diff --git a/.github/actions/restore-elephant-data/action.yml b/.github/actions/restore-elephant-data/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dca0d099f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/restore-elephant-data/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# Composite action: restore the elephant-data cache and set ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION.
+name: Restore elephant-data cache
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Get elephant_data hash
+      id: elephant-data
+      shell: bash
+      run: echo "dataset_hash=$(git ls-remote https://gin.g-node.org/NeuralEnsemble/elephant-data.git HEAD | cut -f1)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+    - uses: actions/cache/restore@v5
+      with:
+        path: ~/elephant-data
+        key: datasets-${{ steps.elephant-data.outputs.dataset_hash }}
+        restore-keys: datasets-
+        enableCrossOsArchive: true
+
+    - name: Export Data Location (Unix)
+      shell: bash
+      if: runner.os != 'Windows'
+      run: |
+        DATA_DIR="$HOME/elephant-data"
+        if [ -d "$DATA_DIR" ]; then
+          echo "ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION=$DATA_DIR" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "$DATA_DIR"
+        fi
+
+    - name: Export Data Location (Windows)
+      if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+      shell: pwsh
+      run: |
+        if (Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\elephant-data") {
+            "ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION=$env:USERPROFILE\elephant-data" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+            Write-Output $env:USERPROFILE\elephant-data
+        }
diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI.yml b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
index 73ae47286..4cb975a70 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-# This workflow will set up GitHub-hosted runners and install the required dependencies for elephant tests.
-# On a pull requests and on pushes to master it will run different tests for elephant.
+# This workflow sets up GitHub runners and runs unit tests
+# Triggered on pull requests, pushes to master and manual trigger from github web
 
+# Triggers
 name: tests
-# define events that trigger workflow 'tests'
 on:
-  workflow_dispatch: # enables manual triggering of workflow
+  workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       logLevel:
         description: 'Log level'
@@ -20,23 +20,13 @@ on:
     branches:
       - master
     types:
-      #- assigned
-      #- unassigned
-      #- labeled
-      #- unlabeled
       - opened
-      #- edited
-      #- closed
       - reopened
       - synchronize
-      #- converted_to_draft
-      #- ready_for_review
-      #- locked
-      #- unlocked
-      #- review_requested
-      #- review_request_removed
-      #- auto_merge_enabled
-      #- auto_merge_disabled
+
+  pull_request_review:
+    types:
+      - submitted
 
   push:
     branches:
@@ -47,9 +37,30 @@ concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
-# jobs define the steps that will be executed on the runner
+# Single source of truth for CI matrix sizes.
+# Fast CI: ubuntu-latest + 3.12 only. Full CI: all OS/Python combos.
+env:
+  FAST_MATRIX: '{"os":["ubuntu-latest"],"python-version":["3.12"]}'
+  FULL_MATRIX: '{"os":["ubuntu-latest","macos-latest","windows-latest"],"python-version":["3.9","3.10","3.11","3.12","3.13","3.14"]}'
+
 jobs:
 
+  # Selects fast or full matrix based on PR approval.
+  setup:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: github.event_name != 'pull_request_review' || github.event.review.state == 'approved'
+    outputs:
+      pip-matrix: ${{ steps.pick.outputs.pip-matrix }}
+    steps:
+      - id: pick
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${{ github.event.action }}" == "submitted" && \
+                "${{ github.event.review.state }}" == "approved" ]]; then
+            echo "pip-matrix=$FULL_MATRIX" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          else
+            echo "pip-matrix=$FAST_MATRIX" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
+
   #        _
   #  _ __ (_)_ __
   #  | '_ \| | '_ \
@@ -57,200 +68,48 @@ jobs:
   #  | .__/|_| .__/
   #  |_|     |_|
 
-  # install dependencies and elephant with pip and run tests with pytest
   build-and-test-pip:
+    needs: setup
+    name: pip (${{ matrix.python-version }}, ${{ matrix.os }})
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
-      matrix:
-        # python versions for elephant: [3.8, 3.9, "3.10", 3.11, 3.12, 3.13]
-        python-version: [3.9, "3.10", 3.11, 3.12, 3.13]
-        # OS [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
-        os: [ubuntu-latest]
-      # do not cancel all in-progress jobs if any matrix job fails
       fail-fast: false
+      matrix: ${{ fromJSON(needs.setup.outputs.pip-matrix) }}
 
