About
CLARA is established as a Center of Excellence, but its ambition extends beyond the traditional definition. Rather than serving solely as a locus of high-quality research, CLARA is designed as a distributed computational and scientific infrastructure for understanding biological complexity. Combining artificial intelligence, high-performance and hybrid computing, and neuroscience enables the modeling of brain function as a dynamic, multiscale system—moving beyond static descriptions of disease toward predictive and actionable frameworks.
As the first Centers of Excellence of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, CLARA sets a new benchmark for interdisciplinary collaboration. This is made possible through the combined expertise and unique infrastructures of all CLARA partners - INDRC, CIIRC CTU, ICRC, VSB-TUO, PBI, and LRZ - whose complementary strengths span brain research, molecular biology, neuroimaging, clinical research, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and quantum technologies. Together, they create a distributed research ecosystem capable of addressing some of the most complex challenges in neurodegeneration research.
Importantly, CLARA is designed not only to generate knowledge but to translate it into realworld impact. It enables the integration of insights into clinical workflows, supports the development of real-world evidence frameworks, and creates pathways for engagement with health systems and policy environments.
CLARA represents the interdisciplinary Center of Excellence, the first of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on the next generation of artificial intelligence and machine learning applications and quantum-centric supercomputing tools to push the frontier of neurodegeneration research, particularly Alzheimer‘s disease, by processing large-scale multidimensional biological and clinical data using powerful supercomputers and quantum methods.
There are over 50 million people worldwide living with dementia today, and this number is expected to reach 82 million by 2030. According to the World Alzheimer Report 2020, the global annual cost of dementia is estimated to be more than US$ 1 trillion and is forecasted to double by 2030. We believe that Europe as a whole has the most up-to-date scientific and clinical knowledge to understand the complexities of neurodegeneration and to develop new technological and therapeutic innovations. Europe has long been a major driver of global innovation but has recently lagged behind in growth sectors and in areas of innovation such as genomics, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
The grand challenge of vitality and longevity of neurons - this is CLARA’s innovative perspective on neural health and ageing. The conventional approach in dementia research to explain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's is to focus on presumed mechanisms of neuronal dysfunction leading to failure in particular neural systems. CLARA wants to be more ahead of the curve and is therefore tasking a bold new question: What are the essential conditions to maintain optimal function, vitality, and longevity of neurons for over 100 years?
How does CLARA want to achieve this? In CLARA, cutting-edge technologies meet groundbreaking research in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). In CLARA, we explore the complex interactions between molecular, behavioural, and clinical aspects of NDs through the integration of Quantum Computing (QC), High-Performance Computing (HPC), and Hybrid Computing (HPCQC), powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). By harnessing deep domain expertise and processing large-scale biological and clinical data, CLARA aims to advance our understanding of these transformative technologies. Our work accelerates innovation in computing, tackling real-world challenges, and ultimately benefiting society.
- Gathering excellent researchers and innovators to allow a new quality of interdisciplinary research
- CLARA Testbed - an innovative distributed hybrid computing infrastructure integrated with EuroHPC supercomputers and quantum computers
- Pilot use case - Evaluating the Calcium Brain Aging and APOE Cascade hypotheses
- Three research programmes:
- RP1: Quantum-accelerated supercomputing and machine learning to address protein dynamics, aggregation, and modulation by small molecules.
- RP2: Expanding systems biology with clinical phenomenology of AD to understand time and scale coupling using generative AI and hybrid computing (HPCQC)
- RP3: Development of multiscale/cross-modal patient/deep-learning models of AD in the hybrid quantum-classical computing environments
CLARA serves as a catalyst for cross-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together the best teams from diverse institutions under a shared scientific vision. By fostering strong connections between different disciplines and research organizations, CLARA ensures a flexible, transparent, and innovative approach to governance. Built on a solid legal and scientific foundation, CLARA establishes a groundbreaking organizational platform that unites top-tier R&D&I teams from across the Czech Republic and beyond, driving innovation and excellence.