EBRAINS is a European digital research infrastructure for neuroscience and brain health, developed as the scientific legacy of the Human Brain Project and supported by the European Union together with a network of national nodes and institutional partners across Europe.
Mission and Objectives
EBRAINS aims to transform the way brain research is conducted by enabling large-scale collaboration and integration across scientific disciplines and countries. It provides a unique digital ecosystem that supports researchers, clinicians, and institutions by offering:
- High-quality neuroscience data that can be shared and reused across studies
- Multi-scale 3D brain atlases for exploring brain structure and organisation
- Modeling and simulation tools to investigate brain function and dynamics
- Advanced computing resources, including high-performance and neuromorphic computing infrastructures, for data-intensive analysis and large-scale simulations
- Collaborative platforms and software services that foster interdisciplinary and cross-border research
Through these services, EBRAINS promotes a shift away from fragmented research approaches towards a coordinated, interoperable, and data-driven model of brain research, accelerating scientific discovery and innovation.
EBRAINS 2.0 – Advancing Digital Brain Research
Since 2024, EBRAINS has entered a new development phase through the EBRAINS 2.0 project, co-funded by the European Union. This phase focuses on:
- Establishing new standards for multi-scale brain atlases
- Integrating and harmonising multimodal and clinical neuroscience data
- Advancing digital brain twins and predictive brain models
These developments further strengthen EBRAINS as a long-term, sustainable research infrastructure serving the European and global neuroscience community.
A Pan-European Network of National Nodes
EBRAINS operates as a pan-European distributed infrastructure, organised around a central hub and a network of National Nodes. Each node contributes services, expertise, and resources, enabling strong collaboration and knowledge exchange across Europe.
Italy participates in EBRAINS through EBRAINS-Italy, the Italian National Node, which contributes scientific expertise, infrastructure, and advanced services to support the broader EBRAINS ecosystem and the international neuroscience community.