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
-
-      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5.1.0
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-          check-latest: true
-          cache: 'pip'
-          cache-dependency-path: |
-            **/requirements.txt
-            **/requirements-extras.txt
-            **/requirements-tests.txt
-
-      - name: Get current hash (SHA) of the elephant_data repo
-        id: elephant-data
-        run: |
-            echo "dataset_hash=$(git ls-remote https://gin.g-node.org/NeuralEnsemble/elephant-data.git HEAD | cut -f1)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4.2.2
-        # Loading cache of elephant-data
-        id: cache-datasets
-        with:
-          path: ~/elephant-data
-          key: datasets-${{ steps.elephant-data.outputs.dataset_hash }}
-          restore-keys: datasets-
-          enableCrossOsArchive: true 
-
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install coveralls
-          pip install -e .[extras,tests]
-
-      - name: List packages
-        run: |
-          pip list
-          python --version
-
-      - name: Test with pytest
-        run: |
-          if [ -d ~/elephant-data ]; then
-          export ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION=~/elephant-data
-          echo $ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION
-          fi
-      
-          coverage run --source=elephant -m pytest
-          coveralls --service=github || echo "Coveralls submission failed"
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-  #                        ___  ____
-  #  _ __ ___   __ _  ___ / _ \/ ___|
-  # | '_ ` _ \ / _` |/ __| | | \___ \
-  # | | | | | | (_| | (__| |_| |___) |
-  # |_| |_| |_|\__,_|\___|\___/|____/
-
-  test-macOS:
-    name: conda (${{ matrix.python-version }}, ${{ matrix.os }})
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
-    strategy:
-      # do not cancel all in-progress jobs if any matrix job fails
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        # OS [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
-        os: [macos-14,macos-15]
-        python-version: [3.12]
-    steps:
-      - name: Get current year-month
-        id: date
-        run: echo "date=$(date +'%Y-%m')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
 
       - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5.1.0
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v6.2.0
         with:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
           check-latest: true
           cache: 'pip'
-          cache-dependency-path: |
-            **/requirements.txt
-            **/requirements-extras.txt
-            **/requirements-tests.txt
-
-      - name: Get current hash (SHA) of the elephant_data repo
-        id: elephant-data
-        run: |
-            echo "dataset_hash=$(git ls-remote https://gin.g-node.org/NeuralEnsemble/elephant-data.git HEAD | cut -f1)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          cache-dependency-path: pyproject.toml
 
-      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4.2.2
-        # Loading cache of elephant-data
-        id: cache-datasets
-        with:
-          path: ~/elephant-data
-          key: datasets-${{ steps.elephant-data.outputs.dataset_hash }}
-          restore-keys: datasets-      
+      - uses: ./.github/actions/restore-elephant-data
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
-          python --version
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install pytest-cov coveralls
           pip install -e .[extras,tests]
 
       - name: List packages
-        shell: bash -l {0}
         run: |
           pip list
           python --version
 
       - name: Test with pytest
-        shell: bash -l {0}
-        run: |
-          if [ -d ~/elephant-data ]; then
-          export ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION=~/elephant-data
-          echo $ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION
-          fi
-          pytest --cov=elephant
+        shell: bash
+        run: pytest --cov=elephant --cov-report=lcov:coverage.lcov
 
