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Summer of Spikes Summer Semester, 2009 elec4001 and engg7301
Course Profile elec4001, engg7301	Assessment deliverables	Software	Further Readings	Project suggestions
Prerequisites

LECTURES are open to all UQ staff and students. Labs are for enrolled students only. Lectures: Monday, Wednesday, 2-4pm in 79-707, starting from week 1. Labs: Thursday 1pm-3pm in 78-110, starting from week 2, on Dec. 10^th, Dec. 17^th, and Jan. 7^th.
Wk	Date	Proposed Schedule (subject to change)
1	30 Nov	2pm Angelique Paulk- What is a brain? 3pm Angelique Paulk- What is a neuron?
1	2 Dec	2pm Pankaj Sah- What are synapses? 3pm Pankaj Sah- What is neural plasticity?
2	7 Dec	2pm Angelique Paulk- Why model neurons? 3pm Angelique Paulk- How do we do it?
2	9 Dec	2pm Angelique Paulk- What is Matlab? 3pm Peter Stratton- What is a network model?
2	10 Dec	1pm Practical 1- Learning Neuron- two hours
3	14 Dec	2pm Peter Stratton- How do you work with network models in Matlab? 3pm Peter Stratton- What is the gap between neurons and networks?
3	16 Dec	2pm Francois Windels- How to we relate network models to the biology of the brain? 3pm Bruno van Swinderen- How do we relate these approaches to understanding an area of the brain?
3	17 Dec	1pm Practical 2- Learning Matlab- two hours
		Break
4	4 Jan	2pm Review 3pm Introduce approaches by guest speakers
4	6 Jan	2pm Jean-Marc Fellous- Basic analytical tools to understand neural data: pros and cons
4	7 Jan	1pm Practical 3- Analysis and Projects- two hours
5	11 Jan	2pm Jean-Marc Fellous- Neuromodulatory power... same neurons, different functions
5	12 Jan	1:30pm Jean-Marc Fellous- It is time for spikes! Spike timing and spike patterns.
6	18 Jan	2pm Guy Wallis
6	20 Jan	2pm Anthony Burkitt
7	25 Jan	2pm Michael Breakspear- Populations of spiking neurons: From bifurcations to moments and hierarchies
7	27 Jan	Guest speaker
8	1 Feb	2pm Benedikt Grothe
8	3 Feb	2pm Project presentations

ASSESSMENT DELIVERABLES (dates will be finalized in week 1)

Requirement & Marks	Deliverable Components Assessment criteria are provided with the assignment sheet		Time estimate (total 130 hours)	Advice / Handouts/Feedback
Participation at lectures (10%)	Wks 1-8	Marks will be given for participation in class.	Lectures: 26 hrs	Participation means taking part in class discussions, asking and answering questions. Students who prefer not to speak during the class may hand in written questions for the lecturer at the end of the class.
Participation at lab (10%)	Wks 1-8	Marks will be given for participation in lab.	Labs: 6 hrs (includes 6 hrs prep)	Participation means taking part in class discussions, asking and answering questions. Students who prefer not to speak during the lab may hand in written questions for the lecturer at the end of the class.
Project (80%)	Wk 3	Asgt 1a. Project title and abstract (pass/fail)	2 hours	Due on the 14^th of December, with a one page draft
	Wk 5	Asgt 1b. Project Proposal and lit review, and preliminary results (25%)	23 hours	Full project proposal with literature review due on the 11^th of January.
	Wk 8	Asgt 1c. Project report (55%)	60 hours	Due on the February 3rd.