Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit

📢 Job alert - Deep Learning Theory & AI Safety
Applications open for a postdoc fellow (@saxelab.bsky.social lab) to study artificial deep networks using techniques from applied maths & stat physics.

⏰ Deadline: 26 Mar 2026
🤝 In collaboration with @stefsm.bsky.social
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

The Google Summer of Code and Neuroinformatics Unit logos next to each other.

Do you want to spend the summer being paid to contribute to open source neuroscience software?

We are taking part in Google Summer of Code again, offering paid, remote placements to work on one of our tools. Open to (nearly) everyone worldwide.

More details: neuroinformatics.dev/get-involved...

Excited to launch Principia, a nonprofit research organisation at the intersection of deep learning theory and AI safety.

Our goal is to develop theory for modern machine learning systems that can help us understand complex network behaviors, including those critical for AI safety and alignment.

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Why don’t neural networks learn all at once, but instead progress from simple to complex solutions? And what does “simple” even mean across different neural network architectures?

Sharing our new paper @iclr_conf led by Yedi Zhang with Peter Latham

arxiv.org/abs/2512.20607

Missed the information webinar?

🎬 Recording and 📊 slide deck available 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

⏰ Apply by 16 Feb 2026

Read the story behind the first @neuroinformatics.dev Open Software Week, in a series of blogposts for @softwaresaved.bsky.social

The second edition will be even more awesome. Remember to apply by the end of January:

neuroinformatics.dev/open-softwar...

📣 Excited to co-organize the 2nd Workshop on Scientific Methods for Understanding Deep Learning at ICLR in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (April 26 or 27, 2026)!! 🔎🤖 🇧🇷

If you work on the why/how of deep learning, we are looking forward to reading your submission! 👇

#ICLR2026 #Sci4DL

Applications for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Bridging Programme (7-week maths summer school) will open on 19 Jan and close on 16 Feb. Designed for students who wish to pursue a postgrad research degree in theoretical neuroscience or foundational machine learning but whose degree programme lacks a strong maths focus. Applications from students in underrepresented groups in STEM strongly encouraged. A small number of bursaries available. Register for the information webinar on 23 Jan.

📢 Applications open on 19 Jan for the 7-week #Mathematics #SummerSchool in London. You will develop the maths skills and intuition necessary to enter the #TheoreticalNeuroscience / #MachineLearning field.

Find out more & register for the information webinar 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

Under He/Lecun inits, theory implies Kernel OR Unstable regimes as width→∞. Discrepancies (e.g. feature learning) are seen as finite width effects.

Our #NeurIPS2025 spotlight refutes this: practical nets do not converge to kernel limits; Feature learning persists as width→∞🧵

At #NeurIPS ? Visit our posters! 🧵

Demystifying Spectral Feature Learning for Instrumental Variable Regression: #2600, Wed 11am

Regularized least squares learning with heavy-tailed noise is minimax optimal: #3012, Wed 4:30pm ✨spotlight✨

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Find us at NeurIPS, Thur 4:30 pm #2115! We know networks have to be both plastic and stable but we're used to thinking about computations, such as memory, as additional requirements. Instead, we find that almost all stable & plastic networks display simple memory abilities.

A list of acceped papers by researchers at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, with corresponding poster time.

👋 Will you be at #NeurIPS?

Stop by our researchers' posters to learn more about their work!

The date should of course be August 17-28 2026!

📢 Project Research Internship (spring 2026)

Apply now to work with Dr Leena Chennuru Vankadara (@leenacvankadara.bsky.social) on the fundamental principles governing the behaviour of modern large-scale machine learning systems.

⏰ Deadline: 18 Dec 2025, 1pm GMT
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

Coming up on Wed Nov 19 1-4:15PM
NANO052: Auditory Processing at Multiple Scales

👂Contributions of sound offsets and onsets to auditory cortical population dynamics evoked by brief gaps in noise

with Zimo Li, Chen Lu, Maneesh Sahani and Jennifer Linden

✈️ Heading to #SfN25?

Check out Kira's (@kiradust.bsky.social) work
"Autistic individuals learn to exploit temporal regularities in simple but not complex contexts"
at Early Career Poster Session (Nov 15 18:45-20:45, A21) or Autism: Behavioral Analysis session (Nov 16 13-17, A27).

Don't miss it!

If you are interested in Bonsai and attending #SfN25 in San Diego, come and hang out by the Bonsai Foundation Booth 3726, Hall B2.

Task logic, Harp devices, online real-time Machine Learning, new language features. We will be there everyday with live demos and open to chat about all things Bonsai!

Dopamine as a teaching signal: understanding its role in shaping individual behavior - Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy - Dopamine as a teaching signal: understanding its role in shaping individual behavior

Honored to have a research highlight featuring our work!

A comprehensive overview of our results and their impact for future research and applications:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

AI for Good Webinar Series 'From Molecules to Models': With Arthur Gretton on causal effect estimation

💬 AI for Good Webinar Series 'From Molecules to Models' - today with @arthurgretton.bsky.social (@ucl.ac.uk, ELLIS Fellow) on causal effect estimation.

📅 Oct 29th
🕓 17:00-18:00 CET

🔗 Registration: aiforgood.itu.int/event/learn-...
ℹ️ More info: ellis.eu/news/continu...

⏰ Deadline approaching for our PhD programmes!

👋 Apply by 3 Nov to join us and immerse yourself in world-class research and vibrant London life!

Gatsby Unit: ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social: sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...

Joint: www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

Looking forward to next week's Winter School on Causality and Explainable AI!

xai-winter-school.github.io

Applying to the #ELLISPhD Program? If you are selecting a Gatsby Unit faculty member as your main supervisor, don't forget to apply to the Gatsby Unit PhD Programme in parallel. Our deadline is 3 Nov 2025.
👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

Photo of staff and students at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, with robots competing in a football match.

Congratulations to all the new SWC & @gatsbyucl.bsky.social PhD students for successfully completing Boot Camp!

We are delighted to welcome you to the community.

Students showcased their robots in our hotly anticipated annual @noblackboxes.bsky.social Robot Competition 🦾⚽💻

🙋Are you interested in bridging theory & experiments?

Applications are now open for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit & SWC joint PhD programme.

Join us and be part of a vibrant research community!

💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

@sainsburywellcome.bsky.social

Interested in a #PhD in machine learning & theoretical neuroscience?

Applications for 2026 entry to the Gatsby Unit PhD programme are open!

💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🤝 Close links to @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
ℹ️ www.ucl.ac.uk/life-sciences/gatsby/study-and-work/gatsby-unit-phd-programme

A complete brain-wide activity map at single-cell resolution has been revealed for the first time.

Researchers recorded from 650,000+ neurons across 279 brain areas to track decision-making in mice.

Read the story:
🔗 www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/research...

Made possible only by the unique environment and amazing community at Janelia and the Gatsby. @hhmijanelia.bsky.social @gatsbyucl.bsky.social

Feedback, ideas, or requests for transgenic lines, protocols, and code are warmly welcome!

ProbNum 2025 Keynote 2 ``Gradient Flows on the Maximum Mean Discrepancy'' by @arthurgretton.bsky.social ( @gatsbyucl.bsky.social and Google DeepMind.

Slides available here: probnum25.github.io/keynotes

📢 ❗JOB OPPORTUNITY: Today is the closing date for this fantastic role we are funding at @gatsbyucl.bsky.social.
⏰ Apply before 23.59BST. 👇

Aeon is a new platform for continuous brain and behaviour research in naturalistic environments — already used in 15+ projects, including long-term social learning studies.

🔗 www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/new...
📄 Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...