SICHH SWISS INTEGRATIVE CENTER FOR HUMAN HEALTH SA

Their core work

SICHH is a Swiss center focused on integrative human health research, operating at the intersection of neuroscience and high-performance computing infrastructure. Within the EU framework, they contributed to the Human Brain Project (HBP) — one of Europe's largest scientific endeavors — across all three Specific Grant Agreements and the associated computing infrastructure project ICEI. Their role centers on supporting brain simulation, neuroinformatics, and the development of federated research data infrastructures for neuroscience.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

SICHH's early work (2016–2018) focused on foundational neuroscience — mouse brain reconstruction, transcriptome mapping, and biological signatures of disease within HBP SGA1. By the later phase (2018–2023), the emphasis shifted toward research infrastructure and platform building, with EBRAINS, connectome analysis, cognitive architectures, and neurorobotics appearing prominently. This reflects the broader HBP trajectory from basic research toward creating a permanent European neuroscience infrastructure.

SICHH is moving from pure neuroscience research toward supporting the EBRAINS platform ecosystem, positioning them for future infrastructure-oriented neuroscience collaborations.

How they like to work

SICHH operates exclusively as a participant in very large consortia — their 159 unique partners across 19 countries all come from the Human Brain Project ecosystem, one of the largest research collaborations in EU history. They have never coordinated a project, suggesting a specialist contributor role within massive multi-partner frameworks. This makes them experienced at operating within complex governance structures but not a go-to partner for leading smaller, focused projects.

SICHH has collaborated with 159 unique partners across 19 countries, but this network is entirely concentrated within the Human Brain Project ecosystem rather than built through diverse independent collaborations. Their reach is broad geographically but narrow thematically.

What sets them apart

SICHH brings a Swiss integrative health perspective to large-scale European neuroscience infrastructure projects. As a non-university, non-profit entity based in Fribourg, they occupy an unusual niche: a health-focused organization contributing to computational neuroscience flagships. For consortium builders, their value lies in providing a Swiss partner with direct experience in the HBP/EBRAINS ecosystem and its governance requirements.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HBP SGA3
  The final phase of the Human Brain Project, focused on establishing EBRAINS as a permanent European research infrastructure — the legacy output of a decade-long flagship initiative.
• ICEI
  Dedicated computing infrastructure project (2018–2023) that built the interactive supercomputing backbone for brain research, distinct from the core HBP scientific work.