Project description
Insight into the complexity of the brain
The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a large, integrated brain initiative. Launched under FP7 and continuing through Horizon 2020, the HBP is building the EBRAINS research infrastructure to strengthen global efforts to explore brain complexity. EBRAINS helps HBP and other researchers provide unprecedented knowledge of brain organisation and function, which will advance understanding of the mechanisms of age-related brain diseases that impose a growing socioeconomic burden. Structural, functional and connectivity data generated by the HBP will paint a more complete and detailed picture of the brain, and support the development of brain-inspired computing and other technologies. Under the EU-funded HBP SGA2 project, HBP continued to strengthen global brain research efforts by extending coordination with other brain initiatives and projects.
Objective
The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a major European scientific research initiative to improve our understanding of the brain and the role it plays in making us human, and to exploit the opportunities offered by the resulting knowledge. The size and complexity of the brain make this an expensive undertaking, but the costs associated with our current ignorance are rising and the potential gains from better insight into the brain are increasing. Brain-related diseases, many of which are age-related, now represent a major part of the global health burden and there are both ethical and economic imperatives to keep the growing number of older people healthier and more productive. Economic advantage is increasingly linked to artificial intelligence (AI), our ability to create technology to extract, manipulate and harness knowledge. The HBP’s comprehension of what makes the human brain so efficient and flexible should help to maintain Europe’s competitiveness and innovation potential in this area.
The HBP is one of several brain research initiatives and projects around the world, albeit one of the first, but it is unique in a number of ways. Only the HBP has an explicit focus on both neuroscience and computing. It is also the broadest and most integrated brain initiative, and the only one aiming to build a research infrastructure to accelerate brain research.
The HBP is a FET Flagship which started under FP7 and continues under H2020 with a succession of Specific Grant Agreements (SGAs) under a Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA). In its FP7 Ramp-Up Phase (2013-16) and subsequent SGA1 funding period (2016-18), the HBP implemented a scientific project of rare ambition, breadth and scale, and forged its diverse constituents into a functioning entity. On the scientific side, it not only identified critical gaps in our understanding of the brain, but also created tools and obtained data to fill many of them. It designed, built and demonstrated six ICT research platforms, supporting neuroinformatics, brain simulation, high-performance analytics and computing, medical informatics, brain-inspired computing and linking of simulated brains to robotic bodies. The results have been made available to the scientific community. The HBP also learnt to address underperformance and conflicts, and opened up the Project via competitive calls and the integration of Partnering Projects.
In the upcoming SGA2 funding period (2018-20), the HBP will continue to strengthen global brain research efforts by extending coordination with other brain initiatives and projects. Internally, it will continue its unique inter-disciplinary co-design approach, developing research infrastructure capabilities via use cases built around specific research needs. This approach will underpin its critical scientific work of understanding how to bridge between the different scales of brain organisation, a key prerequisite to understand the principles of brain organisation. It will include gathering data to support detailed modelling, notably of the human hippocampus, as well as structural, functional and connectivity data to improve systemic understanding of the whole brain. The HBP will also investigate brain similarities and differences between individuals and between species. It will model key brain functions, including visual recognition, slow-wave activity, episodic memory and consciousness in rodents and humans, and elaborate their cognitive architectures. In addition, it will develop simplified brain models to support further development of brain-inspired computing.
