InCognito

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Suggestions, feedback or comments? Let us know at newsletter.cognito@gmail.com.

January 2016

EventsDrinks @ CREAEvery Tuesday, 21:00-late

Lecture: Neural processes during fearful events13 Jan, 12:00-13:00, MaagdenhuisRenée Visser disentangles individual differences and neural processes involved in formation and expression of human fear memory.

ABC Lecture: Wei Ji Ma13 Jan, 16:00-18:00, REC M1.01Reasoning about the future in value-based decision-making.Possible strategies for overcoming stochasticity in outcomes and size of decision trees.

Ice Skating24 Jan, time & location TBAAn evening of a (sort of) typical Dutch sports, including drinks afterwards, organized by the social committee.

ABC Colloquium: Steve Fleming29 Jan, 16:00-17:00, Diamantbeurs 5.01The reflective mind: computations supporting metacognitive awareness.

Smart Cognitive Science debate: Defining Cognition29 Jan, 16:00-17:30, Oude Manhuispoort F2.01CA panel of UvA cognitive scientists, philosophers, computational linguists, and cultural analysts debate the definition of cognition. Drinks and snacks afterward.

ABC JournalDear MBCS students,

Do you want to read the best research reports your peers in the field of Brain and Cognitive Sciences wrote? Are you curious about what projects others did? Are you looking for inspiration for a research project?

All of the above, and more, you can find in a brand new edition of the ABC Journal! Visit our website now at http://student.uva.nl/bcs/az/item/abc-journal.html

XOXO

ABC Journal committee

Djura Smits studied MBCS for a semester in 2012 (cognitive science). She didn’t graduate, so strictly speaking, she’s not an alumnus, but continued in artificial intelligence. Her current activites might be interesting for students who don’t plan on continuing in science.

What is your current position?I am a data scientist at Xomnia, a startup in Amsterdam that helps companies understand, interpret and enrich their data with the use of machine learning techniques.

What do your daily activities consist of? That is a very difficult question. There is a lot of variation in my work.

At the moment I am working for Belvilla 2 days a week through Xomnia. Belvilla is a company that lets homeowners rent their vacation houses through their website. I’m working on creating a predictive home scoring system that helps them understand and predict which houses do well, and what can be improved in the houses and which houses to acquire.

I’m also working on analysing web activity on the website of nationale nederlanden and combining it with radio commercial times and external datasources to understand what kind of factors makes people apply for a loan at NN.

I will present the results to Nationale Nederlanden in a few weeks and then I will start on a different project.

Now and then I also give workshops about various aspects of data science.

How did you end up in your current position?When I graduated from my master’s in Artificial Intelligence someone

from Xomnia contacted me and asked if I wanted to come over. Turned out I really liked the start-up atmosphere and they wanted to have me so I started there last March.

What do you like and dislike about it?I really like the variety it offers. Most projects only take a couple of weeks, so I get to know a lot of different fields. What I slightly dislike about it is that not all projects are equally as interesting. I’d love to do more projects in the direction of healthcare. Xomnia is also talking to a lot of people in the health sector but at the moment there is more demand from more commercial institutions. Those can also be very interesting, but I feel I can do more good with projects in healthcare. This can change in the future though.

Did you feel prepared by the master, and do you still regularly use things you’ve learned in the master?The master did certainly improve my analytical insight. However, I only studied for a semester while I did finish my artificial intelligence bachelor’s and master’s. Since I already had a lot of programming experience from my AI background, I skipped the courses MBCS offered that had to do with programming, such as in R and Matlab, which are incredibly useful for my work.

Why did you decide not to be a researcher in academia?I’m not excluding the possibility that I am going back to an academic environment. However, since I had

some burnout issues, it seemed more sensible to not for example do a PhD, since that can be pretty tough and stressful. I had the opportunity at my current job to start out with 20 hours a week and build up from there. At the moment I’m working about 38 hours a week so that worked out pretty well.

How can an MBCS graduate get into the data science world? Would you say experience in machine learning is critical?I think it is very important to understand a variety of machine learning algorithms. However, we have a number of trainees that did not have machine learning at their program at their university, but they learn it with us. There are also online courses you can follow to learn about it. As long as you’re smart and analytical, which I’m sure MBCS graduates are, you will be able to pick it up.

Looking back, what would you have done differently--what is your advice to the current students?I don’t know, maybe be a little less hard on myself. I noticed that MBCS students are very ambitious and hard working, but please, give your brain a little rest sometimes, you need it.

