openMINDS — Open Metadata Initiative for Neuroscience Data Structures

Overview

openMINDS is the metadata framework developed by EBRAINS for describing neuroscience research products, including datasets, models, software, and workflows, with FAIR-compliant, machine-readable schemas. Every dataset, model, and software tool shared on the EBRAINS platform is described using openMINDS schemas as part of the curation process.

Schema Collections

openMINDS is organised into domain-specific schema collections. The core collection covers fundamental research product metadata including datasets, persons, organisations, licences, protocols, subjects, specimens, and digital identifiers. SANDS (Spatial Anchoring in Neuroscience Data Structures) handles spatial anchoring of data to brain atlases, using UBERON for cross-species region terms and mapping to specific atlas versions such as Allen CCF, BigBrain, and MNI. The computation collection covers computational models, simulations, and workflows. The controlled terms collection is the controlled vocabulary library for openMINDS, covering brain regions, species, techniques, licences, and more.

Connections

• Produced by: EBRAINS
• Uses: UBERON (brain region annotation), BIDS (dataset organisation conventions), NWB (electrophysiology data format)

Resources

• https://openminds.ebrains.eu
• https://github.com/HumanBrainProject/openMINDS (GitHub repository)
• https://kg.ebrains.eu (EBRAINS Knowledge Graph, powered by openMINDS)