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Brain simulation helps us understanding how our brain works – and developing personalized therapies for its diseases.

A human brain consists of 86 billion neurons and 150 trillion connections between them. It runs on as little energy as an LED light bulb. It would take 1,500 Google data centers (they only have 15) to simulate just one brain with molecular accuracy, costing 1 trillion dollar per year and consuming 600 terawatt hours.

Here at the Brain Simulation Section (part of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin), we have been at the forefront of network-based brain simulation, computational neuroscience and its clinical application for more than 10 years.

In collaboration with other international research centers, we have developed a way to simulate a brain even on a laptop – with reduced complexity but feasible, sufficiently accurate, scalable and already used in practical clinical applications.

We work towards our vision of providing digital copies of a person’s brain to virtually plan and test personalized treatment of brain orders, e.g. Alzheimer’s, stroke, epilepsy or tumors.

Our team is growing fast and we would be happy to welcome you, e.g. as software developer, lab manager or research assistant! Check out our current job openings or send us your speculative application!

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Brain Simulation Section is a research center of Charité Universitätsmedizin

Berlin Institute of Health @ Charité

Latest activities

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  • Edic Gathering Invite

    1st annual EDIC Gathering livestream recording now online!

    January 8

    The recording of the first annual EDIC Gathering livestream is now online. You can find it here.

    Dr.

  • End of Year 2025

    Lab End of Year Party 2025

    December 23

    The Brain Simulation Lab celebrated the end of 2025 together on a boat tour on the Spree here in Berlin. Gathered around the BBQ, we shared snacks and stories while watching the city sail past! We wish everyone a happy new year!

  • BRIDGE

    BRIDGE Project Launches

    December 15

    We are excited to announce our participation in the EU-funded BRIDGE Project - a major European initiative to support innovative health technologies.

    The EU-funded BRIDGE project (Breakthrough Regulatory Innovation and Develo

  • Dr Petra Ritter at Adopt AI 2025 2

    Adopt AI (Paris)

    November 28

    We are excited to share that Dr. Petra Ritter participated in a panel discussion at the recent Adopt AI International Summit in Paris at the iconic Grand Palais.

    The panel, “Rethinking How We Regulate and Evaluate Health Technologies in the AI Era”, h

Meet our team

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  • Join us at Neuroscience (SFN) 2026!

    14

    Nov

    November 14–19, Washington D.C.

    This autumn we will return to Neuroscience, the yearly congress held by Society for Neuroscience, to present our lab's latest research. As we know more about the event and what we will be presenting this year, we will post it here. For now, we are excited

  • 12th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology

    27

    Jun

    June 27–30, Geneva

    We are delighted to announce our lab lead, Dr. Prof. Petra Ritter, will be contributing a talk entitled ”The computational understanding of neurological symptoms” at the 12th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Geneva this year. The talk will

  • 25th Brain Connectivity Workshp

    10

    Jun

    June 10–12, Nimes, France

    Join us in France this year for the 25th edition of the Brain Connectivity Workshop, for which our lab lead, Dr. Prof. Petra Ritter, will serve as a program committee member. This important milesto

  • TEF-Health Event 2026 – Advancing Trusted AI in Healthcare

    9

    Jun

    June 9, Berlin, Germany

    Our lab lead Prof. Dr. Petra Ritter and members of our team will be present at the TEF-Health event this June. Come participate in this public event to learn more about the present and future of trusted AI in real-world applications and environments.

  • Girls Day 2026

    26

    Apr

    April 26, Berlin, Germany

    We will be participating in Girls Day again this year on April 23rd. Girls Day is an event where girls ages 10 and up are invited to technical enterprises, such as training facilities, universities and workplaces to participate and gain exposure to profes

  • Keynote at ANT Neuromeeting 2026

    15

    Jan

    January 15–17, Berlin, Germany

    We are excited to announce that Dr. Petra Ritter will be holding a keynote at ANT Neuromeeting 2026.

    The event will take place

  • LASCON 2026

    5

    Jan

    January 5–30, São Paulo, Brazil

    Lab member Valery Bragin is participating in the LASCON X summer school as a tutor in the topic of modelling of cells and networks activity with NEURON and NetPyNE!

    LASCON X is the 10th Latin American School on Comput

  • Prof. Dr. Petra Ritter at EBrains Summit 2025

    8

    Dec

    December 8–11, Brussels, Belgium

    Prof. Dr. Petra Ritter will be participating in the EBrains Summit 2025 on the panel, ['Medical data for enabling progress in healthcare in Europe and beyond'](https://summit2025.ebrains.eu/programme/medical-data-for-enab

  • European Parliament Lunch Debate

    2

    Dec

    December 2, Brussels, Belgium

    Dr. Petra Ritter will speak on Dec 2nd during the European Parliament lunch debate in Brussels, which will be co-hosted by MEP Tilly Metz and colleagues. The topic of the lunch debate is “Future of dementia research in Europe”. Dr. Ritter will be speaking

  • Adopt AI International Summit at the Grand Palais, Paris

    25

    Nov

    November 25–26, Paris, France

    Join us at the Adopt AI International Summit at the Grand Palais, Paris on the 25th and 26th of November 2025. Dr. Petra Ritter will participate in a panel on international AI regulation and Health Technology Assessment (H

  • METIS-Lecture 2025: Dr Petra Ritter

    13

    Nov

    November 13, Online

    We are excited to share that Dr. Petra Ritter will be holding the METIS-Lecture 2025. The topic of t

  • Falling Walls Science Summit 2025

    8

    Nov

    November 8, Berlin, Germany

    Dr. Petra Ritter will be participating in the Falling Walls Round Table on 08.11.2025 at the Falling Walls Science House, Karl-Marx-Allee 34 Berlin. The topic of the round table will be 'Supercharging Healthcare: AI, Data & Infrastructures'. The event is

  • 9th BigBrain Workshop

    28

    Oct

    October 28–29, Berlin, Germany & Online

    Join us for the 9th BigBrain Workshop to explore the latest advancements in high-resolution brain mapping, AI-driven tools, and brain simulation. Hosted by the Brain Simulation Section, we are excited to welcome you to this engaging and insightful BigB

  • Der Red-Queen-Effekt im Gesundheitssystem: zur Entwicklung, Regulierung und Realität von KI

    21

    Oct

    October 21, Berlin, Germany

    Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Petra Ritter und anschließendes Gespräch mit kennedy+swan

    Termin:

    21.10. – 21.10.2025, 18–21 Uhr

    Veranstaltun

  • Deploying Trustworthy AI in Healthcare – Validation and Adoption

    16

    Oct

    October 16, Stockholm, Sweden

    Welcome to a TEF-Health event focused on how to develop, validate, and adopt AI in healthcare. This gathering will bring together healthcare provi