Community Building: iBehave Open Technology Support Platform ("iBOTS")

This presentation introduces the iBehave Open Technology Support Platform (iBOTS) as a research software support group embedded in experimental neuroscience at the University Hospital Bonn. iBOTS works at the interface between scientific questions and technical implementation, helping researchers adopt open-source tools, improve data analysis workflows, and build more reproducible computational practices. The group combines one-to-one software consulting with scalable training formats, including Python, data analysis, research data management, workflow automation, open science, and neuroscience-specific software courses. Beyond direct support, iBOTS contributes to community building through external training events, outreach activities for young scientists, and participation in institutional committees on open science, RSE training, and RSE career development. Presented alongside the Software Carpentries at Research Software Day, the talk highlights iBOTS as a domain-specific model for expanding research software engineering capacity in neuroscience: not only by teaching tools, but by building sustainable local infrastructure for technical competence, collaboration, and reproducible research.