Third Annual NeuroNex Investigator Meeting

NeuroNex计划的明确目标之一是通过建立一个致力于继续开发和传播神经技术和理论方法的研究人员社区，为NSF在BRAIN计划中的投资提供附加值。这样的社区建设/扩展确保了作为BRAIN计划的一部分正在开发的创新成像，记录和遗传操作方法可以为最广泛的神经科学家所使用。此外，它允许神经技术开发人员扩展工具库，以询问生物体中的大脑和行为，这些生物体比工具最初开发的有限的模型生物体更加多样化。组织者正在大力邀请妇女和代表性不足的群体成员参加。此外，会议需要广泛的跨学科互动，这将大大有助于本次会议的面对面性质。重要的是，这次研讨会是协调和调整机构间优先事项的共同努力的一部分，以利用跨学科的技术发展来解决这个时代可能最大的科学挑战-了解大脑。了解行为是如何从大脑回路的电和化学活动的动态模式中产生的，这是公认的科学基本奥秘。BRAIN Initiative成立于2014年，旨在促进国家努力开发旨在更全面了解大脑的神经技术。为了支持由美国创新和竞争力法案（公法114-329）指导的机构间BRAIN计划相关的研究活动，NSF创建了NeuroNex活动，以确保这些创新神经技术的持续发展和广泛传播。作为这项活动的一部分，2017财年资助了9个神经技术中心、2个神经理论团队和6个创新奖，2020财年资助了4个国际团队奖。本次研讨会旨在将这些奖项的主要研究者及其学员聚集在一起，举行获奖者会议。请求为为期两天的在线会议提供资金，其目标如下：1）将工具、技术和理论的最新进展和亮点呈现出来，2）确定技术发展中的关键问题和瓶颈，3）讨论机会，广泛传播和社区参与的障碍和挑战4）利用不同项目之间的协同作用，推动新的和新兴的领域，5）继续建立一个国家研究基础设施，使团队能够快速重新配置，以应对研究挑战/机遇和6）确定挑战和战略，以扩大团队神经科学的多样性（科学，文化和人口）。参与者将在小型专题小组中讨论这些问题，并将利用他们的见解来产生一套连贯的战略和目标，以实现NeuroNex计划和BRAIN Initiative的目标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

One of the explicit goals of the NeuroNex Program is to provide added value to NSF investments in the BRAIN Initiative by building a community of researchers who are committed to the continued development and dissemination of neurotechnologies and theoretical approaches to the broad neuroscience community. Such community building/expansion ensures that the innovative imaging, recording and genetic manipulation methods that are being developed as part of the BRAIN Initiative are accessible to the broadest possible spectrum of neuroscientists. Furthermore, it allows the neurotechnology developers to expand the repertoire of tools to interrogate brain and behavior in organisms more diverse than the limited set of model organisms that the tools were developed originally. The organizers are making a strong effort to invite women and members of underrepresented groups as participants. Further, the meeting entails extensive cross-disciplinary interactions, which will be aided greatly by the face-to-face nature of this meeting. Importantly, this workshop is part of a concerted effort to coordinate and align interagency priorities to capitalize on cross-disciplinary technology developments to approach perhaps the greatest scientific challenge of the time - understanding the brain.Understanding how behavior emerges from the dynamic patterns of electrical and chemical activity of brain circuits is universally recognized as a fundamental mystery in science. The BRAIN Initiative was created in 2014 to catalyze national efforts towards the development of neurotechnologies that are aimed at a fuller understanding of the brain. To support for research activities related to interagency BRAIN Initiative as directed by the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (Public Law 114-329), NSF created the NeuroNex activity to ensure the continued development and broad dissemination of these innovative neurotechnologies. As part of this activity, 9 Neurotechnology Hubs, 2 Neurotheory teams and six Innovation awards were funded in FY2017 and four international team awards were funded in FY2020. This workshop aims to bring together the principal investigators of these awards and their trainees for for an awardees meeting. Funds are requested for a two day online meeting with the following goals: 1) Present updates and highlights of progress into tools, technologies and theories, 2) Identify key issues and bottlenecks in technology development, 3) Discuss opportunities, barriers and challenges for widespread dissemination and community engagement 4) Leverage synergies between the different projects to push forward new and emerging areas and 5) Continue to build a national research infrastructure that allows teams to quickly re-configure in response to research challenges/opportunities and 6) Identify challenges and strategies for broadening diversity (scientific, cultural and demographic) in team neuroscience. The participants will discuss these issues in small thematic groups, and will use their insights to generate a coherent set of strategies and objectives towards the goals of the NeuroNex program and the BRAIN Initiative.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.