Brainhack School 2025 - Call for Peer Instructors
Brainhack School 2025 will take place from May 5th - 30th, 2025, as distributed across the worldwide hubs. We are currently seeking 4-6 Peer Instructors for the Toronto hub of the course (May 5-30).
More information on the benefits and expectations for Peer Instructors is given below.
The Brainhack School is a 4-week long, hybrid, project-based course in neural data science that hosts students with backgrounds in neuroscience, psychology, and computer science. Students are able to work on their own data and select tools directly relevant to their objectives, while receiving feedback and guidance from a team of instructors. The Toronto BrainHack School hub is organized by a team lead Erin W Dickie (Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health KCNI-CAMH), with support from the Ontario Brain Institute Centre for Analytics. The school will rotate locations to give students a sense of the diversity of research happening in Toronto, with in-person classrooms at SickKids, Toronto Metropolitan University, Krembil Discovery Tower at Toronto Western Hospital and CAMH-KCNI (250 College Street).
Instructor FAQ
Who can be a Peer Instructor at the Brainhack School?
Any graduate or postgraduate students or early career researchers affiliated with one of the Brainhack School hubs.
What skill sets and expertise are expected?
An instructor is expected to have a good understanding of how to conduct scientific research, expertise in one (or more) of neuroscience, psychology, statistics, or computational science, and be open to further developing their skill sets.
What are the duties of a Peer Instructor?
- Familiarize themselves with the school practices and structure.
- Familiarize themselves with module content and assignments at https://school-brainhack.github.io/weeks/.
- Help students navigate the Discord course website and materials.
- Attend and provide feedback at in-person student project pitches and wrap-up presentations.
- Attend in-person office hours where they guide students with queries, help troubleshoot project issues and give feedback on their project’s progress and planning.
- Keep track of the student’s progress.
- Report technical and practical problems to their local hub organizers.
- Support with course logistics (i.e., arriving early for at least two sessions to unlock rooms and make sure students have access to resources (i.e., datasets, wifi) when they arrive, or staying in-person till lock up.
What are the benefits of being a Peer Instructor?
- Gaining practical and theoretical knowledge of the course materials.
- Improving teaching and mentorship skills.
- Peer working and collaborative research activities.
- Being part of a network of researchers and students from various institutes across the Globe.
- An award honorarium of $750 to support their time and effort
How many hours a day/week is a Peer Instructor expected to contribute?
The school will run over 10 in-person full business days over the course of 4 weeks. Gaps between in-person days are intended so that peer instructors can return to their duties (academic or work) outside of the school. During in-person days, peer instructors are encouraged to remain in the in-person classroom as much as possible.
Most in-person days include two “office-hour” periods where students ask questions about modules, report progress and receive support planning and executing their projects. We aim to have at least 3 peer instructors (plus the course instructor) present at each office hour session - this means that each peer instructor should plan to attend (in-person) approximately half of the office hour sessions.
Responsibilities are outlined below.
|
Responsibility |
Date/Time |
Approx hours |
|---|---|---|
|
Attend planning meetings |
TBA (based on group availability) |
2 |
|
Module review (course prep) |
On your time |
3.5 |
|
Attend and introduce yourself during the opening lecture |
May 5th 10-11am |
1 |
|
Attend and ask questions at project pitch presentations |
May 15th, afternoon |
2 |
|
Attend and ask questions at project wrap-up presentations |
May 30th afternoon |
2 |
|
Attend Office Hours |
10-11am or 1pm-2pm during days school is in person - Peer instructors attend 9 of their choice |
9 |
|
“Open classroom” and welcome students |
One morning of choice |
1 |
|
“Close classroom” - be the last one out |
One evening of choice |
1 |
|
Monitoring virtual classroom (i.e., audio quality/questions) during hybrid lectures/tutorials |
One lecture of choice |
1 |
|
Attending Debriefing Meeting |
TBA - based on group availability |
1 |
|
Approx Total Hours |
25 |
Why do we say “Peer Instructor” and not “Teaching Assistant”?
While part of BrainHack School will be credited as a University of Toronto Module (MSC1127H, 0.25 credit) with the Institute of Medical Sciences, BrainHack School is considered an independent, GTA-wide initiative of the University of Toronto. Peer Instructors at BrainHack School are not considered Teaching Assistants by the University of Toronto. Peer instructors do not hold the contractual rights or responsibilities of a University of Toronto Teaching Assistant. Peer Instructor time is compensated by CAMH at the rate expected for “volunteer contribution to educational programming” (i.e. $30/hour * 25 hours = $750).