Affinity Groups

We are currently seeking members interested in participating in an INS Affinity Group. The INS Affinity Groups provide an opportunity for members to come together to collaborate and engage around a specific topic.

If you would like to get involved in INS Affinity Groups, please fill out the questionnaire. You can select 'no group' or one specific group if mostly interested in that one more than the others.

Questionnaire

Topic Areas

• AI and Consciousness
• Cognitive Enhancement
• Cross-Cultural Collaboration
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Law and Legal Matters
• Neural Interfaces
• Public Communication and Publishing

We will be starting groups focused on these topics, but this is not an exhaustive list and we are keen to know what topics interest you and you'd like to see added to this portfolio.

Purpose and Format

Each Affinity Group can include many participants and will be co-led by two INS members. It is our intention that the co-leads for each group will include an early career professional and a more senior experienced professional to provide mentorship and guidance.

The aims of the Affinity Groups are to:

• Provide a platform for engagement with the broader membership focused around a particular topic
• Build international and interdisciplinary networks
• Tap into expert multidisciplinary scholarship
• Facilitate knowledge exchange/transfer between members with different expertise
• Form unique collaborations in cutting edge research
• Develop innovative research outputs and outreach activities
• Enrich the neuroethics research community
• Strengthen the INS through collaborative networks
• Engage postgraduate students and early career researchers interested in the affinity groups

Group Activities

We expect that members of the Affinity Group will meet approximately 4 times each year in order to engage in a range of activities. Each Affinity Group will determine the activities that it will pursue — which will generally reflect the stage of development of the topic area.

Possible activities could include:

• Undertaking a new research project as a group
• Developing a written work (manuscript, policy document, or other work) that tackles an important issue in neuroethics
• Hosting outreach activities to foster broader debate among stakeholders
• Providing a space for members to get feedback about current “works in progress”
• Organize collaborative knowledge exchange events/seminars within and across affinity groups

Activities, achievements and outputs of the Affinity Groups will be promoted by the INS. There may be opportunities for Affinity Groups to propose and present at future INS meetings.