Kudryashova

University of Edinburgh

Christopher Currin

Institute of Science and Technology Austria | Deep Learning Indaba𝕏 South Africa

Spiros Chavlis

IMBB-FORTH

Annik Carson

AI Redefined

Mohamed Abdelhack

Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics

Roy Eyono

Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms

Ilenna Jones

University of Pennsylvania

Dongyan Lin

McGill University & Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms

Organising committee

photo of Demba Ba

Demba Ba

Harvard University

photo of Christopher Currin

Christopher Currin

Institute of Science and Technology Austria & Deep Learning Indaba𝕏 South Africa

photo of Peter Latham

Peter Latham

University College London

photo of Joseph Raimondo

Joseph Raimondo

University of Cape Town

photo of Emma Vaughan

Emma Vaughan

Imbizo Logistics

photo of Tim Vogels

Tim Vogels

Institute of Science and Technology Austria