Contributions to this post were made by Gregory Hager, Chair of the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) and Professor and Chair of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University. Early pioneers of computing such as Alan Turing, John Von Neuman and Herb Simon were fascinated by the possibility of computing opening a window into our understanding of the brain, and how understanding the brain might advance computing. A half century later, computing has made extraordinary progress, but much of the inner workings of the brain remain a mystery. Can we re-ignite the early promise of synergy between research on the human brain and computer science to the benefit of both fields? This […]
Computing Community Consortium Blog
The goal of the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is to catalyze the computing research community to debate longer range, more audacious research challenges; to build consensus around research visions; to evolve the most promising visions toward clearly defined initiatives; and to work with the funding organizations to move challenges and visions toward funding initiatives. The purpose of this blog is to provide a more immediate, online mechanism for dissemination of visioning concepts and community discussion/debate about them.
Archive for the ‘workshop reports’ category
CCC BRAIN Workshop: Research Interfaces between Brain Science and Computer Science
December 11th, 2014 / in CCC, workshop reports / by Helen WrightBRAIN Workshop, an exciting first day
December 4th, 2014 / in CCC, videos, workshop reports / by Ann DrobnisThe Computing Community Consortium (CCC) and National Science Foundation (NSF) are sponsoring a workshop on the Research Interfaces between Brain Science and Computer Science. Top researchers in computer science, cognitive science and neuroscience are stepping out of their comfort zones to engage in conversations on topics ranging from the varying levels of brain mapping to the need for studying graph algorithms for weighted large brain graphs. Plenary talks and panel discussions are being livestreamed. Tonight (December 4) at 7:30 pm EST, you can see Turing Award Winner Leslie Valiant talk on Can Models of Computation in Neuroscience be Experimentally Validated? Tomorrow (December 5) there will be a Panel Discussion at […]
CCC BRAIN Workshop – A Neuroscientist’s Perspective
December 1st, 2014 / in CCC, Research News, workshop reports / by Helen WrightThe following blog post was written by Dr. Martin Wiener, AAAS Fellow Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering Division of Information and Intelligent Systems at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Comparisons of the brain to a computer have been around since Alan Turing first described the Automatic Computing Engine in 1936. However, decades of research have now shown that the brain is nothing like a computer; at least, nothing like one that currently exists. Plasticity, flexibility and redundancy in neural circuits have led us to understand that the human brain operates with greater efficiency than the most powerful supercomputers today. However, as the field of neuroscience advances, the field of […]
National Robotics Initiative (NRI)
November 24th, 2014 / in Announcements, NSF, pipeline, policy, research horizons, Research News, robotics, workshop reports / by Helen WrightLast week the National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Agriculture and NASA announced $31.5 million in new awards to spur the development and use of robots that work cooperatively with people (known as co-robots). The awards mark the third round of funding made through the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), a multi-agency program launched in September 2012 as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Initiative, with NSF as the lead federal agency. The 52 new research awards, ranging from $300,000 to $1.8 million over one to four years, advance fundamental understanding of robotic sensing, motion, computer vision, machine learning and human-computer interaction. The awards […]
Live-streamed CCC BRAIN Workshop
November 24th, 2014 / in CCC, policy, videos, workshop reports / by Helen WrightComputer science and brain science share deep intellectual roots. Today, understanding the structure and function of the human brain is one of the greatest scientific challenges of our generation. Decades of study and continued progress in our knowledge of neural function and brain architecture have led to important advances in brain science, but a comprehensive understanding of the brain still lies well beyond the horizon. How might computer science and brain science benefit from one another? The CCC BRAIN two-day workshop, sponsored by the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) and National Science Foundation (NSF), brings together brain researchers and computer scientists for a scientific dialogue aimed at exposing new opportunities for joint […]
CCC Uncertainty in Computation Workshop
October 31st, 2014 / in CCC, workshop reports / by Ann DrobnisMahsa Mirzargar, Ph.D. and Lace Padilla from the University of Utah contributed to this post. The Computing Community Consortium’s (CCC) Uncertainty in Computation Visioning Workshop was held in Washington DC in mid October, led by Bill Thompson and Ross Whitaker from the University of Utah. The workshop brought together over 40 scientists from different disciplines including simulation and data science, engineering, statistics, applied mathematics, visualization, decision science and psychology. The overarching goal of the workshop was to open a discussion between experts with diverse scientific backgrounds about the topic of uncertainty/risk and its communication. The attendees worked to articulate grand research challenges in understanding and communicating uncertainty inherent in computational processes […]