he Distinguished Seminar Series features presentations by outstanding thinkers and scientists, sponsored by the Allen Institute for Brain Science. Distinguished speakers are selected based on the impact of their interdisciplinary research to the neuroscience community. Speakers spend a full day visiting with research staff, are nominated by members of the Allen Institute, and selected by a committee of peers.

We welcome members of the broader community to join us for these open seminars. See below for a schedule of upcoming speakers and view video presentations from past speakers. Seminars take place from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the Allen Institute Auditorium. Register for the upcoming seminars below.

This Distinguished Seminar Series will feature Sebastian Seung, Professor at Princeton University. Sebastian Seung is an Anthony B. Evnin Professor in the Neuroscience Institute and Computer Science Department at Princeton University, and Chief Research Scientist at Samsung Electronics.  Seung has done influential research in both computer science and neuroscience. Over the past decade, he helped pioneer the new field of connectomics, applying deep learning and crowdsourcing to reconstruct neural circuits from electron microscopic images. His lab created EyeWire.org, a site that has recruited over 250,000 players from 150 countries to a game to map neural connections. His book Connectome: How the Brain’s Wiring Makes Us Who We Are was chosen by the Wall Street Journal as Top Ten Nonfiction of 2012.  Before joining the Princeton faculty in 2014, Seung studied at Harvard University, worked at Bell Laboratories, and taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He is External Member of the Max Planck Society, and winner of the 2008 Ho-Am Prize in Engineering.