# Pilot studies

## Pilot study 1 – Bernstein Conference 2025 (PhD Symposium)

The first pilot study ran as a hackathon during the Bernstein Conference 2025 PhD Symposium, with roughly 80 participants divided into small teams. 
The teams tackled five questions from the CON²PHYS questionnaire that the participants had previously selected,
and worked on them for a full-day hackathon using the shared dataset.

Overall, very little consensus emerged across the teams on any of the five questions. 
Answers diverged both in terms of chosen analyses and in the resulting quantitative estimates, confirming that conceptual variability was substantial.

```{figure} _static/fig1-anonymized.png
:scale: 35
:align: center
:name: fig-pilot-bernstein-example

Pie charts of the answers to 2 multiple-choice questions asked at the 2025 Bernstein pilot study. The questions were on spike-spike correlations 
and directed functional connectivity. The distribution illustrates the low consensus across teams.
```

At the same time, many participants explicitly said that this was the first time they had been forced to think about “consistency” from this 
practical perspective, something that they described as refreshing and thought-provoking. 
This pilot strongly motivated us to continue with the full-scale project. 

## Pilot study 2 – Pre-COSYNE Brainhack

The second pilot study is planned as a two-day hackathon at the [Pre-COSYNE Brainhack](https://pre-cosyne-brainhack.github.io/hackathon2026/), 
in collaboration with the International Brain Laboratory (IBL). 
It will run on March 10–11 and will use the same core ideas as the first pilot, now in a more extended format and with tighter integration 
into the full CON²PHYS pipeline.

## Participating in both a pilot study and the full CON²PHYS project?

If you participated in one of the two pilot studies, this does not disqualify you from participating in the full CON²PHYS project.
On the contrary, we strongly encourage you to do so, since you have already completed a significant part of the study.
The only thing that we require is that you clearly indicate in the submission form that you participated in one of 
the pilot studies and answer the related questions.

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