Following the great webinar on BIDS led by Dr. Eduard Klapwijk, we are happy to announce another workshop related to neuroimaging and open science! This time we’ll be discussing responsible data sharing of brain data with Dorien Huijser.

WHAT
Introduction to sharing brain MRI data

WHEN
October 22th 2020, 14:00h CEST, duration 60’

INSTRUCTOR
Dorien Huijser, lab and data manager at the SYNC lab (Society, Youth and Neuroscience Connected) at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences

COURSE SUMMARY
Neuroscience is hot. Who wouldn’t want to know how the brain works? In the quest of figuring out our most intriguing organ, terabytes of MRI1 data are collected all over the globe each year. This not only costs a lot of time, but also a lot of money in terms of collection, storage and processing, let alone the required energy that all of this relies on.

Sadly, more often than not, after data analysis and manuscript publication, these data end up on a disk or local server, never to be looked at again. What’s more, studies measuring brain activity using functional MRI are already difficult to reproduce or replicate even without the barriers of closed off datasets. On the other end, there are several arguments for not sharing MRI data, such as protecting the privacy of the subjects and technical barriers.

In this workshop, Dorien will talk about the opportunities and barriers of sharing MRI data. She will go into different types of privacy risks, ways MRI data sharing is done now, and hopes for the future.

TARGET AUDIENCE
Everyone interested is welcome to join. It may be useful to know something about MRI data yourself.

DESIRED OUTCOME
During this workshop you will learn:

  • Opportunities of MRI data sharing
  • Barriers to MRI data sharing
  • Ways to circumvent the barriers of MRI data sharing
  • First steps you can take yourself to start sharing MRI data responsibly
  • Hopes for the future

PREPARATION
No preparation required. If you have questions before or afterwards, feel free to email Dorien

REGISTRATION
An invitation has been sent to researchers in the OSCR mailing list. This email includes the Zoom link, meeting ID, and password. If you are not part of the mailing list but would like to join, please contact Antonio.

MEETING RULES
During the Zoom meeting, please follow these guidelines:

  • wear headphones
  • mute your microphone
  • video is optional (in case of connection issues, you may be asked to turn it off)
  • pay attention to the moderator (which will be Antonio)
  • if you have questions
    • click on the Raise Hand button and the moderator will unmute you; or
    • write down your question in the chat and the moderator will read it
  • avoid talking over each other and make sure that everyone can have their opportunity to speak
  • arrive 5 minutes before the beginning of the call, to familiarize with the online environment and solve possible technical issues

Hope to see many of you!

Take care,

Dorien Huijser and Antonio Schettino



  1. Magnetic Resonance Imaging: a technique to generate images of parts of the body using a strong magnetic field. Many types of tissue can be imaged this way, such joints, cartilage, muscles, blood vessels and also grey and white matter in the brain.↩︎