Abbreviations
This page provides definitions for abbreviations, acronyms, and key concepts used throughout the EBRAINS Handbook, including technical terms, organizational references, and governance terminology.
| Abbreviation; concept | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 5M dataset | Dataset containing 5 million entries |
| AAI | Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure |
| ABCD | Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development |
| AE | Affiliated Entity – entity affiliated with a beneficiary |
| AGA | Annotated Grant Agreement |
| AISBL | “Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif” – international non-profit organisation (Belgian legal term) |
| AISN | integrating AI in Stroke Neurorehabilitation |
| ALLEA | All European Academies |
| AMU | Université d’Aix Marseille Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| AP | Associated Partner – entity which participates, but without the right to charge costs or claim contributions |
| API | Application Programming Interface |
| accountability | Means that all actors are responsible for their actions and must be able to explain and justify them to the public and to institutional stakeholders. Part of good governance principles. |
| Arbor | Library for computational neuroscience simulations |
| ASUFC | Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Friuli Centrale Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| ATHENA | ATHENA Research and Innovation Center in Information, Communication, and Knowledge Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| BBMRI | Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources research Infrastructure |
| BEN | Beneficiary, same as participant |
| beneficiary | Beneficiary, same as participant |
| BG | Basal Ganglia |
| BIDS | Brain Imaging Data Structure A standard for organising neuroscience data |
| BigBrain | A high-resolution 3D reconstruction of a human brain |
| BISC | Base Infrastructure Service Catalog |
| brain network model | System of coupled differential equations for simulating brain activity |
| BRAIN Initiative | Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies – US brain research project |
| Brain/MINDS | Brain Mapping by Integrated Neurotechnologies for Disease Studies – Japanese brain research project |
| BSB | Brain Scaffold Builder – software for simulating neuron networks |
| CA | Consortium Agreement – internal agreement signed by consortium partners and associated partners (parties). It defines the terms and conditions under which the grant is awarded, and the project is implemented. |
| CARE | Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics |
| CCEP | Cortico-Cortico Evoked Potentials |
| CEA | Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| CFS | Certificates on the Financial Statements |
| CHARITE | Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| CHUV | Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois Associated Partner in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| CINECA | Consorzio Interuniversitario Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| CNR | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| CNRS | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| CoI | Conflict of Interest – a situation where competing links of interest create a risk that judgment or actions related to a primary responsibility may be inappropriately influenced by a secondary link of interest. |
| coherence | Involves consistency and logical connection between various actions. It ensures that all actions are aligned and pull in the same direction. Part of good governance principles. |
| CODEMART | Codemart Srl Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| CoMUC | Certificate on the Methodology for Unit Costs |
| CONVELOP | Convelop – Cooperative Knowledge Design GmbH Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| COO | Coordinator |
| curation | Organisation and integration of data collected from various sources |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management |
| CSA | Coordination and Support Action |
| CSIRT | Computer Security Incident Response Team |
| CWL | Common Workflow Language |
| DALY | Disability-Adjusted Life Years |
| DANDI | Distributed Archives for Neurophysiology Data Integration |
| DaaS | Data as a Service |
| DATS | Data TAgs Suite – Biomedical metadata schema |
| DBT | Fonden Teknologirådet Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| DMP | Data Management Plan |
| DoA | Description of the action |
| DPO | Data Protection Officer |
| DTI | Diffusion Tensor Imaging |
| diversity | Refers to the various aspects that make us unique, while building categories such as physical and mental abilities, sex, gender, age, religion, and ethnicity. Part of EEEDI principles. |
| DWI | Diffusion-Weighted Imaging |
| EAN | European Academy of Neurology Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| EANO | European Association of Neuro-Oncology |
| EBC | European Brain Council |
| EBRAINS | European Brain ReseArch INfraStructure See also https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101147319 |
| EBRAINS-AISBL | Coordinator of EBRAINS |
| EBRAINS-PREP | Project that created the framework for EBRAINS |
| ECA | European Court of Auditors |
| ECAS | European Commission Authentication Service |
| ECB | European Central Bank |
| ECNP | European College of NeuropsychoPharmacology |
| EDI | Gender Equality, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion |
| EDI | Electronic Data Interchange |
| EDITH | Ecosystem for DIgital Twins in Healthcare" project – a European CSA project to develop a virtual human twin |
| EEEDI | Ethics, Equity, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion – the umbrella term used as an abbreviation for these interconnected principles. Adding “EEDI” raises awareness for the European strategy for Gender Equality, the intersectionality of gender with further diversity traits, and the request to create an inclusive collaborative culture. |
| EESC | EBRAINS Ethics and Society Committee |
| effectiveness | Refers to achieving the desired strategic results through the most efficient use of resources at a reasonable cost. Part of good governance principles. |
| EFSS | Enterprise File Sync and Share |
| EHDS | European Health Data Space |
| EIC | European Innovation Council |
| EITN | European Institute for Theoretical Neuroscience |
| ELIXIR | Platform for life science data |
| EOSC | European Open Science Cloud |
