About
We are not an academic institution nor a tech company. We combine parts of both models to advance our science.
We are asking challenging and long-standing questions. Answering these questions requires a long-term perspective, agile decision-making, new technologies, investments in computation and data science, a focus on the fundamental processes underlying brain function, and deep collaborations within the institute and with the scientific community at large.
Our culture and values are shaped to advance team science. Our progress is measured by the discoveries we share, the methods and technologies we develop and disseminate, the collaborations we advance, and the careers we nurture.
We are committed to open and reproducible science.
Answers will be in terms of neural activity in defined neuron types interacting across the whole brain and body. This requires next-generation neurotechnologies. Knowledge, data, and tools will be widely shared, to facilitate science elsewhere and to support the development of therapies for brain disorders.
We are an independent institute in Seattle. Together with the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Allen Institute for Immunology, Allen Institute for Cell Science, Seahub, and the Frontiers Group, we constitute the Allen Institue.
We share and distribute data, tools, and knowledge as soon as is practical and useful. We share the generosity of our founder and other sponsors to accelerate scientific discovery elsewhere. Sharing is necessary to maximize scientific progress. One measure of our success is the value the larger scientific community derives from the scientific and technical resources we produce. Sharing data, tools, and resources also facilitates reproducible science.
Team science is an effort to address complex and deep scientific challenges by leveraging the joint strengths and expertise of diverse scientists, engineers, and other staff trained in different disciplines, working in a coordinated manner towards a scientific goal.
Many major advances in science and technology are the result of team science, including the development of the transistor, the discovery of gravitational waves, the sequencing of the human genome, the delineation of the brain’s cell types, the mapping of brain connectomes, and the development of cancer treatments and other modern medicines. Given that the mammalian brain is the most complex object being tackled by science, solving major mysteries in brain science will benefit from team science.
The Allen Institute is an independent nonprofit bioscience research institute aimed at unlocking the mysteries of biology.
The scientific possibilities within our research and discoveries are limitless. We share our data, insights, and tools openly with the world to accelerate progress and catalyze breakthroughs.
