Phase-2 will take place on Feb. 23-25, 2022 in San Juan (PR) and remotely

This page is updated with the most current schedule

Wednesday, Feb. 23

8:00-9:00 Breakfast at Salon Pauli (Hotel El Convento) where we will also have the presentations

9:00 Welcome and opening remarks

Emerald

(Addressing challenges: presentations and discussions moderated by the speakers. * are remote)

9:30 Konrad Kording: Power and Causality

9:50 Horacio G. Rotstein: Theoretical neuroscience frameworks: integrating dynamics and statistics

10:10 Kenta Asahina: Why and how the nervous system generates variable, but not random, behavior?

10:30* Gert Cauwenberghs: A case for neural diversity from a neuromorphic systems perspective

10:50 break (coffee and quesitos)

Sapphire

11:05* Benjamin L de Bivort: What do you do with 80 million decisions?

11:25* Pavan Ramdya: Biological data and morphologically-realistic neuromechanical models: a match made in heaven

11:45 Demba Ba: Learning Representations across Species

12:05 C. Randy Gallistel: Do behavioral data constrain in any way neuroscientific theories of learning and memory?

12:25 Lunch (at hotel)

Ruby

2:00* Barbara Webb: Behaviour as a constraint for neural models

2:20 Ann Kennedy: Bringing theory into experimental study of complex behavior

2:40* Randall D. Beer: Milking a spherical cow: The role of toy models in neuroscience

3:00* Mitra Hartmann: Using mechanical models for neuroscience

Topaz

3:30 Andrew Leifer: The promise of direct measurements of functional connectivity

3:50* Sara A Solla: From neural modes to behavioral modes

4:10 Adam Douglass: Neuromodulation in space, time, and behavioral context

4:30 Mala Murthy: Linking connectomics, functional imaging, and behavioral dynamics: insights from Drosophila

5:00 Walking tour of Old San Juan

7:30 Dinner (at hotel) and free time

Thursday, Feb. 24

8:00-9:00 Breakfast at Salon Pauli (Hotel El Convento)

9:00 Second day remarks

Amethyst

9:30* Katherine Nagel: Using navigation to understand similarities and differences in neural circuits across evolution

9:50* Alex Gomez-Marin: When bigger is not better / Conflating metaphors, models and metaphysics

10:10 Florian Engert: How to leverage connectomes?

10:30 Aurel A. Lazar: Semantic and Syntactic Information in the Age of Connectomics

10:50 break (coffee and quesitos)

Diamond

11:05* Hillel Chiel: Variability is not noise, but the signal

11:25 Farzan Nadim: What does inter-animal variability mean for function?

11:45* Netta Cohen: Individual variability of wiring in C. elegans

12:05* Eve Marder: The role of theory in understanding the degenerate mechanisms controlling circuit dynamics

12:25 Lunch (at Salon Pauli)

1:30 Define challenges (plenary): six whiteboards, four with original wording of challenges. All move around the room, stop, and discuss at the board of interest and add to the boards.

Well defined challenges

2:30 Break

3:00 Discuss challenges (parallel): split into workgroups, each group prepares a presentation to clarify the challenge and outline solutions.

5:30 Break

6:00 Present challenges (plenary): each group presents, followed by general discussion.

Outline solutions for well-defined challenges

7:00 Fancy Dinner: Princesa Cocina Cultura

Friday, Feb. 25

8:00-9:00 Breakfast at Salon Pauli (Hotel El Convento)

9:00 Third day Remarks

9:30 Prepare recommendations (parallel): each group prepares a presentation on a solution with the best level of details.

10:30 break (coffee and quesitos)

11:00 Present recommendations (plenary): each group presents, followed by general discussion.

Tangible solutions for well-defined challenges

12:15 Lunch (at Salon Pauli)

Travel in the times of COVID-19:

• Fortunately, Puerto Rico has strict regulations for travelling (https://www.travelsafe.pr.gov)

• The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico requires all visitors to fill out a travel declaration about vaccination status or testing (https://1link.travelsafe.pr.gov ; you will need the address of Hotel El Convento: ‘100 Cristo Street, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901’). You can fill the declaration as soon as you have a ticket and you will get a QR code to present at the airport.

• It is useful to bring digital and hard copies of your vaccination or test records. In addition, you could register and use the Cesco app (https://www.prits.pr.gov/vacu-id ) that is accepted in many places.