params.json

{"name":"Dr Mat Evans. Neuroscientist.","tagline":"Mathew E ar y We","body":"\r\n<p></p><hr><img src=\"http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5074464745_996c373105.jpg\" height=\"350\" align=\"right\" alt=\"Mat Evans\"><h2>\r\n<a name=\"contact\" class=\"anchor\" href=\"#contact\"><span class=\"octicon octicon-link\"></span></a>Contact</h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Neural Coding Laboratory and Systems Neurophysiology Laboratory<br>\r\nFaculty of Life Sciences<br>\r\nStopford Building<br>\r\nUniversity of Manchester<br>\r\nManchester<br>\r\nM13 9PT, UK<br>\r\n<br><b>Tel:</b> +44(0)161 275 5149 \r\n<br><b>Email:</b> <a href=\"mailto:mathew.evans@manchester.ac.uk\">mathew.evans@manchester.ac.uk </a>\r\n<br><b>Links:</b>\r\n<br><a href=\"http://www.petersenlab.ls.manchester.ac.uk/\">Neural Coding Lab Page</a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http://www.systemsneurophysiologylab.ls.manchester.ac.uk/\">Systems Neurophysiology Lab Page</a>\r\n\r\n<br><a href=\"http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=qoWczkkAAAAJ&amp;hl=en\">Google Scholar</a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http://twitter.com/mathewe\">twitter.com/mathewe</a>\r\n<br><br><br><br></p>\r\n\r\n<hr><h2>\r\n<a name=\"research-interests\" class=\"anchor\" href=\"#research-interests\"><span class=\"octicon octicon-link\"></span></a>Research</h2>\r\n\r\n<p><b> I'm a Computational Neuroscience Postdoc (in both subject and methodology) in the labs of Rasmus Petersen and Mark Humphries at The University of Manchester, UK.</b></p>\r\n<p>I am interested in the computations and systems that underlie active sensing in the mammalian brain. I feel that analysing and modelling how the embodied brain encodes, and acts upon, the world is at the heart of understanding how the brain works. I strongly believe that computational and statistical methods - in particular the automation of data processing tasks with machine learning - can provide step-changes in our ability to understand the brain. I also believe in studying simple systems operating under simple conditions with as much experimental precision as possible. For these reasons my research is focussed on understanding the rodent whisker system with a range of computational tools. </p>\r\n\r\n<p>My PhD and early postdoc years were earned with Prof. Tony Prescott in Sheffield. As a member of <a href=\"http://www.scentro.ac.uk/\">Sheffield Centre for Robotics (ScentRO)</a>, <a href=\"http://www.shef.ac.uk/psychology/research/groups/atlas\">Active Touch Laboratory at Sheffield (ATL@S)</a>, <a href=\"http://www.abrg.group.shef.ac.uk/\">Adaptive Behaviour Research Group (ABRG)</a>, <a href=\"http://www.biotact.org/\">BIOTACT</a>, and <a href=\"http://efaa.upf.edu/\">EFAA</a> I developed models of whisker based tactile perception, and robot technologies based on the rodent whisker system. I also worked on a project (and patent) to develop a sensory augmentation device for providing distal touch information to the visually impaired (some details on this, and the whisker work, can be seen on a BBC <i>Look North</i> video <a href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-14762976\">here</a>). In 2012 I was awarded an <a href=\"http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/\">EPSRC</a> Doctoral Prize Fellowship from the University of Sheffield (£50K).\r\n\r\n\r\n</p><ul><li> Whisker robot media coverage links: <a href=\"http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=scratchbot&amp;p=tto&amp;pf=all&amp;bl=on\">Times (London)</a>, <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/5702863/Robotic-rat-can-search-for-disaster-survivors-using-whiskers.html\">Telegraph</a>, <a href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/01/scratchbot-robot-rat-whiskers\">Guardian</a>, <a href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8170000/newsid_8177700/8177771.stm\">CBBC Newsround</a>, <a href=\"http://www.metro.co.uk/news/695631-roborat-will-save-people-from-fires\">Metro</a>\r\n</li></ul><hr><h2>\r\n<a name=\"education\" class=\"anchor\" href=\"#education\"><span class=\"octicon octicon-link\"></span></a>Education</h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>PhD Computational Neuroscience of Active Touch, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. Awarded 2012.<br> \r\nSupervisors: <a href=\"http://www.abrg.group.shef.ac.uk/people/tony/\">Prof. Tony Prescott</a>, <a href=\"http://staffwww.dcs.shef.ac.uk/people/C.Fox/\">Dr. Charles Fox</a><br>  \r\nExaminers: <a href=\"http://www.iis.ee.ic.ac.uk/yiannis/webcontent/HomePage.html\">Dr Yiannis Demiris</a> (Imperial College, London), <a href=\"http://www.shef.ac.uk/psychology/staff/academic/john-porrill\">Prof. John Porrill</a> (University of Sheffield) <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Thesis.Evans.2012.