ELIXIR standard slides
January 2026
elixir-europe.org
Contents of ELIXIR standard slide set
The standard deck is designed to be redundant (in order to offer slide choice)
More slides:
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Contact: tseng@ebi.ac.uk - Zippy Tseng (Communications Officer, ELIXIR Hub)
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Key icons used in this deck
Databases and repositories
Platforms
Communities
Focus groups
Training
Software tools
Data standards
Compute resources
Introduction to ELIXIR – how we work
ELIXIR
ELIXIR is an intergovernmental organisation that brings together life science resources from 24 countries:
We build and sustain life science informatics capacity and infrastructure in Europe, connect and develop a network of experts and provide hundreds of high-quality services and resources available to all.
Areas of expertise in ELIXIR
ELIXIR – who we are
23 | Members and 4 Observers |
ELIXIR Nodes form national networks of excellence, containing a total of 250 institutes/universities | |
1 | Hub |
The Hub, located alongside EMBL-EBI, Cambridge, UK, provides the secretariat and coordinating activities for ELIXIR | |
A sustainable infrastructure for biological data
Croatia
Members
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
EMBL
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Israel
Netherlands
Norway
Slovenia
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Observers
Austria
Slovakia
Latvia
Poland
ELIXIR – what do we do
We build life science informatics capacity and infrastructure in Europe, connect and develop a network of experts and provide hundreds of high quality services and resources available to all
Databases
Training
Software tools
FAIR resources
Compute resources
Scientific & technical experts
Together we accelerate the understanding of life
As a foundational data infrastructure, we serve science
Life scientists in academia and industry are key stakeholders
Together
We connect national infrastructures to mobilise data for life sciences in the European Research Area
ELIXIR’s Purpose, Identity and Values
Purpose
Together we accelerate the understanding of life
�Identity
We enable scientists to access and analyse life science data
�Values
Data management challenges in life sciences
Data diversity
Data growth
Data sensitivity
Data location
of respondents state that without data shared on open repositories, they would not be able to offer their project or service
https://f1000research.com/documents/10-828
Small and medium-sized enterprises
76%
Healthcare
Public health
Innovation
Research
Knowledge exchange across disciplines
Why is ELIXIR needed
Managing and sustaining the important biological data, software and digital objects generated across Europe is highly complex, and not a task for a single country or institution |
Long-term transnational coordination is required to align funding submissions to ensure the longevity of bioinformatics resources |
ELIXIR provides the coordination to connect national life sciences data infrastructures into a single infrastructure that supports data and knowledge exchange and collaborations |
National data infrastructures, brought together through ELIXIR Nodes, run hundreds of services and resources available free of charge to the worldwide life science community |
What are research and innovation infrastructures?
Infrastructures are not only large physical structures, such as buildings and transport networks, but also services and collections of resources |
Research infrastructures are the facilities, resources and services that enable research and innovation |
Research infrastructures take a long time to plan and build and most need to have long operational lifespans |
Supporting research and innovation infrastructures enables the next generation of researchers and innovators |
Societal challenges….
Climate change
Disease diagnosis
Pandemic
preparedness
Impact of climate &
geopolitics on farming
Cancer
Sustainable
food
production
Diminishing
biodiversity
Disease prevention
…and data-driven solutions
Disease diagnosis
Pandemic
preparedness
Impact of climate &
geopolitics on farming
Science
People
Data
Cancer
Sustainable
food
production
Diminishing
biodiversity
Disease prevention
Climate change
How we work
https://elixir-europe.org/how-we-work
ELIXIR brings together groups of experts from different technological areas, scientific domains and ELIXIR Nodes |
Cutting edge internal projects are funded to further encourage collaborations |
Technical and training coordinators based in the Nodes support different groups of experts to work together |
ELIXIR’s core structure
250 Institutes
23 Nodes + �4 Observers
19 Communities
5 Platforms
Bioinformaticians
Data & software stewards
Coordinators
Research software engineers
Life scientists
System administrators
IT operations
Administrators
Trainers
>850
Experts
Evolution of ELIXIR’s Scientific Programmes
2014-2018
EUR ~18 million
2019-2023
EUR ~36 million
2024-2028
EUR ~41 million
Where to find out more
Summary brochure (print & online)
Full Programme (online)
Ambitions & Outcomes (online)
ELIXIR 2024-28 Programme
Partnerships
Structure of the ELIXIR Scientific Programme 2024-28
Four tier model
Structure of the ELIXIR Scientific Programme 2024-28
Science
Technology
Nodes
People
Partnerships
SCIENCE
TECHNOLOGY
NODES
PEOPLE
Cellular and molecular research
Biodiversity, food security and pathogens
Human data and translational research
Research data management and knowledge sharing
Reproducible analytics and infrastructure
Federated service delivery
Node operations
National research and open science policy alignment
Integrating Nodes with industry and innovation
Demonstrating impact and supporting sustainability
