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Getting Started with BrainSTEM

Table of contents

  1. Create or Join a Group
    1. Accessing Groups
    2. Managing Group Membership
      1. Option 1: Create a New Group
      2. Option 2: Join an Existing Group
    3. Managing Group Membership Requests
  2. Create Your First Project
  3. Create Your First Subject
  4. Create Your First Session
  5. Build Your Own Experiment
    1. Available Components
    2. Recommended Setup Order

Create or Join a Group

Before you can start using BrainSTEM, you need to either create a new group for your lab or join an existing one. Groups in BrainSTEM help organize lab members and manage permissions for projects and resources.

Accessing Groups

  1. From your dashboard, locate and click the Users icon in the top right corner of the screen
  2. Select Groups from the dropdown menu Groups menu

Managing Group Membership

Once on the Groups page, you have two options:

Option 1: Create a New Group

If your lab doesn’t have a group yet:

  1. Click the Add group button in the top right corner
  2. Fill in the required information for your new group Add group button

Option 2: Join an Existing Group

If your lab already has a group:

  1. Click on the group name from the list of available groups
  2. On the group’s detail page, click the Request membership of group button
  3. Wait for a group manager to approve your request Request group membership

Managing Group Membership Requests

For group managers:

  1. Click the Users icon in the top right corner
  2. Select Requests & Invitations
  3. Navigate to the Group membership requests section
  4. Review and accept requests from your lab members

Labs should coordinate among their members to ensure proper group management. It’s recommended to have at least two group managers per lab.

Create Your First Project

After joining or creating a group, you can start creating projects. Projects in BrainSTEM are containers that help organize your research data, including subjects, datasets, and collections.

  1. Click on Projects in the left navigation menu
  2. Click the Add project button in the top right corner
  3. Fill in the required project information

First project

For detailed information about project fields and structure, see the Project data model.

Create Your First Subject

Once you have created a project, you can start adding research subjects. Subjects in BrainSTEM represent the experimental animals in your studies.

  1. Click on Subjects in the left navigation menu
  2. Click the Add subject button in the top right corner
  3. Fill in the required subject information

First subject

For detailed information about subject fields and available options, see the Subject data model.

Remember to associate your subject with the correct project(s) to ensure proper access and organization of your research data.

Create Your First Session

After adding subjects, you can create sessions to record your experimental data. Sessions in BrainSTEM help organize your experiments chronologically.

  1. Click on Sessions in the left navigation menu
  2. Click the Add session button in the top right corner
  3. Fill in the required session information

First session

For detailed information about session fields and options, see the Session data model.

Sessions inherit permissions from their associated projects. Make sure to select the correct project to enable proper access for your team members.

Build Your Own Experiment

BrainSTEM uses Personal Attributes and Modules to document your experimental procedures. Below is a recommended order for setting up your experiment components.

Describe experiment

Available Components

Personal Attributes:

Modules:

  1. Create experimental setups to define your physical experiment environment
  2. Define behavioral paradigms for your experimental tasks
  3. Set up data storage locations to organize your data files
  4. Set up inventories to track your lab resources
  5. Add procedures (e.g., surgeries, implants, injections)
  6. Configure equipment installations in your setups
  7. Set up behaviors to describe subject tasks
  8. Define manipulations for experimental interventions
  9. Configure data acquisition parameters
  10. Begin tracking with action logs and subject logs

The exact order may vary based on your specific experimental needs. Some components can be set up in parallel or may not be needed for every experiment.

This order ensures dependent components are created first. For example, behaviors need experimental setups and behavioral paradigms to be defined first.