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2025 05 08 steering group minutes

Agenda

  1. Melissa Kline Struhl - Psych-DS Guest

  2. Response to MEDD regarding new format 5 min

  3. OHBM business10 min

  4. Maintainers updates 10 min

    • Maintainers need more members recruited

  5. (after end) Copenhagen Maintainers Meeting updates 15 min

Participants

  • Yaroslav Halchenko
  • Camille Maumet
  • Dora Hermes
  • Eric Earl
  • Anthony Galassi
  • Melissa Kline Struhl
  • Brian Leonard

Meeting Minutes

Psych-DS

Melissa Kline Struhl

  • comes from the SIPS community, they recognized there was a mismatch in skillset for researchers in psych to adhere to BIDS.

    • Do everything in excel, most often small datasets

  • the replication crisis has motivated their community to build/adopt standards like BIDS

  • community is working towards making their research more FAIR

  • dataset_description.json uses JSON-LD schema.org https://schema.org/

  • data likely contains information form multiple subjects in a single file (ex: excel or csv with all subject data)

    • this data is typically stored in the 'data' folder
    • use csv file format for tabular data

  • for researchers who do not use machine-redable workflows to provide a road into that

  • Psych-DS is currently developing a validator schema.org/Dataset https://psych-ds.github.io/validator

  • Example usecases of interaction with BIDS

    • extracting behavioral data to be analyzed separately
    • or inject behavioral data into a BIDS dataset

  • they are a data format for the BRAIN Initiative BBQS (data coordinating for behavioral data)

  • Discussion:

    • DH: BIDS has events files, does psych-DS plan to include something similar for data like reaction times...
    • MKS: It hasn't been built yet, but that is a very likely use case to work towards
    • EA: what about data dictionary? it looks like anything is a data dictionary?
    • MKS: in the current examples, users are given options of simple of variable names. But the documentation points users to be able to assemble more complex datasets (https://psychds-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/guides/4_data_dictionary/) they do not require pulling variables from established onotologies but they do require variables to be defined
    • DH: re data dictionary, are you considering heriarchical event descriptors?
    • MKS: we are aware of the option, yes we would like of use hierarchical event descriptors is the data support it.
    • Psych-DS is also working on conversation tools to convert data BIDs-->Psych-DS and Psych-DS-->BIDS
    • EA: are you considering to include additional file formats beyond csv. csv only can become problematic if the data contains commas.
    • NEXT STEPS: BEP 36 can reach out to Eric Earl for moving it forward.

Response to MED regarding new format

  • Dora felt that she has a COI, thus was not an appropriate person to respond on behalf of BIDS.
  • Camille: it sounds like people are using MED, so perhaps we should revisit our response to include steps that would need to occur for MED to be involved with BIDS
  • Dora: instead of saying 'no', we should provide a path forward for MED that the developers of the format should be responsible for.
  • DH & CM would like to amend the email. we will continue the discussion on mattermost. https://github.com/bids-standard/bids-specification/issues/2055

OHBM

  • townhall - is this day one or another time?

  • 2 BIDS-related events in OHBM

    • BIDS opening - day one
    • BIDS townhall - for BIDS to decide

Maintainers updates

  • Maintainers need more members recruited

    • Up one (Julia), but down 2 going on 3 or 4 (Rémi out for now, Stefan living life without BIDS, and possibly Anthony's and Eric's contracts up in September)
    • A simple outreach method could be all runners-up for Steering Group elections
    • [name=Camille] I'd love an open call if we can and that makes sense.
    • [name=Kim Ray] I can reach out Ashley Stewart directly , can write a email for direct asks.
    • [name=Yaroslav] can we use the larger BIDS email list to cast a wider audience?

  • Expectations (onboarding docs: https://github.com/bids-standard/bids-specification/blob/master/Maintainers_Guide.md#why-become-a-maintainer)

    • 1-2 hours a week
    • attend 1 bi-weekly meeting
    • technical skills not required

  • avenues for advertising: neruohackademy, brainhacks, BIDS adjacent groups (SPARC, NWB, Psych-DS, neuroblueprint https://neuroblueprint.neuroinformatics.dev/latest/index.html)

Copenhagen Maintainers Meeting updates

(Asynchronously Eric talked with Cyril)

  • Q: Is the list of attendees/invitees complete?

    • Cyril is going to put the attendees list on GitHub markdown
      • 10 maintainers and steering
      • No Peer, No Oscar
      • Maybe 6 people from EBRAINS? Cyril's having trouble getting people to RSVP properly/fully

  • Q: What percent complete is booking travel and hotel?

    • 10 people are booked for hotels
    • Cyril to give hotel a list of names, and the hotel will give you your room when you show up giving them your name

  • Q: Are meals, incidental expenses, and ground transportation reimbursements possible (per diem...)?

    • Cyril checking with Ariel, that question had not come up to Cyril before today

  • Ground transportation off flight

  • Tuesday, June 10 agenda item(s): EBRAINS needs to learn schema and see the BIDS ecosystem

    • BIDS2OPENMIND collaborations
    • Cyril writing down the agenda in GitHub or on the draft Google Doc agenda