Neuroinformatics
Neuroinformatics combines neuroscience with research from the physical and informational sciences. The International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) was established in 2005 under the direction of the Global Science Forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to coordinate and facilitate neuroinformatics at an international level and to provide a neuroinformatics infrastructure for the worldwide neuroscience community. The UK joined INCF in August 2007 and the MRC currently funds the UK’s subscription. Membership enables UK scientists to participate in INCF workshops and work programmes, collaborate with international partners in ongoing projects and in new funding initiatives, and be involved in the key decisions that will influence our ability to share data and models. The UK also has representation on the INCF’s Governing Board.
A condition of membership of INCF is that there is an active National Node, the organisers of which coordinate neuroinformatics activity at a national level. The UK Node and its forerunner, the UK Neuroinformatics Network, have played an important role in bringing UK people together, planning new initiatives and reviewing neuroinformatics training and capacity building. Funding for the UK nodes has been provided jointly by the MRC, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Other MRC commitments to informatics include: a special training fellowship in biomedical informatics (computational biology, neuroinformatics and health informatics); the UK Brain Banks Network; and high-throughput sequencing hubs.