Statement from the OCNS Board

The members of the Board of Directors of the Organization for Computational Neuroscience are concerned by recent activities initiated by the US President that may impact the visa status and immigration benefits of citizens of certain nations. These actions appear to be unnecessary from the perspective of national security and are discriminatory in nature. We wish to reaffirm the importance of international exchange to computational neuroscience. All areas of science are strengthened enormously by unfettered contact among colleagues from around the world.

The Organization for Computational Neuroscience will be pursuing specific measures to support participation from researchers affected and disadvantaged by any inappropriately restraining policies. We welcome input from members on how best to achieve this goal of international outreach, and all suggestions will be discussed at the CNS*2017 Meeting in Antwerp, Belgium. In particular, we will be pursuing measures to ensure that no contributor is inappropriately denied a chance to participate in the CNS*2018 Meeting to be held in Seattle, including the possibility of remote online participation for affected delegates.

Like many other scientific societies, we urge our colleagues to support efforts to maintain the international collegiality, openness, and exchange that are vital to the scientific community.