Analysis
Imec, VIB and KU Leuven join forces in pioneering brain research at NERF and in the Human Brain Project
Today, Flanders' ambitious brain research that may lead to better diagnosis and treatment of brain disease, new prosthesis technologies for patients with a disability, a new generation of more intelligent robots, etc. switches into higher gear.
In tNERF is a research initiative supported by imec, VIB and K.U.Leuven and funded by the Flemish government. In NERF, these three Flemish centres of expertise are pooling their knowledge in various research disciplines: nanoelectronics, biotechnology and neurology with a view to achieving breakthroughs in unravellling the workings of the brain.
The NERF labs, which were opened officially today, offer a unique combination of state-of-the-art nanoelectronics research instruments and tools for biotechnological and neurological research. This unique NERF infrastructure and the extensive multidisciplinary knowledge present in Flanders are acknowledged worldwide. NERF attracts international top researchers to conduct trail-blazing long-term research into the workings of the brain.
NERF will also contribute to the prestigious Human Brain Project, one of the six projects on the shortlist of the European Flagship Programme which will get off the ground next year. Of the projects on the shortlist, two will be selected which as a Flagship project will receive significant European and national support for a period of ten years. The aim of the Human Brain Project, led by the Swiss EPFL, is to bring together in huge databanks everything we know and all we can learn about the workings of brain molecules, cells and connections. This will serve as a basis for making biologically extremely accurate and detailed simulations of the entire human brain with the aid of informatics, modelling and supercomputing.