diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/biology/nest/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/biology/nest/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..01874763901b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/biology/nest/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+{ lib
+, stdenv
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, testers
+, cmake
+, gsl
+, libtool
+, mpi
+, nest
+, pkg-config
+, python3
+, readline
+, autoPatchelfHook
+, withPython ? false
+, withMpi ? false
+}:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  pname = "nest";
+  version = "3.3";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "nest";
+    repo = "nest-simulator";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "sha256-wmn5LOOHlSuyPdV6O6v7j10dxdcvqpym6MfveZdL+dU=";
+  };
+
+  postPatch = ''
+    patchShebangs cmake/CheckFiles/check_return_val.sh
+    # fix PyNEST installation path
+    # it expects CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR to be relative
+    substituteInPlace cmake/ProcessOptions.cmake \
+      --replace "\''${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}/python" "lib/python"
+  '';
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    cmake
+    pkg-config
+    autoPatchelfHook
+  ];
+
+  buildInputs = [
+    gsl
+    readline
+    libtool # libltdl
+  ] ++ lib.optionals withPython [
+    python3
+    python3.pkgs.cython
+  ] ++ lib.optional withMpi mpi;
+
+  cmakeFlags = [
+    "-Dwith-python=${if withPython then "ON" else "OFF"}"
+    "-Dwith-mpi=${if withMpi then "ON" else "OFF"}"
+    "-Dwith-openmp=${if stdenv.isDarwin then "OFF" else "ON"}"
+  ];
+
+  passthru.tests.version = testers.testVersion {
+    package = nest;
+    command = "nest --version";
+  };
+
+  meta = with lib; {
+    description = "NEST is a command line tool for simulating neural networks";
+    homepage = "https://www.nest-simulator.org/";
+    license = licenses.gpl2;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ jiegec ];
+    platforms = platforms.unix;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 34a70696e1c4..3387a6615d12 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -36343,6 +36343,10 @@ with pkgs;
 
   n3 = callPackage ../applications/science/biology/N3 { };
 
+  nest = callPackage ../applications/science/biology/nest { };
+
+  nest-mpi = callPackage ../applications/science/biology/nest { withMpi = true; };
+
   neuron = callPackage ../applications/science/biology/neuron { python = null; };
 
   neuron-mpi = neuron.override {useMpi = true; };
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 2e98fb16c57c..d3a9136b83d8 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -6302,6 +6302,8 @@ self: super: with self; {
 
   nessclient = callPackage ../development/python-modules/nessclient { };
 
+  nest = toPythonModule(pkgs.nest-mpi.override { withPython = true; python3 = python; });
+
   nest-asyncio = callPackage ../development/python-modules/nest-asyncio { };
 
   nested-lookup = callPackage ../development/python-modules/nested-lookup { };