CONN fcMRI training

Intro Course 

Intro to CONN & fcMRI best practices

This short course provides a practical introduction to functional connectivity fMRI, focusing on the key methodological decisions that critically impact the validity and interpretability of results. Rather than a step-by-step tutorial, the course offers a clear conceptual roadmap of the full analysis pipeline, from preprocessing and denoising to first- and second-level analyses, highlighting common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Participants will gain an understanding of what constitutes a robust and reproducible connectivity analysis, how different analytical choices influence results, and how to approach their own data with greater confidence. The course also introduces how these principles are implemented within the CONN toolbox, providing a structured framework for moving from raw data to meaningful findings.

This course is ideal for students, researchers, and labs who are beginning to work with functional connectivity data, or who want to ensure that their current analysis practices follow established best practices.

CONN Workshop 

Comprehensive Training in Functional Connectivity fMRI Analyses

This hands-on workshop provides in-depth training in the analysis of functional connectivity fMRI data using the CONN toolbox. Covering the full analysis pipeline, from data organization and preprocessing to denoising, first-level modeling, and group-level inference, the course is designed to equip participants with the practical skills needed to perform robust and reproducible connectivity analyses on their own datasets.

Through a combination of structured lectures and guided demonstrations, participants will learn how to implement best practices in functional connectivity analysis, understand the rationale behind key methodological choices, and avoid common sources of bias and misinterpretation. Dedicated office-hour sessions offer opportunities for individualized questions and discussion, allowing participants to address specific challenges related to their own research.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to confidently design, execute, and interpret functional connectivity analyses using CONN, and apply these methods to a wide range of experimental and clinical research questions.

Lab Training

Coordinated Training and Support for Research Groups

This option is designed for research groups working on shared datasets who want to ensure consistent, robust, and reproducible analysis practices across multiple team members. By combining structured training with lab-specific guidance, the Lab Training package supports the coordinated adoption of functional connectivity methods within a research group.

Participants receive access to the CONN workshops, allowing multiple members of the lab to develop a shared understanding of the full analysis pipeline—from preprocessing and denoising to first- and second-level analyses. Extended access to workshop recordings provides a valuable resource for onboarding new lab members and revisiting key concepts throughout ongoing projects.

In addition, dedicated lab consultation sessions offer the opportunity to discuss the lab’s specific datasets, analysis strategies, and methodological questions. These sessions are tailored to the needs of the group and are designed to support practical implementation and decision-making across projects.

This option is particularly well suited for labs with multiple researchers involved in different stages of the analysis pipeline, or for groups seeking to standardize their workflows and reduce variability in analytical approaches.

This package can be included as a training or methodological support cost in research grant applications, and is often a cost-effective way to ensure correct implementation of analysis methods, reduce the risk of analytical errors, and improve the reproducibility and consistency of results across projects.

Institutional Package

The Institutional Package is designed for departments or institutions seeking to adopt CONN as a shared platform for functional connectivity analysis across multiple labs and research groups. This option combines infrastructure setup, training, and expert guidance to support consistent and scalable use of connectivity methods.

The package includes support for the installation and configuration of CONN on institutional computing resources (e.g., HPC clusters or shared servers), along with validation of example pipelines to facilitate immediate use by local researchers. This ensures that users within the institution can access a standardized and well-configured analysis environment.

Training is provided through access to CONN workshops, enabling researchers from different labs to develop a common methodological foundation. Additional consultation supports the definition of best practices, recommended workflows, and strategies for maintaining reproducibility across projects.

This option is particularly valuable for institutions aiming to support multiple research groups, streamline training efforts, and establish a consistent analytical framework for functional connectivity studies.