NFDI-Neuro is launching a monthly webinar series covering topics related to practical approaches for data management in neuroscience. Please watch for further webinar announcements, held each first Tuesday of the month at 17:00 CEST. To join the webinar via Zoom please write an email to info (at) nfdi-neuro (dot) de.
Sebastian Spreizer – NEST Desktop – An educational application for neuroscience
Simulation software for spiking neuronal network models matured in the past decades regarding performance and flexibility. But the entry barrier remains high for students and early career scientists in computational neuroscience since these simulators typically require programming skills and a complex installation. Here, we describe an installation-free graphical user interface (GUI) running in the web browser, which is distinct from the simulation engine running anywhere, on the student’s laptop or on a supercomputer. This architecture provides robustness against technological changes in the software stack and simplifies deployment for self-education and for teachers.
Our new open source tool, NEST Desktop [1,2], comprises graphical elements for creating and configuring network models, running simulations, and
visualizing and analyzing the results. NEST Desktop allows students to explore important concepts in computational neuroscience without the need to learn a simulator control language before. Our experiences so far highlight that NEST Desktop helps advancing both quality and intensity of teaching in computational neuroscience in regular university courses. We view the availability of the tool on public resources like the European ICT infrastructure for neuroscience EBRAINS as a contribution to equal opportunities [3].
[1]
https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.15.444791
[2]
https://github.com/nest-desktop/nest-desktop
[3]
https://ebrains.eu/service/nest-desktop
