Community Building & Mentoring

Strong programming communities within research environments lead to better knowledge sharing, faster problem-solving, and more sustainable skill development. The right mentoring support can transform isolated researchers into collaborative teams.

Our Programs Learn More

Community Programs

We support a variety of community building and mentoring activities, from coding clubs to outreach events. Browse our current programs and see how we can help you build a stronger research community.

Educational Outreach

Community outreach programs introducing young learners to neuroscience and programming through hands-on workshops and mentorship.

Girl's Day

Starts at
  • Outreach Workshop

Girl's Day

Starts at
  • Outreach Workshop

Conferences

Conferences

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UK RSECon 25

Starts at 5 sessions
  • Working Group

Our Approach to Community Building

Building Research Communities That Last

We specialize in creating sustainable programming communities for neuroscience researchers. Our approach emphasizes peer learning, shared ownership, and activities that grow naturally from the needs of your research environment.

Knowledge Sharing & Collaboration

Create spaces where researchers can learn from each other, share best practices, and collaborate on common challenges.

Skill Development & Retention

Build sustainable learning environments that help researchers develop and maintain programming skills over time.

Research Culture & Outreach

Foster a culture of open science and create opportunities for outreach to broader communities.

Mentoring Examples

Real community building and mentoring activities from neuroscience research environments. Each example demonstrates our approach to fostering programming communities.

Covering all research stages:   Community Building Training Data Analysis Data Acquisition Data Processing Outreach

Student Methods Presentation Series

Community Building

Helped organize a recurring seminar where students present coding techniques from their projects, fostering peer learning and feedback.

Workshop at Department Retreat

Training

Ran a 90-minute hands-on session on reproducible data analysis during the annual department retreat.

Reading Group on Python Tools

Data Analysis

Leading a short monthly reading club exploring new Python libraries relevant to neuroscience data analysis.

Lunch-and-Learn: Managing Versions in Docker

Data Acquisition

A casual 1-hour talk teaching how to build, tag, and share Docker images that preserve data-processing environments.

Training Session on Git Basics

Data Processing

Introducing multiple labs to branch workflows, merges, and conflict resolution so they can collaborate effectively.

Coding Club for Early-Career Researchers

Community Building

Launched a biweekly club offering short tutorials, coding puzzles, and space for open Q&A around scientific programming.

Live Coding Demos for Open Lab Days

Outreach

Prepared and delivered short, approachable coding demos during a campus-wide open house aimed at high school visitors.

Outreach at Local Science Fair

Outreach

Built a simple interactive app with Streamlit to let kids explore images and graphs, then demoed it live at a youth event.

Moderating a Tool-Sharing Roundtable

Community Building

Facilitated a group discussion for researchers to exchange short demos of their favorite analysis tools and scripts.

Intro Workshop for Visiting Undergrads

Training

Ran a gentle introduction to Python and data visualization for undergraduates doing short-term internships in the lab.

Girls' Day Programming Activity

Outreach

Designed a one-hour Python activity for middle school girls using Colab to manipulate emoji and build simple logic.

Organizing a Cross-Lab Hackathon

Community Building

Helped coordinate a weekend hackathon with multiple labs, providing mentoring and facilitating team formation.

Improving Workshop Logistics

Training

Helped a team set up feedback forms, Zoom registration, and pre-workshop installation checks for a remote course.

Making Outreach Materials Reusable

Outreach

Supported the creation of reusable Colab notebooks and printable handouts for outreach programming sessions.

Integrating Tutors into Student Sprints

Training

Worked with instructors to give tutors a clearer role in supporting project-based learning during a two-day student sprint.

Designing a Survey for Programming Needs

Community Building

Helped build and analyze a short survey to identify unmet programming support needs across neuroscience groups.

Getting Community Support is Easy!

1

Email Request

Let us know what interests you! Just send a message to any of our team members, and we'll help you arrange a meeting!

2

Online Planning Meeting

What community event or activity are you planning? Together, we'll select a strategy and schedule that best-fits your situation.

3

Event Planning & Support

We'll help you plan, organize, and run your community event, whether it's a workshop, coding club, or outreach activity.

4

Follow-up & Sustainability

After the event, we'll help you evaluate success and plan for future community activities.

Let's Organize Something Together!

For tutoring, collaboration, or follow-up support, contact the team. We are happy to help you connect workshop ideas with your own research practice.

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