INCF Scientific Programs
From 2007 to the end of 2015, INCF’s activities were focused around four scientific Programs. The first program, the Program for Multiscale Modelling (MSM), was launched in 2007. Two more scientific Programs, the Program for Ontologies of Neural Structures (PONS) and the Program on Digital Brain Atlasing (DBA) were launched in 2008, and the Program for Standards in Data Sharing was launched in 2009.
The launch of an INCF Program was a multi-step process, which started with a topical workshop with leading experts in the subject area. The aim of each workshop was to identify problems in the targeted field, and identify suitable actions to address them. The invited attendees were carefully selected to represent the diversity and breadth of the field. Each meeting generated a report describing the current state of art, listing the most urgent problems and giving recommendations to INCF on how to address these problems.
Each Program formed an Oversight Committee (mainly senior field experts) and one or more Task Forces (mainly early career researchers). The progress of each Task Force was reported regularly to its Oversight Committee, which provided advice and guidance as needed. The Oversight Committee was also responsible for promoting the Task Force outcomes within their community.