What are your next plans?I don’t have any long term plans, for now, I want to gain more experience in this field. I’ll see where I end up.

Alumnus Profile: Djura Smits

“It’s very important to understand machine learning algorithms

- Djura Smits

“Give your brain a little rest sometimes, you need

it - Djura Smits

InCognito January 2016

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By Lionel NewmanIf you have not yet heard a concert at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, you are missing out on a rare acoustic treat. In this city, you have not only what critics consider to be the world’s best orchestra, but you also have one of the world’s greatest concert halls for them to play in. This relatively small concert hall—with its elegant, powder-white interior lined with red carpets and seats, and its decadently-carved pillars, walls, and ceiling - is consistently ranked in the world’s top concert halls for its warm, velvety acoustics. And in the current concert season, you can hear concerts nearly every day in both classical and modern traditions, ranging from piano recitals, to piano and voice duets, to chamber orchestras, to full symphonies and concertos

Thankfully, you don’t need to be a rich dude in a tuxedo and monocle to enjoy these acoustic gems. Even though normal prices sometimes run as high as €150 per ticket, the Concertgebouw

offers huge discounts on many of its concerts to Entrée and CJP (Cultureel Jongeren Paspoort) card-holders. These discount cards are offered to people under 30 years old, and enable you to pay ±€10 per ticket, and both cards have an annual fee of €15. The difference between the two is that the Entrée card is a membership card for the

Concertgebouw, while the CJP is a general nation-wide discount card that can also be used at other concert venues, cinemas, museums, theatres, festivals, bookshops, clothing stores, and more. Not all concerts are eligible to be booked with the discount cards, so you need to check the Concertgebouw website to see which concerts offer discount tickets for which card. In general, there are more discounts offered

for the Entrée card.The cool thing about the Entrée

card is that when you sign up, you get a free voucher for a discount ticket, meaning that the annual fee for the first year almost pays for itself, and you can always bring along a guest for €10 to any discount-eligible concert too. There are also special privileges for Concertgebouw members, like watching rehearsals, attending private performances and art galleries, and even going on tour with the orchestra members.

Besides these big discounts, you can always attend a free half-hour concert every Wednesday afternoon at 12:30. With so many opportunities to enjoy a world-class orchestra in a world-class concert hall, you can feel free to treat yourself to a memorable concert surrounded by dignified furnishings, lush tones, and tuxedoed rich dudes. Just don’t forget to bring your monocle.

A poor student’s guide to Concertgebouw BirthdaysSteven Miletić

12 January

Tim Muntslag18 January

Isac Sehlstedt21 January

Tessa Jacobs23 January

Yuhee Kim23 January

Sven van der Burg23 January

Bethany Isaacs25 January

Wenyu Nie1 February

Liz Fellinger2 February

Skylar Blake3 February

Andy Wolters4 February

Lynn Sörensen6 February

Dirk Koster9 February

Josien Visser9 February

HoroscopeAquarius

20 January – 18 February As an Aquarius, you indulge in the life of the mind and are always busy thinking, often exploring and getting lost in eccentric ideas. This month, you will find some difficulty adjusting to the new pace of life after the holiday has ended. Your mental excursions will help you to deal with this difficulty by leading you through an inner world where the holiday has not yet ended. By exploiting your inventive imagination, you will see no problem showing up late to university in only your underwear and wrapped in a blanket. You’ll enjoy eating chocolates while watching movies on your laptop, blissfully ignorant of all the stares pointed sharply in your direction when you let loose a little fart here and there from underneath your soft, warm blanket. After a couple weeks, when the delusion fades, you will go on as if nothing happened, thinking to yourself convincingly that your holiday went by too quickly.

Lucky color: Amsterdam GreyLucky mating dance: The Majestic TwerkLucky Shakespearean insult: “Away you moldy rogue, away!”

By Dimitris Katsimpokis

Facebook and other social media provide the means for people to share their emotions on their wall. One effect of this sharing is that people tend to adopt other people’s emotional states (a phenomenon that’s called “emotional contagion”). Take, for instance, Facebook solidarity with the people of Paris, where users could put the French flag in their profile picture. So far so good. However, emotional

contagion on social media turns out to be more complex than previously believed. Two recent scientific studies drew two basic conclusions: first, emotional contagion can appear at a massive scale, far exceeding one individual’s circle of e-friends; second, users can remain unaware of it to a large extent. These conclusions are of great importance because they imply that the user’s emotional state can be easily and massively affected or manipulated. Though

this might sound scary, the good news is that positive emotions are more likely to be adopted than negative ones.

