- NEST Users - NEST Initiative Mail

GetLocalNodeCollection at version 3.10
by Xavier Otazu 15 Jun '26

15 Jun '26

Hi! I have seen that in the latest 3.10 version you have deprecated GetLocalNodeCollection() ... I would very please you to DON'T do it. Since it has the "Local" word, we users know that it only returns MPI nodes. Hence, we know that we have to deal with it and the hight risk of incorrect code, but it is not more difficult that writing concurrent code in mind. This function HUGELY accelerates execution of the code because we (programmers) know that it (and operations on nodes and their connections) is executed in different MPI processes with different data. Best, Xavier

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday June 15, at 11:30 CEST (UTC+0200)
by Dennis Terhorst 15 Jun '26

15 Jun '26

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today *Monday June 15, at 11:30 CEST (UTC+0200).* As usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing and planned work in the team and highlight cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Feel free to join the meeting also if it’s just to bring your own quick questions for direct discussion in the in-depth section. Agenda * Welcome * Review of NEST User Mailing List * Project team round * In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2026-06-15-Open-NEST-Developer-… <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2026-06-15-Open-NEST-Developer-…> Looking forward to seeing you soon! Cheers, Dennis Terhorst Log-in information We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN <https://www.dfn.de/en/> (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 <https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800> * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you’re in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase “Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten”, just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. * Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): |vc.dfn.net##97938800| or |194.95.240.2##97938800| * Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de <mailto:97938800@vc.dfn.de> * By telephone: |+49-30-200-97938800| For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4 <http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4> -- Dipl.-Phys. Dennis Terhorst Coordinator Software Development Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10) Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Jülich Research Center, Member of the Helmholz Association 52425 Jülich, Germany http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Jülich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Düren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Stefan Müller Geschäftsführung: Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht (Vorsitzende), Dr. Stephanie Bauer (stellvertretende Vorsitzende), Prof. Dr. Ir. Pieter Jansens, Prof. Dr. Laurens Kuipers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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NEST 3.10 Released and NEST Conference 2026 — Last chance to sign up is now!
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 12 Jun '26

12 Jun '26

Dear NEST Users and Developers! I am very excited to announce the release of NEST 3.10 which brings a number of important improvements: * You can now pip install nest-simulator (on macOS especially, take a look at https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installation/pip_install.ht…) * PyNEST now interacts directly with the NEST kernel at the C++ level—the intermediary SLI layer has been removed. Your simulation scripts should at best require very minimal changes. * Improvements and extensions to eprop plasticity. * For details, see https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/v3.10/whats_new/v3.10/index.html NEST 3.10 was the work of 25 developers contributing 1876 commits across more than 170 pull requests—thank you to all who contributed! I would like to thank especially Dennis and Jessica as our release managers, Steffen for making NEST pip-installable and Jochen and Håkon for the overall design of the SLI-free NEST. NEST 3.10 is also the first release to which AI contributed significantly: In the sure hands of Jessica, Mistral and Claude contributed to the tedious chore of porting our test suite from SLI to Python. Also, now is the last chance to sign up for the NEST Conference 2026, which will take place next Tuesday/Wednesday. The final program is now available at https://events.hifis.net/event/3408/timetable/#all.detailed To register, please got to https://nest-simulator.org/conference! The absolutely final deadline for registration is this Sunday, 14 June, at 23.59 CEST (UTC+2). If possible, please use now the option to pay via PayPal, so your payment is received at once. If you pay by bank transfer, your payment must reach us by Monday morning! Best, Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Research Committee Chair, Faculty of Science and Technology Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no> Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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NEST Conference 2026 on 16/17 June — Program overview — Register now!
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 02 Jun '26

