FNIRS Summer School 2025

2025 FNIRS Summer School

Dates: July 14th (Mon) – July 16th (Wed) 2025.
Location: Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.

Washington University in St. Louis is excited to host this year’s fNIRS summer school in collaboration with the Society of fNIRS. This event presents a unique opportunity for fNIRS researchers of all career stages to engage with the community. Participants will gain comprehensive insights ranging from foundations of fNIRS/DOT lectures to hands-on sessions on data processing using NeuroDOT, alongside applications in the field. The summer school will also feature an industry session and a poster session, offering invaluable networking opportunities and a platform for early career researchers to highlight their contributions.

Schedule & Locations

All events except for the lab tours and the social event happen on the first floor of the Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA (NRB).

• Registration & Check-In + Break: Lobby of the NRB
• Lectures and Hands-On: Auditorium of the NRB
• Lab Tours: Couch Biomedical Research Building + East Imaging Building (we will walk you there in groups)
• Social Event: City Foundry STL

Time	July 14, Monday​ fNIRS/HD-DOT fundamentals	July 15, Tuesday​ Processing, analysis​	July 16, Wednesday​ Applications of fNIRS/HD-DOT​
8:00-9:00 AM	Registration & Coffee + Snacks	Registration & Coffee + Snacks	Registration & Coffee + Snacks
9:00-10:30 ​AM (90 min)	Opening Remarks Lecture: fNIRS/HD-DOT Fundamentals Speaker: Joseph Culver	Lecture: Data Processing Techniques​ Speaker: Adam Eggebrecht	Lecture: Applications of fNIRS/HD-DOT Speaker: Meryem Yücel, Joy Hirsch
10:30-10:45 AM	Break	Break	Break
10:45 AM -12:15​ PM (90 min)	Lecture: Experimental Design Speaker: Dalin Yang, Maria Catalina Camacho	Hands-on ​ Pre-Processing and Measurement-Space Analyses Speaker: Emma Speh, Ari Segel	Poster Session & industry exhibits
12:15-1:15 PM	Lunch Break	Lunch Break	Lunch Break
1:15-2:45 PM​ (90 min)	Careers in fNIRS panel Representatives from industry, academia, and the interface of both Panelists: Jeremy Burnison, Janet Sorrells, Leo Shmuylovich, Lan Yang, Thomas O’Sullivan, Joy Hirsch	Hands-on ​ Model Generation: Pad Files, Array Placement,  Reconstruction, and Validation Speaker: Emma Speh, Ari Segel, Wiete Fehner	Lecture:​ Data processing + analysis Speaker: Emma Speh, Morgan Fogarty, Sungmin Park
2:45-3:15 PM	Coffee + Snacks	Coffee + Snacks	Coffee + Snacks
3:15-4:45​ PM (90 min)	Lab Tours & System Showcase	Lecture: Advanced Experimental Design Speaker: Aahana Bajracharya, Wiete Fehner, Will Hamic	Lecture: Beyond Continuous Wave Speaker: Thomas O’Sullivan, Xiaojun Cheng
4:45-5:00 PM			Closing Remarks
5:30-8:30 PM		Social Event at the City Foundry STL

Instructors & Speakers

Panelists

Learn more about our panelists here!

Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors – EsperImage and NIRx

Silver Sponsors – Cortech Solutions and Gowerlabs

Additional Sponsors – McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience, Society for fNIRS, and ISS Medical

Transportation & Accomodation

St. Louis is easily accessible by car or train through the St. Louis Lambert International Airport and by bus through the Gateway Station.

There are many hotels in all price ranges within walking distance of the event location. Here are some recommended hotels.

We have a courtesy hotel block discount code for AC hotels CWE.

• The promo code is: W14. This will give your guests a 15% discount off the best available rate at the time of booking.

Other Hotels in the area include: Aloft St. Louis Cortex, Home2 Suites by Hilton St. Louis/Forest Park and The Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza St. Louis.

Registration

In-person registration closes June 14th. Registration stays open for WashU (until spots are filled) and virtual attendees.

• Refunds are available only if cancellation is reported to Stacey Ladieu (admin@fnirs.org) by June 27, 2025. All funds will be reimbursed minus a $25 USD cancellation fee.
• No refunds will be issued for cancellations after June 27, 2025, as most sessions will be available virtually and for on-demand viewing.
• In-person attendees who must cancel at the last minute due to COVID-19 infection or visa issues will have their registration converted to virtual-only. Documentation will be required.

Registration fees

In-Person Registration Fee	$300
Virtual Attendance* Registration Fee	$150
WashU** (Faculty, Staff, Students)	$25

In-person registration includes daily lunch, as well as morning and afternoon coffee and light refreshments throughout the three-day summer school program.

*Virtual attendees will have live access to lectures only. Lab tours, hands-on activities, the poster session, and the industry exhibit are exclusively for in-person attendees.

** Discounted registration fee of $25 will be applied to first 30 registrations from WashU, thanks to generous support from the McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience! Please make sure to use your @wustl.edu email address when signing up.

Travel Awards for Trainees

We offer travel and virtual attendance awards for early career fNIRS researchers, including undergraduates, graduates, research staff, and postdocs. The travel awards cover expenses up to $500 and waive the registration fee of $300. The virtual attendance awards waive the fee for virtual attendance of $150.

Apply for a travel award and learn more about application materials and selection criteria here.

Extended Application Deadline: May 12th, 2025 at 11:59PM (CST) April 28th at 11:59 PM CST.

Organizing Committee

Joseph P. Culver, PhD

Adam T. Eggebrecht, PhD

Dalin Yang, PhD

Sungmin Park, Imaging Science PhD Candidate

Morgan Fogarty, PhD

Wiete Fehner, Imaging Science PhD Candidate

Questions?

Contact Sungmin Park (s.park@wustl.edu)