The NEST Initiative is excited to invite everyone interested in Neural Simulation Technology and the NEST Simulator to the virtual NEST Conference 2025. The NEST Conference provides an opportunity for the NEST Community to meet, exchange success stories, swap advice, learn about current developments in and around NEST spiking network simulation and its application. We are inviting contributions to the conference, including talks, "posters" and workshops on specific topics. We particularly encourage young scientists to participate in the conference!

The objective of this two-day symposium is to gather people from different research fields with different approaches (economics, ethology, psychiatry, robotics, neural and computational approaches) to decision making. The event will take place for 3 days from the 16th to 18th of June 2025 in Lyon at the Palais Hirsch Amphitheatre. Each session of the conference will be dedicated to one of the core themes, ensuring a focused exploration of topics and in-depth discussions.

The International Conference on Mathematical Neuroscience (ICMNS) is an inter-disciplinary conference series, bringing together theoretical/computational neuroscientists and mathematicians. The conferences are aimed at scientists interested in using or developing mathematical techniques for neuroscience problems. ICMNS 2025 will be the tenth annual conference.

The Georgetown-TUM Summer Schools in Neuroengineering started in 2023 with the first summer school at Georgetown, followed by the “TUM-GU Summer School in Neuroengineering” at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2024. This year’s edition is back at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The theme is “Neuroengineering for Restoration to Function”, highlighting ways in which neuroengineering approaches can aid in restoring function after injury- or disease-related impairment.

The goal of neuroengineering is to apply engineering principles and techniques to understand, repair, replace, and enhance the nervous system. The interdisciplinary nature of the field requires a close collaboration between neuroscientists (spanning approaches from cellular to cognitive) and engineers (including biomedical, computer science, electrical, mechanical…), and the goal of the summer school is to bring together students (from advanced undergraduate to graduate), postdocs and faculty from all these areas.

Founded in 2002, the Brain Connectivity Workshop (BCW) is an annual international meeting for in-depth discussions of all aspects of brain connectivity research.

In the "Brains in Space" colloquium, speakers will present their research in various areas of spatial navigation, including behavioral, neuroscientific, and theoretical approaches. The goal is to foster interdisciplinary discussions along the lines of the review article "A Map of Spatial Navigation for Neuroscience" (Parra-Barrero et al., 2023) that proposes a taxonomy of spatial navigation processes in mammals. The talks will cover a diverse range of topics, from the neural underpinnings of navigation to complex navigation behaviors. Attendees will gain a better understanding of how the mammalian brain represents and navigates through space, as well as learn about several cognitive processes such as learning and memory through the lens of spatial navigation.

With the aim of further strengthening the connection between neuroscience and statistical physics, this satellite workshop is intended to gather neuroscientists, physicists, and mathematicians who work on collective dynamics, cognition and behavior, and provide an interdisciplinary stage to discuss recent theoretical/computational and experimental advances on the role of neural ensembles for brain function. The workshop will be carefully planned to foster discussion and interaction between attendees, and to encourage the establishment of professional relationships. Particular emphasis will be given to participation of young PI’s and scholars and to the diversity in the pool of participants, with a good balance between physicists, mathematicians, theoretical and experimental neuroscientists. The deadline for abstract submission is May 15, 2025.

In a collaborative effort, the World Premier International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN) at the University of Tokyo and the Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Institute (Chen Institute) are proud to present the Neuro-inspired Computation Course, a groundbreaking program designed to explore the convergence of natural and artificial intelligence. This course delves into critical topics such as intrinsic dynamics, network architectures, prediction, plasticity, criticality, multi-agent learning, and neuromodulation, highlighting the potential for interdisciplinary innovation in advancing our understanding of cognitive processes.

The purpose of the OCNS is to create a scientific and educational forum for everyone to learn about, to share, to contribute to, and to advance the state of knowledge in computational neuroscience. Computational neuroscience combines mathematical analyses and computer simulations with experimental neuroscience, to develop a principled understanding of the workings of nervous systems and apply it in a wide range of technologies. The Annual CNS Meeting serves as a forum for young scientists to present their work and to interact with senior leaders in the field.

Methods originally developed in Information Theory have found wide applicability in computational neuroscience. Beyond these original methods there is a need to develop novel tools and approaches that are driven by problems arising in neuroscience. A number of researchers in computational/systems neuroscience and in information/communication theory are investigating problems of information representation and processing. While the goals are often the same, these researchers bring different perspectives and points of view to a common set of neuroscience problems. Often they participate in different fora and their interaction is limited. The goal of the workshop is to bring some of these researchers together to discuss challenges posed by neuroscience and to exchange ideas and present their latest work. The workshop is targeted towards computational and systems neuroscientists with interest in methods of information theory as well as information/communication theorists with interest in neuroscience.