02 Jun '26

Dear NEST Users and Developers! We are very much looking forward to the NEST Conference 2026 which will take place in two weeks time on Tuesday / Wednesday 16/17 June 2026. I am excited to share with you an overview over the program we have assembled with three keynotes, three tutorials, one dozen talks and eleven posters. You will find presenters and contributions below. Please register at https://nest-simulator.org/conference at your earliest convenience * If you want to use the member rate (20€), you must apply for NEST Initiative e.V. membership and pay your dues by Sunday 7 June. Students, including PhD students, do not need to pay membership dues, for all others it is 25€ for 2026. Please go to https://www.easyverein.com/public/NESTINI/applicationform/13809 to apply. * Absolutely last deadline for registration is Sunday 14 June at 23.59 CEST (UTC+2). See you at the NEST Conference 2026! Hans Ekkehard Plesser on behalf of the organizing committee Keynote Agnes Korcsak-Gorzo Biologically plausible supervised learning in large-scale networks Fynn Dobler, Maxime Carrire Lost in translation: How porting a brain-constrained model of word semantics to NEST revealed undocumented model assumptions Pablo Martinez-Canada From Circuits to Signals and Back: Integrating Biophysical Forward Modelling and Simulation-Based Inference to Decode Brain Dynamics Tutorial Agnes Korcsak-Gorzo Biologically plausible supervised learning with event-driven eligibility propagation Charl Linssen, Pooja Babu Modeling and simulating neuron models from NESTML on neuromorphic hardware Willem Wybo Creating, analyzing, simplifying, and simulating biophysical neurons with NEAT Talks Carlos Enrique Gutierrez Neuro-Workflow: Agent-Assisted Brain Modeling Catherine Schofmann Scaling Neural Networks On Accelerators With Procedural Connectivity Generation Gianmarco Tiddia Scalable network construction method for NEST GPU enables efficient multi-GPU simulations Jan Eirik Skaar, Hans Ekkehard Plesser Practice report: Porting a complex network model from BRIAN2 to NEST Jan Vogelsang, Susanne Kunkel Rethinking Synapse Placement in NEST for Cache-Efficiency on Many-Core Exascale Architectures Mahesh Madhav, Hans Ekkehard Plesser Issue #3217: Making NEST a part of the SPEC CPU 2026 benchmark suite Melissa Lober NUMA balancing hampering performance of spiking network simulations Pedro Ribeiro Pinheiro Simulating prefrontal cortex dynamics in a data-driven spiking neural network Rafael Fernando Gigante A Large-Scale Spiking Network Model of the Primary Motor Cortex Razvan Gamanut Subthreshold Dynamics in a Gap-Junction-Coupled PV Network Model of the Claustrum Sinovia Fotiadou Bridging NEST Microcircuits to Zerlaut Mean-Field Models: A Reproducible Single-Region Workflow for the Virtual Brain Twin Tibor Rozsa Toward reliable visual prosthetic stimulation under highly variable spontaneous activity Poster Alex Dimitrov et al Statistics of spiking neural networks based on counting processes Ariel Shmilli et al Long-term memory consolidation in spiking neural networks Camilo Jara Do Nascimento et al Dendritic plateau potentials enable learning over long timescales Charl Linssen et al Automated code generation of advanced plasticity rules for the SpiNNaker neuromorphic platform using NESTML Daniel Todt Parameter specification in spiking neural networks using NEST and simulation-based inference José Villamar et al Scaling up to billions of spiking neurons and trillions of synapses with NEST GPU Krishna Kant Singh Empowering Neuroscience Research with Portable HPC Containers Marie Olli Structural plasticity in large-scale spiking neural networks Markus Diesmann On polynomials in spiking neuronal network simulations Noah Ostendorf Motiforge: Flexible Motif-Constrained Network Generation for Structured Neural Architectures Pooja Babu Modeling and simulating two-compartment neuron model with NESTML on NEST GPU -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Research Committee Chair, Faculty of Science and Technology President, NEST Initiative e.V. Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no> Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday May 18, at 11:30 CEST (UTC+0200)
by Dennis Terhorst 01 Jun '26

01 Jun '26

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today *Monday May 18, at 11:30 CEST (UTC+0200).* As usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing and planned work in the team and highlight cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Feel free to join the meeting also if it’s just to bring your own quick questions for direct discussion in the in-depth section. Agenda * Welcome * Review of NEST User Mailing List * Project team round * In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2026-05-18-Open-NEST-Developer-… <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2026-05-18-Open-NEST-Developer-…> Looking forward to seeing you soon! Cheers, Dennis Terhorst Log-in information We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN <https://www.dfn.de/en/> (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 <https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800> * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you’re in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase “Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten”, just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. * Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): |vc.dfn.net##97938800| or |194.95.240.2##97938800| * Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de <mailto:97938800@vc.dfn.de> * By telephone: |+49-30-200-97938800| For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4 <http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4> -- Dipl.-Phys. Dennis Terhorst Coordinator Software Development Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10) Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Jülich Research Center, Member of the Helmholz Association 52425 Jülich, Germany http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Jülich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Düren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Stefan Müller Geschäftsführung: Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht (Vorsitzende), Dr. Stephanie Bauer (stellvertretende Vorsitzende), Prof. Dr. Ir. Pieter Jansens, Prof. Dr. Laurens Kuipers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Release Candidate 3.10-rc1
by Dennis Terhorst 05 May '26

05 May '26

Dear users and developers, in preparation for the NEST 3.10 release, the pre-release version NEST 3.10-rc1 <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/releases/tag/v3.10_rc1> is now available for testing. This long-awaited release changes the inner structure by removing the legacy simulation language interface (SLI) layer and promoting PyNEST as primary user interface. People already using NEST via Python will benefit from the cleaner function calls, /without any changes necessary to their code/. Depending on the model setup, instantiation of large models may be noticeably faster. Additionally to the traditional install methods, the new version will be available in an unoptimized, non-MPI version via "pip install nest-simulator" once the release is complete. Due to a quirk in the process the pre-release version however is currently not installable with the usual "--pre" flag. If you want to test the pre-release version use `pip install nest-simulator==3.10rc1` as a workaround for now (we "yanked" the rc-version from PyPI). Note that pre-releases are not fully tested and will be removed after the actual release is complete, so don't base your work on it. Let us know about your experience! We'd be happy to hear where we can improve, and even happier to hear if you're happy. If everything goes well, we're looking forward to the full release in the coming days and will announce it accordingly. Best, Dennis https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/releases/tag/v3.10_rc1 -- Dipl.-Phys. Dennis Terhorst Coordinator Software Development Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10) Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Jülich Research Center, Member of the Helmholz Association 52425 Jülich, Germany http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Jülich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Düren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Stefan Müller Geschäftsführung: Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht (Vorsitzende), Dr. Stephanie Bauer (stellvertretende Vorsitzende), Prof. Dr. Ir. Pieter Jansens, Prof. Dr. Laurens Kuipers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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NEST is now part of SPEC CPU 2026
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 05 May '26