-  # __        ___           _
-  # \ \      / (_)_ __   __| | _____      _____
-  #  \ \ /\ / /| | '_ \ / _` |/ _ \ \ /\ / / __|
-  #   \ V  V / | | | | | (_| | (_) \ V  V /\__ \
-  #    \_/\_/  |_|_| |_|\__,_|\___/ \_/\_/ |___/
-
-  # install dependencies with pip and run tests with pytest
-  test-pip:
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
-    strategy:
-      matrix:
-        # python versions for elephant: [3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11]
-        python-version: [3.11,]
-        # OS [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
-        os: [windows-latest]
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
-
-      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5.1.0
+      - name: Upload coverage to Coveralls
+        uses: coverallsapp/github-action@v2
         with:
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-          check-latest: true
-          cache: 'pip'
-          cache-dependency-path: |
-            **/requirements.txt
-            **/requirements-extras.txt
-            **/requirements-tests.txt
-
-      - name: Get current hash (SHA) of the elephant_data repo
-        id: elephant-data
-        run: |
-            echo "dataset_hash=$(git ls-remote https://gin.g-node.org/NeuralEnsemble/elephant-data.git HEAD | cut -f1)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4.2.2
-        # Loading cache of elephant-data
-        id: cache-datasets
-        with:
-          path: ~/elephant-data
-          key: datasets-${{ steps.elephant-data.outputs.dataset_hash }}
-          restore-keys: datasets-
-          enableCrossOsArchive: true    
-
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install pytest-cov coveralls
-          pip install -e .[extras,tests]
-
-      - name: List packages
-        run: |
-          pip list
-          python --version
-
-      - name: Test with pytest
-        run: |
-          if (Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\elephant-data") {
-              $env:ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION = "$env:USERPROFILE\elephant-data"
-              Write-Output $env:ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION
-          }
-          pytest --cov=elephant
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          flag-name: py${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.os }}
+          parallel: true
+          file: coverage.lcov
 
   #  __  __ ____ ___
   # |  \/  |  _ \_ _|
@@ -260,53 +119,34 @@ jobs:
 
   # install dependencies and elephant with pip and run MPI
   test-pip-MPI:
+    needs: setup
+    name: mpi (${{ matrix.python-version }}, ${{ matrix.os }})
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        # python versions for elephant: [3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11]
-        python-version: [3.9]
-        # OS [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
+        python-version: ["3.12"]
         os: [ubuntu-latest]
-
-      # do not cancel all in-progress jobs if any matrix job fails
       fail-fast: false
 
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
 
       - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5.1.0
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v6.2.0
         with:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
           check-latest: true
           cache: 'pip'
-          cache-dependency-path: |
-            **/requirements.txt
-            **/requirements-extras.txt
-            **/requirements-tests.txt
+          cache-dependency-path: pyproject.toml
 
-      - name: Get current hash (SHA) of the elephant_data repo
-        id: elephant-data
-        run: |
-            echo "dataset_hash=$(git ls-remote https://gin.g-node.org/NeuralEnsemble/elephant-data.git HEAD | cut -f1)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4.2.2
-        # Loading cache of elephant-data
-        id: cache-datasets
-        with:
-          path: ~/elephant-data
-          key: datasets-${{ steps.elephant-data.outputs.dataset_hash }}
-          restore-keys: datasets-
-          enableCrossOsArchive: true 
+      - uses: ./.github/actions/restore-elephant-data
 
       - name: Setup environment
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt install -y libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin
-
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
           pip install mpi4py
-          pip install pytest-cov coveralls
           pip install -e .[extras,tests]
 
       - name: List packages
@@ -315,15 +155,15 @@ jobs:
           python --version
 
       - name: Test with pytest
-        run: |
-          if [ -d ~/elephant-data ]; then
-          export ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION=~/elephant-data
-          echo $ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION
-          fi
-          mpiexec -n 1 python -m mpi4py -m coverage run --source=elephant -m pytest
-          coveralls --service=github || echo "Coveralls submission failed"
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: mpiexec -n 1 python -m mpi4py -m pytest --cov=elephant --cov-report=lcov:coverage.lcov
+
+      - name: Upload coverage to Coveralls
+        uses: coverallsapp/github-action@v2
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          flag-name: mpi
+          parallel: true
+          file: coverage.lcov
 
   #   ____                _
   #  / ___|___  _ __   __| | __ _
@@ -331,17 +171,14 @@ jobs:
   # | |__| (_) | | | | (_| | (_| |
   #  \____\___/|_| |_|\__,_|\__,_|
 
-  # install dependencies with conda and run tests with pytest
   test-conda:
+    needs: setup
+    name: conda (${{ matrix.python-version }}, ${{ matrix.os }})
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        # python versions for elephant: [3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11]
-        python-version: [3.11]
-        # OS [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
+        python-version: [3.12]
         os: [ubuntu-latest]
-
-      # do not cancel all in-progress jobs if any matrix job fails
       fail-fast: false
 
     steps:
@@ -349,7 +186,7 @@ jobs:
         id: date
         run: echo "date=$(date +'%Y-%m')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
 