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<li>MSc <a href=\"https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology/prospectivepg/masters/ccn_msc\">Computational and Systems Neuroscience</a>, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, 2007. </li>\r\n<li>BSc (Hons.) <a href=\"http://shef.ac.uk/psychology/\">Psychology</a>, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, 2004.</li>\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"http://iua.upf.edu/bcbt09/\">Barcelona cognition, brain and technology summer school (BCBT)</a>, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, September 7-18, 2009.</li>\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.mlss.cc/sardinia10/\">Cognitive Science and Machine Learning Summer School (MLSS)</a>, Sardegna Ricerche, Pula, Sardinina, Italy, May 6-12 2010.</li>\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"http://ml.dcs.shef.ac.uk/gpss/gpws14/\">Gaussian Process Summer School (GPSS)</a>, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. January 13-16th 2014.</li>\r\n</ul><hr><h2>\r\n<a name=\"publications\" class=\"anchor\" href=\"#publications\"><span class=\"octicon octicon-link\"></span></a>Publications</h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n\r\n<br><p><b><h5>2014</h5></b></b>\r\n</p>\r\n<li>Evans, M.H., Fox, C.W., and Prescott, T.J. Machines learning - towards a new synthetic autobiographical memory <i>- In Proceedings Living Machines (Milan) 2014 </i><a href=\"https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2933960/Evans_Final_LM2014.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n\r\n<br><p><b><h5>2013</h5></b>\r\n</p>\r\n<li>Bertram, C., Evans, M.H., Javaid, M., Stafford, T. and Prescott, T.J. Sensory Augmentation with Distal\r\nTouch: The Tactile Helmet Project. <i>- In Proceeding Living Machines (London) 2013 </i><a href=\"https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2933960/LivingMachines_2013_Helmet_20thMay.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Evans, M.H., Fox, C.W., Lepora, N.F., Pearson, M.J., Sullivan, J.C., and Prescott, T.J. The effect of whisker movement on radial distance estimation: a case study in comparative robotics. <i>Frontiers in Neurorobotics.</i> <b>6</b>:12. 2013. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2012.00012\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2933960/Evans_Frontiers_2013.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n\r\n<br><p><b><h5>2012</h5></b>\r\n</p>\r\n<li>Evans, M.H., Pearson, M.J, Lepora, N.F, Prescott, T.J and Fox, C.W. Whiskered texture classification with uncertain pose geometry <i> Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on\r\nIntelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 7-13</i>, 2012. <a href=\"https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Evans.IROS.Texture.2012.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Lepora, N., Martinez, U., Barron, H., Evans, M.H., Metta, G. and Prescott, T. Embodied hyperacuity from Bayesian perception: Shape and position discrimination with an iCub fingertip. <i>Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on\r\nIntelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 4638-4643</i>, 2012. <a href=\"https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Lepora.IROS2012.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Fox, C.W.*, Evans, M.H.*, Pearson, M.J. and Prescott, T. Towards hierarchical blackboard mapping on a whiskered robot. <i>Robotics and Autonomous Systems</i>, 2012, in press. (* joint first authorship). <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2012.03.005\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/fox_evans_RAS.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Lepora, N., Fox, C., Evans, M.H., Diamond, M., Gurney, K. and Prescott, T. Optimal decision-making in mammals: insights from a robot study of rodent texture discrimination. <i>Royal Society Interface</i>, 2012. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/RSIF.2011.0750\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/lepora.interface.2012.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Fox, C., Evans, M., Pearson, M. and Prescott, T. Tactile SLAM with a biomimetic whiskered robot. <i>Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)</i>, 2012. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/fox_icra12.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Evans, M.H. Tactile Discrimination with Whiskers. PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2012. <a href=\"http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2342/\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Thesis.Evans.2012.