The current 2026 OSR program includes 6 emergent-session slots.
Emergent Sessions are spontaneous and interactive hot-topic discussions hosted by OSR attendees. They can be used to invite contributions to collaborative projects, hold an open forum around a timely development, run a focused discussion, or test a new idea with the broader community.
All times on this page are shown for Bordeaux, using the Europe/Paris timezone. During the June 15-18, 2026 program, that means CEST (UTC+2).
Program
The 2026 emergent sessions have been selected from attendee proposals and grouped where related proposals fit naturally into a shared discussion or demonstration slot.
Emergent Session 1: Software Demos
| When: 09:30-10:30 CEST (UTC+2) | June 17, 2026 (Wednesday) |
Proposed by: Adam Thomas (NIMH); Mathieu Boudreau (Polytechnique Montreal); Janik Goltermann (Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany)
This combined software-demo session highlights tools and workflows for making open science more measurable, reproducible, and collaborative. The session includes discussion of open-data sharing metrics and automated detection tools such as OddPub and the Open Science Metrics dashboard; Evidentron, an AI-mediated framework for interacting with reproducible MyST-based scientific publications; and ReFiNe, a large-scale framework for direct replications of MRI findings using existing datasets.
Related proposals: How Should We Measure Open Data Sharing? From OddPub to the S-index, Evidentron: Reproducible publishing in the age of AI, ReFiNe - investigating the rate of replicable MRI findings using large existing datasets
Emergent Session 2: Biological Forms of Intelligence
| When: 13:45-14:45 CEST (UTC+2) | June 17, 2026 (Wednesday) |
Proposed by: Forough (Cortical Labs)
This session brings together perspectives on living neuronal systems, neurocomputing, embodied intelligence, and biologically inspired AI. The discussion will examine how hybrid bio-digital platforms and neuroscience-informed AI can broaden concepts of intelligence while keeping reproducibility, openness, and critical exchange at the center.
Related proposal: Biological Forms of Intelligence: Open Perspectives on Living Neuronal Systems and AI
Emergent Session 3: Sustainability of our SIGs and Communities
| When: 09:15-10:15 CEST (UTC+2) | June 18, 2026 (Thursday) |
Proposed by: Cassandra Gould van Praag (RCM Cooperative)
This session introduces a Research Community Management framework for building sustainability into scientific communities and special interest groups. It invites OHBM SIG and BIDS community leaders to share how they grow and sustain their work, giving both leaders and attendees a space to compare practices and understand the impact of participation.
Related proposal: Sustainability of our SIGs and Communities
Emergent Session 4: AI in Academia: panacea or a Trojan horse?
| When: 11:15-12:15 CEST (UTC+2) | June 18, 2026 (Thursday) |
Proposed by: Andrea Gondova (Boston Children’s Hospital) and Nikhil Bhagwat (McGill University)
This discussion examines the role and risks of AI in academic life. Topics include teaching and supervision in the age of generative AI, when AI shifts from useful aid to core dependency, and what the open-science community can learn from tensions between research communities and large commercial platforms.
Related proposal: AI in Academia: panacea or a Trojan horse?
Emergent Session 5: Agentic Skill Sharing
| When: 12:30-13:30 CEST (UTC+2) | June 18, 2026 (Thursday) |
Proposed by: Steffen Bollmann (The University of Queensland) and Brent McPherson (McGill ORIGAMI Lab)
This combined session focuses on AI agents and reusable skill repositories for reproducible neuroscience and data analysis. The session will discuss how the community can develop, maintain, and share agentic resources in the open while reducing duplicated effort and keeping the work useful for neuroimaging researchers.
Related proposals: Ai agents for reproducible science, A community skill repo for agentic data analysis, Designing a Community for Agentic Skills in Neuroscience
Emergent Session 6: Science at the End of the World
| When: 13:45-14:45 CEST (UTC+2) | June 18, 2026 (Thursday) |
Proposed by: Marianne C. Reddan (University of Glasgow)
This semi-structured community discussion considers attacks on publicly funded science and educational institutions, with attention to the United States and wider global effects. The session will connect historical examples with current threats to research funding, then use discussion and calls to action to imagine alternative funding structures and protect discovery science.
Related proposal: Science at the End of the World: Imagining Alternative Funding Structures and the Survival of Discovery Science