SIMULA RESEARCH LABORATORY AS

Their core work

Simula Research Laboratory is a Norwegian research centre specializing in computational science, network measurement, and software engineering for cyber-physical systems. They build mathematical models and simulation tools applied to real-world domains — particularly cardiac physiology, internet infrastructure, and 5G networks. Their work bridges pure computational methods (PDE solvers, sparse computation, exascale computing) with medical and telecom applications, making them a go-to partner for projects that need rigorous numerical methods applied to complex systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), Simula focused heavily on internet measurement and architecture (MONROE, MAMI, NEAT), visual computing for media production (POPART, LADIO), and mathematical software tools (OpenDreamKit). From 2019 onward, the centre pivoted strongly toward computational biomedicine — cardiac simulation, in-silico clinical trials, and personalized atrial fibrillation therapy — while maintaining their systems engineering thread through cyber-physical systems projects. The shift from network infrastructure toward biomedical computing represents a deliberate deepening of their applied mathematics capabilities into healthcare.

Simula is increasingly positioning itself at the intersection of high-performance computing and biomedical simulation, making them a strong partner for in-silico medicine and digital twin projects in healthcare.

How they like to work

Simula operates primarily as an active research partner (16 of 21 projects), but takes the coordinator role on strategically important projects — notably their largest (MONROE, €4.4M) and their ERC grant (Waterscales). With 263 unique consortium partners across 28 countries, they are a well-connected hub rather than a loyal-to-few organization, which means they bring a broad European network to any consortium they join. Their mix of large RIA consortia and targeted coordination roles suggests they are comfortable in both supporting and leading positions.

Simula has collaborated with 263 unique partners across 28 countries, giving them one of the broader networks for a Norwegian research centre. Their partnerships span Western and Northern Europe primarily, with strong connections into telecom, healthcare, and computational science communities.

What sets them apart

Simula's distinctive strength is combining deep mathematical and computational expertise with practical application domains — few research centres can credibly contribute to both exascale PDE solvers and mobile broadband measurement campaigns. Their sustained dual track in network engineering and cardiac simulation means they understand both the computational infrastructure and the domain science, making them especially valuable for projects that need someone who can build the simulation tools, not just use them. Based in Norway with broad European reach, they also bring Nordic research credibility and access to Scandinavian innovation ecosystems.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MONROE
  Largest project by far (€4.4M, coordinator) — built Europe's first open platform for measuring mobile broadband networks, demonstrating Simula's ability to lead large-scale infrastructure projects.
• Waterscales
  ERC Starting Grant (€1.5M, coordinator) for mathematical foundations of cerebral fluid flow modeling — reflects deep individual research excellence and secured the most prestigious EU funding type.
• SimCardioTest
  Their largest recent project (€1.3M) on in-silico testing and certification of cardiac devices and drugs — positions Simula at the frontier of computational medicine and regulatory science.