The CompNeuroSociety at FSU is a student-led organization that aims to create a community of students interested in computational neuroscience. We are dedicated to providing students with the resources and opportunities they need to succeed in this exciting field. Our organization is designed to be faculty-mentored but student-led, allowing students to take the lead in shaping their own learning experiences. We believe that this approach will help students develop the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the field of computational neuroscience.

Welcome, faculty members and graduate students! This framework is designed to cultivate collaborative projects in computational neuroscience! After careful consideration, we came up with this framework to combine the insights of top-tier faculty or graduate students (volunteer mentors) with creativity and curiousity of student-led research teams! Our goal is to drive innovation, while also increasing student competencies through projects, workshops, and speaker events, propeling FSU and FSU students into computational neuroscience!

Time commitment: 0.5-2 hours weekly for mentors (Based on mentor's availability and what the project requires), and 2-3 hours weekly for students

• Theoretical and Mathematical Neuroscience: Developing mathematical models of neural circuits to test and validate them against experimental data
• Cognitive Neuroscience: Investigating the neural basis of cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and decision-making
• Systems Neuroscience: Analyzing neural networks, connectivity, and brain organization
• Artificial Intelligence and NeuroAI: Brain-inspired artificial intelligence models
• Machine Learning: Using machine learning techniques to gain insight into brain function
• Neuroengineering and Brain-Machine Interfaces Using data science methods to interface tools with neural activity

Phase 1 Summary

This phase will help students collectively develop their understanding of a topic and prepare them for the next phase.

This phase will also help mentors gauge students' understandings of a topic and tailor the scope of the project accordingly.

Projects can follow one of two tracks:

Exploratory: Students dive into a completely new topic, exploring recent literature and brainstorming novel project ideas.

Introductory: Students replicate a method or model previously used by the mentor, focusing on understanding and reproducing established work.

Students will be assigned readings from the mentor's respective topic.

Students will be expected to read and summarize the papers, present them in a journal club format within their own group, and brainstorm potential projects.

Students can meet either in-person or virtually, or asynchronously to present project ideas to mentor.

Relative Day	Task	Mentor	Student	Project Type
2 weeks before Phase 1	Faculty/Graduate student mentors agree to participate	X		Both
Friday before students sign up	Faculty/Graduate student mentors assign readings/videos/content related to project	X		Exploratory: Recent literature Introductory: Key papers/methods to replicate
Monday W1	Students sign up for projects and their mentors		X	Both
Friday W1	Students meet and discuss first thoughts/questions about literature virtually		X	Both
Friday W2	Students collectively give basic summary of readings, wonder about possible projects, ask questions to Mentor	X	X	Exploratory: Brainstorm new ideas Introductory: Discuss replication plan
Wednesday W3	Students meet with each other, summarize readings in depth, investigate project ideas, and prepare to present ideas to mentor		X	Both
Friday W3	Students present their project ideas to the mentor	X	X	Exploratory: Propose novel project Introductory: Present replication plan

Note: Tasks may be tailored by mentors to fit the chosen project type (exploratory or introductory).

Phase 2 Summary

This phase is where students lead their own experience and collaboratively work on their projects.

In this phase, mentors mostly play an observer role, assisting students through suggesting literature and answering questions where possible

Weekly or bi-weekly workshops (TBD by mentor, or mentor and CompNeuroSociety leaders, and virtual/asynchronous if necessary) and check-ins lead by students (or facilitated by mentors if they are willing and able) for progress updates

Students will actively collaborate on coding, data analysis, modeling, or experimentation and will be encouraged to support one another in the collaborative-learning process

Depending on the project type, students will either:

Exploratory: Continue developing and testing novel ideas, designing experiments, or building new models.

Introductory: Focus on replicating the mentor's method/model, troubleshooting, and understanding the original work in depth.

CompNeuroSociety leaders encourage students to work through challenges and document their journey. Mentors mainly observe, provide guidance, and answer questions as needed.

Relative Day	Task	Mentor	Student	Project Type
Friday W4	Mentors meet with students to finalize project objectives; if students have competing project ideas, a vote is taken	X	X	Exploratory: Select novel idea Introductory: Confirm replication plan
W5, W6, W7, W8 (Day TBD by students)	Weekly meetings for students to actively collaborate on ideation, coding, data analysis, modeling, or experimentation		X	Exploratory: Develop/test new ideas Introductory: Replicate and analyze method/model
Bi-weekly W5-W8 (TBD by mentor)	Students meet with mentors to give updates, ask questions	X	X	Both

Note: Activities and deliverables may be tailored by mentors to fit the chosen project type (exploratory or introductory).

Phase 3 Summary

This phase is where students wind down their work and prepare to present their project journey.

Students will prepare a PowerPoint presentation summarizing their project journey, including what went right/wrong, what was difficult, what they learned, and possible future directions.

Exploratory: Present novel findings, challenges, and future directions.
Introductory: Present replication results, compare with original work, and discuss insights gained.

Relative Day	Task	Mentor	Student	Project Type
Wednesday W9	Students meet to prepare PowerPoint presentation		X	Both
Friday W10	Students present summary of their project journey (what went right, what went wrong, what they learned, and possible future directions) to mentors and other CompNeuroSociety students	X	X	Exploratory: Present novel project Introductory: Present replication and comparison

Note: Presentations should reflect the nature of the project type (exploratory or introductory).