TOSI: Promoting Open Science Across Canada

TOSI Approved Open Science Institutes

Ongoing Support for Partner Open Science Institutes

TOSI provides ongoing financial support and guidance for institutes that have fully committed to Open Science by adopting a set of TOSI-approved Open Science Principles. These Principles are based on those pioneered by The Neuro, tailored to the institute’s needs and context.

To be approved, an institute’s Open Science Principles must be submitted to and approved by TOSI. Following approval, TOSI will recognize the institute as an Open Science Institute and commit to setting aside a portion of its National Incentive Fund to provide yearly funding support, as well as continuing partnership to share its expertise in adopting Open Science practices at all levels within the institute.

The common ground created by institutional principles brings Open Science Institutes together into an alliance of partners that share the values the of transparency and collaboration at the heart of Open Science. By sharing resources and expertise, and facilitating collective action, the alliance works together to realize the potential of Open Science for understanding the brain and developing the treatments patients need.

The Hotchkiss Brain Institute - University of Calgary

The University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) is the first to partner with the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute (TOSI) and The Neuro in a commitment to adopting Open Science approaches across its research and innovation efforts.

To learn more about Open Science at HBI, including their Open Science Principles, visit their Open Science at the HBI page.

Douglas Research Centre – affiliated with McGill University and the MWI-IUHSSC

The Douglas Research Centre (DRC) is the second institute to adopt a set of TOSI-approved Open Science Principles and the first that is dedicated specifically to research in mental health. The DRC’s principles were developed over the course of a TOSI supported Open Science Buy-in Project and officially adopted in December 2021.

To learn more about the DRC’s Open Science program, principles, policies, and the support they offer their researchers in practicing Open Science, visit their Open Science at The Douglas page.

Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (University of British Columbia)

The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (CBH) designed it’s Open Science Principles through a TOSI supported Buy-in Project. The Principles were officially adopted and approved by TOSI in 2023.

You can read more in the CBH announcement here.

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

The CAMH Principles were approved by TOSI in 2023, making it the fourth institute to join the growing network of Open Science Institutes in Canada.

You can find the CAMH Open Science announcement here.

Western Institute for Neuroscience (Western University)

The Western Institute for Neuroscience (WIN) Open Science principles were approved in May 2024, after a TOSI supported Buy-in Project and an Open Science Seed Project.

More information on WIN's Open Science principles and framework here.

Please note: TOSI support for Seed Projects, Buy-in Projects, and Ongoing Support for Partners does not cover indirect costs.

Open Science Buy-in Projects

Buy-in Projects are one-year projects that enable an institute committed to adopting Open Science to:

• Assess its Open Science needs,
• Develop an Open Science Implementation Plan, and
• Establish Open Science Guiding Principles.

TOSI works closely with leaders of Buy-in Projects to identify stakeholders, develop a plan for implementing Open Science across the institute, and design a set of Open Science Principles tailored to the needs and strengths of the institute.

Ongoing Buy-in Projects

Simon Fraser University & SFU Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology (British Columbia)

• Start date: January 2023
• SFU Buy-in Project Team: Dr. Randy McIntosh (co-lead), Dr. Brianne Kent (co-lead), Dr. Kelly Shen (co-lead), Defne Bozkurt (Project Manager)

Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal (Quebec)

• Start date: July 2023
• CRIUGM Buy-in Project Team: Dr. Oury Monchi (co-lead), Dr. Pierre Bellec (co-lead)

Baycrest Academy for Research and Education (Ontario)

• Start date: July 2023
• Baycrest Buy-in Project Team: Dr. Donna Rose-Addis (lead)

Completed Buy-in Projects

Western Institute for Neuroscience (Ontario)

• Start date September 2021 (Completed)
• WIN Buy-in Project Team: Dr. Marco Prado (co-lead), Dr. Fay Harrison (co-lead), and Dr. Ryan Salewski (Project Manager)

Douglas Research Centre (Quebec)

• Start date November 2020
• DRC Buy-in Project Team: Dr. Gustavo Turecki (co-lead), Dr. Martin Lepage (co-lead), Dr. Isabel Bacellar (Open Science Project Coordinator), and Geneviève Morin (Open Science Project Manager)
• Paper describing the project: Opening up mental health research

UBC Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (British Columbia)

• Start date November 2021
• DMCBH Buy-in Project Team: Dr. Paul Pavlidis (lead) and Dr. Jeff LeDue (Project Manager)
• Paper discussing open science and patents: Open science in play and in tension with patent protections

Please note: TOSI support for Seed Projects, Buy-in Projects, and Ongoing Support for Partners does not cover indirect costs.

Open Science Seed Projects

Seed Projects are collaborative projects aimed at:

• Creating or expanding Open Science capabilities at partner institute(s),
• Increasing institutional and cross-institutional Open Science practices, and
• Demonstrating the value of Open Science to institutional stakeholders.

At least one Seed Project collaborator must be a Neuro researcher. Projects may involve adapting an Open Science solution created at The Neuro or co-developing new infrastructure, policies, and/or educational tools to make the practicing Open Science easier.

Through its National Incentive Fund, TOSI contributes $100,000 to support the collaboration, which must be matched by the non-Neuro collaborator(s). All outputs emerging from these projects, including software, educational materials, articles, and data must be shared as openly as practically possible.

List of Seed Projects

Brain Bank Seed Project with the Douglas Research Centre (Quebec)

A collaboration between the Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank and  The Neuro’s Clinical, Biospecimen, Imaging, and Genetic Repository (C-BIG) to enable the Brain Bank to adopt C-BIG’s open repository framework. The project is led by Dr. Gustavo Turecki (Douglas) and Dr. Jason Karamchandani (The Neuro).

C-OPN project with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary (Alberta)

A collaboration between C-BIG and the  Canadian Open Parkinson’s Network (C-OPN) to develop C-OPN’s IT infrastructure, the collection of blood samples, and the deposition of samples and data into C-BIG. The Project is led by Dr. Ziv Gan-Or (The Neuro) and Dr. Oury Monchi (Dr. Monchi was at the Hotchkiss but has since moved to CRIUGM).

Project completed May 2022.

Fibrephotometry Data Sharing project with Robarts Research Institute at Western University (Ontario)

A collaboration between Dr. Marco Prado (Robarts Research Institute) and Dr. Ted Fon (The Neuro) to expand the MouseBytes repository to include fibre photometry data and gather data to showcase this new capability.

OMERO Open Microscopy project with McGill and the University of Alberta (Alberta)

A collaboration between Dr. Stephen Ogg (Cell Imaging Facility at UoA), Dr. Claire Brown (McGill’s Advanced Bioimaging Facility), and Dr. Thomas Stroh (The Neuro’s Microscopic Cellular Imaging Facility) to expand the use of the Open Microscopy Environment in Quebec and across Canada, including expanded data storage, organization and curation, and the creation of educational materials.

Please note: TOSI support for Seed Projects, Buy-in Projects, and Ongoing Support for Partners does not cover indirect costs.