This meeting will bring together leading scientists working on emerging new concepts in cell biology that are important for neuron and neural circuit function. Presentations and discussions will cover topics such as emerging areas of cell biology, new imaging tools for examining the function of proteins at the subcellular level as well as cutting edge work by investigators working at the interface of cell and neuronal biology.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: MAY 17, 2017 (11:59 p.m.).

Registration for this meeting is now closed. 

Organized by Alla Karpova, Josh Dudman and Vivek Jayaraman, this workshop provides an exciting opportunity for graduate students and recent graduates interested in neural circuits and behavior to present their research and discuss bold ideas for the future, while also discovering potential independent early-career options at Janelia.

The meeting is open to a broad array of ideas and approaches in diverse animal models. The agenda will be thematically tuned to explore some of the issues raised by participants with a general emphasis on studies of cognition broadly construed (e.g. navigation, learning, decision making, etc.).

Over the course of five days, attendees will present their work, partake in lively discussions on key problems and obstacles in the field, and indulge in informed speculation about conceptual and technical approaches that might be useful for future progress.

The focus of the meeting will be on junior scientists, but we will also host a few plenary talks from established investigators. As with last year, we anticipate that the workshop will be interactive and intense. We want participants who are comfortable not only presenting their own ideas and results, but also actively contributing to discussion and critically evaluating their own methods and approaches. We will aim to ensure that discussions are freewheeling, but also respectful and inclusive, and that the atmosphere is both fun and productive. Attendees should feel free to come with half-baked ideas and expect an audience keen on talking through those ideas!

In order to maintain the small group atmosphere that we believe is necessary for extensive interactions and discussion, space in the workshop is limited. Participants are expected to stay for the duration.

Janelia will cover the cost of accommodation, meals and reasonable travel expenses.

We especially encourage applicants who identify with groups traditionally underrepresented in science. 

Advances in light sources and other instrumentation over the last 20 years have pushed the limits of what can be studied by various structural biology methods. Larger, much more challenging molecular ensembles have been studied at unprecedented resolutions, and with ever-smaller and challenging specimens. Hardware and computational developments, particularly in data reduction and modeling, contribute critically to this work. The main goal of this meeting is to highlight the current challenges in structural biology and to stimulate cooperation between theory and experiment. Talks will focus on challenges in structural biology including sample preparation, crystal growth, data collection, processing, and structural dynamics and will span the full gamut of nanocrystallography including XFELs and MicroED, as well as single particle electron cryomicroscopy and complementary methods.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: MAY 31, 2017 (11:59 pm).

Organized by Shaul Druckmann, James Fitzgerald, Ann Hermundstad, Sandro Romani and Herve Rouault, this workshop is intended as a "by the students, for the students" meeting.  Participants will include only students and postdocs doing theoretical neuroscience research.

Over the course of the week, attendees will present their own work, as well as a more in depth tutorial on the techniques used in their research. The goal is to encourage uninhibited and detailed technical discussion among young theoreticians, a deeper understanding of the diverse techniques used in modern theoretical neuroscience, and hopefully a stronger sense of community. We see this as a unique learning opportunity for everyone involved and intend for it to be an enjoyable experience.

We are interested in those who will be able to follow the intense schedule and contribute to discussions, and we especially encourage applications from female scientists.

In order to maintain a small group atmosphere, allowing for extensive interactions and presentations by everyone, space at the workshop is limited.  All participants are expected to stay for the duration.

Janelia will cover the cost of accommodation, meals and reasonable travel expenses.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JUNE 29, 2017 (11:59 pm).

Among visual organisms, the ability to detect motion is nearly universal. Motion detection is a fundamental neural computation that is critical for navigation within the environment. This meeting will bring together researchers who study the question of how neurons generate directionally selective responses to local visual motion, as well as the global problem of how local motion signals are integrated to guide behavior. Traditionally, the synaptic and cellular basis of directional selectivity has been studied in the mammalian retina while the links between these computations and behavior have been studied in flies and primates. Most recently, serial EM reconstructions and optogenetic approaches have deepened our understanding of circuits in flies and provide insights of mammalian directional selectivity in vision-guided behaviors in rodents. Primate researchers have, in parallel, discovered detailed computational mechanisms that underlie behaviors driven by visual motion. This is an exciting time to bring together the leading scientists working in these areas to provide an open forum for vigorous discussion of novel approaches providing insights into visual motion processing. Specific topics include, but are not limited to, computational mechanisms of motion perception, the circuits and mechanisms of directional selectivity, and how behavioral state modulates motion processing. Within each topic, we will investigate the function of the insect, rodent, and primate visual systems at a neural and behavioral level, with a focus on the relationship between structure and function.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JUNE 14, 2017 (11:59 p.m.).

A follow-up to the first conference held at Janelia in 2015, this meeting focuses on emerging optical techniques enabling near-simultaneous acquisition of neuronal activity at the whole-brain level with single-cell resolution in a variety of model organisms. These techniques will advance our understanding of how the information underlying behavior is dynamically represented and processed by neuronal networks at the whole-brain level. Analysis of the big data sets generated from microscopic imaging requires a combination of machine learning, statistics, mathematical modeling and a robust IT infrastructure. This meeting gathers experts and pioneers in these fields to identify synergies and new opportunities and to discuss challenges in moving forward.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JUNE 28, 2017 (11:59 p.m.).