BrainWorks project criteria

Mission

At BrainWorks, our mission is to advance fundamental, discovery-science research to understand how the human brain and body support cognition and behavior. We do this by providing and integrating cutting-edge experimental and analytical human-neuroscience methods and by fostering a community with shared values of maximizing scientific excellence, collaboration, and openness.

Criteria for supporting projects

BrainWorks is a collaborative and interdisciplinary core facility. We serve the community of Yale researchers regardless of school or department.

In line with the WTI mission, BrainWorks supports discovery-science research projects aimed at a fundamental understanding of how the human brain and body support cognition and behavior.

Access to BrainWorks facilities and equipment depends on alignment with our mission, capacity to take on new projects, and a set of criteria defining the characteristics of projects we can host and support.

Projects we support fulfill the following criteria:

• The project has a discovery-science aim of advancing the fundamental understanding of human cognition, behavior, or brain function.
  • The study meets the IRB definition of minimal risk (not resulting in more than everyday exposure).
  • Research question(s) and hypothesis(es) must demonstrably address interesting and important issues in novel ways.
  • Studies using clinical populations or interventions must have a clear discovery-science aim to advance fundamental understanding of human cognition, behavior, or brain function.
• The project meets standards of excellence:
  • The project is carried out by a research team with the relevant competence, training, and ethical approvals to run and analyze the study independently.
  • The methods must be appropriate, well thought out, and expertly implemented.
  • Studies using neural methods to investigate cognitive or behavioral phenomena must be based on established behavioral findings.
• Research groups take responsibility for data collection and analysis:
  • The facility does not provide technicians or other staff to collect or analyze research data.
  • Local experts are usually present or accessible, but they will not take responsibility for conducting researchers’ projects.
  • Researchers require specialized training to operate sensitive equipment (MRI, MEG, EEG, NIRS, TMS). Training is provided but may not be available on short notice.
• Participants are volunteers who do not require any specialized medical supervision or equipment.
  • Participants are healthy volunteers who provide informed consent.
  • Individuals with clinical conditions can also volunteer to take part in studies with a discovery-science aim. They participate as volunteers and not as patients.
  • Volunteers can be of any age group.
  • Participants need to fulfill inclusion criteria for the specific research methods (e.g., MRI, MEG, TMS).
  • Participants receive modest compensation, reflecting the minimal-risk nature of the research. Recommended rates are $20/hr for behavioral studies and $30/hr for neural studies (e.g., EEG, MEG, MRI, TMS).
• The project is funded to meet the operating costs of the relevant method.
  • Operating costs for the equipment at BrainWorks are recovered through hourly usage fees.
  • Funding for projects can come from external grants, philanthropic donations, and/or internal BrainWorks grants.
  • PIs should consult with the BrainWorks director when preparing grants to ensure that the proposed usage is appropriate and available. Receipt of an external grant does not entitle or guarantee access to the proposed usage.
  • External funding does not supersede other requirements regarding the nature and quality of the science conducted at BrainWorks. The priority is to advance excellent and innovative science regardless of funding sources.
• Data and experimental tools associated with the project are shared openly.
  • All BrainWorks imaging and neurophysiology data will be archived on XNAT and can be analyzed on the sensitive-data Milgram compute and storage cluster.
  • Upon publication, all data collected at BrainWorks and code used to analyze the data should be shared publicly in concordance with journal, agency, or other mandates, and/or on a permanent repository such as Open Neuro or Dryad (Yale licensed).
  • Permission for sharing data must be part of the IRB protocol. Amendments should be made for ongoing studies not meeting this criterion.
• Publications and other outputs of the project will acknowledge the support by BrainWorks (providing infrastructure, equipment, training, and scientific input)
  • Wording for acknowledgments: “This study was supported by BrainWorks at the Center for Neurocognition and Behavior in the Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University” and cite the BrainWorks RRID, BrainWorks at the Center for Neurocognition and Behavior in the Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University (RRID:SCR_024556).

Examples of projects we are unable to support:

• Clinical trials or translational studies primarily aimed at addressing clinical questions. (Please note that complemental facilities are available at Yale for clinical and translational research.)
• Large-scale studies that place an unreasonable burden on facility resources or access time.
• Studies requiring specialized medical supervision or equipment.
• Studies involving psychopharmacological manipulations that require medical supervision.
• Studies requiring collection of blood, injection of contrast agents, or other invasive procedures.
• Studies lacking funds to cover operating fees. This includes projects that have not been evaluated and approved by competitive external review or by internal review mechanisms.
• Studies by groups that lack experience or competence to collect or analyze data in a given modality.
• Studies by groups that have had previous procedural, ethical, or security lapses.
• Studies that are unwilling to share data without a robust justification.