UNIQUE Conference Travel Awards
Winter 2025 competition
Program for undergraduate, MSc, Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellow
Application deadline: January 20, 2025
UNIQUE offers a limited number of conference travel grants to its students who will be presenting a paper (oral or poster) at a national or international scientific meeting. A maximum amount of $1,000 is provided to each recipient to cover expenses related to travel, accommodation and registration fees.
List of awardees
Summer 2024 Competition
Saeideh Davoudi, Département de neurosciences, Université de Montréal
Brain correlates of neurodevelopment in neurotypical and clinical populations
The International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS), Glasgow, Écosse, du 8 au 10 juillet 2024
Superviseure: Sarah Lippé
Nima Fathi, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, McGill University
DeCoDEx: Confounder Detector Guidance for Improved Diffusion-based Counterfactual Explanations
Medical Imaging with Deep Learning (MIDL) 2024, Paris, France, du 3 au 5 juillet 2024
Superviseure: Tal Arbel
Inés Gonzalez Pepe, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Concordia University
Fuzzy PyTorch: Rapid Numerical Uncertainty Quantification for Deep Learning Models
Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) 2024 Annual Meeting, Séoul, Korea, du 23 au 27 juin 2024
Superviseur: Tristan Glatard
Yann Harel, Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal
Waves of attention: Tracking the neural correlates of sustained attention with Magnetoencephalography
Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC), Tokyo, Japon, du 2 au 5 juillet 2024
Superviseur.e.s: Karim Jerbi & Pierre Bellec
Audrey Lamy-Proulx, Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal
Unveiling Mental Imagery: Enhanced Mental Images Reconstruction using EEG and the Bubbles Method
Vision Science Society Annual Meeting (VSS) 2024, St. Pete Beach, Floride, États-Unis, du 17 au 22 mai 2024
Superviseurs: Ian Charest & Frédéric Gosselin
Catherine Landry, Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal
Can we predict vividness from the characteristics of imagined images? A novel database featuring vividness judgments of the Natural Scene Dataset
Vision Science Society Annual Meeting (VSS) 2024, St. Pete Beach, Floride, États-Unis, du 17 au 22 mai 2024
Superviseurs: Ian Charest & Frédéric Gosselin
Antoine Légaré, Département de biochimie, de microbiologie et de bio-informatique, Université Laval
Structural and genetic constraints on zebrafish brain networks
17th Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, Vancouver, Canada, du 19 au 22 mai 2024
Superviseurs: Paul De Koninck & Patrick Desrosiers
Xiaoxuan Lei, Department of Physiology, McGill University
Geometry of naturalistic object representations in models of working memory
Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (CCN 2024), Boston, États-Unis, du 6 au 9 août 2024
Superviseur.e.s: Pouya Bashivan & Pierre Bellec
Jordan O’Byrne, Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal
Critical energy landscapes: The spin glass as a model of psychedelic action
Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC), Tokyo, Japon, du 2 au 5 juillet 2024
Superviseurs: Karim Jerbi & Guillaume Dumas
Valérie Pineau Noël, Département de psychiatrie et de neurosciences, Université Laval
Investiguating the role of the blood-brain barrier and astrocytes in anorexia nervosa
The Short Course on the Application of Machine Learning for Automated Quantification of Behavior, Maine, États-Unis (The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor), du 13 au 18 octobre 2024
Superviseur.e: Caroline Menard
Motahareh Pourrahimi, Integrated Program of Neuroscience, McGill University
Human-like Behavior and Neural Representations Emerge in a Neural Network Trained to Search for Natural Objects
The Fifth International Convention on the Mathematics Of Neuroscience and AI, Rome, Italie, du 28 au 31 mai 2024
Superviseur.e.s: Pouya Bashivan & Irina Rish
Darius Valevicius, Département de neurosciences, Université de Montréal
Evolving synthetic images for the control of affective experience
Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (CCN 2024), Boston, États-Unis, du 6 au 9 août 2024
Superviseur: Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel
Charlotte Volk, Department of Bioengineering, McGill University
Easing into learning: How and why a sequential curriculum improves visual learning generalization
Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (CCN 2024), Boston, États-Unis, du 6 au 9 août 2024
Superviseurs: Shahab Bakhtiari & Christopher Pack
Michelle Wang, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University
Nipoppy: a framework for the organization and decentralized processing of neuroimaging-clinical data
Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) 2024 Annual Meeting, Séoul, Korea, du 23 au 27 juin 2024
Superviseur: Jean-Baptiste Poline
Winter 2024 Competition
Hamza Abdelhedi, Département d’informatique et de recherche opérationnelle (DIRO), Université de Montréal
Neural Representations of face recognition in biological and artificial systems: Insights from MEG and CNNs
Computational and Systems Neuroscience — COSYNE 2024, Lisbonne et Cascais, Portugal, du 29 février au 5 mars 2024
Superviseurs: Karim Jerbi & Shahab Bakhtiari
Pierre-Louis Benveniste, Génie biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
Automatic segmentation of spinal cord multiple sclerosis lesions on MRI images across multiple sites, contrasts and vendors
International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), Singapour, Singapour, du 4 au 9 mai 2024
Superviseurs: Julien Cohen-Adad & Hervé Lombaert
Chiara Bramati, Département de neurosciences, Université de Montréal
Emergence of differential learning strategies in mice with a human-specific modifier of cortical pyramidal neuron function
PLENA 2024 Pucón Learning and AI Summit, Pucón, Chili, du 8 au 12 avril 2024
Superviseur: Roberto Araya
Busra Tugce Gurbuz, Quantitative Life Sciences, McGill University
Foraging for insights: A functional model investigating memory mechanisms for continual learning
Pucón Learning and AI Summit, Pucón, Chili, du 8 au 12 avril 2024
Superviseurs: Christopher Pack & Eilif Muller
Nanda Harishankar Krishna, Département d’informatique et de recherche opérationnelle (DIRO), Université de Montréal
Sufficient conditions for offline reactivation in recurrent neural networks
Computational and Systems Neuroscience (COSYNE), Lisbonne, Portugal, du 29 février au 5 mars 2024
Superviseur: Guillaume Lajoie
Katarzyna Jurewicz, Department of Physiology, McGill University
Information transfer during goal-directed viewing of everyday scenes
24th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St. Pete Beach, Floride, États-Unis, du 17 au 22 mai 2024
Superviseur.e.s: Suresh Krishna & Irina Rish
Diana Mitchell, Neurosciences, Université de Montréal
Altered input/output properties of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome
Pucón Learning and AI Summit (PLENA), Pucón, Chili, du 8 au 12 avril 2024
Superviseur: Roberto Araya
Roman Pogodin, Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University
Synaptic Weight Distributions Depend on the Geometry of Plasticity
ICLR 2024, Vienne, Autriche, du 17 au 22 mai 2024
Superviseurs: Blake Richards & Guillaume Lajoie
Jan Valosek, NeuroPoly, Genie biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
Automatic segmentation of T2-weighted hyperintense lesions in spinal cord injury
International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), Singapour, Singapour, du 4 au 9 mai 2024
Superviseur: Julien Cohen-Adad
Fall 2023 Competition
Catherine Bouchard, Département de génie électrique et de génie informatique, Université Laval
Learning a data-adaptable transform for unmixing and denoising multi-dimensional microscopy images
Focus on Microscopy 2024, Gênes, Italie, du 24 au 27 mars 2024
Superviseur.e.s: Christian Gagné & Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal
Bredenberg Colin, Département de mathématiques et de statistique, Université de Montréal
Formalizing locality for normative synaptic plasticity models
Thirty-seventh Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems - NeuRIPS 2023, Nouvelle-Orléans, LA, États-Unis, 10 décembre 2023
