New Neuromatch Computational Behaviour Course: We are delighted to announce that Neuromatch, in partnership with and generously supported by Connected Minds, will be developing a new two-week Computational Behaviour Course to launch for the 2027 Neuromatch Academy! Neuromatch's very own Gunnar Blohm will be taking up the role as Course Director. If you'd like to get involved, we are beginning to gather interested folks who would want to be part of the curriculum committee — please join #a-27-behaviour-course-creation if you're interested.
This course will teach the computational foundations of collective behaviour: from processing raw behavioural recordings to modelling how agents perceive, communicate, coordinate, and form collectives. The course integrates modern measurement technologies (pose estimation, eye tracking, NLP, time-series coupling, network inference) with formal computational models (Bayesian inference, reinforcement learning, game theory, agent-based models) in a single coherent approach. It will be framed in agent-neutral terms, making the course equally relevant to neuroscientists, psychologists, social scientists, economists, AI researchers, and roboticists.
AISS Program: We held a successful webinar for potential applicants to our new AI Sentience Scholars program, a 6-month, part-time, fully remote mentored research program for early-career researchers. The program brings together researchers working at the intersection of AI, consciousness, and society, combining mentored research projects, workshops, seminars, an in-person convening, publication opportunities, and a stipend with research funding. Applications closed 28 April and we had 716 applications from 86 countries across our 10 projects!
Impact Scholars Program: The 2025–26 cohort of Impact Scholars wrapped up at the end of April, with 13 teams submitting micropublications and presenting their research at the open research presentations on 28–29 April. A couple of groups have been significantly affected by ongoing internet and geopolitical disruptions in Iran, which has unfortunately limited their ability to submit their work and participate in the final seminar presentations.
Upcoming Conferences: In July at the FENS Forum, Neuromatch will be partnering with ALBA Network (supported by IBRO) for a joint interactive event at focused on equitable global participation in neuroscience training. In November, Neuromatch will have a booth at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN). We're looking forward to connecting with our community in person and introducing our programs to new audiences — mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details as each event approaches!
Academy updates
Welcome 2026 Cohort: Excitement is building for the 2026 Cohort! This year we launched a new Neuromatch Tuition Toolkit to help students identify and request funding support for their participation; it's already been viewed over 1,400 times. Student and Teaching Assistant applications close 10 May.
Professional Development Mentor: This year we've shifted to Professional Development Mentors rather than Project Mentors. If you're a PhD level researcher or have equivalent industry experience, we'd love to have you mentor our cohort. It's a three-hour volunteer commitment across three sessions, and applications close 29 May. We hope you'll consider joining us!
New Course Exploration: We're exploring potential new courses and want your input to help shape what we build next! We're currently considering Connectomics and Neural Dynamics, Computational Behavioural Analysis & Modelling, and Computational Approaches to Neurodegeneration but we'd love to hear your ideas too! Take the 2-minute survey to let us know what you'd like to see, and join #a-new-course-exploration on Slack to get involved in the conversation!
Course Book Infrastructure Updates: All course books now take advantage of our optimised processing pipeline. Instead of processing notebooks in series, we can now process them in parallel, leveraging caches, resulting in a 20x speed improvement.
Portal Updates: We updated our Stripe integration for more reliable payments and added 10+ new methods including UPI, MB Way, and iDeal for broader global accessibility.
Fundraising
Newly Confirmed Funding:
New Computational Behaviour Course: Connected Minds have generously agreed to support Neuromatch with $400,000 CAD funding to support the development of our new computational behaviour course.
Pending Applications:
Coefficient Giving (Effective Careers): $330,000 over two years to integrate enhanced career mentorship into our existing programs.
Survival and Flourishing Fund (SFF): $1,000,000 over two years (Fairness Track) for unrestricted funding to support core organisational infrastructure and the expansion of key program initiatives.
Dana Foundation: Two pilot proposals currently under review, with decisions expected in June:
NeuroAI & Society ($180,000 total; $115,000 allocated to Neuromatch): Supports workshops, scholar-led projects, and hackathons exploring the ethical and societal implications of NeuroAI. Developed in partnership with the Institute of Neuroethics, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), and the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society at Georgia Tech.
NeuroAI: Intelligence in Brains and Machines High School Course ($180,000 total; $95,000 allocated to Neuromatch): A high school program developed in partnership with ARNI.
NIH BRAIN R25 Supplement: $60,000 supplement award to our existing grant supporting the Computational Neuroscience course, to fund annual Neuromatch team travel to SfN with an exhibitor booth to advertise our programs.
In Conversation/Drafting:
Gatsby Charitable Foundation: Awaiting the outcome of the March Trustees meeting, where their full neuroscience portfolio is under review, to understand next steps for preparing a full proposal for the Impact Scholars Program.
Allen Institute: In talks with senior leadership about regular funding support for the Academy and Impact Scholars program, and how to strengthen our partnership with Allen, including using more of Allen's data in our programming.
AWS Imagine Grant (Momentum to Modernize): Up to $50,000 in unrestricted financial support and up to $20,000 in AWS Promotional Credit. We are planning to submit an application to help us modernise our portal, including using it for better long-term impact tracking of our alumni.
Longview Philanthropy: Starting talks about next steps with AI Sentience Scholars after high demand in the first year.
Financial Snapshot
Financial Runway: As of 30 April 2026, Neuromatch Inc. held $971,456 in the bank. Based on current projections, and not accounting for pending or future fundraising, Neuromatch will exhaust available and committed funds in January 2028. This provides a conservative financial runway of approximately 20 months.