New projects join HBP
Six projects are set to work alongside the FET Flagship Human Brian Project (HBP) following the results of the first Joint Transnational Call (JTC) of the Flagship ERA-NET (FLAG-ERA).
Four of the funded projects will contribute to the understanding of brain functioning through a targeted mapping of the mouse and human brains, whilst a further two projects are in the areas of theoretical neuroscience and neuroinformatics. The projects have a collective budget of €3.6m.
Giving his reaction to the news, Christoph Ebell, executive director of the HBP, said: “We are excited about the first partnering projects joining the HBP and we look forward to the critical contributions of these six projects.”
The JTC was launched in October 2014 and ran for three months, seeking to increase participation in the HBP as well as support researchers already involved. Organisations from 11 countries committed funds to the projects and investigators based at universities, research institutions, SMEs and larger enterprises were invited to collaborate with peers to submit proposals in the area of the flagship; a total of 38 research proposals were received and evaluated by an independent scientific panel along with external assessors. The partners of successful projects that are not already Flagship members will be invited to become associate members.
FLAG-ERA brings together 38 multiple R&I funding agencies, research councils and ministries from 26 countries within the EU and beyond, working together to create an environment that enables the co-ordination of national and regional funding to support the Flagships. Consequently, FLAG-ERA co-ordinates the national investments in the Flagships and encourages their actual development and take up of their results, as well as widening their impact.
The FLAG-ERA co-ordination activities are funded by the Seventh Framework Programme for an initial three year period.
