Data Science and Its Future in Large Neuroscience Collaborations

The rise of large scientific collaborations in neuroscience requires systematic, scalable, and reliable data management. How this is best done in practice remains an open question. To address this, we conducted a data science survey among currently active U19 grants, funded through the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative. The survey was answered by both data science liaisons and Principal Investigators, speaking for ∼500 researchers across 21 nation-wide collaborations. We describe the tools, technologies, and methods currently in use, and identify several shortcomings of current data science practice. Building on this survey, we develop plans and propose policies to improve data collection, use, publication, re-use and training in the neuroscience community.