Seb James

I'm a postdoctoral researcher in computational neuroscience at the Department of Psychology in the University of Sheffield.

I'm trying to find fundamental mechanisms which allow structure to develop in the brain. I want to learn about the interplay between developmental and genetic factors to find out i) how evolution aids the operation of the brain by 'prewiring' it ready for developmental adaptation; and ii) how genetic mutation can modify brain structures and what this can teach us about evolution.

Alongside the science, I want to promote the use of best-practice software development techniques in computational neuroscience in particular, and academic computational research in general.

Prior to my academic research, I was the technical lead atWML, developing software for document processing, especially realtime document parsing and analysis. WML's software is used by retail and financial institutions at sites across the world.

Fun jobs I've had in the past include: making magnetic images of superconductors; programming Linux to drive multi-wheeled, electric tanks and designing electronics to drive a massive drill and flame cutter using LinuxCNC.