Overview
EBRAINS is Europe's digital infrastructure for brain research. It provides tools and data that bring together neuroscience, computing and AI, and access is open and free. The infrastructure was originally built by the EU-funded Human Brain Project, which launched in 2013 and ran until 2023 with a total budget of €1 billion. EBRAINS AISBL, an international non-profit association headquartered in Brussels, was founded in 2019. The research infrastructure was formally launched in 2020 and was selected for the ESFRI Roadmap of European Research Infrastructures in 2021. The association has 9 full members and 37 associate members, including Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the University of Oslo. One associate member is based in Belgium. Katrin Amunts and Philippe Vernier are Joint CEOs. Viktor Jirsa is Chief Science Officer, Yannis Ioannidis is Chief Technology Officer and Jan Bjaalie is Chief Infrastructure Officer. The Governing Board is chaired by André Syrota. Services include brain atlases for human, macaque, marmoset, rat and mouse, medical analytics, modelling and simulation tools, data and knowledge management, the Collaboratory platform and access to neuromorphic and high-performance computing. In 2025 EBRAINS had around 15,000 registered users from 95 countries, 11 National Nodes and 45 institutional partners across 15 European countries. Since 2024 the infrastructure is developed under the EBRAINS 2.0 project, which runs to the end of 2026 with an EU contribution of €37,995,202.50 under Horizon Europe, coordinated from Brussels with 59 partner institutions from 16 countries. The project has produced over one hundred publications and more than 120 new datasets.
Funding history
- 2013 to 2023 Human Brain Project: €1 billion total budget, half from the European Commission
- 2024 to 2026 EBRAINS 2.0: €37,995,202.50 EU contribution under Horizon Europe (HORIZON-INFRA-2022-SERV-B-01), 53 participants
Stated facts & numbers
- Founded: 2019 (AISBL); infrastructure launched 2020
- Headquarters: Brussels
- Legal form: International non-profit association (AISBL)
- Joint CEOs: Katrin Amunts and Philippe Vernier
- Members: 9 full members, 37 associate members
- Brussels office staff: 11
- Registered users: Around 15,000 from 95 countries (2025)
- ESFRI Roadmap: 2021
- Origin: Human Brain Project (2013 to 2023)
- Current funding: EBRAINS 2.0, €37,995,202.50 EU contribution, 2024 to 2026
Key people
In the news
- We are pleased to announce that new translations of the 'Mind Your Mind' brochure are available! You can now read about how to protect your brain data in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. Developed by the EBRAINS Ethics and Society Committee, in collaboration with the International Brain Initiative, the guide aims to empower the public with knowledge about neurodata: what they are, why they matter, and how they can and should be protected. Click here to discover the new translations: https://lnkd.in/dUb7_FhS
- The EBRAINS Virtual Users’ Week from 12-14 October enabled learners across the globe to join free-of-charge, online, hands-on workshops covering the full range of EBRAINS tools and services. 12 workshops were each delivered twice per day to ensure learners in all time zones could take part in the event. With 344 participants from 35 countries across 5 continents, the event engaged both new and experienced EBRAINS users on an international scale. Thank you to our brilliant workshop tutors for an inspiring educational event, and to
- The Receptor group led by Prof. Nicola Palomero-Gallagher at the C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, University of Düsseldorf, and Forschungszentrum Jülich has mapped the cellular and neurotransmitter receptor organisation of the macaque cingulate cortex, a brain region involved in emotion, motivation, decision-making and motor control. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eNrXVb4R
- How can researchers simulate the activity of the whole brain without modelling every neuron in full detail? A new study, supported in part by EBRAINS 2.0 and published in eLife, explores one part of the answer: retaining key biological mechanisms while simplifying the mathematics needed to model large neuronal populations. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eUzQTH2p
- 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 – 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫! Following the strong engagement of the neuroscience community at the EBRAINS Roadmap Symposium earlier this year in Munich, work is progressing towards a shared vision for the future of brain research in Europe. Under the leadership of Prof. Katrin Amunts, EBRAINS Joint CEO, and Prof. Viktor Jirsa, EBRAINS Chief Scientific Officer, the initiative is now entering its next phase. 🔬 A 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
- 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞! On 20–21 October, the Virtual Human Twin (#VHT) Annual Event organised by EU Digital & Tech brought together the European VHT community in Brussels to discuss priorities for developing the Advanced VHT Simulation Platform. 🔬 EBRAINS contributed to these discussions, sharing its expertise in research infrastructures, data management and interoperability, and was recognised as a key infrastructure supporting data for AI. The event also
- How can data acquired through different methods and by different laboratories be made compatible with each other? The brain is a complex system that can only be understood by bringing insights from multiple levels of its organisation and from various experimental approaches. This makes collaboration across various fields of research key; however, integrating the findings from different laboratories can be challenging when the data is not compatible. Cobrawap is a digital tool developed to overcome this challenge and made openly
- The EBRAINS Student and Early Career Researcher Networking Event in Heidelberg last week brought together early career researchers from a breadth of neuroscience disciplines to learn about careers in academia, exchange scientific ideas and network with their peers. Thank you to our wonderful participants, speakers, organisers and local hosts for an informative and engaging day! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eeKRaSRE
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