Call for GACs

Submissions of GACs are Closed.

Submission Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2026

What are the most exciting challenges in cognitive computational neuroscience and how might we solve them together? CCN will again be promoting Generative Adversarial Collaborations (GACs). The goal of a GAC is to make concrete plans to address important debates in our field -- and then to begin implementing these plans. CCN will prominently host GAC kickoff workshops during the annual meeting.

Please find more information about the GAC project and what we are looking for here.

What is a GAC?

A Generative Adversarial Collaboration (GAC) is a structured collaboration that brings together scientists with competing viewpoints to jointly design research that can resolve important debates in cognitive computational neuroscience. Unlike traditional symposia, GACs are specifically designed around a debate format where participants with opposing theoretical perspectives work together to create concrete experimental or theoretical proposals that can arbitrate between their positions. The unique "generative" aspect ensures tangible outcomes: all GAC teams commit to writing a position paper, and are given a guaranteed publication slot in the Neurons, Behavior, Data analysis, and Theory (NBDT) journal. The "adversarial" component refers to the competition between theories while "collaboration" emphasizes the cooperative spirit in which participants work together to advance the field. GAC workshops are highly interactive events at CCN that engage the broader community through debate, commentary, and collective problem-solving.

Not sure if you should submit a Community Event or GAC?

The key distinction lies in whether your topic centers on competing hypotheses or theories. Submit a GAC if you have clearly defined, interestingly competing viewpoints that people in the field actively debate: for instance, opposing theories about neural mechanisms, conflicting interpretations of empirical findings, or incompatible computational frameworks. Your GAC should present these perspectives in tension and propose ways to resolve them. Submit a Community Event if your topic is one where most attendees would generally agree on the fundamentals, and your goal is to encourage community engagement or discussion around a broadly relevant issue (such as open science practices, career development, new benchmarking challenges, or traditional symposium-style presentations on topics without competing hypotheses). GACs always entail a follow-up position paper within a special issue of NBDT. Community Events do not have to be accompanied by a paper. New in 2026 - we now also offer the option for Community Events to publish a position paper in NBDT. See Call for Community Events.

Application Details

The GAC application should be a single PDF (2 pages maximum) that includes the following sections:

• Title: Should clearly communicate the scientific challenge or controversy.
• Short Description: A brief (1 paragraph) summary of the GAC's question, approach, and the organizing team.
• Scientific Question and Background: State the empirical or theoretical question, and describe current evidence to lay the foundation for the question at hand.
• Challenge or Controversy: Clearly outline what the contentious issue or open question is in the field and where it stems from.
• Competing Hypotheses and Proposed Approach for Resolution: Present the alternative hypotheses and how you plan to address the question over the coming year or so.
• Concrete Outcomes: Describe outcomes that could be achieved in the next 5-10 years or so, and if possible, outline a plan to achieve those outcomes.
• Benefit to the Community: Explain how the GAC will benefit the community beyond the scientific knowledge itself, including consideration of relevance to the full CCN community and beyond.
• Team and Roles: List a core group (at least 2 committed collaborators with opposing viewpoints). All speakers for the GAC are expected to attend CCN 2026 in person. For each team member who is expected to present at the GAC, please state whether they commit to attend the GAC kickoff workshop in person; we ask that individuals not commit unless they are certain they can attend. Teams may include additional organizers  who cannot attend in person but will contribute significantly at the proposal and post-workshop stages. Proposals should clearly define roles for each member (1-2 sentences each). This can include: senior thought leaders in these areas, ideally for advisory positions; junior group leaders and postdocs who are likely to lead experiments or develop new theories resulting from the GAC process. Both theorists and experimentalists are welcome. At least one group member (maximum two) should be listed as the primary contact for coordinating the paper publication. This person can be, but is not necessarily, a GAC speaker (for instance, many of the most successful GACs had graduate students or post docs who took charge of putting together the paper drafts).  Submissions are encouraged to include an optional statement on additional diversity criteria (e.g., gender, seniority).
• Plan for the GAC Kickoff Workshop: Clearly outline how you plan to structure the kickoff workshop (15 minute presentation introducing the GAC to all CCN participants, plus 1:45 hour break out sessions for individual GACs). Given time constraints, we encourage teams to also engage the community asynchronously (e.g., Twitter/X polls, Slido, online discussions); please describe any such plans. Include how you would measure impact and community engagement of your GAC.  In addition, propose a "back-up plan" whereby if a member of the team is unable to attend in person due to unforeseen circumstances, the team is committed to replacing that individual with someone who can discuss the same topic, and whose inclusion does not impact the quality of the panel or skew the diversity of the group.
• Commitment: Include statements of commitment to the broader GAC process by each core member of the team.
• References: Can exceed the 2-page limit if necessary.

Submission Method

As part of the submission process, you will upload a single PDF file that should not exceed two pages in length. You will need to have the email addresses of all co-applicants that are part of the proposal. By typing their names you confirm that everyone is willingly part of this proposal application, and we will email confirmation to all co-applicants.