       - name: Get pip cache dir
         id: pip-cache
@@ -357,27 +194,16 @@ jobs:
           echo "dir=$(pip cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
       - name: Cache pip
-        uses: actions/cache@v4.2.2
+        uses: actions/cache@v5.0.5
         with:
           path: ${{ steps.pip-cache.outputs.dir }}
 
           key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{hashFiles('requirements/environment-tests.yml') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/CI.yml') }}-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
 
-      - name: Get current hash (SHA) of the elephant_data repo
-        id: elephant-data
-        run: |
-            echo "dataset_hash=$(git ls-remote https://gin.g-node.org/NeuralEnsemble/elephant-data.git HEAD | cut -f1)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4.2.2
-        # Loading cache of elephant-data
-        id: cache-datasets
-        with:
-          path: ~/elephant-data
-          key: datasets-${{ steps.elephant-data.outputs.dataset_hash }}
-          restore-keys: datasets-
-          enableCrossOsArchive: true 
+      - uses: ./.github/actions/restore-elephant-data
 
-      - uses: mamba-org/setup-micromamba@v2
+      - uses: mamba-org/setup-micromamba@v3.0.0
         with:
           create-args: python=${{ matrix.python-version }}
           environment-file: requirements/environment-tests.yml
@@ -387,7 +213,6 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash -el {0}
         run: |
           python --version
-          micromamba install -y -c conda-forge pytest pytest-cov coveralls mpi4py openmpi
           pip install -e .
 
       - name: List packages
@@ -395,16 +220,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           pip list
           micromamba list
-          python --version
 
       - name: Test with pytest
         shell: bash -el {0}
-        run: |
-          if [ -d ~/elephant-data ]; then
-          export ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION=~/elephant-data
-          echo $ELEPHANT_DATA_LOCATION
-          fi
-          pytest --cov=elephant
+        run: pytest
 
   #  ____
   # |  _ \  ___   ___ ___
@@ -412,124 +231,107 @@ jobs:
   # | |_| | (_) | (__\__ \
   # |____/ \___/ \___|___/
 
-  # install dependencies for the documentation and build .html
   docs:
-    name: docs (${{ matrix.os }})
+    needs: setup
+    name: docs (${{ matrix.python-version }}, ${{ matrix.os }})
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        # python versions for elephant: [3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12]
         python-version: [3.12]
-        # OS [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
         os: [ubuntu-latest]
 
     steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
 
-      - name: Get current year-month
-        id: date
-        run: echo "date=$(date +'%Y-%m')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
-
-      - name: Get pip cache dir
-        id: pip-cache
-        run: |
-          echo "dir=$(pip cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - name: Cache pip
-        uses: actions/cache@v4.2.2
-        with:
-          path: ${{ steps.pip-cache.outputs.dir }}
-          # Look to see if there is a cache hit for the corresponding requirements files
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements-docs.txt') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements-tutorials.txt') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/environment-docs.yml') }}
-           -${{ hashFiles('**/CI.yml') }}-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
-
-      - uses: mamba-org/setup-micromamba@v2
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v6.2.0
         with:
-          create-args: python=${{ matrix.python-version }}
-          environment-file: requirements/environment.yml
-          init-shell: bash
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+          check-latest: true
+          cache: 'pip'
+          cache-dependency-path: pyproject.toml
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         shell: bash -el {0}
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt install -y libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin
-          # Moved openmpi pandoc and libstdcxx-ng to environment-docs file        
-          # micromamba install -y -c conda-forge openmpi pandoc libstdcxx-ng # fix libstdc++.so.6: version for new scipy versions > 1.9.1
-          micromamba env update --file requirements/environment-docs.yml --name elephant
+          sudo apt install -y libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin pandoc
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+          pip install mpi4py
           pip install -e .[extras,tutorials,docs]
-          # run notebooks
           sed -i -E "s/nbsphinx_execute *=.*/nbsphinx_execute = 'always'/g" doc/conf.py
 
       - name: List packages
-        shell: bash -el {0}
         run: |
           pip list
-          micromamba list
           python --version
 
