1 NeuroHub: A Research Information Environment for Neuroscientists Anne Trefethen 1 , David De Roure 1 , David Newman 2 , David Wallom 1 , Douglas Saddy 3 , Garry Smith 3 , Jeremy Frey 2 , Maria Susana Avila-Garcia 1 , Nigel Emptage 1 , Philip Newland 2 , Rahim Lakhoo 1 ,Vincent O'Connor 2 , 1 University of Oxford, 2 University of Southampton, 3 University of Reading Abstract— The NeuroHub project aims to develop a research information system for neuroscientists at three different partner institutions: Oxford, Reading and Southampton. Each research group has different working practices, research methodologies and user requirements, which have lead to the development of a system that supports a wide variety of tasks in the neuroscience research life cycle. In this paper, we present how these user requirements have been translated in a research information environment that supports a community of over 70 researchers using the system for day-to-day research tasks. Keywords--Information environment; user requirements; neuroscience, agile development, drupal, alfresco . I. INTRODUCTION The NeuroHub project is developing an information environment for neuroscientists, aiming to provide an environment that allows effective management of research data through the experimental process, storing, analysing, sharing, searching and publishing; and to allow booking laboratory equipment, communicating with colleagues, and generally supporting the whole research process. To achieve this wide-ranging vision requires building on existing components where possible, and building a system that is extensible to support easy integration of new or different tools that meet specific requirements. In order to capture those requirements there has been continuous user requirements gathering to identify which areas of the vision for NeuroHub, are of key importance to the neuroscientists and subsequently take priority within the project. This paper describes the work done in collecting user requirements and the development methodology used; briefly introduces the neuroscience areas that define the project; outlines the development work we have carried out to date including the challenges we faced; introduces the service as it is currently used by the exemplar groups; describes the feedback we have received to and the future direction of this work. II. NEUROSCIENCE BACKGROUND AND WORKING PRACTICES Neuroscience requires a broad set of research processes and tools in terms of experimental approaches, subject areas and data outputs, which in turn leads to a challenge when trying to develop an information environment to support neuroscience research. The aim is to develop an infrastructure that will serve bioscience more broadly. The neuroscience groups within the NeuroHub consortium reflect the diversity of the wider field of the discipline. The research areas of the groups involved cover behavioural, psychological, clinical, systems, cellular and molecular neuroscience. Oxford The Oxford neuroscientists involved in NeuroHub are focussed on the study of the molecular basis of synapse formation, plasticity and the regulation of neuronal morphology in the normal and diseased brain. They are examining the mechanisms of an activity-dependent form of neural plasticity known as long-term potentiation (LTP) [1]. Techniques used include: Electrophysiology, both patch clamp and voltage clamp and Microscopy - including florescent, confocal and Total Internal- Reflection Florescence (TIRF). The system needs to be designed to interface with any system developed to manage the data throughout the experimental lifecycle, while interfacing with their tools. The system needs to be designed for use by researchers ranging from undergraduate project students to group leaders and should allow users to easily share activities of researchers with their collaborators. It also needs to provide effective support for their research tools to annotate images and videos as they are being recorded, while making them available to other group members and collaborators. A search mechanism for images and videos, along with any associated metadata, from current and past projects is extremely desirable. Southampton A focus in Southampton is on the integrative analysis of brain function/dysfunction. The group utilizes different invertebrate model systems to understand particular features of the organization of neuronal networks and how different types of constituent interneurones contribute to the processing of sensory signals [2]. The insect used depends on the scientific question being addressed, but include locusts, the fruit fly, cockroaches and ants. Modelling is completed across levels of biological organisation The NeuroHub project is sponsored by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).