Background

An ISMRM “Challenge” is a competition aimed at identifying robust solutions to impactful open research questions within the scope and mission of the ISMRM, often including a component at the Society’s Annual Meeting. Challenges promote interest, engagement, involvement, and innovation by members of the society, often (ideally) promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration within our membership. They can also promote reproducible science and harmonization of methods by laying down clear benchmarks to qualify any new solutions. The Society supports appropriate Challenge activities that are aligned with and promote the interests and goals of the ISMRM and the activities of the Annual Meeting. Typically, an ISMRM Challenge is announced at one Annual Meeting and concludes at the following one.

Proposing a Challenge

Challenge submissions should provide detail on the following topics:

• Rationale of the Challenge
  • What problem is the Challenge aiming to solve?
  • Why is solving the problem relevant and impactful? In other words, what is the clinical and/or research need for the Challenge?
  • Why is now the right time for the Challenge? Is the Challenge justified by new technical developments, new clinical need, new circumstances, etc.? Is sufficient interest warranted for the Challenge?
  • If applicable, how is this different from past Challenge proposals? If similar, why is a new Challenge needed for this topic?
  • A brief survey of relevant literature to give an idea of the expected participation.
• Proposed design of the Challenge
  • How do participants compete? Are there any particular requirements?
  • How is progress evaluated?
  • What is the overall timeline / phases of the Challenge?
  • What data will be used for the Challenge, and how will it be shared?
• Organizers of the Challenge
  • Members of the Challenge committee and their roles, especially the primary responsible contact.
  • Diversity of the challenge committee (gender, geography, seniority, MD/PhD).

Accepted Challenges

• If the challenge is accepted by the AMPC, the committee charged with review and oversight of all challenges, the AMPC chair will appoint one AMPC member to join as an ex officio member of the challenge committee. The AMPC representative shall assist the group to ensure coordination with the AMPC Chair and ISMRM central office. Note, however, that it will be the responsibility of the lead organizer to ensure all requirements, conditions and communications are met.
• Accepted challenges will be formally listed on challenge.ismrm.org prior to the annual meeting. Each challenge will get a dedicated page that will include the following sections (the details of these sections are customizable, and the content will be provided by challenge organisers):
• Announcement of the challenge including abstract and links to more detailed documentation, challenge procedures, scoring system etc.
• Registration form for competing teams or individuals. Detailed responses will be provided to challenge organisers.
• Results submission form for competing teams, including information about the approach etc as needed.
• Leaderboard displaying the scores of each competitor and a ranking, links to profiles of competing teams, links to paper or report provided by challenge organisers etc.
• Accepted challenge proposals will be formally launched at the upcoming annual meeting and advertised by the ISMRM in emails or by the Society newsletter to the membership.

Presenting the Results from a Challenge

The general expectation is that challenges will present their results by submitting a scientific abstract to the annual meeting following the meeting where they are launched. However, if appropriate, challenges can remain open for a longer period, or have a shorter timeline if an urgent outcome is required.

Closing or Maintaining a Challenge

After reporting the results, the organizers can choose to close the challenge or keep it open, especially for challenges that have the potential to develop into generally accepted benchmarks for method development.

Important Notes

The final responsibility and any decisions regarding Challenge activities at the Annual Meeting fall to the AMPC Chair in consultation with the President and the Executive Director.

The AMPC chair retains the right to withdraw the challenge if the predefined processes as approved by the AMPC are no longer adhered to.

How to Submit a Challenge Proposal

Please click here and fill out the online form.

If you have any questions, please contact the ISMRM Central Office at challenges@ismrm.org.