Scientific Research

Promoting Open Discussions of Scientific Failure within the Annual Society for Neuroscience Conference

June 24, 2025

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT

Join this interactive session as Megan Hagenauer and Daniela Schiller discuss their paper, “Promoting Open Discussions of Scientific Failure within the Annual Society for Neuroscience Conference”, with eNeuro Editor-in-Chief Christophe Bernard. Attendees can submit questions at registration and live during the webinar. 

Below is the significance statement of the paper published March 28, 2025, in eNeuro and authored by Megan H. Hagenauer, A. David Redish, Daniela Schiller, Kristin L. Bigos, Shelly Flagel, Amilcar Rodriguez, Zac Parker, Angela O’Connor, Xilma Ortiz-Gonzalez, Deirdre Murphy, Rachel Leeson, and Community for Rigor.

Open discussions of failure can increase transparency, resilience, and mental well-being within the scientific community. In this article, we share the materials that we have used at the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting (2021–2024) to promote open discussions of scientific failure, along with their rationale, and practical guidance regarding their logistics and usage. These materials can serve as a guide for scientists and scientific organizations interested in providing space for open discussions of failure within their educational programs and conferences.

Speakers

Megan Hagenauer, PhD

Megan Hagenauer, PhD, is an assistant research scientist within the Michigan Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan. She earned her BA in neuroscience at Grinnell College, IA, and then completed both her PhD and postdoctoral training in neuroscience at the University of Michigan. She is best known for her research on the biological basis for adolescent sleep patterns, which has been used to support legislation delaying school start times around the country. Since then, she has switched fields to become a professional bioinformatician, characterizing gene expression profiles in the brain in relationship to stress, temperament, and psychiatric disorder. She is particularly passionate about research reproducibility, experimental design, and the mentorship of young scientists, and has been hosting events within the Society for Neuroscience to celebrate the role of failure in scientific progress. Her research is funded by the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Research Disorders Consortium, Hope for Depression Research Foundation, and National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Daniela Schiller, PhD

Daniela Schiller, PhD, is a professor in the department of psychiatry, the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, and the Friedman Brain Institute, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research is focused on emotional learning and memory and social cognition. Schiller got her PhD at Tel Aviv University and then continued to do a postdoctoral fellowship at New York University. She joined Mount Sinai in 2010 and has been directing the laboratory of affective neuroscience since. Her lab has delineated the neural computations of threat learning, how the brain modifies emotional memories using imagination, and the dynamic tracking of affective states and social relationships. Schiller is a Fulbright Fellow and a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, and has been the recipient of many awards, including the New York Academy of Sciences’ Blavatnik Award, and the Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences.

Christophe Bernard, PhD

Christophe Bernard, PhD, is the PhysioNet team leader in at the Institute of Neuroscience Systems at the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). His research focuses on understanding how physiological and pathological behaviors emerge from the organization and reorganization of the underlying neuronal architecture, with an emphasis on epilepsy. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of eNeuro.

Who can attend these webinars? All webinars in this series are complimentary to SfN members. Join or renew for access. This webinar is $15 for nonmembers.  

Will the webinars be available on demand? Yes, all webinars will be available to watch on demand after the live broadcast.   

How do I access the conference on the live day? After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the event link and the option to download calendar reminders.   

What are the technology requirements for attending? These webinars are hosted on Zoom Webinar. Instructions for joining and participating in a webinar can be found here.    

Can I ask the presenters questions? Yes! You can submit any questions before the webinar through the registration form. During the webinar, you can submit questions through the Q&A box.   

I have other questions not answered here. Email neuronline@sfn.org with any other questions.

Review SfN’s Code of Conduct, rules for virtual events in the Digital Learning Community Guidelines, and communications policies regarding dissemination of unpublished scientific data, listed below. SfN asks that conference attendees respect the sensitivity of information and data being presented that are not yet available to the public by following these guidelines:  

Do not capture or publicly share details of any unpublished data presented.  
If you are unsure whether data is unpublished, check with the presenter.  
Respect presenters' wishes if they indicate that the information presented is not to be shared.

 Webinar Refund Policy 

What is the cancellation/refund policy for webinars? 
If SfN changes fundamental details of the webinar (date, time, or speakers), non-member registrants may request a registration refund. To request a refund, please email neuronline@sfn.org at least 48 hours before the event. Otherwise, refunds are not provided. All webinars are complimentary to SfN members. 
SfN webinars can be watched on demand if someone is unable to attend the live broadcast.

Promoting Open Discussions of Scientific Failure within the Annual Society for Neuroscience Conference

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