Nicole Sandra-Yaffa Dumont

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I am a PhD candidate in computer science at the University of Waterloo. I am advised by Chris Eliasmith (Computational Neuroscience Research Group) and Jeff Orchard (Neurocognitive Computing Lab), whose labs are affiliated with the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience. The focus of my thesis is modelling spatial cognition in the brain with neurosymbolic methods.

I obtained a M.Math in the computational mathematics program at the University of Waterloo, where I researched continuous optimization and was advised by Thomas Coleman. I obtained my B.Sc. in mathematics and physics from McMaster University.

news

Feb 22, 2025 Applications are open for the 2025 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop
Jan 14, 2025 I successfully defended my PhD
Jan 02, 2025 I will defend my PhD dissertation on January 13. Click here for more information.
Oct 16, 2024 Best paper award at ICANN!
Aug 01, 2024 I won the Best “New Neuromorph” award at the 2024 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop along with Mara Wolter (U Tubingen)!

selected publications

  1. CogSci
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    Accurate representation for spatial cognition using grid cells
    Nicole Sandra-Yaffa Dumont, and Chris Eliasmith
    In 42nd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2020
  2. Frontiers in Neuroscience
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    Exploiting semantic information in a spiking neural SLAM system
    Nicole Sandra-Yaffa Dumont, P Michael Furlong, Jeff Orchard, and Chris Eliasmith
    Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2023
  3. CogSci
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    A model of path integration that connects neural and symbolic representation
    Nicole Sandra-Yaffa Dumont, Jeff Orchard, and Chris Eliasmith
    In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2022
  4. Brain Sciences
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    Biologically-Based Computation: How Neural Details and Dynamics Are Suited for Implementing a Variety of Algorithms
    Nicole Sandra-Yaffa Dumont, Andreas Stöckel, P Michael Furlong, Madeleine Bartlett, Chris Eliasmith, and Terrence C Stewart
    Brain Sciences, 2023