The COST project - European Cooperation in Science and Technology - started at the Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics on September 30, 2025. It is an intergovernmental framework that encourages cooperation between research organizations from different European countries and supports activities that enable the exchange of knowledge, experience and research results.

The Institute acts as a Grant Holder Institution, and Dr. Urban Marhl participates in the project as a researcher (Scientific Representative).

Project title: Improving Neuroimaging Data for Sharing (INDoS)

COST Action: CA24161.

Project duration: September 30, 2025 – September 29, 2029.

Project description: 

Human neuroimaging technologies such as MRI, MEG, EEG, and fNIRS are vital for advancing cognitive neuroscience and medical diagnostics. However, the human neuroimaging field faces reproducibility challenges due to intransparent research practices and a lack of standardized data processing and reporting. Data sharing across disciplines and countries can enhance efficiency, address reproducibility issues, increase transparency, and accelerate new developments, including AI applications. Therefore, funding agencies and publishers increasingly mandate data sharing and repositories are being established at both national and EU levels. However, despite broad consensus on data sharing benefits for the field, neuroimaging researchers exhibit reluctance to share data due to unclear individual benefit, missing or unknown standards, and uncertainties regarding data privacy regulations. When data are shared, they are often of limited use due to insufficient quality assessment/control, missing or idiosyncratic metadata, or poor documentation of preprocessing. 

This COST Action aims to overcome key challenges in efficiently sharing human neuroimaging data. Our consortium includes experts in different neuroimaging modalities that are linked to major open neuroimaging initiatives and experienced in the development of data and metadata standards (such as BIDS), open software tools, data privacy regulations, and in maintaining large data repositories. With this expertise, we are well-positioned to incubate and lead impactful networking activities across the EU and beyond, establishing standards, guidelines, tools, and training. Through these efforts, we will improve data sharing practices, ensuring neuroimaging data is findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable, and ethically compliant, promoting more robust, reproducible, and economically efficient field of human neuroimaging.

You can read more about the project here.