| EPFL | Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Associated Partner in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| EPPO | European Public Prosecutor’s Office |
| ERIC | European Research Infrastructure Consortium |
| ESFRI | European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures |
| ESO | European Stroke Organisation |
| ESTC | EBRAINS Science and Technology Committee |
| equity | Recognises that what is needed to develop competences and participate might differ, for example based on income, physical abilities, or how gender is perceived in one’s culture. Unlike equality (treating everyone the same), equity provides tailored support. Part of EEEDI principles. |
| ethics | Concerned with what is good or bad, morally right or wrong, which applies to many aspects of EBRAINS such as collaboration, neuroethics, and AI ethics. Part of EEEDI principles. |
| ETHZ | Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich Associated Partner in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| FAIR | Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable |
| FDG-PET | FluoroDeoxyGlucose PET – PET technique that uses a radioactive tracer, FDG |
| FENIX | Supercomputer infrastructure used by the HBP |
| FENS | Federation of European Neuroscience Societies |
| FERES | Federated European Registries for Stroke |
| FET | Future and Emerging Technologies |
| functional connectivity | Statistical relationships between brain signals represented as a network; often a matrix of pairwise correlation coefficients between region-average fMRI signals |
| fMRI | functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
| FSTP | Financial Support to Third Parties |
| FT | Funding and Tenders |
| FZJ | ForschungsZentrum Jülich GmbH Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| GA | Grant Agreement |
| gender equality | Means that talents and achievements should be recognised equally independently of the gender of a person and given the same opportunity to become visible and supported. See also: European Strategy for Gender Equality. Part of EEEDI principles. |
| GEP | Gender Equality Plans |
| good governance | Based on European Commission principles from 2001, includes openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness, coherence, and representation. |
| governance | Encompasses designing a framework of structures, responsibilities, and processes to manage a collaboration effectively, transparently, and inclusively so that goals can be reached. |
| HBP | Human Brain Project A European FET flagship project 2013-23. |
| HBHL | Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives |
| HCP | Human Connectome Project |
| hd-EEG | high-density EEG |
| HE | Horizon Europe |
| HDC | Health Data Cloud |
| HIP | Human Intracranial EEG Platform |
| HITS | Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies gGmbH Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| HLST | High-Level Support Team |
| HPC | High-performance Computing |
| IaaS | Infrastructure as a Service |
| IAM | Identity and Access Management server This server is vital for using EBRAINS resources (check operating status). |
| IBI | International Brain Initiative |
| IBRO | International Brain Research Organization |
| ICEI | Interactive Computing E-Infrastructure for the HBP – project that developed services for FENIX |
| iEEG | intracranial EEG |
| IIF | Interoperability and Integration Framework |
| ILAE | International League Against Epilepsy |
| INCF | International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility |
| inclusion | Sets actions that support each member of a diverse team or society to actually feel welcomed, part of the community, and able to contribute. Part of EEEDI principles. |
| INRIA | Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| INSERM | Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Affiliated Entity in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| IO | High-performance Computing |
| JARDS | Joint Application Review and Dispatch Service – Tool for HPC resource allocation |
| JRC | Joint Research Centre |
| JSC | Jülich Supercomputing Centre |
| KG | Knowledge Graph Metadata store connecting different brain research fields; a data model and database for linking, integrating, and storing information in a graph structure |
| KI | Karolinska Institutet Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| KNAW | Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
| KTH | Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| KUL | Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| K8s | Kubernetes Open-source container management system |
| LEAR | Legal Entity Appointed Representative |
| LENS | Laboratorio Europeo di Spettroscopie Non Lineari Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| LFPy | Python module for calculation of extracellular potentials from multicompartment neuron models |
| LSMU | Lietuvos Sveikatos Mokslu Universitetas Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| management | Supports project members in implementing and following the governance principles and in reaching project goals. Additionally, tasks include reporting project status and finances. |
| MB | Management Board |
| MIP | Medical Informatics Platform |
| MNI | Montreal Neurological Institute |
| MRI | Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
| neuromorphic systems | Electronic analogue circuits to mimic neuro-biological architectures |
| MUI | Medizinische Universität Innsbruck Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| NEST | NEural Simulation Technology – neuron simulation software |
| NEURON | Software package for neuron simulation |
| NICE | Neuro-Inspired Computational Elements Conference |
| NIDM | NeuroImaging Data Model |
| NMBU | Norges Miljø- og Biovitenskaplige Universitet Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| NMC | Near-Memory Computer Not to be confused with Neuromorphic Computing |
| NMC | Neuromorphic Computing Not to be confused with Near-Memory Computer |
| NN | National Node |
| NP | Neurorobotics Platform |
| OA | Open Access |
| OCRE | Open Clouds for Research Environment |
| OCP | Open Calls Platform |
| ODC | OutSystems Developer Cloud – a cloud-native app development platform |
| OEI | Other Ethics Issues |
| OKD | Origin Community Distribution of Kubernetes –open source, community-supported version of Kubernetes |
| OLAF | European Anti-Fraud Office |
| openness | Involves sharing information openly with all project members involved. This transparency fosters trust and ensures that everyone has access to the necessary information regarding project goals, processes, and decision-making. Part of good governance principles. |
