Human Brain Project under threat
The European Commission’s Human Brain Project (HBP) is under threat, with more than 100 leading researchers threatening to boycott the initiative amidst allegations of mismanagement.
The €1.2bn HBP was launched in 2013 with the intention to create a supercomputer simulation of the human brain. More than 80 international research institutions have signed up to the ten-year project.
However, many researchers refused to join, stating that it was too early to attempt a simulation of the entire human brain in a computer. Now some have said that the project is taking the wrong approach, wastes money and risks a backlash against neuroscience if it fails to deliver.
In an open letter to the European Commission, more than 130 leaders of scientific groups around the world have said they will boycott the project unless significant changes are made.
The researchers urge Commission officials to seriously consider the science and management before deciding on whether to renew its funding. They believe the review, which is due to conclude at the end of the summer, will find “substantial failures” in the HBP’s governance, flexibility, and openness.
They wrote: “We believe the HBP is not a well conceived or implemented project and that it is ill suited to be the centerpiece of European neuroscience. We are particularly concerned about the plan to tie a substantial portion European member states’ neuroscience funding to the HBP through so-called ‘partnering projects’.”
The letter added: “We call for the Commission to go beyond the strict requirements of the upcoming review, to demand transparency and accountability and, if necessary, change the structure of the HBP’s governance and supervision to correct their shortcomings. Failing that, we call for the Commission to redirect the HBP funding to smaller investigator-driven neuroscience grants. We stand fully behind a strong and united European neuroscience strategy and we pledge not to seek funding through HBP partnering projects that would compromise that mission.”
