Brain Simulation and Graphene Research Receive Billion Euro Each

The result of the highly anticipated decision of which two research projects will receive a one billion Euro research grant, the largest single research award ever, from the European Commission were announced by the European Commission's Vice-President Neelie Kroes today.

The first project is the Human Brain Project, led by neuroscientist Henry Markram at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, which aims to simulate the human brain in a supercomputer, in order to aid medical advancement in brain disorders.

The second, called Graphene Project, is led by theoretical physicist Jari Kinaret at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. It's goal is to develop the awesome potential of graphene - an ultrathin, flexible and conducting form of carbon - along with related materials for applications in computing, batteries and sensors, which in turn could lead to great economic benefits for the European (and world) society.

"Europe's position as a knowledge superpower depends on thinking the unthinkable and exploiting the best ideas," Kroes said in Brussels.
 
"This multi-billion competition rewards home-grown scientific breakthroughs and shows that when we are ambitious we can develop the best research in Europe."
 
The HBP will use supercomputers to create the most detailed model of the human brain to date. It will then simulate drugs and treatments for neurological diseases and related ailments. EPFL president Patrick Aebischer said he was extremely pleased by the decision, capping a busy few years of preparation.
 
"I hope this will lead to some recognition of our work in the fields of brain research and simulation," he told Swiss public radio.

The Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship competition was launched in 2009 as "a challenge to apply information and communication technologies to social problems. FET Flagships are ambitious large-scale, science-driven, research initiatives that aim to achieve a visionary goal. The scientific advance should provide a strong and broad basis for future technological innovation and economic exploitation in a variety of areas, as well as novel benefits for society."

The projects will benefit from up to one billion euros ($1.34 billion) of EU funding each. The two initiatives were chosen from a shortlist of six, following a two-year, high-profile contest, by a panel of 25 experts including leading scientists, science and policy advisors, former heads of multinationals as well as experts on science and society. The selection was based on which projects offered the best scientific and technological excellence and which would have the greatest impact.

The six flagship projects are:

• FuturICT Knowledge Accelerator and Crisis-Relief System: ICT can analyse vast amounts of data and complex situations so as to better predict natural disasters, or manage and respond to man-made disasters that cross national borders or continents.

• Graphene Science and technology for ICT and beyond: Graphene is a new substance developed by atomic and molecular scale manipulation that could replace silicon as the wonder material of the 21st century.

• Guardian Angels for a Smarter Life: tiny devices without batteries that act like autonomous personal assistants, and which can sense, compute and communicate potentially even while travelling through your bloodstream.

• The Human Brain Project: understanding the way in which the human brain works can bring the benefits of brain-related or brain-inspired developments to computing architectures, neuroscience and medicine.

• IT Future of Medicine: digital technology has the power to deliver individualised medicine, based on molecular, physiological and anatomical data collected from individual patients and processed on the basis of globally integrated medical knowledge.

• Robot Companions for Citizens: soft skinned and intelligent robots