Resurrection of the NeuroFedora SIG

[Ankur Sinha]

Hello,

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/NeuroFedora

I've recently resurrected the NeuroFedora SIG. Many thanks to Igor and
the others who'd worked on it in the past and have given us a firm base
to build on.

The goal
---------

The (current) goal of the NeuroFedora SIG is to make Fedora an easy to
use platform for neuroscientists.

Neuroscience is an extremely multidisciplinary field. It brings together
mathematicians, chemists, biologists, physicists, psychologists,
engineers (electrical and others) computer scientists and more. A
lot of software is used nowadays in Neuroscience:

- data collection, analysis, and sharing
- lots of image processing (a lot of ML is used here, think Data Science)
- simulation of brain networks (https://neuron.yale.edu/neuron/,
  http://nest-simulator.org/)
- dissemination of scientific results (peer reviewed and otherwise,
  think LaTeX)

https://github.com/asoplata/open-computational-neuroscience-resources/
provides a great overview of the computational side of neuroscience. It
isn't just about understanding how the brain functions, we also want to
understand how it processes information---how it "computes".

(Some of you will already be aware of the Human Brain Project, a
flagship EU project: https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/)

Now, given that a large proportion of neuroscientists are not trained
in computer science, a lot of time and effort is spent setting up
systems, installing software (often from source). This can be hard for
people not well-versed in build systems and so on.

So, at NeuroFedora, we will try provide a ready to use Fedora based
system for neuroscientists to work with, so they can quickly get their
environment set up and work on the science.


Please join us!
---------------

If you are interested in neuroscience, please consider joining the SIG.
Packaging software is only *one* way in which one can contribute.
Writing docs and answering questions about the software in NeuroFedora
are other ways too, for example.

You can get in touch with us here:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/NeuroFedora#Communication_and_getting...

What's in it for you?
---------------------

In general, it will increase your awareness of neuroscience (which is a
fascinating field---but of course, I am biased). We also hope to use the
Fedora classroom sessions to host beginner level classes on using the
software we package. If you'd like to get into neuroscience research
work, it's an excellent opportunity to learn.

Fedora and Science
-------------------

In general, furthering Open Science is quite in line with our goals of
further FOSS---Open science shares the philosophy of FOSS. The data, the
tools, the results, should be accessible to all to understand, use,
learn from, and develop.

I've just written to the Mindshare team asking if we can get the various
Science related SIGs together and do more. You can find my e-mail here:
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[e-mail]...

Please feel free to join the discussion.

-- 
Thanks,
Regards,

Ankur Sinha "FranciscoD"

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Ankursinha
Time zone: Europe/London