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) compute in a fundamentally different and more biologically inspired manner than standard artificial neural networks (ANNs). They have recently gained renewed interest, mainly due to their sparse information processing, larger representation capacity, and potentially much lower computational costs. This workshop will address the related aspect of sparsity and its impact on energy-efficient (embedded edge) AI solutions. The workshop will be held as part of the AIROV Symposium. Deadline for Abstract submission is 8 May 2025.

The GRC will explore inhibition's role in neural circuits related to behavior, focusing on interneuron subtypes, inhibitory synapse organization, sensory processing, memory, and computational approaches. It will also cover inhibition in the adult neurogenic niche, model organisms like mice and primates, and its role in neuropsychiatric disorders.

After two successful editions in 2023 (Dublin, Ireland) and 2024 (Minneapolis, USA) the Computational Psychiatry Conference has established itself as the largest conference worldwide in this emerging field, annually attracting over 240 students, postdocs, and faculty from around the world to meet and discuss new scientific discoveries.

We invite PhD students, master’s students, final-year undergraduates, and postdocs worldwide from all backgrounds to CAMP@Pune. At this intensive 14-day course, students will be trained in theoretical and computational modeling of memory and plasticity in the brain, spanning different scales of space, time, and complexity. This year’s flavor of CAMP will be Networks Across Scales. The course will have lectures, hands-on tutorials, and projects to launch students into the exciting field of computational neuroscience.

The Barcelona summer school for Advanced Modelling of Behavior (BAMB!) teaches advanced techniques in model-based analysis of behavior (humans and other species) to cognitive and computational neuroscientists at PhD and early career levels. This will be achieved through structured lectures, talks, hands-on tutorials and group projects aimed at making knowledge obtained directly applicable to the participants' own research. We want the trainees to acquire both the conceptual basis and the technical skills that will enable them to pursue a full modelling approach on their own when they come back to their lab.

Modern deep learning methods provide some of the best tools to model behavior and brain function today. Excitingly, AI systems have become the first artificial models capable of matching human performance in sophisticated cognitive tasks, such as visual recognition, language processing, and strategic planning. This unique capability makes them a key test bed for neuroscience research: by studying how these AI systems solve complex problems, we can generate and test hypotheses about the computational principles that biological brains might use. Moreover, thanks to amazing progress in neuroscientific experimental recording techniques over the last decade, we now have access to vast amounts of complex data, which can be used in computational modeling, across multiple modalities – from neural activity of thousands of neurons, to anatomical details of neuronal circuits, to whole brain neural recordings during complex behavior of humans and animals. These exciting developments—in both AI methodology and neuroscientific recordings—have inspired an emerging area of research at the intersection of neuroscience and AI.

The Konstanz School of Collective Behaviour (KSCB) will take place between 21st July 2025 – 8th August 2025 at the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour (CASCB) at the University of Konstanz. Uni Konstanz is a University of Excellence and ranked #1 young university in Germany with “Collective Behaviour" as one of five research foci. Konstanz is a vibrant, small city located on the border between Germany and Switzerland, on the shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance). Over three weeks, students will delve deeply into the topic of collective behaviour with lectures, hands-on tutorials, and projects, making it a unique and unforgettable experience.

Systems vision science combines computational, behavioral, and neuroscience methods to discover functions and algorithms for vision in various brain regions and their implementations in neural circuits. This summer school should be helpful to experimental vision researchers for learning computational methods, vision theorists and modellers for closer links with experimental data, physicists, engineers, and computer vision researchers for learning about biological vision, and, more generally, vision scientists interested in topics and approaches in systems vision science.

This year our summer school "Neural Dynamics for Embodied Cognition" will take place from the 25th to the 30th of August, 2025 at the Institute for Neural Computation, Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Gregor Schöner. Neuronal dynamics provide a powerful theoretical language for the design and modeling of embodied and situated cognitive systems. This school provides a hands-on and practical introduction to neuronal dynamics ideas and enables participants to become productive within this framework. The school is aimed at advanced undergraduate or graduate students, postdocs and faculty members in embodied cognition, cognitive science, and robotics. Topics addressed include neural dynamics, attractor dynamics and instabilities, dynamic field theory, neuronal representations, artificial perception, simple forms of cognition including detection and selection decisions, memory formation, learning, and grounding relational concepts. The school combines tutorial lectures with hands-on project work. Participants will develop their own modeling project, which may connect to their ongoing doctoral or postdoctoral research. The application deadline is May 25th, 2025.

