03/02/23: Two BBSRC grants awarded to BCNU

The Neural and Machine Learning group (lead by Rui Ponte Costa) and the Cognition, Anatomy & Neural Networks group (lead by Seán Froudist-Walsh) have just been awarded a grant each by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to pursue research on cognitive computational neuroscience.

05/01/23: AI theory of how the small brain helps the big brain

The NMLG has just published a new paper in Nature Communications on a deep learning model of how the mini brain (cerebellum) helps the big brain (cerebrum) learn across both motor and cognitive tasks, which captures a number of observations while making several experimental predictions.

22/11/22: NML group awarded ERC Starting grant

The Neural and Machine Learning group led by Rui Ponte Costa has just been awarded a Starting Grant of 1.5M Euros by the European Research Council to work on AI-driven modelling of learning in brain-wide networks. Long-term postdoc positions will open soon! Get in touch if you are interested.

27/08/22: New paper on degenerate boundaries for multiple-alternative decisions

Nathan Lepora’s group have just published a new paper in Nature Communications on multiple-alternative decision making, with implications for stationary and dynamic decision making processes.

25/08/22: New paper out on control of exc-inh balance throughout development

Short-term plasticity is well known to change over development. Why is this? The Neural and Machine Learning group have a new paper now out at Communications Biology in which they propose that it controls exc-inh balance to maintain healthy firing rates throughout development.

03/06/22: NML group awarded MRC grant on AI-driven brain modelling

The Neural and Machine Learning group (lead by Rui Ponte Costa) have just been awarded a grant by the Medical Research Council to pursue work on AI-driven brain modelling. Two postdoc positions openning soon!

02/06/22: Bristol Bayes for the Brain (workshop)

We are running the a workshop entitled Bristol Bayes for the Brain. This is a collaborative workshop on using Bayesian methods for data analysis.

More info here.

28/01/22: 6 posters and one talk selected for Cosyne'22

Bristol CNU will be present at Cosyne’22 with six posters and one talk. Look out for our work!

27/01/22: Seán Froudist-Walsh joins Bristol CNU

Although we are sad to see Cian O’Donnell leaving us, we are pleased to announce that Seán Froudist-Walsh is joining Bristol CNU as a new principal investigator after postdocs at Mount Sinai and New York University.

04/10/21: Conor Houghton and Nathan Lepora awarded Alan Turing Fellowships

Conor Houghton and Nathan Lepora awarded fellowships by the Alan Turing Institute. More info here.

29/09/21: Papers accepted at NeurIPS'2021

Two papers accepted at NeurIPS’2021. One on Cortico-cerebellar networks as decoupled neural interfaces (Neural and Machine Learning group) and another on variational approximate posterior for deep Wishart processes (Laurence Aitchison group).

20/09/21: Conor awarded Leverhulme fellowship

Conor Houghton was just awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship to pursue his interests on computational models of language.

05/09/21: Review on biological and artificial replay

The groups of Nathan Lepora and Neural and Machine Learning have published a review on contrasting the role of replay in neuroscience and artificial neural networks. You can find the review here.

23/10/20: CCN 2020 GAC workshop on biological recurrent learning

We accepted the challenge and co-organised a Generative Adversarial Collaboration as part of CCN’2020 on learning in biological recurrent neural networks. More info here.

08/09/20: Bristol CNU away day

We are organising the first BCNU away day, with plenty of (online) research discussions and social events.

20/08/20: NeurIPS 2020 workshop on biological and artificial reinforcement learning (BARL)

This year we are again co-organizing a workshop that brings together the biological and artificial RL communities at NeurIPS’2020. More info here.

03/07/20: FENS 2020 Symposium "Beyond Hebb"

Cian O’Donnell is co-organising with Melanie Stefan a symposium at FENS 2020 multiscale spatial and temporal signals underlying synaptic plasticity. Two computational speakers (Suhita Nadkarni and Kim Avrama Blackwell) and two experimental speakers (Thomas Oertner and Ryohei Yasuda).

13.00–14.30 on Saturday 11th July 2020.

Full details here.

10/02/20: Rahul Gupta joins CNU as a postdoc

Rahul Gupta joins the group of Cian O’Donnell as a postdoc.

28/10/19: Deep learning as a framework for neuroscience out in Nature Neuroscience

New perspective out in Nature Neuroscience on deep learning as a framework for neuroscience.

02/09/19: Laurence Aitchison joins Bristol CNU

We are pleased to announce that Laurence Aitchison is joining Bristol CNU as a new principal investigator after postdocs at the University of Cambridge and Janelia Farm. See more about Laurence in the Research section.

11/08/19: NeurIPS 2019 workshop on biological and artificial reinforcement learning

Together with reseachers at Imperial College London, McGill University, Deepmind, MILA and others we are organising a NeurIPS workshop on biological and artificial reinforcement learning. More info here.

01/08/19: Cian O'Donnell awarded Leverhulme Trust Research Grant

Cian O’Donnell was awarded a Research Grant from the Leverhulme Trust to model statistical principles of synaptic plasticity.

11/07/19: Bristol Neuroscience Data Challenge 2019

We are running a Neuroscience Data Challenge. This is a collaborative workshop which will bring people together to apply modelling and data approaches to neuroscience. It will be a workshop and hackathon designed to give us the opportunity to work as colleagues to solve problems. The Neuroscience Data Challenge will be held in Bristol from 9-13 September 2019. All are welcome, there is no fee and there are some bursaries for students and postdocs.

More info here.

04/06/19: BCNU members at UK Neural Computation 2019

Twenty of our members are attending or presenting at the UK Neural Computation 2019 conference in Nottingham in July. Meet us there! Update: We are the institution with the most participants!

29/05/19: New BCNU website launched

We have launched a new website. Many thanks to the Kording Lab for the template!

13/04/19: Cian O'Donnell awarded MRC New Investigator Research Grant

Cian O’Donnell was awarded a MRC New Investigator Research Grant to study models of synaptic plasticity in brain disorders: “Computational prediction of vulnerable points and interventions for dysfunctional synaptic plasticity in neuropsychiatric disorders”

17/02/19: EPSRC CDT Success

The University of Bristol has been awarded more Centres for Doctoral Training by the EPSRC than any other UK institution (see more here)! A few of which overlap with our own research [Digital Health, Interactive AI, COMPASS]. Apply here!