On International Students Day we would like to highlight the activities of the Human Brain Project Education Programme in 2022.

The Human Brain Project (HBP) Education Programme, coordinated by the Medical University Innsbruck, offers innovative learning packages for early career researchers working in and across the fields of neuroscience, information and communications technology, and medicine. The programme targets advanced master’s-level and PhD students, as well as early post-doctoral researchers, from within and outside the HBP. 

Over the course of 2022 the Education Programme hosted 13 events. A total of 991 participants attended the events with 472 (47.6 %) being female. 

HBP Student Conference

In February, the 6th HBP Student Conference on Interdisciplinary Brain Research provided an inspiring open forum for collaboration among early-career researchers working in brain and brain-related research.

115 young scientists from 26 countries joined the second virtual edition of the conference and participated in a versatile scientific and social programme. 

EBRAINS Workshops

EBRAINS Workshops aim to introduce participants to the opportunities provided by the EBRAINS Research Infrastructure and educate them on the resources that are offered by EBRAINS.

Two EBRAINS Workshops were hosted in 2022. The Brain Activity across Scales and Species: Analysis of Experiments and Simulations workshop in June provided an overview of the scientific topics of brain states and complexity, state transitions, and their connection with cognitive functions across species. Achievements obtained within the Human Brain Project using the functionalities provided by EBRAINS were also presented. The HBP Partnering Projects: status quo & outlook workshop in September gave a platform to thirty-one speakers to showcase their scientific achievements that were fostered by the HBP Partnering Project environment. Participants had also the opportunity to follow parallel sessions on the EBRAINS services.

HBP Young Researchers Events 

Young Researchers Events provide a setting for the EBRAINS Research Infrastructure to present the Project’s tools and results to early career scientists and future users.

Two HBP Young Researcher Events were hosted in 2022. At the EBRAINS - a digital European Infrastructure for next-generation basic & clinical neuroscience event in May experts from the HBP presented introductions to how EBRAINS can support next-generation basic and clinical neuroscience. During the Young Researchers Event meets HIBALL: new digital tools to study the brain event in October participants learned more about topics like big data analytics, human brain atlasing, and computational neuroscience in interactive plenaries and hands-on workshops. 

EBRAINS Infrastructure Training Events

EBRAINS Infrastructure Training Events provide hands-on training in the use of specific services and tools offered by EBRAINS.

Six EBRAINS Infrastructure Training Events were hosted in 2022. You can read about some of them below: 

• Training Workshop on Tools for Molecular Simulation of Neuronal Signaling Cascades 
• Symposium: From Cortical Microcircuits to Consciousness
• EBRAINS Brain Simulation School 2022 
• Young Researchers using EBRAINS for tomorrow's scientific challenges
• EBRAINS Training on Brain Atlases and Simulation Services for ANA Members

Student Community Building Activities 

The 'HBP Tea & Slides' series features presentations by young researchers for young researchers. The two 10-minute talks are followed by an interactive Q&A session with the audience. Two episodes of 'HBP Tea & Slides' were hosted in 2022: 

• HBP Tea & Slides Session XVI on data transfer and public engagement with neuroscience 
• HBP Tea & Slides Session XVII on responsible artificial intelligence

Future events 

The 7th HBP Student Conference on Interdisciplinary Brain Research will take place in Madrid from 18–20 January 2023.

The event provides an open forum for the exchange of new ideas among early-career researchers working across various sciences relevant to the Human Brain Project. 

The EBRAINS Workshop on Cross-Species Comparison of the Pre-Frontal Cortex will take place in Paris from 14–16 March 2023. The interactive format of the workshop will allow speakers as well as participants from largely separated fields to interact and discuss, which is expected to create novel insights as well as lead to more coherence and clarity in the relevant terminology, formats, and important research directions in the field. 

You can learn more about upcoming HBP Education Programme activities here. Make sure you subscribe to the Education Programme to not miss any updates! 

Support from the Human Brain Project consortium and external stakeholders 

The HBP Education Programme would not exist without the support of people from across the entire HBP consortium. Colleagues from all of the Work Packages are frequently involved in the events as speakers, tutors, and moderators. They also make up the HBP Education Programme Committee – an important body of expertise – which evaluates event proposals submitted via the HBP Education Open Calls.  

The HBP student representatives and ambassadors play a key role in the organisation of the HBP Student Conferences and are responsible for a range of other student community activities, such as the HBP Tea & Slides series. 

The Programme also collaborates with many external stakeholders – such as universities and institutions – in order to mount different events and activities. 

We would like to thank everyone who makes the HBP Education Programme possible!