September 14, 2018
Dear Colleague,

After extended negotiation with NIMH neuroinformatics, we have just received a ‘green
light’ to submit a proposal to the BRAIN Initiative call for community data archives. Our
proposal –! due in to NIH on Sept. 27 !– will be titled, “Brain initiative resource: Development of
a human neuroelectromagnetic data archive and tools resource (NEMAR).” 

In collaboration with Russ Poldrack and Chris Gorgolewski, whose OpenNeuro.org archive
will eventually hold these and other BIDS-formatted neuroimaging data, we are submitting a
proposal based on the attached ‘precis’ just approved for submission by the relevant NIMH
officials.

To make possible data mining of EEG/MEG/iEEG data across studies, as well as in-depth
analyses of new data that take into account their latent relationships to a wealth of stored data,
at least three efforts are needed:

a) the data must be well annotated using community standards – the NEMAR project will
use BIDS and HED; tools to work with and actively assist users in annotating their data
will be a major effort;

b) the data must be stored both in raw form and as transformed (wholly, and/or in the
form of event-related data epochs) to one or more source-level representations – thus
abstracted from the number, placement, and type of sensors;

c) tools for performing the analyses must be available ‘near’ the data – here on the
Amazon cloud and, at least for some time, on the publicly available XSEDE network via
the Neuroscience Gateway (NSGportal.org) of co-PI Amit Majumdar of San Diego
Supercomputer Center. NSG already runs, on user command, most tools in the EEGLAB
environment and several other tool environments.

Those who received and responded to our call last week for indications of support were
importantly helpful, we feel certain, in securing the interest of NIMH in this effort. 
Now it will be still more important that we demonstrate community support – as broad as possible 
– to the NIH review panel in the form of letters of support indicating:

1) Enthusiasm for the idea of an active data plus tools resource for moving analysis of
existing and new EEG/MEG/iEEG data into the realm of so-called big data analysis;

2) Interest in making use of the resource for in-depth analysis of your own laboratory data

3) And or, interest in performing data mining research on an archived wealth human
electromagnetic brain data (soon expected to reach many thousands of data sets);

4) Interest in at some point contributing your own laboratory data to the NEMAR BRAIN
Initiative archive.

We attach template text for a letterhead letter of support and interest – which we will need
to receive by email before or on Tuesday, Sept. 25, to attach to our NEMAR proposal. We
would be happy to answer any questions you may have before (or after) then.

Scott Makeig (SCCN,UCSD)    smakeig@ucsd.edu 
Amit Majumdar (SDSC, UCSD)  majumdar@sdsc.edu 
Arnaud Delorme (SCCN, UCSD) arno@ucsd.edu

==============

Template text for (preferably letterhead) letter of interest and support (please vary it
creatively, removing any topic that does not apply):

[DATE]
Dear Drs. Makeig, Delorme, and Majumdar,

I am writing to express my interest in and support for your proposed project to build your
proposed ‘NEMAR’ data archive and active data processing resource for human EEG, MEG, and
intracranial data (plus associated data streams) under the NIH BRAIN Initiative OpenNeuro.org
archives project.

The time for more in-depth processing of and extracting information from these invaluable
data on brain dynamic processes subserving human thought and action has indeed arrived. If
funded and when implemented, I look forward to participating in the project by:

- contributing to the ongoing development of data annotation standards.

- contributing to the development of the NEMAR-supported analysis tool set

- using the resource to process my own data in more depth using tools and processing
capabilities the NEMAR project will make available.

- contributing data under my control to the archive for public use by other accredited users.

These data comprise [EEG, MEG, iEEG] data sets from at least X studies including YYY data sets
from ZZZ participants.

I look forward to working with the NEMAR project scientists and staff to build, make
available, and myself use a world-leading archive and active processing resource for human
electromagnetic brain data and associated data streams. Concurrent data streams collected in
the experiments I reference above include [subject characteristics, subject clinical status,
subject behavior, video, audio, body motion capture, eye tracking, ECG, EMG, EGG, other
psychophysiological measures].

Please keep me informed of the progress of the NEMAR proposal and as to how and when I
may participate.

Sincerely,

[name, title]