Superviseurs: Guillaume Lajoie & Blake Richards
Andjela Dimitrijevic, Institut de génie biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
Autoencoder-Based Separation of Intra and Inter-Subject Brain Morphological Deformations in Pediatric Development Analysis via MRI Scans
2024 ISMRM, Singapour, Singapour, du 4 au 9 mai 2024
Superviseur: Benjamin De Leener
Frans Irgolitsch, Génie Biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
Slice to volume registration using neural networks for serial optical coherence tomography of whole mouse brains
SPIE Photonics West, San Francisco, États-Unis, du 27 janvier au 1er février 2024
Superviseurs: Frederic Lesage & Joël Lefebvre
Andrea Luppi, Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University
"Mapping della riorganizzazione funzionale del cervello indotta da patologia, farmaci, e architettura neurotrasmettitoriale" (Mapping of the brain’s functional reorganisation induced by pathology, pharmacology, and neurotransmitter architecture)
13th Congress of the Italian Society of Biological Psychiatry - Treatments in Psychiatry 2023, Naples, Italie, du 25 au 28 octobre 2023
Superviseurs: Bratislav Misic & Danilo Bzdok
Summer 2023 Competition
Sandrine Bédard, Génie biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
Contrast-agnostic segmentation of the spinal cord using deep learning
2023 ISMRM & ISMRT Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Toronto, Canada, du 3 au 8 juin 2023
Superviseur: Julien Cohen-Adad
Renaud Bernatchez, Département de biochimie, de microbiologie et de bio-informatique, Université Laval
Crowdsourcing a rich dataset for the development of new neuroscience image analysis tools
International Conference On Nanoscopy, Jena, Germany, du 4 au 6 septembre 2023
Superviseur.e.s: Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal & Audrey Durand
(Grant declined by the student)
Shawn Manuel, Département de psychiatrie et d’addictologie, Université de Montréal
Quantifying High Level Representations Using Verbal Reports and Natural Language Processing
Computational Psychiatry Conference, Dublin, Ireland, du 6 au 8 juillet 2023
Superviseur: Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel
Charlotte Maschke, Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University
Outcome prediction after cardiac arrest using machine learning and network dynamics of resting state eeg
Computing in Cardiology 2023, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, du 1er au 4 octobre 2023
Superviseur.e: Stefanie Blain-Moraes & Karim Jerbi
Filip Milisav, Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University
Hierarchical modularity optimizes memory capacity near criticality in echo state networks
NetSci 2023 (International School and Conference on Network Science), Vienna, Austria, du 10 au 14 juillet 2023
Superviseur: Bratislav Misic
Quentin Moreau, Département de psychiatrie et d’addictologie, Université de Montréal
Transcranial random-noise stimulation in human-machine social interactions
Joint Action Meeting (JAM), Budapest, Hungary, du 10 au 12 juillet 2023
Superviseur: Guillaume Dumas
Fall 2022/Winter 2023 Competition
Jonathan Cornford, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University
Exploring learning in neural networks with brain-inspired geometries
Neuroscience 2022, San Diego, USA, November 12-16, 2022
Supervisor: Richard Blake
Naga Karthik Enamundram, Institut de génie biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
Segmentation of Multiple Sclerosis Lesions across Hospitals: Learn Continually or Train from Scratch?
Neural Information Processing Systems, New Orleans, USA, November 29-December, 2022
Supervisors: Julien Cohen Adad & Farida Cheriet
Daniel Levenstein, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University
A predictive learning model for autonomously generated replay in the hippocampus
Neuroscience 2022, San Diego, USA, November 12-16, 2022
Supervisors: Richard Blake & Adrien Peyrache
Sarthak Mittal, Département d’informatique et de recherche opérationnelle, Université de Montréal
Is a Modular Architecture Enough?
