The Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP) was launched in 2017 by scientists who believe research should be open, collaborative, and shared. Their goal: to accelerate discovery and improve treatments for brain disorders by making neuroscience data and tools more accessible.
During its first phase, the CONP built a national network and online infrastructure to support open science in neuroscience.
Highlights from Phase One
• The CONP Portal: An online hub currently hosting over 150 neuroscience datasets and 140 research tools, mainly from Canadian labs. These include neuroimaging, genetic, clinical, and behavioral data used to study conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The platform allows access to high-performance computing for direct analysis of fully open datasets with 160 different tools.
• Ethics and data governance: Developed Open Science policies, privacy standards, and decision-making tools to support responsible data sharing, including for major projects like Canada’s studies on aging and brain-heart health.
• Evidence publishing platform: This tool allows scientists to publish interactive, re-executable research papers that include data, figures, and code, making it easier for others to reproduce and build on their work. Now available to the public, it is expanding both its number of publications and network of partners, including servers in Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and North Macedonia.
• Outreach and impact: CONP tools and ideas have been cited in top scientific journals and editorials, generating thousands of downloads and views.
And still more to come
Now entering its second phase, CONP will expand its data offerings, grow its international partnerships, and enhance its data sharing and publishing platforms, with the goal of accelerating the neuroscience community’s discoveries and treatments for neurological conditions. This is made possible with $2,850,000 of new funding from Brain Canada, recognizing the national and international impact of CONP’s work.
Learn more at conp.ca
