From Keypoints to Behavior – A Successful Workshop in Behavioral Analysis
Between October 14 to 17, DYNA Brain, in collaboration with Nencki OpenLab, successfully hosted the hands-on workshop “From Keypoints to Behavior: Pose Estimation and Behavior Analysis”, part of the idpIN Doctoral Program training portfolio.
This workshop took place at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra (CNC-UC) in Cantanhede, Portugal.
Over the course of four intensive days, participants learned how to transform raw video data into meaningful behavioral insights using two leading open-source tools in neuroscience research: DeepLabCut and Keypoint-MoSeq.
The workshop combined theory and practice, guiding participants step by step through:
- Navigating the DeepLabCut workflow (both GUI and code)
- Annotating and training models for high-quality tracking
- Managing multi-animal datasets and preprocessing pipelines
- Applying Keypoint-MoSeq to identify and interpret behavioral motifs and patterns
The workshop gathered 13 young researchers, including PhD students, postdocs, and early-career scientists from institutions around the world, all eager to enhance their skills in cutting-edge computational behavioral analysis. Participants even had the opportunity to work with their own experimental videos, turning the workshop into a launchpad for real-world research applications.
A heartfelt thank-you goes to our dedicated tutors — Konrad Danielewski (Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS), Flavia Ricciardi and Ilaria Adua Sarnicola (DYNA Brain, CNC-UC) — for their expertise, enthusiasm, and commitment throughout the sessions.
Participants joined from:
Universidade de Coimbra, Indiana University, Paris Brain Institute America, Center for Psychology (University of Porto), IPMC CNRS – University Nice Sophia Antipolis, Universidad de Cádiz, University of Edinburgh, Aix-Marseille University, Institut de Biologie de l’École Normale Supérieure (IBENS), University of Geneva, Max Delbrück Center, University of Amsterdam, and Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS.
More info here.