Course Information

Semester: 2024-2 (113-2)
Curriculum No.: GIBMS 7021 (454 M0100) (parallel course LING 7430: Neurolinguistics Seminar)
Credit: 3
Time: Fridays 13:20 - 16:20
Venue: College of Medicine RM508
Local Instructor(s): Joshua Goh, Chia-Lin Lee
Language: English

Objective

Learn and apply advanced data preprocessing and analytical techniques for working with neurophysiological data.
Share findings with the broader scientific community.

Description

Content Overview. This course focuses on advanced data preprocessing and analytical techniques for human brain neurophysiological data including electroencephalography/event-related potentials (EEG/ERP), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and structural/functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Learning Format. The course is conducted with the international BrainHack School (BHS). We combine self-paced module learning with tutorials and project-based practical work under Teaching Assistant (TA) advising over two phases during the semester.
- Preparation Phase (Mid-February to end April). Taiwan students in the BrainHack School Taiwan NTU (BHS-TW-NTU) hub will do self-paced module learning with primary advising by local TAs.
- International Phase (May to June). We will join with the BHS international hub. Students submit weekly module tutorials to the local hub courses. In addition, students propose, work on, and submit progress reports on their own practical projects, working collaboratively with students and TAs from local or other hubs. The final week will be a mini-symposium for students to share their research findings. There will also be talks by faculty and other professionals as schedule permits.
Teaching Platform. We will use Discord as the main communication platform for posting announcements, raising questions, sharing resources, networking, and comments on tutorials and projects. For Taiwan, we will primarily use the BrainHack.School.Taiwan Discord server before and after the Brainhack school. During the International Phase, we will shift primary engagement to the international Discord server (link provided later in course) to foster collaborative work.
Course Requirements.
- Personal computer with installed softwares as needed for your own project.
- You will also need Discord, and a Github account to submit your project final product as a Github repository. See Technical help.
- Backgrounds in cognitive neuroscience and coding are optional but very strongly recommended.
- A strong motivational capacity for self-learning, question-generation, and problem-solving for your own project.

Assessments

Item	Grading Method	Grade Percent Contribution	Grader	Details
Review Tutorials	Complete/Incomplete	10%	TAs	View tutorial pages and videos, 2/week, 24 total.
Submit Tutorials	Complete/Incomplete	30%	TAs	Complete 10 tutorial assignments and upload to NTU COOL by Week 15.
Project presentation	Percentage	60%	Instructors	Submit project Git repo and present project progress, Week 16 (17). Student project topics will be determined jointly with the TAs who will advice on feasible, meaningful goals. We are flexible on project topics as long as they let students learn new techniques or complete a real scientific research analysis of extant data within the course time frame.

Schedule

Week	Date	Topic
1	2025/02/21	Introduction (hybrid 13:20PM GMT+8; https://meet.google.com/ngs-nbhh-dgd) Instructors & Organizers Tutorials Projects Technical help Open Data [video]
1~12	2025/02/21 - 2025/05/09	Self-study (videos + assignments + hands-on practices) of 24 online tutorials categorized into: Data Science (e.g., terminal, containers, python scripting/testing, git/github, hpc) Neuro data science (e.g., fMRI connectivity/parcellation, deep learning, open data, data visualisation) You are recommended to follow the sequence as ordered in this NTU COOL's Modules section, the Tutorials page, or the BHS-TW Discord server modules channel.
Week 13	2025/05/12 - 2025/05/16	Exploration of tools for neural data science. 100% module. Active Q&A hours.
Week 14	2025/05/19 - 2025/05/23	Keyword based Pod (group) Assignment. Project definition & piloting. Project Pitch. 50% modules. 50% project. Q&A hours.
Week 15	2025/05/26 - 2025/05/30	Assigned to Project Pods ~ TAs. Project Implementation. Project Clinics. 25% tutorials (1 / 4). 75% project. Inspirational Presentations by TAs.
Week 16	2025/06/02 - 2025/06/06	Project Implementation. Project Clinics. Wrap-up Presentations. 100% project. Final deliverables by the end of Week 17 (if needed).
Other events scheduled include: Industry-Academia Synergy discussions with guests speakers from Google DeepMind (Carlton Chu), ArtiseBio (Shawn Lu), PayPal, Hong Kong University (Benjamin Becker), New Jersey Insitute of Technology (Bahrat Biswal). Youtube videos available only to BHS members

Other Resources

Course Intro on Youtube

WARNING!

For students who foresee higher course loading due to exams in Weeks 13-16 of this course, we advise you to complete the online modules and initialize your own project before the 4-weeks International Phase Brainhack School. During the International Phase, we expect students and TAs to actively engage with each other about modules and projects approximately 3 hrs every other day in this period.