Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HBP SGA2 (Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 2)
Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2020-03-31
Unlocking the brain’s secrets promises major scientific, social and economic benefits. One is improved diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders; a growing health burden in our ageing population. A second is neuroscience’s potential to contribute to future ICT, including extreme-scale, modular and neuromorphic computing, and neurorobotics.
The HBP studies the brain at different levels, from genomics to higher-level brain functions. It builds an ICT-based research infrastructure to facilitate worldwide research cooperation and sharing of software tools, data and models, based on FAIR principles. Our co-design approach, where neuroscientists, engineers and computer experts work together, ensures that our infrastructure meets real research needs. We facilitate researchers’ secure access to large sets of patient data to accelerate medical research. The HBP trains scientists to use its tools and educates young scientists to work across disciplines. It also incorporates an unprecedented responsible research and innovation programme, with public engagement, philosophical reflection on research and assessment of its societal implications of research and ethics support, including regulatory compliance. It is Europe’s leading integrator of and contributor to global brain research efforts.
EBRAINS made selected services available to external users. The Neuroinformatics Platform improved input into the Knowledge Graph; its data and models content tripled in the last 12 months. The brain atlases were updated to cover more regions, template spaces and modalities. A new Collaboratory was introduced. Brain Simulation Platform use increased and new tools were added for modelling at different biological scales, The HPAC Platform has developed data federation and data-intensive computing services, such as the Fenix Data Transfer Service and Central Data Location Service and improved simulation tools’ readiness for HPC systems. The Medical Informatics Platform is deployed in 30 hospitals, with 20,000 datasets in dementia, mental health, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury – a scale offering statistical significance. The Neuromorphic Computing Platform unveiled a one million-core SpiNNaker system (the largest-ever neuromorphic platform) and supported learning and motor control loop experiments, plus application of structural plasticity to networks processing auditory and visual stimuli. The Neurorobotics Platform improved its usability and interoperability with other EBRAINS services, including HPC deployment, and supported spinal neurorehabilitation work, with publications in Nature and Nature Neuroscience.
The Grant Agreement Preparation Phase for SGA3 has been finalised. In SGA3, the HBP will focus on key scientific showcases and key elements of the EBRAINS RI. The EBRAINS AISBL has been created and a CEO hired; it is now building capacity to take over from EPFL as HBP Coordinator. The old Scientific Advisory Board and Clinical Advisory Board merged into a Science and Infrastructure Advisory Board. Nine Calls for Expression of Interest, to bring in new Partners, and Infrastructure Voucher Calls to support Partnering Projects, helped prepare for SGA3. The HBP developed a proposal for EBRAINS to join the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Roadmap, to ensure its availability after the end of the FET Flagship.
The launch of EBRAINS makes available a first web portal providing access to services for brain research and brain-inspired sciences, helping scientists to collect, analyse, share and integrate brain data, and apply them to models and simulations. Interoperability between platforms is key; connecting the Knowledge Graph, Brain Simulation Platform and Neurorobotics Platform allows brain models to be imported in SONATA format for use in robotic experiments. Exploitation of neuromorphic computing systems in neurorobotics is also promising. Integration of The Virtual Brain into the HBP ecosystem boosted infrastructure capabilities. The number of formal Partnering Projects increased from seven at the end of SGA1 to 40.
Communications and dissemination included the HBP Museum Programme’s first interactive exhibition, promotion of HBP at INCF, SfN, and the HBP Summit/Open Day. The Education Programme showed how to apply HPAC to advance neuroscience and, with Ethics and Society experts, provided training in responsible research and innovation. The HBP also maintained its thought leadership, with journal articles such as “The Scientific Case for Brain Simulations” (Neuron) and the HBP’s “Synergy between neuroscience, computing, informatics, and brain-inspired technologies” (PLOS Biology). The Brain Simulation Platform produced an innovative outreach tool in its “Live Papers”, on line resources which combine texts describing work done with the datasets and software used to obtain the published results.