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n\r\n<br><p><b><h5>2011</h5></b>\r\n<img src=\"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ielx5/7361/6094080/6094080.jpg\" align=\"right\" alt=\"IEEESensors Cover 12 (2)\"></p>\r\n<li>Fox, C., Evans, M., Lepora, N., Pearson, M., Ham, A. and Prescott, T. CrunchBot: a mobile whiskered robot platform. <i> Proceedings of Towards Autonomous Robots, (TAROS), Springer</i>, 2011. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23232-9_10\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/CrunchBot_Taros.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Lepora, N., Fox, C., Evans, M., Mitchinson, B., Motiwala, A., Sullivan, C., Pearson, M.; Welsby, J., Pipe, T., Gurney, K. and Prescott, T. A General Classifier of Whisker Data using Stationary Naive Bayes: Application to BIOTACT Robots. <i>Proceedings of Towards Autonomous Robots, (TAROS), Springer</i>, 2011. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23232-9_2\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/taros2011_final.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Sullivan, Mitchinson, Pearson, Evans, Lepora, Fox, Melhuish and Prescott. Tactile Discrimination using Active Whisker Sensors, <i> IEEE Sensors Journal</i>, 2011. (Cover article) <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2011.2148114\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Sullivan.2011.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n\r\n<br><p><b><h5>2010</h5></b>\r\n</p>\r\n<li>Evans, M., Fox, C.W., Pearson, M.J., Lepora, N.F., Prescott, T.J. Whisker-object contact speed affects radial distance estimation. <i>IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO)</i>, 2010. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ROBIO.2010.5723415\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Evans.Robio.2010.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Lepora, N.F., Evans, M., Fox, C.W., Pearson, M.J., and Prescott, T.J. Naive Bayes novelty detection for a moving robot with whiskers. <i>IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO)</i>, 2010. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ROBIO.2010.5723315\">(link). </a><a href=\"http://www.lepora.com/publications/lepora_etal2010robio.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Evans, M., Fox, C.W., and Prescott, T.J. Tactile discrimination using template classifiers: Towards a model of feature extraction in mammalian vibrissal systems. <i>Proceedings of From Animals to Animats 11, 11th International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behaviour, (SAB)</i>, 2010, p178-187. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15193-4_17\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Evans.SAB.2010.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Lepora, N.F., Evans, M., Fox, C.W., Diamond, M., Prescott, T. and Gurney, K. Naive Bayes texture classification applied to whisker data from a moving robot. <i>IEEE Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN)</i>, 2010. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IJCNN.2010.5596360\">(link)</a>. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/lepora.IJCNN.2010.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n<br><li>Prescott, T., Pearson, M., Fox, C., Evans, M., Mitchinson, B., Anderson, S. and Pipe, T. Towards biomimetic vibrissal tactile sensing for robot exploration, navigation and object recognition in hazardous environments. <i>Proceedings Robotics for Risky Interventions and Environmental Surveillance (RISE)</i>, 2010. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Prescott.RISE.2010.pdf\">(pdf)</a> </li>\r\n\r\n<br><p><b><h5>2009</h5></b>\r\n</p>\r\n<li>Evans, M, Fox, C.W., Pearson, M.J., Prescott, T.J. Spectral template based classification of robotic whisker sensor signals in a floor texture discrimination task. <i>Proceedings of Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS).</i>, 2009, p19-24. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/Evans.taros.09.pdf\">(pdf)</a>\r\n</li>\r\n\r\n<br><p><b><h5>2008</h5></b>\r\n</p>\r\n<li>Fox, C., Evans, M., Stone, J. and Prescott, T. Towards Temporal Inference for Shape Recognition from Whiskers.<i> Proceedings of Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS).</i>, 2008. <a href=\"http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2933960/fox-taros.08.pdf\">(pdf)</a> </li>\r\n<br>\r\n</ul><hr><h2>\r\n\r\n<a name=\"posters-and-abstracts\" class=\"anchor\" href=\"#posters-and-abstracts\"><span class=\"octicon octicon-link\"></span></a>Posters and Abstracts</h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Evans, M.H. and Prescott T.J. Efficient and sparse coding in the whisker system. <i> Society for Neuroscience (2013) San Diego. </i> Selected for a talk at the Barrels 2013 satelite conference.