LiteratureFerrara, Emilio, Zeyao Yang, (2015). Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media. PloS one 10(11), pp. 1-14. Kramer, Adam, Guillory, Jalie, Hancock, Jeffrey, (2014). Experimental evidence of massice-scale emotional contagion through social networks. PNAS, 111(24), pp. 8788-8790.

The Main Hall (Grote Zaal) of the Concertgebouw is renowned for its world-class acoustics. Photo: Amsterdam Municipal Department for the Preservation and Restoration of Historic Buildings and Sites (bMA)

The Concertgebouw is located at the Museumplein. Photo: Massimo Catarinella, License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Science News

“You don’t need to be a rich dude in a tuxedo and

monocle to enjoy these acoustic gems

InCognito January 2016

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InCognito

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by Anupama NairLiving in India meant being treated to a range of savoury, masala-drenched food. While Indian cuisine has rightfully gained the reputation of being (too) spicy, the chillies and the masala are in fact key ingredients in giving the food that unique “hot” flavor. So when I decided to share an Indian recipe that promised to be an easy fix for most students, I had a hard time coming up with one that would be relatively effortless, tasty and yet devoid of masalas. (Not that the use of masala makes food preparation any more complicated, in fact they lessen the work and some people even make their own masala at home, but they may just not be as easily accessible in everyday grocery stores as in Indian supermarkets.)

Indian chicken curry has always been one of my favourites and you can mop it up with some bread (we Indians make our own flat bread- roti or chapatti) or simply savour it with rice and it would be just as delicious. Besides, it’s not much work and yet wholesome, so relish away!

Here’s what you need for no-masala yogurt-based chicken curry:

1. chicken wings or breasts: 42. Onion, chopped: 1 cup3. Garlic, crushed: 2 tbsp4. Ginger paste: 1 tbsp (or just add some

chopped ginger)5. Salt (for marination): 3 tsp6. Chili powder: 2 tsp7.Turmeric powder: 2 tsp8. Yogurt: 5 tsp9. Sour cream: 3 tsp10. Crushed black pepper (optional): 1 tsp11. Oil: 3.5 tbsp12. Salt (for gravy): 1 tsp13. Water: 2 cups14. Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

PreparationMarinate the chicken pieces with salt, turmeric powder, chili powder, crushed black pepper, 4 tsp yogurt and ½ tsp oil for 1 hour at least (Some people keep it overnight as it helps retain the flavor). This simply means to stuff the chicken evenly with this mixture and keep aside, refrigerated.

Next, heat the pan, add the oil, bring it to a smoking point and add the chopped onion. Sauté for 10 minutes. Add the garlic, sauté for 2 min and then add the ginger paste. Mix and continue cooking this for two more minutes.

Add the marinated chicken pieces with the whole marinade. Continue to cook under medium flame, till the chicken starts getting brownish. This takes approximately 30 min.

Add some water to the pan and then the sour cream. Stir everything evenly a few times and close the lid. Slow-cook for 1 hour.

Once the chicken is cooked, and the curry has reached the desired consistency, chop some coriander leaves and sprinkle on top for garnishing. Voila!

Food for thought: Indian Chicken Curry

Museum of the monthby Katharina Müller

Ever heard that saying, »God created the Earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands«? What at first sight might sound quite pretentious, is actually quite true – to about 17%. For this is the amount of sea and lakes that the Dutch drained in order to make it livable. Where you are probably reading these lines right now, in Amsterdam, there would have been nothing but salt water less than 900 years ago.

It’s safe to say that the Dutch have a peculiar relationship with water. When they weren’t busy draining it, they were conquering the

seven seas like there was no tomorrow. The East India Company and later also the West India Company were huge reasons why the Netherlands, and Amsterdam specifically, were having such a Golden Time in the 17th century.

Contrary to my expectations, the Scheepvaartmuseum by Oosterdok, easily recognizable by the big ship is not primarily a museum for people who love Boats, Boats,

Boats. As a matter of fact, I’m not particularly fond of ships, but I enjoyed my visit at the Maritime Museum because of its storytelling aspect. For almost nothing illustrates the history of Amsterdam or the Netherlands better than its maritime history. And with that I do not only mean the perks, but also the many cruelties that came with colonization and exploitation of man, earth and also animal.

The Scheepvaartmuseum consists of three wings – East, North and West that each house

various exhibitions; in fact, so many that you might not be able to complete the whole building all at once (the Rijkseffect). Most notably are the “See you in the Golden Age” – where you learn about trading, colonies and slavery in the Dutch Golden Age –, “Tale of the Whale” – an exhibition about the beauty of this majestic animal, and the gruesome hunt on them –, and “Port 24/7” – step into a container and fly over the port of Amsterdam.

