Event Details
Organizers:
- Prof. Dr. Christian Fiebach (Goethe University Frankfurt)
- Prof. Dr. Tom Schönberg (Tel Aviv University)
Funded by the German Israeli Foundation (GIF) and the German U15 Network as well as the Minerva Center for the Study of Human Intelligence in Immersive, Augmented and Mixed Realities and the Lowy International School at TAU, Goethe University Frankfurt (GU) and Tel Aviv University אוניברסיטת תל־אביב (TAU) are hosting a joint Winterschool and invite applications from interested PhD students and PostDocs from psychology, neuroscience, computer science, AI, and related fields.
Overview
The Winter School offers a platform for early career scientists from Israel and Germany to explore across disciplines:
- How the human mind and brain achieve precise perception, cognition, and action in noisy environments.
- How the brain handles dynamic and highly variable environments.
- How behavior and neural activity can be measured in naturalistic environments.
For more information, see the Schedule below.
Workshop Description
Research into the psychological and brain mechanisms underlying perception, cognition and action has made enormous progress over the last decades. However, cognitive and neuroscience research is still to a great part confined to laboratory settings, in which multitasking demands are mostly absent and stimuli are presented under artificial and highly controlled conditions. This is not a realistic model of our everyday lives. Rather, perception, cognition, and action take place in noisy environments, where sensory signals are more frequently compromised, a multitude of information must be considered simultaneously, and relevant information varies over time.
This raises the question of exactly how it is that processes like object recognition, decision making, language processing, memory, and controlled action are able to function at such high precision in environments that have more realistic levels of noise.
In this interdisciplinary workshop, participants will be exposed to the challenges of studying the brain and mind in naturalistic, noisy environments, from the perspectives of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and computational modeling. The workshop will encourage and foster in-depth discussions by supplementing impulse talks from leading scientists with ample time for interactions among participants.
Speakers
Prof. Dr. Erwan David
Le Mans University, Computer Science Laboratory
Prof. Dr. Stefan Debener
University of Oldenburg, Dept. of Psychology
Prof. Dr. Christian Fiebach
Goethe University Frankfurt, Dept. of Psychology
Prof. Dr. Chris Kell
Goethe University Frankfurt, Dept. of Neurology
Prof. Dr. Aya Meltzer-Asscher
Tel Aviv University, Dept. of Linguistics & Sagol School of Neuroscience
Prof. Dr. Roy Mukamel
Tel Aviv University, School of Psychological Sciences
Dr. Marieke Schölvnick
Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt
Prof. Dr. Tom Schonberg
Tel Aviv University, School of Biochemistry, Neurobiology, & Biophysics
Prof. Dr. Melissa Vo
Goethe University Frankfurt, Dept. of Psychology
Prof. Dr. Shlomit Yuval Greenberg
Tel Aviv University, School of Psychological Sciences
Sponsors
Application and Enrollment
We invite graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from psychology, neuroscience, computer science, AI and related fields from universities and research institutions in Israel and Germany to apply for the Winterschool Adaptive Cognition in Noisy Environments.
The enrollment is competitive and open for all Ph.D. and postdoctoral research from psychology, neuroscience, computer science AI and related fields. The selection will be made by a committee of researchers from GU and TAU.
Deadline for application is October 25, 2024. Feedback about acceptance will be given by October 31st. Application may remain open beyond that date, until all places are filled.
What's Included
- Free participation
- Travel expenses and accommodation (3 nights: Dec. 2 - Dec. 5) for participants from Israel as well as from German participants outside of the Frankfurt area will be covered.
- Evening social activities
- Participants are expected to attend all lectures. Please plan to arrive on the evening of the previous day (December 2nd).
How to Apply
Send the following information in one pdf to GUTAU.winter2024@gmail.com:
- Academic CV including average of grades in former and current degree.
- List of publications
- 1 page motivation statement that clearly outlines your scientific background, your motivation for participating as well as the relationship of the topics of the winter school to your own research.
Schedule
December 3rd, 2024
8:30 - 12:00
Session 1 - Perception and Cognition in Noisy Environments
Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg: Visual exploration: A window to a noisy world
Ayal Meltzer-Asscher: Noisy-channel processing in real-time language comprehension
13:00 - 16:30
Session 2 - Cognition and Action in Noisy Environments
Chris Kell: What the brain may control when acting
Roy Mukamel: Perception through the lens of voluntary actions
Evening
Social Event
Dinner & Social
December 4th, 2024
8:30 - 12:00
Session 3 - Research in Virtual and Augmented Environments
Melissa Vo, Tom Schönberg, Erwan David: Using Eye Tracking, Virtual and Augmented Reality Methods to Study Cognition in Noisy Environment: Theory, Practice & Evaluation
13:00 - 16:30
Session 4 - Neuroscience in the Wild
Stefan Debener: Measuring Brain Signals in Noisy Environments: Theory, Practice & Evaluation
Evening
Social Event
Dinner & Social
December 5th, 2024
8:30 - 12:00
Session 5 - The Noisy Mind and Brain
Christian Fiebach: Behavioral and neural variability and its role for complex cognition
Marieke Schölvnick: Catching cognition in the act: how tracking naturalistic cognitive processing over time reduces noise
13:00 - 16:30
Wrap-Up Session
Participant action and final discussions
Evening
Departure
Farewell and departure