\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Evans, M.H. Efficient coding in the whisker system: biomimetic pre-processing for robots? <i> to appear at\r\nLiving Machines 2013 (London). </i><a href>(preprint)</a>\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Evans, M.H. Sparse somatosensory coding: towards explaining and predicting the response properties\r\nof rodent afferent pathway neurons. <i> to appear CNS 2013 (Paris). </i><a href>(preprint)</a>\r\n\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Lepora, N., Martinez-Hernandez, U., Evans, M.H., Natale, L., Metta, G. and Prescott, T. Embodied hyperacuity for robot touch. ICRA workshop on tactile sensing, 2013.<a href=\"http://www.lepora.com/publications/lepora_etal2013icra-ws.pdf\">(preprint)</a>\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Grasso, F.W., Evans, M.H., Basil, J., and Prescott. T.J. (2012). Toward a fusion model of feature and spatial tactile memory in the Australian crayfish Cherax destructor. <i>In Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. Society for Neuroscience (Program No. 922.01/EEE56). </i> <a href=\"http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=03f4399f-4b81-470e-a349-083f9c8e335e&amp;cKey=c3f2fd3b-40f8-40e9-a543-fcbd2193d891&amp;mKey=%7b70007181-01C9-4DE9-A0A2-EEBFA14CD9F1%7d\">(link)</a>\r\n\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Grasso, F.W., Evans, M.H., Basil, J., and Prescott. T.J. (2012). Toward a fusion model of feature and spatial tactile memory in the crayfish Cherax destructor. <i>Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (Living Machines), Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, 352-354, 2012</i>. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31525-1_38\">(link)</a>\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Martinez, U., Barron, H., Evans, M., Lepora, N., Dodd, T. and Prescott, T.J. (2012). Texture classification through tactile sensing. <i>Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (Living Machines), Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, 377-379, 2012</i>. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31525-1_50\">(link)</a>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Barron, H., Lepora, N., Martinez, U.,  Evans, M. and Prescott, T.J. (2012). Towards a framework for tactile perception in social robotics. <i>Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (Living Machines), Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, 335-336, 2012</i>. <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31525-1_30\">(link)</a> \r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Evans, M., Fox, C.W., Pearson, M.J., Prescott, T.J. (2009). Object location, orientation, and velocity extraction from artificial vibrissal signals. <i>In Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. Society for Neuroscience (Program No. 174.8/ Z12). </i><a href=\"http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=6dd1fc9d-16dd-4d53-a62d-d23ea083385d&amp;cKey=a0f1ddfc-6ddf-4579-9deb-7b9f8ffee10e&amp;mKey=081f7976-e4cd-4f3d-a0af-e8387992a658\">(link)</a>\r\n\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Evans, M., Fox, C.W., Pearson, M.J., Prescott, T.J. (2008). Radial distance to contact estimation from dynamic robot whisker information. <i>In Barrels XXI (SfN Satellite Meeting)</i>, 2008. <a href=\"http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08990220902738201?prevSearch=allfield%253A%2528barrels%2Bxxi%2529&amp;searchHistoryKey=%0A\">(doi)</a>\r\n\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n<li>Fox, C.W., Evans, M., Prescott, T.J. (2008). Template-based classification of whisker contact edge orientation and radial distance in a simulated mobile robot. <i>In Barrels XXI (SfN Satellite Meeting)</i>, 2008. <a href=\"http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08990220902738201?prevSearch=allfield%253A%2528barrels%2Bxxi%2529&amp;searchHistoryKey=%0A\">(doi)</a>\r\n\r\n</li>\r\n</ul><hr><h2>\r\n<a name=\"extra-curricular\" class=\"anchor\" href=\"#extra-curricular\"><span class=\"octicon octicon-link\"></span></a>Extra curricular</h2>\r\n<p>\r\nIn my spare time I like to swim and compete in the odd triathlon (while raising money for <a href=\"http://original.justgiving.com/matevans\">charity</a>). I am a keen <a href=\"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ee73GgxmwwI/SbbBtd_DcgI/AAAAAAAAAmY/Y0SKP9PVfQk/s1600-h/10.JPG\">bmxer</a> and a supporter of Liverpool Football Club. My more transient interests can be followed on <a href=\"http://twitter.com/mathewe\">twitter</a>\r\n</p>","google":"","note":"Don't delete this file! 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