       - name: make html
-        shell: bash -el {0}
         run: |
           cd doc
           make html
 
-  # install dependencies and elephant with pip and run tests with pytest
+#  _____               _______        _
+# |  __ \  ___   ___  |__   __|   ___| |_ ___
+# | |  | |/ _ \ / __|    | |/ _ \/ __| __/ __|
+# | |__| | (_) | (__     | |  __/\__ \ |_\__ \
+# |_____/ \___/ \___|    |_|\___||___/\__|___/
   doctests:
+    needs: setup
+    name: doctests (${{ matrix.python-version }}, ${{ matrix.os }})
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        # python versions for elephant: [3.7, 3.8, 3.9, "3.10"]
-        python-version: ["3.10"]
-
-        # OS [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
+        python-version: ["3.12"]
         os: [ubuntu-latest]
 
     steps:
-      # used to reset cache every month
-      - name: Get current year-month
-        id: date
-        run: echo "::set-output name=date::$(date +'%Y-%m')"
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
 
       - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5.1.0
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v6.2.0
         with:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-
-      - name: Cache test_env
-        uses: actions/cache@v4.2.2
-        with:
-          path: ~/test_env
-          # Look to see if there is a cache hit for the corresponding requirements files
-          # cache will be reset on changes to any requirements or every month
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-venv-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements-tests.txt') }}
-            -${{ hashFiles('**/requirements-extras.txt') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/CI.yml') }}-${{ hashFiles('setup.py') }}
-            -${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
+          check-latest: true
+          cache: 'pip'
+          cache-dependency-path: pyproject.toml
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
-          # create an environment and install everything
-          python -m venv ~/test_env
-          source ~/test_env/bin/activate
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt install -y libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin
-
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
           pip install mpi4py
-          pip install pytest-cov coveralls
           pip install -e .[extras,tests]
 
       - name: List packages
         run: |
-          source ~/test_env/bin/activate
           pip list
           python --version
 
       - name: Run doctests
         run: |
-          source ~/test_env/bin/activate
           printf "def pytest_configure(config):\n    import numpy as np\n    import builtins\n    np.set_printoptions(legacy='1.25')\n    builtins.np = np\n" > conftest.py
-          pytest elephant --doctest-modules --ignore=elephant/test/
+          pytest elephant --doctest-modules --ignore=elephant/test/ --cov=elephant --cov-report=lcov:coverage.lcov
+
+      - name: Upload coverage to Coveralls
+        uses: coverallsapp/github-action@v2
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          flag-name: doctests
+          parallel: true
+          file: coverage.lcov
+
+
+  # Coveralls Finish Job
+  # Combine coverals report and make PR comment
+  coveralls-finish:
+    needs: [build-and-test-pip, test-pip-MPI, doctests]
+    if: always()
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Coveralls finished
+        uses: coverallsapp/github-action@v2
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          parallel-finished: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cache_elephant_data.yml b/.github/workflows/cache_elephant_data.yml
index 833faef74..aa769b1de 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cache_elephant_data.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cache_elephant_data.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           path: ~/elephant-data
           key: datasets-${{ steps.elephant-data.outputs.dataset_hash }}
+          enableCrossOsArchive: true
 
