Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the UK's financial contribution to the Human Brain project is in addition to the contribution of the EU Commission.

The results of the initial phase of the Human Brain Project (HBP) will provide more detail on how it will address its objectives. The UK Research Councils, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) will hold discussions with UK researchers at that point to decide on any future involvement.

The UK makes no current financial contribution to the HBP. However, the project includes the expertise of some key UK researchers and is making use of the hardware platform, SpiNNaker, which was previously developed with £2.7 million of support from the EPSRC.