Mark van Rossum Mark van Rossum mvanross@inf.ed.ac.uk Edinburgh

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Mark van Rossummvanross@inf.ed.ac.u

k

Edinburgh

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Background:• RUU and UvA (Theoretical Physics Msc and PhD)

• Univ. Pennsylvania and Brandeis (Computational Neuroscience)

Mark van Rossum, Informatics

Research interests:• plasticity and homoeostasis models• computation in networks• sensory coding and retinal processing

See poster

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Edinburgh University

Computational NeuroScience meeting

Summer 2006

•UK’s largest Informatics department (80 staff) Tradition: AI, Linguistics, and Neural nets

•Strong Neuroscience department

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

What is a Doctoral Training Centre?

• Students with quantitative background (CS, maths, physics) do PhD at the interface with the Life sciences

• 7 Doctoral Training Centres in the UK, (EPSRC/MRC funded)

• DTCs: Imaging, membrane biology, medical devices...

• Edinburgh: The only Neuroinformatics Centre

• 10 students/year/DTC (only UK students fully funded)

• Monitored by International External Board

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

International Context

• USA: Sloan-Swartz program

• USA: Human brain project

• USA: Obligatory data-sharing

• Germany: Comput. neuroscience initiative (“Das Denken verstehen”)

• UK: Novel Computation and Cognitive Systems initiative

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Areas of Neuroinformatics

Edinburgh's neuroinformaticsSoftware Systems, Computational Modelling, Neural Engineering

Software systems to help understand the brain

• Data amount is enormous and heterogeneous

• Concerns about animal expts. require data sharing

• Need tools to organize and share

• Need user-friendly tools to simulate

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Areas of Neuroinformatics

Edinburgh's neuroinformaticsSoftware Systems, Computational Modelling, Neural Engineering

Understanding the brain in computational terms• Models of Parkinson's disease• Development of the nervous system • Plasticity and learning• Cognitive processes and language• Applications: basic research, software, machine learning

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Areas of Neuroinformatics

Edinburgh's neuroinformaticsSoftware Systems, Computational Modelling, Neural Engineering

Devices linking neuroscience and engineering• Neuro-robotics• Traditional semi-conductors will reach capacity• Use brain-like engineering • Better interfaces between hardware and biological tissue: for experiments (silicon patch-clamp) and neuro-prosthesis

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Doctoral Training Centre: 1+3

• Provide neuroscience and neuroinformatics training so that students can apply their skills to neuroinformatics

• A view of many areas to ease choice of PhD project

• Prepares students for research practice

1 year training + 3 year PhD

1st year:

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

First Year Taught Training

1-3

4-6

Month

7-12

Neuroscience (existing Masters course)Each week different subject:Molecular, cellular, clinical, expt. methods, imaging, cognitiveRemedial teaching

Informatics courses (existing MSc courses)Neural networks, neural computation, databases, VLSISpecial interest courses

Summer projects in experimental labs1 x 20 weeks, or 2x 10 weeksPrepare for PhD choice, get hands-on experience

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Years 2-4: PhD Projects

Current PhD Projects:● Prior knowledge for inference ● Neurorobotics● Head direction cells and place cells in rats ● Modelling and ERP imaging of episodic memory ● Networks for hormone release● Attentional vision model for video● Diffusion tensor MRI● LTP and stability ● Protein networks

PhD Projects:● After 1st year students identify PhD project● Two supervisors (typically, Informatics + Biology)

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Keys to success

• Teaching shared with existing courses need few resources

• Specialized weeks for teaching the teaching is fun

• Supervisors compete for studentsstaff is involved

• Joint PhD supervision interdisciplinary research

• The program is large collaboration is necessity

Mark van Rossum www.anc.ed.ac.uk/neuroinformatics

Situation in the Netherlands

Good conditions:• Excellent computer science, physics, maths, and engineering• Excellent neuroscience• Good computation infrastructure

Keys to success:• Cross-department goodwill• Excite the students• Face international competition