CENTRE HOSPITALIER REGIONAL DE MARSEILLE ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE-HOPITAUX MARSEILLE

Their core work

APHM (Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille) is one of France's largest public hospital systems, serving as a major clinical research hub in southern France. Their H2020 portfolio reveals a strong specialization in computational neuroscience and brain research, contributing clinical data and medical expertise to flagship initiatives like the Human Brain Project. Beyond neuroscience, they bring hospital-grade security infrastructure knowledge and clinical perspectives on mental health and social well-being to European research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

APHM's early H2020 work (2016-2018) was broad and exploratory — spanning social innovation for homelessness (HOME_EU), innate immunity research (TILC), and initial involvement in Human Brain Project computing infrastructure (ICEI, HBP SGA2). From 2020 onward, their focus sharpened significantly toward applied neuroscience: the EBRAINS research infrastructure, neuromorphic computing, epilepsy treatment through neuromodulation, and nature-based approaches to mental health. The trajectory shows a hospital system moving from general research participation toward becoming a clinical neuroscience partner with real translational ambitions.

APHM is consolidating around translational neuroscience — expect them to seek partnerships that bridge computational brain models with clinical applications like epilepsy treatment and mental health interventions.

How they like to work

APHM primarily operates as a supporting contributor rather than a consortium leader — coordinating just 1 of 8 projects, with 3 roles as a third party brought in for specialized clinical expertise. Their 199 partners across 26 countries indicate they are embedded in very large consortia (the Human Brain Project alone involves 100+ partners), making them accessible but not a driving force in consortium design. Working with APHM means tapping into a major hospital's clinical datasets and patient access, typically as a complement to computational or engineering-led projects.

With 199 unique consortium partners across 26 countries, APHM has an exceptionally wide network — largely inherited from mega-projects like the Human Brain Project. Their reach is pan-European, though their direct influence within these networks is that of a clinical contributor rather than a central hub.

What sets them apart

What sets APHM apart is the combination of being a massive operational hospital system AND an active participant in Europe's most ambitious computational neuroscience programs. While many hospitals contribute patient data to research, APHM has built sustained involvement across multiple phases of the Human Brain Project, giving them unusual fluency in bridging clinical neurology with high-performance computing and brain simulation. For anyone needing a clinical partner who understands both the medical and computational sides of neuroscience, APHM is a rare find in southern France.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SAFECARE
  APHM's only coordinator role (EUR 439,500) — protecting critical health infrastructure, directly drawing on their operational hospital expertise.
• HBP SGA3
  Continued involvement in Human Brain Project's third phase, contributing to the EBRAINS research infrastructure that aims to become Europe's permanent brain science platform.
• GALVANI
  An ERC Synergy Grant running until 2027 on controlling epilepsy with electric fields — represents their most clinically translational and forward-looking research direction.