Data Science and Informatics

The NIH BRAIN Initiative is committed to advancing data science research, promoting effective data sharing and reuse, and building the informatics infrastructure that is needed to effectively archive, integrate, interpret, and visualize data across all areas of BRAIN Initiative research. 

With broad data-sharing requirements in effect, the scale of data stored in BRAIN Initiative archives is rapidly expanding. This presents diverse challenges and opportunities for data science and informatics projects that promote data coordination, integration, interoperability, and reuse. Importantly, advancing the data ecosystems around the BRAIN Initiative—and neuroscience more broadly—will accelerate the building and testing of theories and models of brain function, leading to a deeper understanding of the brain. 

  • The NIH Data Sharing and Management (DMS) policy (NOT-OD-21-013) recently went into effect for applications—including BRAIN Initiative applications— submitted on/after January 25, 2023. Learn more by visiting the NIH Scientific Data Sharing page.   

  • The BRAIN Initiative's data sharing policy (NOT-MH-19-010) remains in effect, but new applications should follow DMS requirements where they differ. For example, data plans should be provided in the "Other plan(s)" section rather than as a Resource Sharing Plan in the application.  

  • The use of BRAIN Initiative archives complies with DMS policy requirements regarding data preservation, sharing timelines, repository selection, validation, and standards.

Related Information

Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization program

Contact

For public inquiries, please use our Contact Us form. Please find contact information below for questions related to BRAIN Data Sharing (Joseph Monaco) or funding opportunities in the BRAIN Informatics (Ming Zhan) or BRAIN Data Science (Susan Wright) program areas.

Joseph Monaco, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
joseph.monaco@nih.gov

Ming Zhan, Ph.D.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
ming.zhan@nih.gov

Susan Wright, Ph.D.
National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)
susan.wright@nih.gov