Dear Colleague,

The Neurodata Without Borders (NWB) project has just started. The project goal is to build a common data format for neurophysiology data from Allen Brain Institute, Janelia Farm and two labs from NYU and Caltech.  Although focusing on a limited set of use cases, the project also aims to develop products that will serve the broader community.

At this point we would like to solicit community input about ideas/approaches for designing a generalizable neurophysiology data format. If you are interested in contributing to this project, please review the project description at:
https://crcns.org/NWB
and fill out the questionnaire:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CNTd4M-8kQ_WhEZc7n7WxpTa0LOupt_q3z21E1fRxjM/viewform

On the basis of the questionnaire responses and ensuing communication, we will organize the first hackathon meeting of the project, to be held November 20 – 22, 2014 (just after SfN) at Janelia Farm, in Ashburn, Virginia.  At this hackathon we will discuss in detail the requirements for a common format based on the project use cases and also discuss, compare and evaluate alternative techniques for implementing the common format.

More information about the project is available in a recent press release: http://www.kavlifoundation.org/kavli-news/prominent-us-research-institutions-announce-collaboration-toward-sharing-and

Please forward this email to anyone you know with relevant expertise who may be interested in contributing to this project.

Thank you,
Fritz Sommer and Jeff Teeters
Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience
UC Berkeley