The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity

What The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity does

The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC) is a U.S.-based non-profit professional society founded in 2015 by Dr. David Beversdorf and a steering committee of leading researchers. Its mission is to foster research on the neural and cognitive bases of creativity and to provide a forum for communicating that research across education, health, innovation, and artistic performance. The society serves academic faculty and trainees in psychology, neuroscience, and the arts; professional artists; general-interest members; and corporate teams seeking executive education in creativity.

SfNC's core offerings include its annual flagship conference (rotating across Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, San Diego, Toronto, Paris, and Philadelphia through 2026), tiered individual memberships ($35-$75/year), the CrossTalks virtual event series at the intersection of art and science, Creativity Masterclasses for executive audiences, the official Creativity Research Journal partnership with Taylor & Francis, the Creative Currents monthly newsletter, an SfNC awards program, a branded merchandise store, and field-defining research initiatives including the Definitions Consensus Project and the Creativity Ontology Project developed in partnership with ISSCI.

The society operates with roughly 5 staff and no fixed headquarters, relying on a distributed Executive Committee and rotating volunteer leadership (currently Indre Viskontas, President 2024-2026). Revenue derives from membership dues across four tiers (Academic Faculty, Academic Trainee, Artist Affiliate, and General/Federal), conference registration fees ($120-$300), donations supporting the Creativity Research Fund, and merchandise sales. Strategic partnerships with APA Division 10, NeuroArts Blueprint, ISSCI, NSF, and Dance for PD extend reach into adjacent professional communities and provide funding and co-programming channels.

Name

The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity

Legal name

The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity

Website

https://tsfnc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity is a U.S. non-profit professional society, founded in 2015, that convenes academic researchers, professional artists, and corporate teams to study and communicate the neural and cognitive bases of creativity through annual meetings, tiered memberships, virtual CrossTalks events, and field-defining consensus research initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from multiple tiers including Academic Faculty ($75), Academic Trainees ($35), Artist Affiliates ($45), and General Members ($45). Membership provides free registration to annual meetings, eligibility to submit abstracts, access to member directory and archives.
2. Conference Registration: Revenue from annual meeting registrations. 3-day non-member registration is $300, single-day registration is $120. Social events and additional programming also generate revenue.
3. Merchandise Sales: E-commerce store selling branded merchandise including sweatshirts ($34-38), t-shirts ($22-24), accessories (mugs $15, water bottles $28, notebooks $18), and conference merchandise.
4. Donations: SfNC relies on membership and donations to sustain its mission. Donations support SfNC events and initiatives that connect the creativity community, provide opportunities for scholars and educators, and broaden the impacts of creativity research.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SfNC is a nonprofit professional society that convenes scientists and practitioners studying how the human brain enables creativity. It provides tiered annual memberships, an annual scientific conference (SfNC Annual Meeting), executive Creativity Masterclasses, virtual CrossTalks events, and research initiatives such as the Definitions Consensus Project and Ontology Project, all centered on fostering research on the neural and cognitive bases of creativity.

Product overview

The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity operates as a professional society offering a unified membership platform with multiple tiers, annual conferences (SfNC Annual Meeting), virtual programming (including CrossTalks events), executive education through Creativity Masterclasses, an official journal (Creativity Research Journal), awards programs, and an online merchandise store. The core offering centers on convening the creativity neuroscience community through annual meetings, providing membership benefits including access to recordings and the member site, and supporting research through the Creativity Research Fund and Ontology Project initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Creative Currents: SfNC's monthly newsletter providing announcements, research updates, and information about SfNC's programming, annual meeting, and initiatives.
• CrossTalks

Products and services

• SfNC Membership Tiered annual professional society membership offered at $75/year (Academic Faculty), $35/year (Academic Trainee), $45/year (Artist Affiliate and General Member), and $45/year (Federal Employee), providing free Annual Meeting registration, abstract submission eligibility, member directory access, and archive access.
• SfNC Annual Meeting Flagship annual scientific conference convening scientists, researchers, and practitioners to present research and discuss the future direction of creativity neuroscience; non-member 3-day registration priced at $300 and 1-day registration at $120.
• Creativity Masterclasses Executive education offering in which SfNC partners with industry and academic organizations to deliver customized masterclasses translating current creativity neuroscience research into applied practice for teams and organizations (e.g., delivered to the International Monetary Fund).
• SfNC Store (Branded Merchandise) Online storefront selling SfNC branded merchandise including sweatshirts ($34-38), t-shirts ($22-24), mugs ($15), water bottles ($28), notebooks ($18), and conference merchandise.
• Creativity Research Journal (Official Journal) Official journal of SfNC published by Taylor & Francis, providing a peer-reviewed publication platform for the society's research community across all areas of creativity research.