SGA2 will see the individual infrastructure platforms extended and integrated into the HBP Joint Platform (HBP-JP). The JP will make HBP services more robust and improve the user experience, encouraging wider use of its tools. SGA2 should thus see a shift from supplier-driven to user-driven capabilities, while the infrastructure underpinning them will be tied closely into EU efforts to integrate and stre
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
1015 Lausanne
Switzerland
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Participants (150)
Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
1015 Lausanne
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02150 Espoo
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2333 ZA Leiden
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11251 Athens
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08034 Barcelona
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99423 Weimar
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42119 Wuppertal
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91904 Jerusalem
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CF24 0DE Cardiff
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75794 Paris
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
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91190 Gif-Sur-Yvette
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75015 PARIS 15
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00185 Roma
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40033 Casalecchio Di Reno Bo
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2800 Kongens Lyngby
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4032 Debrecen
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LE1 9BH Leicester
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75230 Paris
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8092 Zuerich
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2100 KOBENHAVN O
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52428 Julich
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80805 Munchen
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80686 Munchen
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1400-038 Lisboa
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40225 Dusseldorf
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00014 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
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69118 Heidelberg
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
1011 Lausanne
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SW7 2AZ LONDON
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75013 Paris
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
Not active in the Specific Grant Agreement of the project
75654 Paris
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1083 Budapest
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3400 Klosterneuburg
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1000 Ljubljana
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78153 Le Chesnay Cedex
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75724 Paris
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60323 Frankfurt Am Main
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76131 Karlsruhe
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17177 Stockholm
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WC2R 2LS London
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100 44 Stockholm
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50019 Sesto-Fiorentino (Fi)
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35195 Vaxjo
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6020 Innsbruck
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10561 Athina
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1433 As
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1010 Wien
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52062 Aachen
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69117 Heidelberg
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34956 Istanbul
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56127 Pisa
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3526 KV Utrecht
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6525 XZ Nijmegen
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76131 Karlsruhe
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731 00 Chania
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01069 Dresden
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8010 Graz
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80333 Muenchen
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69978 Tel Aviv
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OX1 2JD Oxford
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91904 Jerusalem
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Participation ended
AB24 3FX Aberdeen
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EH8 9YL Edinburgh
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M13 9PL Manchester
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28049 Madrid
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13071 Ciudad Real
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18071 Granada
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4704 553 Braga
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28040 Madrid
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28933 Mostoles
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27100 Pavia
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3012 Bern
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33615 Bielefeld
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52074 Aachen
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20251 Hamburg
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8006 Zurich
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08007 Barcelona
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08002 Barcelona
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13284 Marseille
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
75654 Paris
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33000 Bordeaux
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2000 Antwerpen
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0313 Oslo
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WC1E 6BT London
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751 05 Uppsala
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7610001 Rehovot
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64289 Darmstadt
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1211 Geneve
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G12 8QQ Glasgow
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20148 Hamburg
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10117 Berlin
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1011 JV AMSTERDAM
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00044 Frascati
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08036 Barcelona
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
Not active in the Specific Grant Agreement of the project
08036 Barcelona
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20122 Milano
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08028 Barcelona
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00161 Roma
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4000 Liege
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
Not active in the Specific Grant Agreement of the project
4000 Liege
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1012WX Amsterdam
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53127 Bonn
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S10 2TN Sheffield
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BS16 1QY Bristol
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GU2 7XH Guildford
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33100 Tampere
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LS2 9JT Leeds
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75006 Paris
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
Not active in the Specific Grant Agreement of the project
75654 Paris
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BN1 9RH Brighton
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NW4 4BT London
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69622 Villeurbanne Cedex
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
75654 Paris
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10129 Torino
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9000 Gent
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3000 Leuven
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4051 Basel
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
4031 Basel
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1081 HV Amsterdam
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1206 Geneve
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00161 Roma
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56126 Pisa
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6200 MD Maastricht
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AL10 9AB Hatfield
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53127 Bonn
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115 27 Athina
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8010 Graz
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10117 Berlin
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69117 Heidelberg
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1700 Fribourg
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38058 Grenoble
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
75654 Paris
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38700 La Tronche
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79106 Freiburg
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20162 Milano
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17489 Greifswald
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54296 Trier
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59037 Lille
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18435 Stralsund
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151 25 Maroussi
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1170 Bruxelles / Brussel
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16163 Genova
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20133 Milano
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80138 Napoli
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13354 Marseille Cedex 20
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00185 Roma
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37073 Gottingen
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3015 GD Rotterdam
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34136 Trieste
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80539 Munchen
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