One of the EU’s largest research projects adopts an overly narrow approach and thus risks failing to meet its goals, believe over 350 scientists and researchers (379 at press time). In an
open letter
addressed to the European Commission on 7 July, they call for a thorough and consistent review of the first phase of the
Human Brain Project
(HBP), one of the EU’s future and emerging technologies flagship initiatives (see box). The executive reckons it is too early to…
Background
In 2011, the Commission launched its future and emerging technologies (FET) flagships, ie large-scale “visionary” research initiatives addressing issues across scientific disciplines. Out of six pilot projects, two were selected and fully launched in 2013: the Graphene Flagship and the Human Brain Project (HBP). With a budget of €1.19 billion over the next ten years, the HBP involves 112 partners (universities and companies) from 24 countries, most of them in Europe, but also including the United States, China, Japan, Canada, Argentina and Israel. The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland coordinates the project. The consortium’s mission is to make biology and ICT converge, to better understand the human brain by overcoming the “fragmentation of brain research and the data it produces”. It involves various disciplines: neuroscience, medicine, robotics and future computing technology.