Edit this page

NWB Workshops and Hackathons

Remote hackathon

Welcome to the 11th NWB User Days Workshop!

Report

The final report for the 2021 NWB User Days is now available on GitHub (PDF) (LaTeX).

Dates and Location

Overview

The workshop will focus primarily on user training, including lessons for complete beginners to NWB and training in more advanced usage of NWB. There will be breakout sessions where the developers of state-of-the-art data analysis, visualization, and management tools (e.g., CaImAn, SpikeInterface, DANDI, suite2p, DataJoint, and more) will demonstrate their tools and show how to use NWB with their tools. There will also be time for attendees to work on NWB-related projects, such as converting data to NWB, using NWB-compatible software tools, or going through the NWB online tutorials. See the INCF event page for more details.

Logistics

We will be using the Zoom videoconferencing platform for the meeting. We will send an email in the days before the workshop with Zoom links.

It is possible to use Zoom from the browser, but we recommend you install the Zoom app on your computer or phone. See installation instructions here.

Organizing Committee

Program chairs: Benjamin Dichter, Ryan Ly, Andrew Tritt, Pam Baker, and Oliver Ruebel

Additional organizational support is provided by the Kavli Foundation.

Resources

Recorded talks will be uploaded after the talks are given.

How to prepare?

Install the Python or MATLAB software for NWB:

Projects

During the workshop, there will be time to work on NWB-related projects to practice using the NWB software and ask questions to the NWB developers. Working on a project is optional but encouraged for you to get the most out of this workshop.

Here are suggestions for projects:

Please create a project page with a description of the goals of your project. See the instructions here to create a project page. We will use these pages to connect people who are working on similar projects (e.g. converting data from the same acquisition system) and follow your progress.

Projects

The lists below provide an overview of workshop projects that a participant has signed up to contribute to. If you are attending the workshop and are interested in participating in any of the existing projects, then please contact the team listed on the project page.

Objective

The Neurodata Without Borders project (NWB, https://www.nwb.org/) is an effort to standardize the description and storage of neurophysiology data and metadata. NWB enables data sharing and reuse and reduces the energy barrier to applying data analysis both within and across labs. Several laboratories, including the Allen Institute for Brain Science, have wholeheartedly adopted NWB. The community needs to join forces to achieve data standardization in neurophysiology.

The purpose of the NWB User Days training workshops is to bring the experimental neurophysiology community together to further the adoption and development of NWB, the NWB software libraries, and scientific workflows that rely on NWB. Members of the community will exchange ideas and best practices for using NWB, share NWB-based tools, surface common needs, resolve coding issues, make feature requests, brainstorm about future collaboration, and make progress on current blockages. The event will also enable NWB developers and users to interact with each other to facilitate communication, gather requirements, and train users.

Agenda

We strongly encourage you to attend at least Day 1 for an introduction to NWB and NWB software tools.

Agenda (times in PT (UTC-7))

Aug 25: Day 1 - New user training

9 - 10:30am: Introduction to this training and to NWB - Oliver Ruebel

Choose one or more:

1:30 - 2: Overview of NWB-enabled tools

Aug 26: Day 2 - Project hacking with help from devs

9am - 10am: NWB Explorer - Padraig Gleeson

10am - 11: DANDI Archive - Yaroslav Halchenko

11 - 11:30: Adopting NWB, Ueli Rutishauser’s Lab - Ueli Rutishauser

11:30 - 12: Adopting NWB, Loren Frank’s Lab - Kyu Hyun Lee

12 - 1: CellExplorer - Peter Petersen, Buzsaki Lab

1 - 2: NWBWidgets - Ben Dichter

Aug 27: Day 3 - Advanced training

9 - 10am: Building and sharing NWB extensions - Ryan Ly

10 - 10:30: Advanced write in PyNWB - Matthew Avaylon

10:30 - 11: Advanced write in MatNWB - Ben Dichter

11 - 12: SpikeInterface - Alessio Buccino

12 - 1: CaImAn - Andrea Giovannucci

1 - 2: Wrapping up and exit survey - Oliver Ruebel

You can add this Google Calendar to your personal calendar to see the workshop sessions in your time zone.

Agenda calendar view

Disclaimer

This website and related content were prepared as an account of or to expedite work sponsored at least in part by the United States Government. While we strive to provide correct information, neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor The Regents of the University of California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.

Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or The Regents of the University of California. Use of the Laboratory or University’s name for endorsements is prohibited.

The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof or The Regents of the University of California. Neither Berkeley Lab nor its employees are agents of the US Government.

Berkeley Lab web pages link to many other websites. Such links do not constitute an endorsement of the content or company and we are not responsible for the content of such links.