What problem is explainability/interpretability research trying to solve in ML, and do you have a favorite paper articulating what that problem is?

The neural control & computation lab is recruiting! If you're interested in using large-scale neural population recordings to study how the brain learns to produce complex and flexible behaviours, please get in touch. www.ncclab.ca

Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment. The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

IMO, the #1 personality trait for a successful scientist is perseverance and #2 is a deep (insatiable) curiosity (dopamine!) about the world. After that is luck/serendipity, decent intuition and way down the list is “good grades”, problem solving or some other measure of intellectual capability 1/2

Call these representatives, tell them that funding NIH and protecting it from partisan political control serves their constituents, not only with cures but with jobs, too!

Got my summary statement back and all I got was: not enough experimental work. Yes Sherlock I am a comp neuroscientist. Apparently that makes it impossible to get a k99

The White House is taking new steps to undermine every international student at our universities. It has approved a new rule restricting student visas to 4 years max. That's not long enough for PhD students, or about half of undergrads, to finish their degree. Likely to enter force within days.

The GAO just found the Trump admin illegally delayed/cut $8B+ in NIH research grants—blocking Congress-approved funds, harming medical research, and violating the Impoundment Control Act. Science, equity, and accountability are on the line. Congress must act. www.highereddive.com/news/nih-cut...

Some people don't feel as close to this as they ought to. Most of us are just a bad break or two away from winding up on the streets, and addiction & mental health crises can affect anyone. They're gutting services and rendering more of us disposable, and there's a carceral disposal system waiting.

A beautifully written piece on a terrible time www.science.org/content/arti...

“With these considerations, we expect to fund through the 4th percentile.” There it is, in black and white, the destruction of cancer research in the US.

Got my green card accepted and my k99 rejected within the same month. Academia is a roller coaster of emotions

🧪 Attention those with terminated grants, including for NSF, NASA, EPA, NIH, etc: Let Congress know about the impact of terminations via this form: democrats-science.house.gov/grantcancela... Only Dem staff on the House Science Committee will have access (unless if you explicitly state otherwise).

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

Our paper "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once: Is Mechanistic Interpretability Identifiable?" will be presented at #ICLR2025! It's also the first paper of my first PhD student, congrats @maximemeloux.bsky.social ! 🎉 blog: melouxm.github.io/MI-identifia... An explanatory thread 🧵:

Here is a recording of my talk (and the others) on spatiotemporal modeling! youtu.be/BqFRKf7cpvE?...

Come to my talk today at #COSYNE2025 where I will talk about developing spatiotemporal models of brain dynamics

Hey scientists. This rules. Check it out.

JB Pritzker flat out says the birthright "order" is unconstitutional and "we will not obey an unconstitutional order," attacks Trump for having the oligarchs in the front row. See, @schumer.senate.gov? It's not that hard!

We built a simple parametric test of this in our paper: Similarity between (crossval) encoding weights tells you whether encoding dims are orthogonal. Similarity between **absolute** (crossval) encoding weights tells you about the selectivity and sparsity. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Biden has 42 days left to protect equal rights by publishing the ERA which has been ratified by the required 38 states. Only one step left which Trump refused to do. Join me in telling the president to #BidenPublishTheERA

To my trans 🏳️‍⚧️ kin: You are important. You count. Your presence in this world matters. Your identity and medical needs are valid. Stay with us ♥️ www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

Found the Bluesky directory, which is an easy way to search + find starter packs, which makes Bluesky more relevant + enjoyable. Sharing in case anyone finds it helpful :) #starterpacks #starterpack blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...

For the Blueskyers interested in #NeuroAI 🧠🤖, I created a starter pack! Please comment on this if you are not on the list and working in this field 🙂 go.bsky.app/CscFTAr

Janelia is recruiting AI scientists and theory fellows to collaborate with experimental scientists on hard biological problems - these positions have a considerable level of independence and very competitive salaries. Join our great community! Ai.hhmi.org janelia.org/theoryfellow #neuroscience #AI

My talk at the BRAIN Initiative NeuroAI meeting is live! It starts at the 1h14m mark. Lots of great content across the board from, among others, @tonyzador.bsky.social , @bingbrunton.bsky.social and @tyrellturing.bsky.social videocast.nih.gov/watch=55160

BREAKING NEWS: 3,000+ resident physicians, interns, and fellows across Philadelphia and in Wilmington, DE are unionizing with @cirseiu @SEIU. If successful, 100% of housestaff in Philly be unionized. CIR currently repesents staff at the U Penn and Pennsylvania hospitals

"With endless rewarding stimulation a fingertip away, onewould assume that boredom has become a rare experience. Yet, the reverse has happened" v interesting reflective piece about the rise of boredom, by Katy Tam & Michael Inzlicht: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

I bought a Ninja Foodi and I have to say: I am glad I was born in this era. What a magnificent machine.

Every (neuro)biologist should read this indeed, so I'll put it here to save you the clicks. #neuroskyence #compneuro #PsychSciSky

This week on #MovementMemos, I talk with Antony Loewenstein about how Israel has used Palestine as a laboratory for its tools of surveillance and war-making, and why Netanyahuism poses a global threat. I also talk with Ahmad Abuznaid about the genocide in Gaza. Transcript + audio:

Went to see Stop Making Sense for the first time yesterday and I have to say it’s always fun to see where other people pull their inspirations from.