EBRAINS Users and Developers Days bring together research community in Heidelberg

The events brought together more than 100 attendees from over 15 countries, fostering collaboration between researchers, experienced users, and developers working with EBRAINS tools and services.

The meetings were part of a three-day event dedicated to advancing neuroscientific research through digital tools, which also included one day for EBRAINS internal meetings on March 11.

Johannes Schemmel, from the Kirchhoff-Institute for Physics, opened the event, welcoming participants to two days of discussions, tutorials and collaboration. Katrin Amunts, EBRAINS Joint-CEO, introduced the research infrastructure and the tools and services it offers, which are categorised in six categories: Atlases, Medical analytics, Modelling and simulation, FAIR data, Collaborative platform, and Computing infrastructure.

She provided recent examples of how the infrastructure is being used and emphasised the co-design process, which has been a foundational approach within EBRAINS. She explained that co-design ensures that neuroscientists’ research questions drive the development of tools, making them more effective for real-world applications.

“We view this infrastructure as a key enabler for state-of-the-art neuroscience, computing and data science, developed to advance our understanding of the human brain. Our primary goal is to provide a comprehensive set of services that researchers can access not only from Europe but from anywhere in the world.”, said Katrin Amunts, EBRAINS Joint-CEO.

A Hub for Learning, Research, and Development

The Tutorials and Users Day provided an opportunity for newcomers to explore the tools, services, and data offered by the EBRAINS infrastructure, while more experienced users engaged in advanced tutorials and discussion groups. The morning sessions featured plenary introduction talks and “tools in action” demonstrations, offering insights into the capabilities of EBRAINS. The afternoon sessions were dedicated to parallel hands-on training slots, allowing participants to engage directly with a selection of EBRAINS tools and services.

Participants worked with a wide range of tools in areas such as simulation and emulation, neuromorphic computing, medicine-related applications, and specialised workflows.

Part of the EBRAINS Users and Developers Day, the session “EBRAINS Tools for Teaching”, organised by the EBRAINS Education Task Force, highlighted several research tools that have been successfully integrated into educational settings, demonstrating that advanced research technology can also serve as an effective teaching aid.

The Developers Day on March 13 shifted the focus toward those contributing to the continued evolution of EBRAINS infrastructure. It featured introductions for developers on how to integrate services via EBRAINS workflows.

Learn more:

EBRAINS Tools for Teaching: Enhancing Neuroscience Education