       - name: Cache found?
         run: echo "Cache-hit == ${{steps.cache-datasets.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'}}"
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6f6651146..f201f8a60 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ env/
 .pytest_cache/
 **/*/__pycache__
 *.vscode
-
+.mypy_cache
+.ruff_cache
+.venv
 # Compiled source #
 ###################
 *.a
diff --git a/elephant/datasets.py b/elephant/datasets.py
index fc8ebfc24..f91aed72a 100644
--- a/elephant/datasets.py
+++ b/elephant/datasets.py
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ def download_datasets(repo_path, filepath=None, checksum=None,
             if local_file.is_file():
                 # If a checksum is given, check integrity of the local file
                 if checksum and not check_integrity(local_file, checksum):
-                    raise ValueError(f"Local file at {local_file} does "
+                    raise ValueError(f"Local file at {local_file.as_posix()} does "
                                      "not agree with MD5 hash "
                                      f"{checksum}.")
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eb4c85a2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools >= 61.0"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "elephant"
+dynamic = ["version", "dependencies", "optional-dependencies"]
+description = "Elephant (Electrophysiology Analysis Toolkit) is an open-source, community centered library for the analysis of electrophysiological data in the Python programming language. The focus of Elephant is on generic analysis functions for spike train data and time series recordings from electrodes, such as the local field potentials (LFP) or intracellular voltages.In addition to providing a common platform for analysis code from different laboratories, the Elephant project aims to provide a consistent and homogeneous analysis framework that is built on a modular foundation. Elephant is the direct successor to Neurotools and maintains ties to complementary projects such as OpenElectrophy and spykeviewer."
+license = "BSD-3-Clause"
+license-files = [ "LICENSE.txt"]
+classifiers = [
+        "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
+        "Intended Audience :: Science/Research",
+        "Natural Language :: English", "Operating System :: OS Independent",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14",
+        "Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only",
+        "Topic :: Scientific/Engineering"]
+keywords = ["neuroscience", "neurophysiology", "electrophysiology", "statistics", "data-analysis"]
+readme = {file = "README.md", content-type = "text/markdown"}
+requires-python = ">=3.9"
+
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {file = "elephant/VERSION"}
+dependencies = {file = "requirements/requirements.txt"}
+optional-dependencies.docs = {file = "requirements/requirements-docs.txt"}
+optional-dependencies.extras = {file = "requirements/requirements-extras.txt"}
+optional-dependencies.opencl = {file = "requirements/requirements-opencl.txt"}
+optional-dependencies.cuda = {file = "requirements/requirements-cuda.txt"}
+optional-dependencies.tests = {file = "requirements/requirements-tests.txt"}
+optional-dependencies.tutorials = {file = "requirements/requirements-tutorials.txt"}
+
+# Include source files; uses a flat layout
+[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
+where = ["."]
+include = ["elephant*"]
+
+# Include package data as per MANIFEST.in
+[tool.setuptools]
+include-package-data = true
+
+[project.urls]
+Homepage = "http://python-elephant.org"
+Documentation = "https://elephant.readthedocs.io/en/latest/"
+Repository = "https://github.com/NeuralEnsemble/elephant"
+Issues = "https://github.com/NeuralEnsemble/elephant/issues"
+Changelog = "https://github.com/NeuralEnsemble/elephant/releases"
+
+# This file was created following this guide:
+# https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/guides/writing-pyproject-toml/#writing-pyproject-toml
diff --git a/requirements/environment-docs.yml b/requirements/environment-docs.yml
index 48e9a2f57..ef95c6d02 100644
--- a/requirements/environment-docs.yml
+++ b/requirements/environment-docs.yml
@@ -1,21 +1,17 @@
 name: elephant
 
 channels:
-  - conda-forge  # required for MPI
+  - conda-forge  # required for MPI and pandoc
 
 dependencies:
-  - python=3.12
+  - python=3.12  # pinned cause >=3.13 breaks matplotlib<3.9 (RecursionError)
+  - pip  # explicitly adding pip to ensure mamba uses env pip, not base one
+  - mpi4py
   - openmpi
   - pandoc
   - libstdcxx-ng
-  - mpi4py
-  - numpy>=1.19.5
-  - scipy
-  - tqdm
-  - scikit-learn
-  - statsmodels
-  - jinja2
   - pip:
-    - neo>=0.10.0
-    - viziphant
-    # neo, viziphant can be removed once it is integrated into requirements-tutorials.txt
+    - -r requirements.txt
+    - -r requirements-extras.txt
+    - -r requirements-docs.txt
+    - -r requirements-tutorials.txt
diff --git a/requirements/environment-tests.yml b/requirements/environment-tests.yml
index 508ed1030..0b20b75f8 100644
--- a/requirements/environment-tests.yml
+++ b/requirements/environment-tests.yml
@@ -4,17 +4,10 @@ channels:
   - conda-forge  # required for MPI
 
