Announcement and Call for Applications:   
      
   Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) Summer School:   
      
   Theoretical Neuroscience & Complex Systems   
      
   We invite applications for a three-week summer workshop that will be   
   held in Frankfurt, Germany from Saturday, August 5 to Sunday, August   
   27, 2006. The application deadline is Saturday, April 15, and   
   application instructions are described at the bottom of this document.   
      
      
   FACULTY:   
      
   Larry ABBOTT, Columbia University, USA   
   Ad AERTSEN, University of Freiburg, Germany   
   Dana BALLARD, University of Rochester, USA   
   Emery BROWN, Harvard and MIT, USA   
   Gyorgy BUZSAKI, Rutgers University, USA   
   Yves FREGNAC, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France   
   Wulfram GERSTNER*, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, France   
   Rainer Goebel, Maastricht University, Netherlands   
   Claudius GROS, Goethe University, Germany   
   Wolfgang MAASS, FIAS, Germany and Technische Universitaet Graz, Austria   
   Bartlett MEL, University of South California, USA   
   Gordon PIPA, FIAS and Max-Planck Institute, Germany   
   John RINZEL*, New York University, USA   
   Wolf SINGER, FIAS and Max-Planck Institute, Germany   
   Andrey SOLOV'YOV, FIAS, Germany   
   Jochen TRIESCH, FIAS, Germany and UC San Diego, USA   
   Christoph VON DER MALSBURG, FIAS, Germany   
   Carl VAN VREESWIJK, Rene Descartes University, France   
      
   *invited   
      
      
   GOALS:   
      
   There is a deficiency in the exchange of ideas between theoretical   
   physicists and experimental biologists.  This arises from different   
   background knowledge bases and viewpoints, even when addressing the   
   same problem.  The aim of the FIAS Summer School on Theoretical   
   Neuroscience and Complex Systems is to provide a bridge linking   
   experimentalists and theorists.  The school also addresses the   
   challenge of further developing theoretical sciences and transferring   
   existing concepts into the interdisciplinary field of neuroscience.   
   This transference will be highly dependent on the successful training   
   of students so that they can bridge the different fields.  Applicants   
   will work on projects that they themselves propose, and to promote   
   cross-disciplinary collaborations, each student will be assigned a   
   "working-group" comprising one experimental neuroscientist, one   
   theoretical neuroscientist, and one theoretical physicist.   
      
      
   FORMAT:   
      
   The three-week summer workshop will include a preschool that will take   
   place at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt.   
   During these three days, theoretical physicists will be trained in   
   basic concepts of neuroscience, experimental neuroscientists will be   
   trained in basic concepts of network theory and complex systems, and   
   theoretical neuroscientists will be trained in experimental   
   neuroscience.  The first two days of the summer school will be used to   
   introduce the main concepts of neuronal systems and information   
   processing.  The second week is devoted to the characterization and   
   analysis of neural recordings, as well as to the description and   
   modeling of neurons, synapses, and small networks. The third week   
   introduces approaches for modeling higher cognitive functions.   
   Throughout, participants work on projects that they themselves propose,   
   and this work will be carried out in collaboration with an   
   interdisciplinary working-group comprising one experimental   
   neuroscientist, one theoretical neuroscientist, and one theoretical   
   physicist.  Lectures will be held in the mornings from Monday-Friday,   
   while students will work on their projects in the afternoons from   
   Monday-Wednesday.  Intra-group progress reports will be presented on   
   Wednesday and Friday evenings.  A preview of the following week's   
   lectures will be provided on Thursday afternoons to ensure that all   
   participants are comfortable with the material to be discussed.   
   Saturdays will be devoted to "theory in practice," and participants   
   will have the chance to visit actual research laboratories: MPIH   
   (Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research) in Frankfurt and the Honda   
   Research Institute in Offenbach. Each Sunday will be reserved for   
   recreational opportunities, and on the final day of the summer school,   
   the projects will be presented.   
      
   The scientific program will cover the following areas:   
      
   o    Neuroanatomy   
      
   o    Neurophysiology   
      
   o    Basics in modeling of neurons   
      
   o    Realistic models of neural microcircuits   
      
   o    Abstract models of higher-level functions   
      
   o    Outlook to other complex systems   
      
      
   LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENTS:   
      
   FIAS is a Foundation of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University and is   
   located on the natural science campus, Riedberg, in Frankfurt am Main.   
   It also has close collaboration with the Faculty of Natural Sciences at   
   the J.W. Goethe-University and the Max Planck Institutes for Brain   
   Research and Biophysics.  The preschool will take place at the   
   Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research.  Students and Lecturers will   
   stay in the Marriott Courtyard Frankfurt Nordwestzentrum. The hotel is   
   located very close to the FIAS Institute and has excellent access to   
   the public transport system.   
      
      
   FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENT:   
      
   FIAS organizes the summer school and covers the accommodation and the   
   cultural Program. Students have to pay a registration fee of 150Euro.   
   Students from Easter European countries or students in general who need   
   support for their travel expenses can apply for reimbursement and a   
   waiver for the registration fee.  Please indicate this in your   
   application if you are considering applying for reimbursement.  We will   
   also need an estimation of your travel expenses.   
      
      
   HOW TO APPLY:   
      
   Students who have a bachelor, a master, a Ph.D., or other equivalent   
   degrees can apply for this summer school.  To apply, please provide two   
   letters of recommendation, a curriculum vitae, as well as a one page   
   description of a small project she/he is planning to work on during the   
   course. The project proposal should outline the basic idea as well as   
   problems the student might have faced so far.  Based on the proposal,   
   the committee will group students to teams and assign interdisciplinary   
   faculty to each individual team.   
      
   Information about applying and the summer school in general can be   
   found at the website: http://www.fias.uni-frankfurt.de/neuro_school/   
      
   A copy of the summer school announcement can be downloaded from:   
   http://www.fias.uni-frankfurt.de/neuro_school/FIAS_summerschool_Poster_A2.pdf   
      
   Application will include:   
      
   * First name, last name, affiliation, valid e-mail address   
   * Two letters of recommendation   
   * Curriculum Vitae   
   * Project proposal (max. one page)   
   * Request for reimbursement of travel expenses (if applicable)   
      
   Please send your documents in an electronic format to:   
   neuro_school@fias.uni-frankfurt.de   
      
   The application deadline is Saturday, April 15, 2006.   
      
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