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• APA Division 10coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 November 2024Co-hosting partnership for Fall Creativity Symposium events. Session 1 of the 2024 Fall Creativity Symposium on 'Measuring the Impact of the Creative Arts on Health and Other Outcomes' was presented in collaboration with APA Division 10. SfNC President Indre Viskontas co-moderated with APA Div. 10 President Roni Reiter-Palmon.
• Creativity Research Journal (Taylor & Francis)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024CRJ is the official journal of SfNC. The journal welcomes submissions from all areas of creativity research and provides a publication platform for the society's community.
• NeuroArts BlueprintmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024SfNC is involved in the NeuroArts movement and blueprint initiative, working to advance research at the intersection of neuroscience and the arts. Dr. Indre Viskontas is active in this movement.
• International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024SfNC's Executive Committee collaborates with ISSCI on major initiatives including the Definitions Consensus Project to develop consensus definitions around creativity by leveraging expert voices representing diverse perspectives, approaches, demographics, and geographies.
• Center for Brain Health at UT DallasminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024HKS architecture firm engaged in a partnership with the Center for Brain Health at UT Dallas to educate their workforce with empirically-driven work strategies to support creativity and effectiveness.
• Journal of Intelligence and Gorilla Experiment BuilderminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Conference sponsors for SfNC 2024 Best Talk and Best Poster Awards, supporting recognition of outstanding research presentations.
• Dance for PDminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021CrossTalk event partnership featuring David Leventhal, Program Director of Dance for PD, in a conversation about neuroscience of movement and dancing with Parkinson's Disease.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Dana Foundation: Philanthropy supporting brain/neuroscience research and public education. Functions as adjacent ecosystem enabler — comparable in mission emphasis on public engagement with neuroscience research (similar to SfNC's outreach through Creative Currents and CrossTalks) and supports overlapping research themes.

Broad incumbents

• Cognitive Neuroscience Society: Scientific society for cognitive neuroscience researchers with annual meeting and journal (Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience). Directly comparable membership/conference model and overlapping research community, but covers all of cognitive neuroscience rather than creativity specifically.
• Cognitive Science Society: Interdisciplinary society advancing cognitive science research with annual meeting and the journal Cognitive Science. Comparable membership/annual-conference structure and intersects with creativity research but covers the full cognitive science field.
• Society for Neuroscience: Largest professional neuroscience society globally. Directly comparable as a nonprofit scientific membership organization running an annual meeting, journal (JNeurosci), and member tiers, but operates at vastly broader scale and covers all of neuroscience rather than creativity specifically.
• American Psychological Association (APA): Largest professional psychology organization in the US with divisions including Division 10 (Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts) — already a co-host partner. Comparable membership/conference/publication model but vastly broader in scope.
• Organization for Human Brain Mapping: International scientific society for brain mapping researchers with annual meeting and journal (NeuroImage). Comparable nonprofit society model serving a neuroscience-adjacent research community that overlaps with SfNC's members.
• Psychonomic Society: Scientific society for experimental psychologists with annual meeting and multiple journals. Comparable nonprofit society model serving a psychology research community that overlaps with SfNC's academic base.
• Association for Psychological Science (APS): International nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing psychological science with annual convention and multiple journals. Comparable professional society model serving a research community that includes creativity researchers, but at broader scope.

Regional players

• European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP): European-focused scientific society for cognitive psychology researchers. Comparable membership and conference model, serving a research community that overlaps with SfNC's membership, but regional scope rather than global.

Direct peers

• International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI): Peer nonprofit scholarly society studying creativity. Already a co-development partner with SfNC on the Definitions Consensus Project, serving a closely overlapping academic community with annual programming and publications — the most directly comparable peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tsfnc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity