“We are very pleased to receive this recognition from the ESFRI and proud to have provided the European research landscape with a truly novel platform,” says Prof. Katrin Amunts, scientific head of the Human Brain Project and director at Jülich’s Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine.
EBRAINS aims to support brain research and the translation of scientific findings into neuro-inspired technologies, computing, medicine, and industry through digital methods and techniques, thereby contributing to scientific progress. To this end, the scientists work closely with developers of state-of-the-art information technologies and use powerful computers and AI processes to pool the constantly growing knowledge on the brain from various research fields. The HBP is establishing EBRAINS as a hub for this cooperation in Europe.
“EBRAINS was created to establish a new paradigm of neuroscience that is very closely linked to technology and the possibilities of supercomputing, data science, and machine learning. This is a core objective of the Human Brain Project. We want EBRAINS to benefit the entire scientific community,” says Amunts.
Being the first research Infrastructure of its kind worldwide, EBRAINS offers access via a web portal to the most comprehensive database on the human brain to date as well as to powerful digital tools, for example for simulation or big data analyses, which are significantly supported by the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. The extremely high-resolution 3D atlas of the human brain developed by the Jülich Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine is also one of the central components of EBRAINS.
More than 500 scientists at over 130 European partner institutions from 19 countries are involved in developing EBRAINS. Significant contributions are provided from all over Germany. In addition to Jülich, researchers from Heidelberg University and TU Dresden are contributing “neuromorphic” computer systems, TU Munich is coordinating a platform for neurorobotics, and researchers from Charité Berlin are developing clinical “digital twin” technologies on the simulation platform “The Virtual Brain”. The results achieved and the underlying technologies are available to the entire scientific community.
Science institutions that are included in the ESFRI roadmap undergo a thorough selection procedure that takes into account both scientific excellence and stringency of implementation. The aim is to provide Europe with state-of-the-art research infrastructures in a targeted manner, to promote scientific cooperation across national borders, and to enable international cutting-edge research.