2025 SoNeAt Lab fNIRS Hyperscanning Workshop
May 19th & 20th, 2025
The Deadline to Submit the Attendance Request and Abstract Submission Form has now passed.
General Workshop Information
The Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment Lab (SoNeAt Lab) situated within the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex (Colchester, UK) is very excited to announce a two-day fNIRS Hyperscanning Workshop on May 19th & 20th, 2025 in collaboration with Artinis medical systems.
The workshop is mainly aimed at graduate students, postdocs, and early-career researchers. It will provide attendees with several opportunities for presenting their work to their peers, either as part of a talk or a poster. Presenting planned, currently running or completed studies is strongly encouraged, although attendance is also possible without presentation. There will be a best talk and poster presentation prize.
The workshop will introduce attendees to the state-of-the-art of theory on interpersonal neural synchrony, cover many practical considerations of fNIRS hyperscanning study design and data analysis (including a demo), and provide attendees with extended hands-on training in fNIRS hyperscanning data analysis including data pre-processing, wavelet transform coherence (WTC) and statistical procedures based on real sample data. Attendees can furthermore present their planned or already running/completed fNIRS hyperscanning studies to obtain valuable feedback and expert recommendations.
Practical demonstrations of data acquisition will be based on the Artinis Brite MKII/III system, but applicable to other devices from different manufacturers, such as NIRx. Data pre-processing and analysis pipelines will be demonstrated for both Artinis and NIRx raw data. There will also be an introduction to and demo of the new Artinis Brite Ultra devices.
Workshop attendance will be in person only. This is to ensure that all attendees get as much hands-on experience and practice as possible, and can network and engage with each other during talks and poster presentations.
Workshop Venue, Travel & Accommodation
The 2025 SoNeAt Lab fNIRS Hyperscanning Workshop will take place in the STEM Building. Theory, talk and poster sessions as well as coffee breaks will be held in STEM 3.1 and practical sessions in IT Labs STEM 4.2A & B. An interactive campus map can be found here.
Information on how to get to the University of Essex, Colchester Campus, using various means of transportation can be found here.
On-campus accommodation (single room with en-suite bathroom; room only) is available starting from £45 per person per night and can be booked here.
International Attendees
For international attendees, please make sure to check the current UK entry requirements, which includes the new electronic travel authorisation (ETA). We also strongly recommend that you arrange a travel insurance for the duration of your stay.
Preliminary Program (subject to change)
DAY 1 – Monday 19 May 2025
►09:00-10:30: Introduction to the state-of-the-art theory of interpersonal neural synchrony
►10:30-11:00: Coffee & Tea Break
►11:00-13:00: Practical considerations of fNIRS hyperscanning study design and data analysis including a practical demo
►13:00-14:30: Lunch Break & Poster Session I
►14:30-16:30: Data pre-processing and analysis session I
►16:30-17:00: Coffee & Tea Break
►17:00-18:00: Attendees Talk Session I
DAY 2 – Tuesday 20 May 2025
►09:00-10:30: Data pre-processing and analysis session II
►10:30-11:00: Coffee & Tea Break
►11:00-12:30: Data pre-processing and analysis session III
►12:30-14:00: Lunch Break & Poster Session II
►14:00-15:30: Artinis Brite Ultra introduction and demo
►15:30-16:30: Attendees Talk Session II
►16:30-18:00: Networking & Farewell with Coffee & Tea
Participation and Abstract Submission
Registration Fees
►Selected attendees will be asked to pay a non-refundable registration fee of £150 for both workshop days the latest by 31 March 2025. If payment is not received in time, the space will be offered to another person on the waiting list.
►The fee includes desktop computer access, materials and catering (lunch & coffee/tea on both days).
►Attendance will be possible without presentation, but sharing information about planned, already running or completed studies is strongly encouraged. There will be a best oral talk and poster presentation prize.
Attendance Requests and Abstract Submission
The attendance requests and abstract submission procedure is now closed. Spaces for attendance are limited and will be based on a selection process by a dedicated evaluation committee. Selection decisions will be sent out by 16 March 2025.
Organisers
Organisation Committee & fNIRS Workshop Instructors
►The organisation committee is lead by Dr Pascal Vrticka – Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor in Psychology (Department of Psychology, University of Essex). Pascal has worked with fNIRS hyperscanning since 2014 when he was a Postdoctoral Scholar in Allan Reiss’ Lab at Stanford School of Medicine (Palo Alto, USA) where the methodology was initially developed. Since then, he has published several fNIRS hyperscanning papers in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals including Cortex, Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, Child Development and Developmental Science. Pascal’s fNIRS hyperscanning research includes both parent-child and adult-adult interaction from an attachment theory perspective – most recently as part of his SoNeAt Lab’s CARE and TRIO Studies, some of which include a special focus on fathers. He is furthermore participating in interpersonal neural synchrony and hyperscanning theory building – most recently by emphasising the potential of hyperscanning for “Relational Neuroscience” – as well as openly sharing sample data and code to help others with data pre-processing and analysis. Pascal has already instructed students and led several fNIRS hyperscanning workshops and webinars in the past, including a workshop at the University of Essex in May 2023, two lectures for the 10th International Summer School in Biomedical Engineering held at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Leipzig, Germany) in August 2023 and a two-part webinar for NIRx in January/February 2024.
►The organisation committee will be complemented by several of Pascal’s current PhD students who will also serve as the main fNIRS Workshop Instructors, including Laura Mtewele, Ricky Chmitorz, Anil Karabulut and Ines Rodrigues. They all have ample experience with planning, running and analysing fNIRS hyperscanning studies and data.
Industry Partner
Contact
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by using the contact form below.
We hope to see you soon!
Contact form
Dr Pascal Vrticka (PhD, FHEA) 