Human Brain Project

The human brain is one of the great mysteries of science. As members of the EU lighthouse project Human Brain Project (HBP), hundreds of scientists from the fields of neuroscience, biology and information technology across Europe have been working on research into the brain for nine years.

To ensure that the development of new technologies is in line with ethical and societal principles, citizens and stakeholders are actively involved in the discussion of medical ethics issues. In the current, final phase of the HBP, the focus is on making the EBRAINS platform a central research infrastructure for neuroscience in Europe and the world. Together with our partner, the Danish Board of Technology (DBT), we are involving citizens and stakeholders in Germany in this process.

Project

Client

Specifically, we are hosting a participation process with two key elements:

1. The “Mixing of Minds” workshop: In this workshop, selected citizens collaborated with experts to develop guidelines and principles on the topic of international research cooperation. Further they developed guidelince on how to share health data in the neurosciences. The workshop took place on July 16, 2022 in Frankfurt am Main. The results will be published in a research report and presented to EU decision makers.

2. The decentralized participation process “GlobalSay”: here, small groups throughout Germany self-organize meet-ups manner to discuss medical ethics issues with the help of a central web platform.

Project overview

Partner :Danish Board of Technology
Duration :May until August 2022

The Human Brain Project is an EU lighthouse project for research of the human brain. It involves citizens in the discussion of medical ethics issues.

ifok organizes the participation process in Germany with two central elements. First, the “Mixing of Minds” workshop, in which citizens and experts work together to develop guidelines for the international use of health data.

Second, ifok oversees the decentralized participation process “Global Say”, in which small groups meet in a self-organized manner to discuss medical ethics issues with the help of a central web platform.