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ARNI held its kickoff for the Distinguished Seminar Series on Nov. 1st! |
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ARNI Distinguished Seminar Series
ARNI recently launched its Distinguished Seminar Series, designed to bring together leading experts whose work at the intersection of AI, neuroscience, and cognitive science has significantly advanced these fields. The series aims to deepen our understanding of the rapidly evolving neuroAI landscape and encourage stimulating discussions within the ARNI community.
On November 1st, our inaugural speaker, Dr. James DiCarlo—MIT Professor and Director of the Quest for Intelligence—presented on “Do contemporary, machine-executable models (aka digital twins) of the primate visual system unlock the ability to non-invasively, beneficially modulate high-level brain states?” Dr. DiCarlo shared insights into how neuroscience and AI have led to "digital twins": models that closely mirror the brain’s visual processes and presented two examples and shared compelling examples of recent work with these “digital twins” models. The first example revealed that small, targeted image changes can “trick” the brain’s visual neurons, disrupting their usual responses—similar to a neural "attack." Digital twin models predicted this outcome and experiments with monkeys confirmed it. The second example explored a beneficial application: instead of disrupting neural activity, digital twins can help design specific light patterns to adjust brain activity gently. By targeting neurons involved in mood and anxiety, this approach holds promise for developing non-invasive mental health therapies in the future.
Stay tuned for our next speakers in the series! |
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ARNI's Annual Retreat
On October 21-22, ARNI held its 2024 Annual Retreat, a two-day event bringing together our community from Columbia University and partner institutions to discuss last year’s research, education, and outreach achievements and address concerns and opportunities raised at our NSF site visit earlier in September. The retreat featured brainstorming sessions focused on strengthening research collaborations and identifying key questions and flagship projects in NeuroAI, ensuring that ARNI makes a lasting impact in the years to come. Highlights of the retreat were four keynote presentations from Blake Richards, Carl Vondrick, Tom Griffiths, and Kimberly Stachenfeld; a “speed dating” session to foster connections between neuroscientists, cognitive scientists and AI researchers; and an panel discussion on Engaging Industry Partners. The panel was moderated by ARNI co-PI Liam Paninski and included:
- David Schwab: Assistant Professor of Biology and Physics, CUNY/Chair of ARNI Industry Outreach & Knowledge Transfer
- Kim Stachenfeld: Research Scientist at Google DeepMind / Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Columbia/ZI
- Dan Wetmore: Research Scientist at Meta / Reality Labs
- Kyunghyun Cho: Professor of Computer Science & Data Science at NYU / Senior Director of Frontier Research at Genentech Research & Early Development (gRED)/ ARNI EAB member
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During the retreat our graduate students and postdoctoral fellows also launched their Emerging Researchers group, with the goal to coordinate trainee-led career development activities including peer-mentoring opportunities, seminars and workshops. A special, trainees-only social event provided a unique opportunity for ARNI students across ARNI’s geographies to connect and build their own network! |
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Summit for AI Institute Leadership (SAIL) 2024 |
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ARNI participated in the 2024 Summit for AI Institute Leadership (SAIL) in Pittsburgh, PA, from October 7-10. Organized by the AI Institutes Virtual Organization (AIVO). The summit brought together all 25 National AI Research Institutes funded by NSF, providing a platform for sharing progress, fostering collaborations, and exchanging best practices through workshops and special interest groups. The four-day program featured keynote presentations from Tom Mitchell, Founders University Professor, Carnegie Mellon University; Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer, Code.org; and Summer Lee, U.S. Representative, U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District. The summit closed with an AI EXPO day on October 10 at Carnegie Mellon University that was attended by the local community and NSF funding partners. |
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ARNI’s Managing Director, Spyros Mylonas, moderated the conference’s opening panel on "Developing Educational Opportunity Programs in AI Research”. The panel explored the transformative potential of AI in education, covering topics such as AI-enhanced classrooms and AI literacy for both technical and non-technical learners. A key insight from the session was that this is the decade that AI will shape the future of education. |
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Collaboration Opportunity with Neuromatch Impact Scholars Program |
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ARNI researchers are invited to collaborate with the Neuromatch Impact Scholars Program, which builds on the NeuroAI course co-developed by ARNI (launched July 2024). This program extends beyond the initial two-week summer coursework, offering students hands-on research experiences over a period of six months through structured, team-based projects that result in open-access micropublications. The program ensures that students receive continuous mentorship and career development support for 6 months.
Ways to Engage:
- Participate in the March 2025 Seminar: Attend the end-of-program presentations to provide feedback and network with scholars as they showcase their work.
- Contribute Data and Project Ideas: For the October 2025 cohort, ARNI faculty and trainees are invited to share open datasets and pre-defined research questions, guiding scholars in projects culminating in micropublications. ARNI members can also mentor scholars, supporting their research and career growth.
Learn more about mentorship responsibilities and compensation here. For questions or to get involved, please reach out to Viviana Greco at viviana.greco@neuromatch.io.
This collaboration offers a valuable opportunity to engage with emerging researchers and advance ARNI’s Broader Impacts mission of educating the next generation of NeuroAI leaders. |
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Continual Learning:
November 15: Curriculum Learning TBD
November 22: Lea Duncker
December 6: Curriculum Learning TBD
Animal Behavior Video Analysis:
Look forward to a meeting in November!
You can find any upcoming seminars and events on ARNI's website, https://arni-institute.org/events/.
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Postdoctoral and Educational Opportunities |
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Flatiron CCN Software Workshop - Manhattan: Link
2025 HHMI Gilliam Fellows Competition - Virginia: Link
Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences- Massachusetts: Link
Assistant Professor, The Institute of Science and Technology- Missouri: Link
2025 Simons Foundation Fellows-to-Faculty Award: Link
Multiple opportunities for Assistant Professor, Boise State University- Idaho: Link
Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Waterloo- Ontario:
- To apply, please send a full CV, 3 references and cover letter
explaining your background and fit for the job to: Dr. Chris
Eliasmith at celiasmith@uwaterloo.ca
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We would like to highlight ARNI achievements in future newsletters. Please share with us your events, papers, presentation, or any news you want to share with the ARNI community! |
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