RI partnership: EBRAINS and Instruct-ERIC team up to strengthen multi-scale life science research in Europe

On 16 July 2026, the European research infrastructures EBRAINS and Instruct-ERIC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a strategic collaboration to strengthen links between digital neuroscience and structural biology research infrastructures in Europe.

The partnership reflects the complementary missions of both organisations and their shared commitment to advancing integrated, multi-scale approaches to life science research through interoperable data, digital research services, modelling and scientific computing. 

EBRAINS is a European digital research infrastructure for brain research, offering neuroscientific data, digital tools, computing and AI technologies to analyse, model and simulate brain organisation across scales, from molecules and cells to whole-brain dynamics. Instruct-ERIC provides researchers with funded access to advanced structural biology technologies and expertise through a distributed European research infrastructure, enabling researchers to investigate complex biological mechanisms across a broad range of biomedical domains.

Together, through shared approaches, the two infrastructures aim to strengthen connections between structural biology, molecular simulation and digital neuroscience - supporting researchers working across complementary biological scales to obtain new scientific discoveries. This will enable new opportunities for integrated experimental and computational workflows.

The collaboration will focus on:

• integrated experimental and digital workflows for brain-related and biomedical research;
• collaboration on shared data resources, modelling approaches, scientific computing, and future digital services;
• joint training and capacity-building activities;
• coordination around European initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC);
• future joint European projects and research infrastructure activities.

In a common statement, Prof. Katrin Amunts and Prof. Philippe Vernier, Joint CEOs of EBRAINS, comment:

“This partnership highlights the complementarity between structural biology and digital neuroscience infrastructures in Europe. Instruct and EBRAINS address different but interconnected levels of biological organisation. By bridging expertise, methods, data and services across these scales, we can support more integrated approaches to understanding brain function and disease while strengthening interoperable digital research infrastructures for the wider scientific community.’’

Prof. Harald Schwalbe, Director of Instruct-ERIC, states:

“The collaboration with EBRAINS creates important opportunities to connect our digital infrastructures through complementary technologies, data and computational methods. Together, we can help researchers address complex biomedical questions across multiple scales.’’

Beyond scientific collaboration, the agreement also reflects the shared interest of both infrastructures in strengthening exchanges on European research infrastructure policy, interoperability, open science and future strategic initiatives within the European Research Area.

About EBRAINS - Built for Brain Breakthroughs

EBRAINS is Europe's Digital Neuroscience Research Infrastructure. Built by the EU-funded Human Brain Project, it provides open access to computational modelling, brain atlases, shared digital analysis tools, and unique open datasets to advance brain research and medicine, enabling large-scale collaboration.

Through EBRAINS, scientists can perform complex analyses, using brain maps to facilitate neuroimaging, model the brain across scales, access supercomputers, and manage vast amounts of data. These capabilities accelerate research and drive innovation in medical applications - such as exploring disease mechanisms through datasets and digital tools, and developing digital twins of the brain. Additionally, EBRAINS contributes to broader scientific advancements by fostering AI-driven neuroscience, supporting the creation of a European Health Data Space, and strengthening collaboration between research infrastructures.

About Instruct-ERIC

Instruct-ERIC is a pan-European distributed research infrastructure making high-end technologies and methods in structural biology available to users.

It aims at promoting innovation in biomedical science and operates on a non-economic basis within the scope of the ERIC Regulation.

Instruct-ERIC comprises 17 Member Countries and Organisations and is the leading European research infrastructure in structural biology.

Instruct-ERIC provides open access to cutting edge structural biology, specifically supporting research that uses integrated approaches and technologies.