 dependencies:
-  - python>=3.8
-
+  - python>=3.9
   - mpi4py
-  - numpy>=1.19.5
-  - scipy
-  - tqdm
-  - scikit-learn
-  - statsmodels
-  - jinja2
+  - openmpi
   - pip:
-    - neo>=0.10.0
-    - nixio>=1.5.0
-    # - viziphant
-    # neo, viziphant can be removed once it is integrated into requirements-tutorials.txt
+    - -r requirements.txt
+    - -r requirements-extras.txt
+    - -r requirements-tests.txt
diff --git a/requirements/environment.yml b/requirements/environment.yml
index fa8fb6e1d..42e0bb4e6 100644
--- a/requirements/environment.yml
+++ b/requirements/environment.yml
@@ -4,15 +4,9 @@ channels:
   - conda-forge  # required for MPI
 
 dependencies:
-  - python>=3.8
+  - python>=3.9
   - mpi4py
-  - numpy>=1.19.5, <2
-  - scipy>=1.10.0
-  - tqdm
-  - scikit-learn
-  - statsmodels
-  - jinja2
   - pip:
-    - neo>=0.10.0
-    - viziphant
-    # neo, viziphant can be removed once it is integrated into requirements-tutorials.txt
+    - -r requirements.txt
+    - -r requirements-extras.txt
+    - -r requirements-tutorials.txt
diff --git a/requirements/requirements-tests.txt b/requirements/requirements-tests.txt
index b74c40190..3c04d1616 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements-tests.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements-tests.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 pytest
+pytest-cov
 nixio>=1.5.0
diff --git a/requirements/requirements-tutorials.txt b/requirements/requirements-tutorials.txt
index 5c142ab15..e7b3f4e92 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements-tutorials.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements-tutorials.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 # Packages required to execute jupyter notebook tutorials
 matplotlib>=3.3.2, <3.9.0
 h5py>=3.1.0
-nixio>=1.5.0
\ No newline at end of file
+nixio>=1.5.0
+viziphant
diff --git a/requirements/requirements.txt b/requirements/requirements.txt
index bdcdac60a..15f34e161 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements.txt
@@ -2,5 +2,4 @@ neo>=0.10.0
 numpy>=2.0.0
 quantities>=0.14.1
 scipy>=1.10.0
-six>=1.10.0
 tqdm
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 349c79591..d7ad8f238 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-import os.path
 import platform
 import sys
 
@@ -7,19 +5,6 @@
 from setuptools.command.install import install
 from setuptools.command.develop import develop
 
-with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
-                       "elephant", "VERSION")) as version_file:
-    version = version_file.read().strip()
-
-with open("README.md") as f:
-    long_description = f.read()
-with open('requirements/requirements.txt') as fp:
-    install_requires = fp.read().splitlines()
-extras_require = {}
-for extra in ['extras', 'docs', 'tests', 'tutorials', 'cuda', 'opencl']:
-    with open('requirements/requirements-{0}.txt'.format(extra)) as fp:
-        extras_require[extra] = fp.read()
-
 if platform.system() == "Windows":
     fim_module = Extension(
         name='elephant.spade_src.fim',
@@ -62,41 +47,7 @@
         optional=True
     )
 
-setup_kwargs = {
-    "name": "elephant",
-    "version": version,
-    "packages": ['elephant', 'elephant.test'],
-    "include_package_data": True,
-    "install_requires": install_requires,
-    "extras_require": extras_require,
-    "author": "Elephant authors and contributors",
-    "author_email": "contact@python-elephant.org",
-    "description": "Elephant is a package for analysis of electrophysiology data in Python",  # noqa
-    "long_description": long_description,
-    "long_description_content_type": "text/markdown",
-    "license": "BSD",
-    "url": 'http://python-elephant.org',
-    "project_urls": {
-            "Bug Tracker": "https://github.com/NeuralEnsemble/elephant/issues",
-            "Documentation": "https://elephant.readthedocs.io/en/latest/",
-            "Source Code": "https://github.com/NeuralEnsemble/elephant",
-        },
-    "python_requires": ">=3.9",
-    "classifiers": [
-        'Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable',
-        'Intended Audience :: Science/Research',
-        'License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License',
-        'Natural Language :: English',
-        'Operating System :: OS Independent',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only',
-        'Topic :: Scientific/Engineering']
-}
+setup_kwargs = {}
 
 # no compile options and corresponding extensions
 options = {"--no-compile": None, "--no-compile-spade": fim_module}