Events

Center for Visual Science organizes a number of talk series and symposia, which support a lively and interactive academic environment for members and for visiting students. The main events sponsored by CVS are the Boynton colloquium series, a weekly series of research talks by CVS members, and a biennial summer symposium on selected topics in vision.

Colloquia: CVS runs The Boynton Colloquium Series which brings in outside speakers to discuss their research results, and to spend time with the students and investigators in their laboratories. A rich variety of other relevant colloquia are sponsored by the Neuroscience Program and the department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. CVS often co-sponsors vision-related talks in these departments. Associated with the colloquium series is a journal club for CVS graduate students that meets prior to the colloquium to discuss one or more papers by the colloquium speaker.

Research meetings: A distinctive feature of CVS is the collegiality of its members, and we hold weekly research meetings that are exceptionally well-attended. We discuss research planned, in progress, or completed, or we discuss recent literature of particular interest. Students and post-docs in CVS regularly present their research in these meetings. The discussion is usually lively, often heated, and provides a valuable introduction to scientific debate.

Symposia: CVS organizes a symposium in alternate years on a theme of current importance in vision research. These meetings, of which there have so far been 24 bring in about 20 authorities to speak on topics related to a theme of current interest. The last two were "Blurring the Borders Between Vision, Cognition, and Action" and "Statistical Learning and Brain Plasticity." Attendance numbers between 100 and 350 scientists from around the world. General discussion of the issues raised follows each session of talks. We usually provide about 10 travel fellowships to pre- and postdoctoral students from within the United States and abroad.