05 May '26

Dear NEST Users and Developers, Today is an exciting day in the history of NEST: The NEST Simulator is now part of the SPEC CPU 2026 industry benchmark. You can find the list of benchmarks here https://www.spec.org/cpu2026/docs/overview.html#Q13, where NEST is included with two cases (single and multithreaded). SPECrate®2026 Floating Point: nest.767_r SPECspeed®2026 Floating Point: nest.867_s For more on SPEC CPU 2026, see Madhav, M., Lee, A., Mejia, A., Moore, B., Soppadandi, C., Cambly, C., Müllner, C., Bowers, D., Reiner, D., Bakhvalov, D., Zhao, D., Voth, D., Xue, F., Silber-Chaussumier, F., Bucek, J., Southern, J., Liu, J., Himer, J., Henning, J., … Todorovski, Z. (2026). SPEC CPU: The Next Generation (Version 1). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/ARXIV.2605.01575 The two-year process of getting NEST ready for SPEC CPU 2026 is documented in the now closed issue https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues/3217. I consider the inclusion of the NEST Simulator in the SPEC CPU 2026 industry benchmark a tremendous validation of over 30 years of focused work on quality research software engineering and would like to thank all who have contributed to NEST code for making this success possible. I'd also like to thank Mahesh Madhav from Ampere Computing for promoting NEST as a SPEC CPU test case and for the excellent collaboration in getting NEST ready for the benchmark. All the best! Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Research Committee Chair, Faculty of Science and Technology Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no> Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday May 4, at 11:30 CEST (UTC+0200)
by Dennis Terhorst 04 May '26

04 May '26

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today *Monday May 4, at 11:30 CEST (UTC+0200).* As usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing and planned work in the team and highlight cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Feel free to join the meeting also if it’s just to bring your own quick questions for direct discussion in the in-depth section. Agenda * Welcome * Review of NEST User Mailing List * Project team round * In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2026-05-04-Open-NEST-Developer-… <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2026-05-04-Open-NEST-Developer-…> Looking forward to seeing you soon! Cheers, Dennis Terhorst Log-in information We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN <https://www.dfn.de/en/> (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 <https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800> * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you’re in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase “Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten”, just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. * Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): |vc.dfn.net##97938800| or |194.95.240.2##97938800| * Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de <mailto:97938800@vc.dfn.de> * By telephone: |+49-30-200-97938800| For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4 <http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4> -- Dipl.-Phys. Dennis Terhorst Coordinator Software Development Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10) Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Jülich Research Center, Member of the Helmholz Association 52425 Jülich, Germany http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Jülich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Düren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Stefan Müller Geschäftsführung: Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht (Vorsitzende), Dr. Stephanie Bauer (stellvertretende Vorsitzende), Prof. Dr. Ir. Pieter Jansens, Prof. Dr. Laurens Kuipers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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NEST Conference 2026: Abstract submission deadline on Sunday 3 May
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 30 Apr '26

30 Apr '26

Dear NEST Users! Just a quick reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the NEST Conference 2026 is this Sunday, 3 May. Please submit your abstract on the conference website https://www.nest-initiative.org/conference. Best, Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Research Committee Chair, Faculty of Science and Technology Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no> Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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Hackathon at the University of Sussex, UK, 22-25 June 2026
by Johanna Senk 27 Apr '26

27 Apr '26

Dear NEST Users, We are organising an *application-oriented hackathon* in the week after the NEST Conference 2026. This in-person event will take place at the *University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, on the 22-25 June*. Your are welcome to bring your ideas for new NEST features and get started implementing them with the help of experienced NEST developers. For more information and *registration*, you may visit: https://events.hifis.net/event/3366 Please note that while participation is free of charge, costs for travelling, accommodation, food/drinks, etc. are *at your own expense.* If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me ( J.Senk(a)sussex.ac.uk ). Best regards, Johanna Senk -- Dr. Johanna Senk Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience Jülich Research Centre, Juelich, Germany --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Jülich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Düren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Stefan Müller Geschäftsführung: Prof. Dr. Astrid Lambrecht (Vorsitzende), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Dr. Ir. Pieter Jansens --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Forschungszentrum Jülich is currently switching to a new certificate provider for digitally signing emails. During this changeover, the DFN Community PKI certificate used to sign this email may be displayed as invalid.

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