# nest-simulator **Repository Path**: faruba/nest-simulator ## Basic Information - **Project Name**: nest-simulator - **Description**: No description available - **Primary Language**: Unknown - **License**: GPL-2.0 - **Default Branch**: main - **Homepage**: None - **GVP Project**: No ## Statistics - **Stars**: 0 - **Forks**: 0 - **Created**: 2026-04-30 - **Last Updated**: 2026-04-30 ## Categories & Tags **Categories**: Uncategorized **Tags**: None ## README # The Neural Simulation Tool - NEST [![Documentation](https://img.shields.io/readthedocs/nest-simulator?logo=readthedocs&logo=Read%20the%20Docs&label=Documentation)](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation) [![CII Best Practices](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/2218/badge)](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/2218) [![OpenSSF Scorecard](https://api.scorecard.dev/projects/github.com/nest/nest-simulator/badge)](https://scorecard.dev/viewer/?uri=github.com/nest/nest-simulator) [![License](http://img.shields.io/:license-GPLv2+-green.svg)](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html) [![DOI](https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.10834751.svg)](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10834751) [![Latest release](https://img.shields.io/github/release/nest/nest-simulator.svg?color=brightgreen&label=latest%20release)](https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/releases) [![GitHub contributors](https://img.shields.io/github/contributors/nest/nest-simulator?logo=github)](https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator) [![GitHub commit activity](https://img.shields.io/github/commit-activity/y/nest/nest-simulator?logo=github&color=%23ff6633)](https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator) [![Ubuntu version](https://img.shields.io/badge/ubuntu-(PPA)-blue?logo=debian)](https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation/) [![Fedora package](https://img.shields.io/fedora/v/nest?logo=fedora)](https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/nest) [![conda-forge version](https://img.shields.io/conda/vn/conda-forge/nest-simulator.svg?logo=conda-forge&logoColor=white)](https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/nest-simulator) [![Homebrew version](https://img.shields.io/homebrew/v/nest.svg?logo=apple)](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nest) [![Docker Image Version](https://img.shields.io/docker/v/nest/nest-simulator?color=blue&label=docker&logo=docker&logoColor=white&sort=semver)](https://hub.docker.com/r/nest/nest-simulator) [![Virtual applicance](https://img.shields.io/badge/VM-v3.7-blue?logo=CodeSandbox)](https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation/livemedia.html#live-media) [![YouTube Video Views](https://img.shields.io/youtube/views/K7KXmIv6ROY?style=social)](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nest-simulator+neurons) NEST is a simulator for spiking neural network models that focuses on the dynamics, size and structure of neural systems rather than on the exact morphology of individual neurons. A NEST simulation tries to follow the logic of an electrophysiological experiment that takes place inside a computer with the difference that the neural system to be investigated must be defined by the experimenter. NEST is ideal for networks of spiking neurons of any size, for example: - Models of information processing, e.g., in the visual or auditory cortex of mammals, - Models of network activity dynamics, e.g., laminar cortical networks or balanced random networks, - Models of learning and plasticity. ## Key features of NEST * NEST provides a Python interface or a stand-alone application * NEST provides a large collection of [neurons and synapse models](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation/models/index.html) * NEST provides numerous [example network scripts](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation/examples/index.html) along with [tutorials and guides](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation/get-started_index.html) to help you develop your simulation * NEST has a large community of experienced developers and users; NEST was first released in 1994 under the name SYNOD, and has been extended and improved ever since * NEST is extensible: you can extend NEST by adding your own modules * NEST is scalable: Use NEST on your laptop or the largest supercomputers * NEST is memory efficient: It makes the best use of your multi-core computer and compute clusters with minimal user intervention * NEST is an open source project and is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 or later * NEST employs continuous integration workflows in order to maintain high code quality standards for correct and reproducible simulations ## Installation ### Quick Install ```bash pip install nest-simulator ``` More details and options for installing NEST with pip can be found here: https://nest-simulator.org/documentation/installation/pip_install.html ### macOS Requirements For macOS users, OpenMP support requires installing the OpenMP runtime library: ```bash brew install libomp pip install nest-simulator ``` This is necessary for NEST's multithreading capabilities to work correctly on macOS. ## Documentation Please visit our [online documentation](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation) for details on installing and using NEST. ## Cite NEST If you use NEST as part of your research, please cite the *version* of NEST you used. The full citation for each release can be found on [Zenodo](https://zenodo.org/search?q=title%3ANEST%20AND%20-description%3Agraphical%20AND%20simulator&l=list&p=1&s=10&sort=publication-desc) For general citations, please use `Gewaltig M-O & Diesmann M (2007) NEST (Neural Simulation Tool) Scholarpedia 2(4):1430.` ## Contact If you need help or would like to discuss an idea or issue, join our [maling list](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation/developer_space/guidelines/mailing_list_guidelines.html), where we encourage active participation from our developers and users to share their knowledge and experience with NEST. You can find other [ways to get in touch here](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation/community.html). ## Contribute NEST is built on an active community and we welcome contributions to our code and documentation. For bug reports, feature requests, documentation improvements, or other issues, you can create a [GitHub issue](https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues/new/choose), For working with NEST code and documentation, you can find guidelines for contributions [in our documentation](https://nest-simulator.org/documentation/developer_space/index.html#contribute-to-nest) ## Publications You can find a list of NEST [related publications here](https://www.nest-simulator.org/publications/). ## License NEST is open source software and is licensed under the [GNU General Public License v2](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html) or later. General information on the NEST Initiative can be found at its homepage at https://www.nest-initiative.org.