Users of ELIXIR services
Technical and scientific staff
A diverse people network
Management and operational staff
Tiers
Priority areas
Tiers
Enable scientists to access and analyse life science data
Equip national Nodes for successful long-term operations
Ambitions
Develop people and capacity to benefit science and society
Priority areas
Deliver services to support federated data management and analytics
Cellular & molecular research
Biodiversity, food security & pathogens
Human data and translational research
Research data management & knowledge sharing
Reproducible analytics & infrastructure
Federated service delivery
Node operations
National research & open science policy alignment
Industry & innovation
Impact and long-term sustainability
Users of ELIXIR services
Management and operational staff
Technical and scientific staff
A diverse people network
SCIENCE
TECHNOLOGY
NODES
PEOPLE
ELIXIR enables scientists to access and analyse life science data
Science
People
Nodes
Technology
Enable scientists to access and analyse life science data
Deliver services to support distributed data management and analytics
Equip national Nodes for successful long-term operations
Develop people and capacity to benefit science and society
SCIENCE
Cellular and molecular research
Biodiversity, food security and pathogens
Human data and translational research
Tier
Strategic Priorities
Ambitions
Outcomes
1.1 Connect the latest developments and established data resources to realise the potential of cellular and molecular biology
1.2 Mobilise and integrate molecular data to support transnational research programmes in biodiversity, food security and pathogens
1.3 Provide the infrastructure to support the discovery, access, sharing and analysis of human genomics data and linked phenotypic/other data on a massive scale
Enable scientists to access and analyse life science data
ELIXIR expert groups - networking effect
3D-BioInfo | Metabolomics | Systems Biology | Domestic Animals Genome & Phenome | Pathogen Data | Data Platform |
Food and Nutrition | Microbial Biotechnology | Toxicology | Biodiversity | Research Data Management (RDM) | Tools Platform |
Galaxy | Plant Sciences | Federated Human Data | Cancer Data | Environmental Impact | Interoperability Platform |
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins | Proteomics | Human Copy Number Variation | EOSC | AI Ecosystem | Compute Platform |
Microbiome | Single-Cell Omics | Rare Diseases | RNA Data | Learning Paths | Training Platform |
ELIXIR brings groups of people together as Communities, Focus Groups and Platforms. There are over 30 individual groups which interact in a range of different ways.
ELIXIR Platforms
Platforms bring together experts from Nodes to develop ELIXIR’s technical vision and coordinate activities in defined technical areas. There are five Platforms:
Compute | Builds and integrates cloud, compute, storage and access services for the life-science research community |
Data | Drives the use, re-use and value of life science data by providing robust, long-term sustainable data resources within a coordinated, scalable and connected data ecosystem |
Tools | Helps communities find, register and benchmark software tools; maintains information standards and produces, adopts and promotes best practices for tool development |
Interoperability | Helps people and machines to discover, access, integrate and analyse biological data; encourages the life science community to adopt standardised file formats, metadata & vocabularies |
Training | Strengthens national training programmes; grows bioinformatics and research data management training capacity and competence across Europe; empowers researchers to use ELIXIR's resources |
ELIXIR Compute Platform
Mission - to build and integrate
for the life science research community
ELIXIR Data Platform
Shaping the landscape of Core and Community Biological Databases
Credit attribution of contributions to data resources
Brokering contributions to ELIXIR data resources
Scalable Curation support tools for the long tail of biological data
ELIXIR Tools Platform
bio.tools registry
WorkflowHub registry
OpenEBench
BioConda
Biocontainers
Galaxy
Software best practices
EVALUATE
FIND
DEPLOY
RUN
PROMOTE
ELIXIR Interoperability Platform
Assemble products into reusable processes that drive good practice
Understand Community practices, to improve processes and create new products
Collect input
Gather data from ELIXIR Communities through surveys and workshops
Triage use cases
Identify and prioritise relevant and high-impact use cases
FAIRification
Understand FAIRification through doing and improving on real-world use cases
Products portfolio
Create a portfolio of FAIR-enabling products and services
Processes library
Build library of well documented FAIRification processes
Compile best practices
Compile best practices and engage Communities
ELIXIR Training Platform
Train-the-trainer |
TeSS |
GitHub |
Service/Product |
Designing learning material
Learning pathways
Feedback to the process
Impact assessment
Delivery of course
TeSS |
Training Metrics Database - TMD |
Training Resource Certification |
Training Metrics Database - TMD |
Training Handbook |
TeSS |
Training Handbook |
ELIXIR Communities
– connecting infrastructure & life science experts
Formed around domain experts in ELIXIR Nodes (including non-ELIXIR partners)
Provide a mechanism for long-term collaborations with other ESFRIs and large-scale initiatives
Drive service developments in the ELIXIR Platforms
Provide a framework to develop and maintain community standards
The ELIXIR Communities Handbook tells you what a Community is, who can join, what the benefits are, and how Communities are structured.
ELIXIR Communities – the maturity journey
ELIXIR Communities follow a standard path as they progress towards maturity.
ELIXIR Focus Groups
Communities Future
Environmental Impact
Learning Paths
Professionalising Careers in Research Infrastructures
AI Ecosystem
Pathogen Data
RNA Data
ELIXIR’s key stakeholders
| |
| |
ELIXIR Nodes
�23 ELIXIR Nodes + 2 Observers
250 institutes
>1000 people
Users
�Bioinformaticians
500,000+ life science researchers
Users in industry
Funders & decision makers
�European Union
National funding agencies
ESFRI delegates
ELIXIR Board members
Collaborators
�ESFRI RIs
Global initiatives (GA4GH, Galaxy)
National initiatives (Australian BioCommons, NIH)
ELIXIR stakeholders – organisations
Users
>10 000s organisations
Nodes
>250 organisations
Collaborators
25-50 organisations
ELIXIR Hub
1 organisation
Funders
>100 organisations
Collaborator example –
the ELIXIR EOSC strategic vision
ELIXIR maps to EOSC at all levels
ELIXIR involvement in EOSC projects | |
| EOSC-Pilot |
| EOSC-Enhance |
| EOSC-Life |
| EOSC-Future |
ELIXIR and the EOSC Association Task Forces
ELIXIR on Advisory Groups�
ELIXIR Hub – secretariat function
ELIXIR’s legal framework
The ELIXIR Hub provides administrative governance, carrying out scientific, technical and administrative coordination tasks. ELIXIR’s strategy is overseen by the ELIXIR Board and executed by the ELIXIR Director with support from advisory bodies.
The ELIXIR Nodes are established through collaboration agreements with the Hub and provide expertise and technical services. The Heads of Nodes support the ELIXIR Director in developing the five-yearly Programme, scientific strategy and funding opportunities.
The ELIXIR Consortium Agreement (ECA) defines the legal basis of ELIXIR, and covers its mission, membership, Member and Hub obligations, the relationship between the Hub and Nodes, the Hub’s internal governance structure and ELIXIR’s relationship with EMBL.
EMBL is host of the ELIXIR Hub and provides ELIXIR with a legal personality. EMBL becomes party to agreements on behalf of and mandated by the ELIXIR Consortium, and ELIXIR’s staff are formally employed by EMBL whilst reporting to the ELIXIR Director. ELIXIR activities are carried out independently from EMBL, governed by the ELIXIR Board and based on separate accounts.
ELIXIR Nodes
ELIXIR governance structure
ELIXIR HoN Committee, May 2025
Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
Industry Advisory Committee (IAC)
Director
Head of Nodes Committee (HoN)
ELIXIR Board
Biannually
Biannually
Biannually
Quarterly
ELIXIR Board meeting, April 2026
ELIXIR’s funding model
ELIXIR Hub
Internal funding:
Annual contribution by Member States
External funding:
(EC funded projects: ELIXIR represented by ELIXIR Hub or by an ELIXIR Node)
ELIXIR Nodes
Node funding:
Commissioned services
ELIXIR’s EC funded projects – examples
Full list of EC funded projects https://elixir-europe.org/about-us/how-funded/eu-projects
| GDI | Providing access to genomic data to improve research, policy making and healthcare |
| EOSC-ENTRUST | Building Trusted Research Environments |
| EOSC4Cancer | Accelerating data driven cancer research |
| BGE | Reversing biodiversity loss through genomics research |
ELIXIR flagship events
BioHackathon Europe | Innovation and SME Forums | ELIXIR Bioinformatics Industry Forum (EBIF) |
| | |
Opportunities for engagement
Service collections
Core Data Resources
ELIXIR Deposition Databases
Recommended Interoperability Resources
| | |
| ||
Communities
Domain or technology specific
Platforms
Cross-domain, focused on one aspect of service delivery
Focus groups
Topic specific, open to all
ELIXIR services and resources – what we offer
What we offer
ELIXIR coordinates the provision of life science services and resources, developed and managed by ELIXIR Nodes |
The services and resources are freely available to researchers around the world |
The services and resources support efficient manipulation, analysis, storage and exchange of life science data |
ELIXIR Nodes run 686 services for life scientists & bioinformaticians
34
187
56
364
37
8
Compute services – cloud, compute, storage and access services
Data resources – sustainable data resources within a scalable, connected ecosystem
Interoperability services – standardisation, metadata and vocabularies
Tools – accessible and benchmarked software tools conforming to information standards
Training services – developing scientific and technical experts and users
Multi-Node services – connecting expertise between ELIXIR national Nodes
ELIXIR’s key service collections
Trustworthy services and resources passing stringent inclusion criteria
| | