Dr Natalie Cappaert, Swammerdam Institute of Life Science, University of Amsterdam, has received the Open Science financial boost of up to 50,000 euros from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The Open Science Fund aims at more open and collaborative research practices to lead towards a greater scientific and societal impact.

The Open Science Fund aims to support researchers in developing, testing and implementing innovative ways of making research open, accessible, transparent and reusable, covering the whole range of open science. In total 26 six projects received the Open Science Fund.

The anatomical connectome of the brain

Natalie Cappaert received the funding for her project on the anatomical connectome of the brain. Much research time has been devoted to determining anatomical interconnectivity of the brain. However, effective utilization of the resulting publications is hampered by the large number of available studies, by the lack of standardization in anatomical nomenclature and the use of neuro-anatomical jargon. This project will assemble brain connectivity data from publications in a peer-reviewed, public database containing brain connections using standardized terminology and related metadata. A web-based connectome will be made to make this information accessible. The goal is to help neuroscientist to create a better understanding of fundamental processes and diseases.

Source: NWO