Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain: Ten years of collaboration and community

A two-week summer camp for neuroscience students building bridges, surfacing insights, and teaching cutting-edge computational methods

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Friday Harbor, San Juan Island

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Every summer, the stunning backdrop of Friday Harbor Laboratories hosts 26 students from across the world to take part in an innovative neuroscience workshop.

Large classroom with students seated at tables with laptops, listening to presenter near projection screen

The Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain brings together graduate students and postdoctoral researchers specializing in either experimental or computational neuroscience—two distinct skills—to learn, collaborate, and discover. 2024 is the Workshop’s ten-year anniversary.

Residential houses nestled among tall pine trees in a forested area with clear blue sky

Friday Harbor Laboratories is a working marine research lab of the University of Washington.

Green and white ferry boat on water viewed through industrial green metal dock structure

It sits 105 miles north of Seattle on San Juan Island.

Two students studying at cafeteria table with laptops in bright classroom with large windows

The first half of the workshop is centered around focused tutorials that teach students how to address scientific questions with the right tools and which computational techniques and datasets are appropriate for the question they want to answer. Instructors combine this with coding tutorials and in-depth, hands-on introductions to Allen Institute datasets.

Five smiling people sitting on a blanket in a forest picnic area with tall trees

In the second half, students form groups and apply what they’ve learned to original, collaborative projects—surfacing new insights from the Allen Institute’s rich datasets and learning how to work in diverse teams towards a common goal.

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Students Katherine Perks (University of Washington), Nicholas Tolley (Brown University), and Rachel Mikofsky (Cornell University)

Five people posing together in a gymnasium under a large gold sculpture. — From left to right: Eric Shea-Brown, Shawn Olsen, Michael Buice, Saskia de Vries, Christof Koch

The Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain was founded in 2014 by Christof Koch (far right) and Adrienne Fairhall.

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Eric Shea-Brown, co-director of the Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain and professor at the University of Washington

Large classroom full of students sitting at tables listening to lecture or presentation

The two-week intensive summer course embodies the Allen Institute’s mission to advance big, team, and open science.

Shawn Olsen, investigator at the Allen Institute

Over the course of its ten-year run, the Workshop has welcomed around 250 students, and has been supported by dozens of lecturers and teaching assistants.

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Saskia de Vries, associate director of data and outreach at the Allen Institute

Students in classroom with exposed wooden beams attending presentation with whiteboards and projector screen

The Workshop brings together the worlds of computational neuroscience and big data at a critical juncture for global neuroscience.

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Four men playing pool billiards in wooden cabin with large windows at night.

Michael Buice, associate investigator at the Allen Institute

Group of diverse people socializing on an outdoor restaurant patio with drinks

It’s also a place for community building: In the final days of the course the students work together to prepare a team talk in which they present the findings of their group projects and finish with a party to celebrate what they’ve learned and accomplished.

Brown deer lying in grassy forest clearing surrounded by tall trees and dry grass

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about the allen institute

Allen Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to accelerating science for a healthier world. Through large-scale, multidisciplinary research initiatives, the Institute generates foundational knowledge, data, tools, and models that are shared openly with the world to advance our understanding of life and health. Founded by Jody Allen and the late Paul G. Allen, Allen Institute is supported primarily by the Fund for Science and Technology.