Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit

This course (offered as two successive modules to MSc students) provides an in-depth introduction to statistical modelling, unsupervised, and some supervised learning techniques. It presents probabilistic approaches to modelling and their relation to coding theory and Bayesian statistics. A variety of latent variable models will be covered including mixture models (used for clustering), dimensionality reduction methods, time series models such as hidden Markov models which are used in speech recognition and bioinformatics, Gaussian process models, independent components analysis, hierarchical models, and nonlinear models. The course will present the foundations of probabilistic graphical models (e.g. Bayesian networks and Markov networks) as an overarching framework for unsupervised modelling. We will cover Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling methods and variational approximations for inference. Time permitting, students will also learn about other topics in probabilistic (or Bayesian) machine learning.

The complete course forms a component of the Gatsby PhD programme, and is mandatory for Gatsby students. The two component modules are also available to students on the UCL MSc in Machine Learning and UCL MSc in Computational Statistics and Machine Learning. The first part (GI18: Probabilistic and Unsupervised Learning) may be used to fill a core requirement in each Masters programme. The second part (GI16: Approximate Inference and Learning in Probabilistic Models) is an optional module, but is only available to students who have completed GI18.

If you plan to attend the lectures, please sign up to join the email list here.

UCL Students, postdocs and faculty from outside the unit and these programmes are welcome to attend the lectures as long as space is available. If you are not a student on either MSc programme above, please do not register for the course without consulting the instructor.

A good background in statistics, calculus, linear algebra, and computer science. You should thoroughly review the maths in the following cribsheet [pdf] [ps] before the start of the course. This quiz may help you check where you stand. You must either know Matlab or Octave, be taking a class on Matlab/Octave, or be willing to learn it on your own.

There is no required textbook. However, the following are excellent sources for many of the topics covered here.

David J.C. MacKay (2003) Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms, Cambridge University Press.

Christopher M. Bishop (2006) Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning, Springer-Verlag.

David Barber (2012) Bayesian Reasoning and Machine Learning, Cambridge University Press.

Kevin Patrick Murphy (2012) Machine Learning: a Probabilistic Perspective, MIT Press.

Daphne Koller and Nir Friedman (2009) Probabilistic Graphical Models, MIT Press. (This contains a more extensive treatment of graphical models, good for reference)

Some of our work will depend numerical computation. A very useful reference in this area is:

Gene H. Golub and Charles F. Van Loan (2013) Matrix Computations, 4th ed, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press

Specific recommendations for additional reading can be found here. New material may be assembled as course progresses.

All assignments (coursework) are to be handed in to the Gatsby Unit, not to the CS department. Please hand in all assignments at the beginning of lecture on the due date to the lecturer or to the TAs. Late assignments will be penalised.

Late Assignment Policy: we will be using the official UCL-wide late policy.
For the BONUS questions only, this will be interpreted to mean a penalty that is the lesser of:

• 10 marks up to 2 days late
• 50% of the maximum mark on the late work up to 5 days late
• 100% of the marks earned (this to stop you going negative!)