About Us
Purpose Statement
CELEST synthesizes experimental, modeling, and technological approaches to research in order to understand how the brain learns as a whole system.
Organizational Statement
CELEST’s core scientific objective is to understand how the whole brain learns; i.e., how it adapts as an integrated system to enable intelligent autonomous behavior. CELEST’s core technology objective is to develop novel brain-inspired technologies by implementing key insights gained from experiments and modeling: from bench to models to applications. To achieve these objectives, CELEST strategically allocates funding to projects involving collaborations between experimentalists, modelers, and engineers working together to solve key problems in the neuroscience of learning. Projects include researchers from at least two of these three disciplines, resulting in research that (i) uses neural models to theoretically guide experimental studies, (ii) uses experimental results to improve these models, and (iii) translates insights from these experiments and models into technological applications.
Scientific Initiatives
CELEST’s research is further driven by four key scientific initiatives that cut across traditional functions for studying learning. (The classical learning functions studied in CELEST include planning, exploring, communicating, and remembering). The cross-function initiatives chosen by the CELEST Board to focus our learning research are: processing bottlenecks, dynamic coding, functional connections, and neural plasticity. CELEST scientists who work in each of the traditional functional domains have identified key unanswered meta-questions within each initiative. The meta-questions have been further refined through CELEST workshops that bring together scientists who are addressing the same key questions from different angles and who would normally not interact at conferences or other venues because they work in different traditional functions. CELEST gives priority to projects that tackle one or more of these key meta-questions in an inter-disciplinary manner.
Center-Wide Value-Added Initiatives
CELEST’s scientific purpose is supported in several additional ways through center-wide value-added initiatives. CELEST is educating a new generation of scientists and technologists through cross-training in experimentation, modeling, and technology development. The objective is for experimentalists to embrace modeling and technology development, modelers to embrace experiments and technology development, and technologists to embrace experimentation and modeling. CELEST also promotes the impact of its technology development through outreach to industry. Finally, CELEST encourages participation of groups underrepresented in science by recruiting, enabling, promoting, and supporting these individuals.