Reproducible Neuroimaging Made Easy: A Practical Guide to Software Containers

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 

Neuroimaging research often depends on specialized software, which many of us know can
be a time-consuming and frustrating challenge to install on local computers. But if setting up software locally takes days, how much longer would it take to configure and run it on a high- performance computing (HPC) cluster when scaling up analyses? For many, this question feels daunting. However, this talk aims to provide solutions that let you sleep easier at night. Software containers—self-contained environments that package applications with all their dependencies—offer a practical solution to this challenge. They make software portable across different computing environments, including HPC. Yet, building and managing containers can still feel complex for researchers without extensive technical expertise. Fortunately, neuroimaging data analysis platforms like Neurodesk (Renton, Dao, et al., 2024; Nature Methods) and BrainLife (Hayashi, et al., 2024; Nature Methods) have revolutionized.How the neuroimaging community accesses and utilizes containerized applications. These platforms simplify the process, making advanced computational tools accessible without requiring a computer science background. In this talk, we will introduce key concepts of software containers, demystify common terminology, and explore popular containerization platforms. We will demonstrate how containers enable reproducible neuroimaging workflows and highlight the ease of using these tools on platforms like Neurodesk and BrainLife. By the end of this session, attendees will see how they can leverage this technology to streamline their research, scale their analyses, and reduce the headaches often associated with complex software setups.