THE WORKSHOP
Two distinct types of modeling have shaped how we think about neural computations: theoretical circuit models and computational task-trained networks. Each offers unique insights but corresponding limitations as mechanistic models rarely scale up to solving tasks, while task-performing models often lack circuit-level understanding. These traditions have historically been hard to reconcile. Bridging this divide is a defining challenge for the field, and one that is only now becoming tractable with new recording technologies and computational tools.
This workshop highlights researchers and techniques that are beginning to connect mechanisms with function, featuring keynote talks from Tatiana Engel (Princeton University), Aran Nayebi (Carnegie Mellon University), and Cengiz Pehelevan (Harvard University), chalk talks, interactive tutorials, professional development sessions, and a debate about which approach reigns supreme. Postdocs and graduate students from Columbia, Harvard, Janelia, and more will also attend and present their work.
The seminars are open to the public. However, the chalk talks, interactive tutorials, and other sessions are reserved for registered participants. SIGN UP BELOW. SpoTS are limited.
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
8:30 - 9:00 am | Breakfast
9:00 - 9:15 am | Workshop welcome
9:15 - 10:15 am | Tatiana Engel, PhD (Princeton University)
"Closing the discovery loop with digital twins and causal perturbations"
10:15 - 10:45 am | Two axes (circuits v. function) activity
10:45 - 11:45 am | Chalk Talk with Tatiana Engel, PhD (Princeton University) - Registration required
"Representational spaces of recurrent neural networks"
11:45 - 12:45 pm | This or That Lunch (SBRI J400C)
12:45 - 1:30 pm | Lightning talks
Rimjhim Tomar (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), Michelle Miller (Doiron Lab), Austin Ellis-Mohr (University of Illinois), Ali Alamri (UChicago/Greenspon Lab)
1:30 - 2:30 pm | Aran Nayebi, PhD (Carnegie Mellon University)
"How behavior shapes recurrent circuits across sensory systems and species: from vision to touch"
2:30 - 2:45 pm | Coffee Break
2:45 - 3:45 pm | Tutorial with Aran Nayebi, PhD (Carnegie Mellon University) - Registration required
"Building and training task-optimized recurrent neural network models in PyTorch: a hands-on tutorial"
3:45 - 4:00 pm | Coffee Break
4:00 - 5:00 pm | Chalk Talk with Binxu Wang, PhD (Harvard University) - Registration required
"Introduction to Diffusion generative model and some solvable cases"
Thursday, February 26, 2026
9:15 - 9:45 am | Breakfast
9:45 - 10:45 am | External tutorial with Yuchen (Jency) Jiang (Brown University) - Registration required
"Use of topology in computational neuroscience"
10:45 - 11:00 am | Coffee Break
11:00 am - 12:00 pm | Cengiz Pehlevan, PhD (Harvard University)
"Is the brain mechanistically identifiable?"
12:00 - 1:00 pm | Lunch (SBRI J400C)
1:00 - 2:30 pm | Workshop debate: A battle of wits and weights
Debaters: Tatiana Engel (Princeton University), Tahra Eissa (University of Colorado), Brent Doiron (UChicago), David Freedman (UChicago), Anne-Marie Oswald (UChicago), Cengiz Pehlevan (Harvard University), Aran Nayebi (Carnegie Mellon University)
2:30 - 2:45 pm | Coffee Break
2:45 - 3:45 pm | Chalk Talk with Cengiz Pehlevan, PhD (Harvard University) - Registration required
"A mean field theory approach to learning dynamics"
3:45 - 4:00 pm | Coffee Break
4:00 - 5:00 pm | Lightning talks
Lai Wei (Maunsell Lab), Alexander Lanine (Princeton), Ankit Vishnubhotla (Kaufman/Nogueira Labs), Draco Xu (Doiron Lab)
Friday, February 27, 2026
8:30 - 9:00 am | Breakfast
9:00 - 10:00 am | Academic Panel: How to find the right postdoctoral position
Panelists: Tahra Eissa (University of Colorado), Jason MacLean (UChicago), Binxu Wang (Harvard University), Shira Lupkin (UChicago)
10:00 - 11:00 am | Campus tour / Swen Oosterboer's PhD Thesis Defense
11:15 - 12:15 pm | External tutorial with Adithya Gungi (Columbia University) - Registration required
"Cognitive Graphs, Successor Representations and neural mechanisms for learning them"
12:15 - 1:00 pm | Lunch (SBRI J400C)
1:00 - 2:00 pm | Ramon Nogueira, PhD (University of Chicago)
"The geometry of context-dependent biased decisions"
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SEMINARS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. HOWEVER, THE CHALK TALKS, INTERACTIVE TUTORIALS, and other sessions ARE RESERVED FOR REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS.
SIGN UP BELOW. SPOTS ARE LIMITED.