Neural Information Processing Systems, New Orleans, USA, November 28 – December 9, 2022
Supervisors: Guillaume Lajoie & Yoshua Bengio
Summer 2022 Competition
Frédéric Beaupré, Département de biochimie, de microbiologie et de bio-informatique, Université Laval
Detection and localization of synaptic anomalies using deep learning and super-resolution STED microscopy
Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology: Exploring the Role of Machine Learning in the Future of Biophotonics (Gordon Research Seminar), Lewiston, USA, July 9-10, 2022
Supervisors: Christian Gagné & Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal
Nikhil Bhagwat, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University
Assessment of brain-age prediction on longitudinal structural MR imaging data
Organization for Human Brain Mapping annual meeting (OHBM), Glasgow, Scotland, June 19-23, 2022
Supervisor: Jean-Baptiste Poline
Anthony Bilodeau, Département de biochimie, de microbiologie et de bio-informatique, Université Laval
Microscopy analysis neural network to solve detection, enumeration, and segmentation from image-level annotations
Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology: Exploring the Role of Machine Learning in the Future of Biophotonic (Gordon Research Seminar), Lewiston, USA, July 9-10, 2022
Supervisors: Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal & Audrey Durand
Catherine Bouchard, Département de génie électrique et de génie informatique, Université Laval
Generative Adversarial Network Assisted Super-Resolution Imaging
Optics and Photonics in Medicine and Biology: Exploring the Role of Machine Learning in the Future of Biophotonic (Gordon Research Seminar), Lewiston, USA, July 9-10, 2022
Supervisors: Christian Gagné & Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal
(Funding declined by the awardee)
Joshua Durso-Finley, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University
Personalized Prediction of Future Lesion Activity and Treatment Effect in Multiple Sclerosis from Baseline MRI
Medical Imaging with Deep Learning (MIDL), Zurich, Switzerland, July 6-8, 2022
Supervisor: Tal Arbel
Naga Karthik Enamundram, Génie biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
Automatic segmentation of hyperintense lesions in acute spinal cord injury from T2-weighted MRI scans
Quebec Bio-Imaging Network Scientific Day 2022, Sherbrooke, Canada, June 2, 2022
Supervisor: Julien Cohen-Adad
Ziqi Hao, Medicine, McGill University
Deep Learning for Brain Extraction from a Small and Diverse Dataset of Primate MRI
Organization for Human Brain Mapping annual meeting (OHBM), Glasgow, Scotland, June 19-23, 2022
Supervisor: Amir Shmuel
Dongyan Lin, Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University
Heterogeneous Representations of Variables in Task-Optimized DRL Agents Depend on Task-Relevance
The 5th Multidisciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making (RLDM2022), Providence, RI, USA, June 8-11, 2022
Supervisor: Blake Richards
Laura Suarez, Neurology and neurosurgery, McGill University
Conn2res: a toolbox for connectome-based reservoir computing
Organization for Human Brain Mapping annual meeting (OHBM), Glasgow, Scotland, June 19-23, 2022
Supervisors: Bratislav Misic & Guillaume Lajoie
Winter 2020 Competition
Anthony G.X. Chen, Computer Science, McGill University
From Neuroscience to Artificially Intelligent Systems (NAISys) Conference. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. NY, USA. March 24-28, 2020.
Superviseurs: Blake Richards & Joelle Pineau
(Subvention déclinée par le lauréat)
Raymond Chua, Computer Science, McGill University
From Neuroscience to Artificially Intelligent Systems (NAISys) Conference, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. NY, USA. March 24-28, 2020.
Superviseur.e.s: Doina Precup & Blake Richards
(Subvention déclinée par le lauréat)
Victor Geadah, Département de Mathématiques et de statistique, Université de Montréal
Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne) 2020. Denver, CO, USA. February 27- March 1, 2020,
Superviseur: Guillaume Lajoie
(Subvention déclinée par le lauréat)
Samuel Laferriere Cyr, Département d'informatique et de recherche opérationnelle, Université de Montréal
From Neuroscience to Artificially Intelligent Systems (NAISys), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. NY, USA. March 24-28, 2020.
Superviseurs: Guillaume Lajoie et Blake Richards
(Subvention déclinée par le lauréat)
Ardavan Salehi Nobandegani, Psychology, McGill University
34th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2020). NY, USA. February 7-12, 2020.
Superviseur: Thomas R. Shultz
Olivier Vincent, Institut de génie biomédical, Polytechnique Montréal
7th Spinal Cord MRI Workshop, University College London. London, United Kingdom. January 20-21, 2020.
Superviseur.e.s: Julien Cohen-Adad & Sarah Lippé