Last but not least, you can visit the big ship outside of the museum, at its South Wing, which is modelled after a ship from the East India Company.

To sum up, the Maritime museum is not only something for maritime freaks, but for everyone who enjoys some good storytelling. Well done, Scheepvaartmuseum!

Excellent storytelling at Scheepvaartmuseum

Advertisement

The beautiful inner court of the Scheepvaartmuseum is sometimes used for parties. Photo: National Maritime

Museum

“The Tale of the Whale” is only one of the many remarkable exhibitions in the Maritime Museum. Photo: Eddo Hartmann

“The Scheepvaartmuseum is not primarily a museum for

people who love boats- Katharina Müller

InCognito January 2016

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Wow, someone beat Ayla this month! Well done, Mirjam Heinemans, and congratulations on winning your fabulous photoshop course!

Inspired by this glorious victory? A new year, a new month, a new puzzle! This month’s prize is winter-related: a free ticket for the next Cognito-event on January 24th: ice skating!

Send your answers to newsletter.cognito@gmail.com. Whoever gets most answers correct, wins! Nope, you don’t need to have all answers correct this month. The answers and winner will be announced next month. Good luck!

Down1. Encouraging parts of your reptilian complex to stop tremor (4+5+11)3. This task measures your response inhibition, not your wingman (m/f) abilities (7+4)6. No, this new year’s-related food is NOT a doughnut ball (Dutch word) (7)7. Chaos can cause you to be very happy or depressed (7+8)8. Your brain is protected by a spider-like membrane (9)10. A little Alan Turing in your computer used for reading brains (7)11. I want to see more details in 2016 (11)12. Your bodily functions are controlled by a trunk? (5+4)13. This glial cell must’ve been in space (9)14. This ‘theory’ slowly changes over time, adapting to its environment (9)

Across2. I faintly recall doing something (7+6)4. When science wants to marry you (8+8)5. There’s an Apple-display in your eye (6)8. Studying differences for your statistical test (8+2+8)9. Back-up is frequently called for, during learning tasks (13)15. Apparently, your brain is moldable (15)16. A sudden revelation very early this month (8)17. These rooms in your brain are just fluid (10)

Last month’s answers:Down: 1. Gifts 2. Snowman; 3. Snowfall; 4. Gingerbread; 6. Midnight mass; 8. Jingle bells; 9. North pole; 10. Christmas tree; 11. Boxing day; 13. Turtleneck; 14. Chill; 15. Fireworks. Across: 3. Surprise 5. Workshop; 7. Pakjesavond; 12. Out with the old; 16. Spirit; 17. Elf; 18. New year’s eve; 19. Turkey.

Words inCognito: cryptic crosswordA cryptic crossword is somewhat like a normal crossword puzzle, except all clues are riddles in themselves. An example of a typical

cryptic crossword clue is “Disguised as a newsletter”, which would be ‘in cognito’, the title of this newsletter and a synonym for ‘disguised’. The letter count of each solution is indicated in the clue, with (4+6) meaning two words, of which the first has 4 letters,

and the second 6. Good luck on this MBCS-themed brain teaser!

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We’re in our masters, it almost feels surreal. Do

you ever think about that too?

Yes, it makes me very stressed. I have no

idea what I’m going to do after this. I feel so

unprepared.

That’s true. But on the other hand. It’s pretty

amazing. I would have never imagined me

being here 10 of even 5 years ago. I mean,

now that this period of my life is coming to an end. It makes me think. Things are going fine.

That’s all well and nice. But things have to get done. There’s no time

to sit around being content.

I agree on that, life continues and we’re

no exception to it. But having small moments of reminiscent wonder

is nice too.

I guess I can empathise with that. When I feel

a lot of pressure I catch myself thinking: I’ve been through similar

tasks that seemed impossibly endless,

but I’ve survived them all”. It makes me feel

silly actually. As if I’m a mouse in a wheel.

A mouse in a wheel. Yea... It feels like we encounter the same

problems over and over again. But we face it in the same way as before.

But, that’s life. Just got to keep moving, you

know? Heh, makes you really wonder.

True.... It really does. Well, I have to get back to my computer. I have a deadline coming up.

Yea, me too. I have to plan my internship

and rewrite a research proposal. See you

around!

Chuck and Nina would never see each other again. Both would

continue their lives. This conversation

would soon become a distant recollection of

past times.