BrainHack Symposium: Minds in Motion
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on How Minds Work and Develop
Minds in Motion explores the mind as an active, developing, and adaptive system: one that learns from experience, is shaped by social and cultural contexts, and continually responds to changing environments. Research on how minds work and develop is fundamental to advancing education, health, technology, and human flourishing. Yet the complexity of mind and development cannot be fully understood through any single discipline alone. This symposium therefore brings together cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, computational and biomedical sciences to spark new questions, connect methods, and build collaborations that can move discovery toward meaningful real-world impact.
This year's symposium is organised as part of BrainHack School, jointly run by Nanyang Technological University (Dr. Annabel Chen, Dr. Luo Lizhu, and Dr. Darren Yeo), National Taiwan University (Dr. Joshua Goh and Dr. Charlene Lee), and National Central University (Dr. Chun-Hsien Hsu and Dr. Tzu-Yu Hsu). Across two days, the programme will pair student project presentations with invited interdisciplinary talks spanning social cognitive sciences, humanities, computational sciences, and biomedical sciences. The event is supported by the Cognitive Neuroimaging Centre (CoNiC), the Cognitive and Behavioural Science Research Cluster at the School of Social Sciences, the Clinical Brain Lab, and the Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE), NTU Singapore, as well as NTU and NCU Taiwan.
Featured topics span multi-modal neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG, and MEG), eye-tracking, multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL), AI-inspired approaches to cognition, and open science practices for reproducible research. We warmly welcome audience participation and discussion as part of the exchange, with the aim of generating fresh perspectives and future interdisciplinary collaborations.
BrainHack School NTU
Overview
This course focuses on advanced data preprocessing and analytical techniques for human brain neurophysiological data including electroencephalography/event-related potentials (EEG/ERP), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and structural/functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Learning Format
The course is conducted with the international BrainHack School. We combine self-paced module learning with tutorials and project-based practical work under Teaching Assistant (TA) advising over two phases during the semester.
Preparation Phase (Mid-March to early May)
Singapore students in the BrainHack School Singapore NTU (BHS-SG-NTU) hub will do self-paced module learning with advising by TAs.
International Phase (May to June)
We will join with the BHS international hub. Students submit weekly module tutorials to the local hub courses. In addition, students propose, work on, and submit progress reports on their own practical projects, working collaboratively with students and TAs from local or other hubs. There will also be talks by faculty and other professionals as schedule permits.
Teaching platforms
We will use Discord as the main communication platform for posting announcements, raising questions, sharing resources, networking, and comments on tutorials and projects. The Discord links will be posted later in the course.
Course Requirement
- Personal computer with installed softwares as needed for your own project.
- You will also need Discord, and a Github account to submit your project final product as a Github repository. See Technical help.
- Backgrounds in cognitive neuroscience and coding are optional but very strongly recommended.
- A strong motivational capacity for self-learning, question-generation, and problem-solving for your own project.
Progress
| Week | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Introduction to Data Analytics for Neuroimaging | |
| Week 2-5 (Pre-school prep) | Self-study of online modules
https://school.brainhackmtl.org/modules/. 20 modules (videos + assignments + hands-on practices) categorized into: 1. Data Science (e.g., terminal, containers, python scripting/testing, git/github, hpc) 2. Neuro data science (e.g., fMRI connectivity/parcellation, deep learning, open data, data visualization) You are recommended to follow the sequence as listed here: https://school.brainhackmtl.org/weeks/ or the modules as ordered in NTU Learn or the Discord server. |
|
| Week 6 | Introduction to BrainHack School materials | |
| Week 7 | Exploration of tools for neural data science. (Q&A hours. Module Submission) | |
| Week 8 | Project definition & piloting. Keyword based Pod Assignment. Project Pitch. (50% modules, 50% project. Q&A hours.) | |
| Week 9 | Assigned to Project Pods & TAs. Project Implementation. Project Clinics. (25% tutorials, 75% project) Inspirational Presentations by TAs. |
|
| Week 10 | Project Implementation. Project Clinics. Wrap-up Presentations. (100% project) | |
| Week 11 | Work Preparation and Group Discussion Week | |
| Week 12 | Submission of Deliverables | |
| Week 13 | BrainHack Symposium Week |