About Richard Tomsett

Feb 10, 2015 • Richard Tomsett

I‘m a postdoc currently based in the Computational Neuroscience Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan. I’m currently looking into how single neuron properties affect information propagation using spiking neural network models. I use Python with the SciPy stack, and the Brian2 spiking neural network simulator.

Previously, I did my PhD in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK), where I was primarily using Matlab to simulate electrode measurements in spiking neural networks. I ended up creating a whole software tool, and this experience showed me how much I need to learn in terms of good development practices as the whole process was horribly messy! I’m looking forward to improving my programming methods, and learning how to pass this knowledge on in the most effective way possible.

What I found hardest about using Git the first time was the notion of decentraliesd repositories. I first used Git to version-control my thesis, and I wasn’t sure how I should manage my different repositories on my work computer, home computer, server, girlfriend’s laptop etc. This was relatively easy to overcome, but has now been complicated by working with other users with branches, forks etc.