From 13 to 15 June 2022, the EBRAINS Workshop: Brain Activity across Scales and Species: Analysis of Experiments and Simulations (BASSES) took place in Rome, Italy and online.

The three-day event consisted of compelling plenary sessions filled with inspiring talks, four hands-on sessions, and 15 student flash talks. More than 30 speakers provided an overview of the scientific topics of brain states and complexity, state transitions, and their connection with cognitive functions across species, as well as achievements obtained within the Human Brain Project with the help of the functionalities provided by EBRAINS. 130 participants joined virtually and almost 40 students attended on-site. In total, more than 200 people (46% of them female) from 38 countries participated in the event.

Plenary sessions showcased latest advances

Renowned speakers showcased their latest advances during seven plenary sessions on brain states and complexity, state transitions and their cognitive roles, multi-scale approaches to investigate brain complexity, introductions to EBRAINS resources, and the exploration of the process from data to models and simulations focusing on mean-field simulations and spiking simulations.

Hands-on sessions allowed the participants to be actively engaged and test the EBRAINS functionalities

Four hands-on sessions on handling EBRAINS data, running analysis on EBRAINS, running simulations with NEST, and validating models against data in EBRAINS complemented the programme. The sessions demonstrated EBRAINS functionalities to participants, and assisted them with exploring which services could help them conduct their research. 

Young researchers were encouraged to present their own research

Students had the chance to submit abstracts and present their research in flash talks and poster presentations during the event. 15 students were able to show their findings via flash talks and on-site poster sessions. In total, the virtual poster hall hosted 23 posters. 

BASSES allowed scientist with different expertise, research interests, and career stages to share results and ideas and connect with the wider community.

We would like to thank all of the co-organisers, speakers, tutors, students, and participants. The event was a great success and their contributions resulted in lively discussions and further collaborations.