We’re a professional society of scientists and practitioners who study the neuroscience of creativity.
SfNC’s mission is to foster research on the neural and cognitive bases of creativity and related constructs, and to provide a forum for communicating this research so that it has maximal impacts for education, health, innovation, and artistic performance.
Learn more about the Society and its mission here, and learn about our ongoing campaign to support creativity research.
News and Announcements
Important Information About our New SfNC Member Site
As of December 1, 2024, all SfNC membership benefits have been moved to our new member site, which is a different system than our previous membership service. Our annual membership fees have not changed. Active membership for the 2025 year using the new system is required to access the member site to submit conference abstracts or view previous event recordings in our member archives.
If you purchased or renewed your annual SfNC membership between June 1, 2024 and November 30th, 2024, your current membership will be honored for 2025 and you will receive instructions via email for how to access the new system.
Access the new SfNC member site:
Not a member yet or need to renew for 2025?
For our 10th Anniversary, we’re going to Paris!
The abstract submission period for talks and posters is December 3rd - January 17, 2025.
We’re thrilled to announce that the 10th annual meeting of the Society for the Neuroscience for Creativity will take place in Paris, France at the Paris Brain Institute (ICM). SfNC 2025’s theme, Creativity & Changing Brains, will investigate how creativity both drives and is driven by changes in the brain, whether those changes occur in clinical, developmental, or everyday contexts. Abstract submissions will be open to SfNC members from December 3rd, 2024 - January 17th, 2025. For more information, visit the event page.
Nominations now open for the 2025 SfNC Awards
SfNC is proud to offer three annual awards for its eligible members to recognize outstanding work in our discipline: the Young Investigator Award, the Dissertation Award, and the Sarah A. Burgess Award. We encourage all trainees and early-career creativity researchers who are eligible to apply. Individuals may be nominated by others or apply themselves.
The nominations period for the 2025 SfNC Awards cycle is December 3rd - January 17th. For more information and to apply or nominate someone, visit our awards page.
SfNC’s Fall Creativity Symposium
Our Annual Fall event happened on November 6th, 2024. The event included three exciting sessions on the latest research and perspectives in creativity science, featuring some of the leading voices in our discipline. Access to the event recordings is available for members on our member site.
SfNC welcomes its new President, Indre Viskontas!
Indre Viskontas, PhD has stepped into the SfNC Presidency role and will serve a two-year term from 2024-2026. Dr. Viskontas is a neuroscientist, musician, and science communicator. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco, where she leads the Creative Brain Lab, and is the Creative Director of the Pasadena Opera. She also hosts two popular science podcasts, Inquiring Minds and Cadence. We are thrilled to have Dr. Viskontas at the helm and excited for what’s to come under her tenure.
Dr. Viskontas takes over from outgoing SfNC President Dr. Evangelia Chrysikou (Drexel University). Roger Beaty, PhD (Penn State University) is SfNC’s new President-Elect.
Highlights and Learnings from SfNC2024: Creativity & Design
SfNC2024 took place in Toronto, Canada on April 11-12, 2024. We learned so much about the intersection of creativity and design research, and had a ton of fun together with our colleagues and fellow creativity researchers!
Check out our retrospective on SfNC2024 in the May edition of Creative Currents, where we share our top insights and takeaways from the meeting.
As a reminder, recordings from all sessions of the meeting are available on CrowdCast and are accessible to all members!
Creativity Masterclasses for Executives
SfNC partners with industry and academic partners to deliver creativity Masterclasses to teams and organizations who want to learn more about the latest research on creativity and how to apply it to their organizations. For more information about Creativity Masterclasses and how to engage with us to deliver one for your organization, fill out the interest form on our Masterclass Page.
Creativity Research Journal is the official journal of SfNC!
CRJ welcomes submissions from all areas of creativity research. Visit the journal page here.
SfNC relies on membership and donations to sustain our mission. Your donation supports SfNC events and initiatives that connect the creativity community, provide opportunities for scholars and educators, and broaden the impacts of creativity research.