Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Summer School
CNeuro2022 Teaching Assistants
Guozheng Huang
Tsinghua University in Beijing, China
Hi everyone, I’m Guozheng Huang (黄国正), third-year PhD student under the supervision of Xiaoqin Wang in Tsinghua Laboratory of Brain and Intelligence (THBI). I got Bachelor of Science from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University, where I accumulated much research experience in applied mathematics, statistics and theoretical computer science. The ambition of researchers in THBI, who work together to use tools in biomedical engineering, computer science, psychology etc to discover the nature of intelligence greatly inspires me, and now I’m working on establishing math models of space, music and emotion perception both in human and non-human primate such as marmosets.
I attended CNeuro in 2019. Thanks to the guidance of teachers, TAs and friends I met, I made my decision to start my career in neuroscience. I’m very honored to join TA team of CNeuro 2022, and I can’t wait to learn from these interesting courses and discuss with all of you about the latest discoveries in this exciting area.
Best wishes and see you in Beijing！
Kai Chen
Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in Shanghai, China
Hi guys, I'm Kai Chen, a second-year PhD student in applied math in the lab of Douglas Zhou. Before that I studied physics as an undergraduate and master’s student at SJTU.
My research interests lie in various topics including neural data analysis, circuitry mechanism of cognitive functions (such as attention), and neural computation through population dynamics. I’ve developed a framework to bridge the structural and functional connectivity, which is causally inferred from spiking data, within certain dynamical regime in the brain. Also, I'm working on modeling the attentional mechanism to understand the tuning properties of neural covariability in monkey primary visual cortex.
I’ve been through CNeuro2021 online and CNeuro2019 on-site, and was so impressed by the diverse topics of lectures and the enlightening discussions with the fellows and lecturers. I’m so grateful and excited that organizers make this year’s event in-person again! And I’m looking forward to learning and having discussions with you. See you all in Beijing!
Likai Tang
Tsinghua University in Beijing, China
Hi, I’m Likai, a third year PhD student under the supervision of Sen Song in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University. I studied automation engineering during my undergraduate course. I switched my interests gradually from AI to neuroscience and brain-inspired AI. I attended CNeuro in 2019 and it helped me to know about neuroscience and to re-think AI and human intelligence. It was a wonderful experience with a relaxing and warm discussion environment.
I’m happy to come back to CNeuro as a teaching assistant and I’m also looking forward to being a participant in an interesting course project to review knowledge from various fields together with you.
Luke Ewig
University of Basel in Basel, Switzerland
I am a second-year PhD student under the supervision of Rava Azeredo da Silveira in the Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Group located at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel. I studied physics at Goethe University Frankfurt, and conducted my B.Sc. and M.Sc. research at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies.
Generally, my interests include how information is represented by high-dimensional neural population activity and why it is represented in this way. More specifically, I am presently involved in a project aiming to better understand how visual information is integrated into the mammalian head-direction system to maintain an accurate representation of the direction of the head.
My participation in CNeuro in 2020 had helped me on one hand to get back into the field of neuroscience, after working outside academia for a while, and on the other hand to get an overview of current research on diverse topics. I look forward to being a TA in this year's in-person summer school to both learn about current research at first-hand from interesting lecturers, again, and to discuss it with students.
Nick Tosh
National University of Ireland (NUI) in Galway, Ireland
I am a philosophy lecturer at the National University of Ireland, Galway. I began my academic life studying physics (Cambridge MSci), and switched to History and Philosophy of Science for my PhD (Cambridge). I still love philosophy, but in recent years I have also been trying to learn as much as I possibly can about theoretical neuroscience. In 2020, I attended Neuromatch Academy and CNeuro. I had a wonderful time at both, and I am delighted to have the chance to return to CNeuro in 2022 as a TA.
Ruilin Zhang
Peking University in Peking, China
Hello, I am Ruilin Zhang (张瑞霖) graduated from Integrated Science Program, Yuanpei College, Peking University.
CNeuro2021 was a wonderful journey for me as a student. I would like to pass our happiness to you at CNeuro2022, an exciting on-site summer school! Topics of CNeuro have been thrilling for years. CNeuro2022 is not an exception. The attraction is so strong that my decision to be here was made immediately. I am very happy to participate as a TA and help to build our community worldwide as a better place.
My research interests include neuronal modeling based on electrophysiological data, theoretical network dynamics in collective oscillations and reinforcement learning to understand the construction and activity of neural circuits. Recently, I am also interested in decision making and game theory in real-world games and where insights from here can be applied. I am looking forward to learning together with all of you face to face in Beijing this year.
Simone Blanco Malerba
Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris, France
Hi, I am SImone Blanco Malerba, a third year PhD student in Physics/Theoretical neuroscience in the lab of Rava da Silveira at ENS, in Paris.
I studied Electrical Engineering in the Bachelor in Turin, and Physics of Complex Systems moving around Europe (Turin - Trieste -Paris). After studying electrical circuits and complex systems, neuroscience seemed the obvious choice for me.
My research focuses on understanding how neuronal populations encode and represent information about the external word..
I use theoretical models to analyze the ways neurons respond to sensory stimuli, and how this response should be modulated according to reasonable optimality criteria and under biologically-motivated resources constraints. By analyzing neural data and interpreting them with models and simulations, I try to understand normative principles underlying information transmission in biological (and sometimes artificial) intelligence.
I had the chance to participate in CNeuro19 in Beijing as a student-teaching assistant hybrid, and I had a great experience. Fellows and faculties, with their passion about science and their different backgrounds, contributed to create a relaxed atmosphere and enjoyable discussions.
I am very excited about this year, and I look forward to participating and meeting everybody in Basel!
Yuxiu Shao
Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris, France
Hi all, this is Yuxiu again. Currently, I'm finishing my second year Post-doc working with Srdjan Ostojic at Group for Neural Theory, ENS, Paris; before that I completed my PhD training under the supervision of Prof. Louis Tao at PkU; before that I completed my undergraduate training in Mechanical Engineering at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
I attended the CNeuro2020 as an on-site TA (based in Beijing) before moving to Paris, and then I attended the summer school again as an online TA in 2021. I would never say that being a TA twice (or even three times) at the same summer school sounds boring, because each year, CNeuro revealed a completely different landscape of theoretical neuroscience. The exploration itself was already thrilling! Not to mention the fact that you were always joined by mentors and friends who shared the same enthusiasm for theoretical neuroscience.
This summer, thanks to the excellent decision made by the organizers to host this year's summer school as an in-person event, I am finally able to meet some of you, and I'm already looking forward to brainstorming with you all! And I hope I can meet the rest of you in Beijing in the near future.
Zezhen Wang
University of Science and Technology in China (USTC) in
Hefei, China
Hello everyone, my name is Zezhen Wang. I am a second-year graduate student majoring in Data Science at Prof. Quan Wen's lab. Before that, I got my bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China.
I'm interested in the relation between neuronal populations, information encoding, and macroscopic cognitive functions. Currently, I am working on developing a phenomenological theory to understand the self-similar structure of the neuronal population correlation.
I participated in CNeuro2019. It was a wonderful experience for me. This year I will participate as a TA. I will do my best to help more people get familiar with Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience. And I hope I can meet everybody in Beijing.