Organized in the framework of EBRAINS-Italy training initiatives, ANEIS 2025 offers up to 40 students an immersive experience at the forefront of Neuroscience research and its applications, covering a broad range of themes, including theoretical, computational, and systems neuroscience, data analysis, neuroinformatics, and clinical applications. Applications are invited from junior scientists (PhD students and Post-Doc fellows or residency students) beginning their careers in the broad field of Neuroscience, and limited to 40 participants. Admission to ANEIS 2025 will be on a competitive selection basis, from applicants' CV, Motivation letter, and the recommendation letter by a senior researcher. The deadline for application is June 15, 2025.

The ACAIN 2025 symposium and course is an interdisciplinary event featuring leading scientists from AI and Neuroscience, providing a special opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research in the fields of AI, Neuroscience, Neuroscience-Inspired AI, Human-Level AI, and Cognitive Science. The 5th Advanced Course and Symposium on Artificial Intelligence & Neuroscience (ACAIN) is a full-immersion four-day Course and Symposium at the Riva del Sole Resort & SPA, Castiglione della Pescaia (Grosseto), Tuscany, Italy on cutting-edge advances in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience with lectures delivered by world-renowned experts. The Course provides a stimulating environment for academics, early career researchers, Post-Docs, PhD students and industry leaders. Participants will also have the chance to present their results with oral talks or posters, and to interact with their colleagues, in a convivial and productive environment.

Scientists spend more and more time writing, maintaining, and debugging software. While techniques for doing this efficiently have evolved, only few scientists have been trained to use them. As a result, instead of doing their research, they spend far too much time writing deficient code and reinventing the wheel. In this course we will present a selection of advanced programming techniques and best practices which are standard in the industry, but especially tailored to the needs of a programming scientist. Lectures are interactive and allow students to acquire direct hands-on experience with the topics. Students will work in pairs throughout the school and will team up to practice the newly learned skills in a real programming project — an entertaining computer game. We use the Python programming language for the entire course. Python works as a simple programming language for beginners, but more importantly, it also works great in scientific simulations and data analysis. Python is the standard tool for the programming scientist due to clean language design, ease of extensibility, and the great wealth of open source libraries for scientific computing and data visualization.

Each year the Bernstein Network invites the international computational neuroscience community to the annual Bernstein Conference for intensive scientific exchange. It has established itself as one of the most renowned conferences worldwide in this field, attracting students, postdocs and PIs from around the world to meet and discuss new scientific discoveries.

The QStr (Qualia Structure) - IIT (Integrated Information Theory) Summer School offers an exciting opportunity for students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty scholars from around the world to explore the intersection of qualitative aspects of consciousness (or qualia) and scientific objectivity. This event is scheduled to take place in Venice and Bertinoro, Italy from October 5 to 17, 2025.

You are cordially invited to attend the 9th BigBrain Workshop, taking place in Berlin, Germany, on October 28 and 29, 2025. This workshop has established itself as the annual meeting place for the BigBrain community to come together and present their latest research, discuss prospects of the BigBrain associated data and tools, and brainstorm on how to leverage high-performance computing and artificial intelligence better to create multimodal, multiresolution tools for the high-resolution BigBrain and related datasets. This year’s workshop also serves as the Closing Symposium of the Helmholtz International BigBrain Analytics and Learning Lab (HIBALL), highlighting the remarkable achievements of this transatlantic collaboration. To mark this special occasion, we will feature an exceptional lineup of distinguished speakers, not only to celebrate HIBALL’s success but also to explore the future of brain science, fostering discussions on innovative methods and applications in the field. Speakers include: Helen Zhou, Alexandra Young, Andreas Horn, Petra Ritter, and Dagmar Kainmüller. The BigBrain Workshop will again be held in conjunction with a Training Day, taking place as a full-day event on October 27, on-site at the conference venue.

Each year, scientists from around the world congregate to discover new ideas, share their research, and experience the best the field has to offer. Attend so you can: present research, network with scientists, attend session and events, and browse the exhibit hall. Join the nearly half a million neuroscientists from around the world who have propelled their careers by presenting an abstract at an SfN annual meeting — the premier global neuroscience event.

The Bernstein Network will have an information booth at this event!

The CIFAR Neuroscience of Consciousness Winter School is a unique, three-day event where tomorrow’s neuroscience leaders work closely with world-class researchers studying the neuroscience of consciousness. Hosted by members of CIFAR’s Brain, Mind & Consciousness program, this year’s event is held from December 10-12, 2025 in Montebello, Canada.

Imbizo is a Xhosa word meaning “a gathering to share knowledge”. The Simons Computational Neuroscience Imbizo is exactly that: an opportunity for African and international students to learn about cutting-edge research techniques in computational neuroscience. Applications until July 1, 2025.