| ontology (information science) | A way to organise data, information, knowledge by defining concepts, categories and their relationships |
| OM | Objectives of the measures to Maximise impact |
| openAIRE | open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe – research information system providing services to find, store, link and analyse research output |
| openMINDS | open Metadata Initiative for Neuroscience Data Structures – Specifications for structuring metadata in neuroscience |
| openNeuro | platform for BIDS-compliant imaging data |
| ORE | Open Research Europe |
| OHBM | Organization for Human Brain Mapping |
| OVR | Operational Verification Report |
| PaaS | Platform as a Service |
| participant | EBRAINS member organisation receiving funding from the EBRAINS 2.0 project as opposed to an EBRAINS partner |
| participation | Stresses the importance of involving all stakeholders in the decision-making process, particularly those who will be affected by the decisions. Part of good governance principles. |
| partner | EBRAINS member organisation not receiving funding from the EBRAINS 2.0 project as opposed to an EBRAINS participant |
| PD | Parkinson’s Disease |
| PET | Positron Emission Tomography – nuclear medicine imaging technique |
| PHRASE | Personalised Health cognitive assistance for RehAbilitation SystEm |
| PI | Persistent Identifier |
| PO | Project Objective |
| portal | EU Funding and Tenders portal |
| PRACE | Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe |
| PVM | Protisvalor Mediterranee SAS Affilited Entity in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| QUINT | Workflow for Quantification and Spatial Analysis of Features in Histological Images |
| REGIONH | Region Hovedstaden Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| RERO | Release Early, Release Often – a software development philosophy |
| representation | Asks who is representing the project and who is directly involved in strategic planning and decision making. It is related to equal opportunities across all genders and further diversity traits to counteract discrimination. Part of good governance principles. |
| RI | Research Infrastructure |
| RISE | RISE Research Institutes of Sweden Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| RV | ReView |
| RRI | Responsible Research and Innovation – an approach that anticipates and assesses potential implications and societal expectations about research and innovation, with the aim to foster the design of inclusive and sustainable research and innovation. |
| RTO | Research and Technology Organisation |
| SaaS | Software as a Service |
| SAL | Security Aspect Letter |
| SCG | Security Classification Guide |
| SfN | Society for Neuroscience |
| SGA3 | Specific Grant Agreement 3 4th and final phase of HBP |
| SHE FIGURES | statistics on the state of gender equality in research and innovation |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement |
| SLU | Science Liaison Unit |
| SNN | Spiking Neural Networks |
| SNUDDA | Software for simulation of neurons on the morphological level |
| SPA | Systems and Process Audit |
| SPARC | Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions – project for advancing the understanding and development of bioelectronic medicine |
| spiNNaker | spiking Neural Network architecture – a neuromorphic computer architecture |
| SPM | Statistical Parametric Mapping – Software package for functional imaging data |
| SSD | Services for Sensitive Data |
| SST | Science Support Team |
| structural connectivity | Aggregated descriptions of the networks that couple neurons, neural populations and brain areas |
| TAU | Tampereen Korkeakoulusaatio Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| TC | Technical Comittee |
| TFEU | Treaty on the Functioning of the EU |
| TRE | Trusted Research Environments |
| TRL | Technology Readiness Level |
| TRUST | Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability and Technology |
| TTO | Technology Transfer Organisation |
| ToR | Terms of Reference – define the purpose and structures of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, or any similar collection of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal. |
| TUD | Technical University Dresden Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| TUM | Technische Universität München Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| TUM-MED | Klinikum Rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| TVB | The Virtual Brain Software to simulate brain network models |
| UBERN | Universität Bern Associated Partner in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UBx | Université de Bordeaux Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UCAM | University of Cambridge Associated Partner in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UCBL | Universite Lyon 1 Claude Bernard Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UCL | University College London Associated Partner in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UDUS | Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UGA | Université Grenoble Alpes Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UGENT | Universiteit Gent Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UHEI | Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UIO | Universitetet i Oslo Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UJRC | Universidad Rey Juan Carlos Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UKE | Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UKLFR | Universitätsklinikum Freiburg Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UM | Universiteit Maastricht Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UNICORE | Interface for exchanging data and commands between different computers in a network |
| UNIMAN | University of Manchester Associated Partner in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UNIPD | Universita degli studi di Padova Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UNIPV | Universita degli studi di Pavia Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UNITO | Universita degli studi di Torino Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| UPM | Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| USP | Unique Sales Point |
| UT | Universität Trier Beneficiary in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| VDI | Virtual Desktop Interface |
| VHT | Virtual Human Twin |
| VIMM | Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine Affiliated Entity in EBRAINS 2.0 |
| VM | Virtual Machine |
| WF | workflow |