Allen Institute | Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain 2026

About

The 2026 Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain is an intensive, project-based residential course with a focus on the neurobiology of sensory processing, coding, and neural population dynamics. This program is intended for researchers at the graduate and postdoctoral level with an interest in developing the intersection of their scientific knowledge and their computational skills.

Founded by Adrienne Fairhall and Christof Koch, the Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain is co-hosted by the Allen Institute and the Computational Neuroscience Center at the University of Washington. It is directed by Drs. Michael A. Buice, Saskia de Vries, Adrienne Fairhall, Shawn Olsen, and Eric Shea-Brown

The workshop is geared towards Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows in neuroscience, biology, physics, engineering, and computer science as well as other early-career researchers at the equivalent level. Ideal candidates have a planned or established research agenda related to the course topics such as neuroanatomy and neurophysiology; neuronal cell types; connectomics; optical and electrophysiological methods for measuring and analyzing cell populations; theories and modeling of neocortex and associated structures; big data approaches; and perceptual and behavioral neuroscience with a focus on the visual system.

All tutorials and software packages in the course use the Python programming language. The workshop includes an optional Python bootcamp and ongoing software tutorials in modeling, data analysis, and computational methods. While previous experience with Python is not required or expected, it is highly recommended that students have some previous coding experience.

Students will have the opportunity to receive training with featured large-scale datasets generated by the Allen Institute. Examples from past workshops include the Allen Brain Observatory Visual Coding and Neuropixels datasets. Other Allen Institute resources are available also for students to explore.

A core component of the workshop curriculum is the completion of short research projects. With faculty guidance, students collaborate in teams to develop and carry out a project that explores the featured open data sets. Student teams present their project proposals at the end of the first week of the course and the outcome of their work at the conclusion of the workshop to faculty and fellow participants. Previous projects from this course have been developed into publications and presented at scientific conferences.

Students will

• Develop skills in large-scale neural data analysis and computational methods.
• Work in an interdisciplinary collaborative environment and modern tools.
• Explore data and software from the Allen Institute.
• Interact with leading computational and experimental neuroscientists.
• Complete a collaborative project with other workshop students.

Dataset & Code

Students will learn analysis and computational tools by exploring open datasets from the Allen Institute. These data also form the basis for the course projects that students will develop over the second week of the course. Every year we select a few recent datasets from the Allen Institute to showcase including large scale physiology, behavior, and anatomy. These are likely to include recordings of neural activity collected using 2-photon calcium imaging or dense electrophysiology using Neuropixels probes, such as the Allen Brain Observatory datasets. These datasets, focused on the mouse visual cortex, contain recordings from large populations of neurons across many brain regions, both in passive and active behavioral conditions. Connectomic electron microscopy (EM) data from the MiCRONS program, or similar Allen Institute EM or high resolution light sheet data, will also be used to explore neuronal morphology, ultrastructure, and connectivity.

Further Info

Workshop dates: August 23rd – September 6th, 2026

Optional Python boot camp: August 22nd-23rd, 2026

Application deadline: Tuesday, February 1, 2026, at 11:59pm Pacific Time. We will not accept late applications.

Preference will be given to advanced PhD students and postdocs. Applicants must have completed at least one year of a PhD program to be eligible. International applications are welcome.

Cost: Conference fees, housing and meals during the workshop will be covered by the organizers. Additional expenses, including transportation to and from Seattle and incidentals, are the responsibility of the attendee. There is no additional cost to participate in the Python boot camp. There is no additional fee for international attendees.

Applicant notification: All applicants will be notified of the decision on their application by April 6, 2026.

Source and more details: https://alleninstitute.org/events/summer-workshop-on-the-dynamic-brain-2026/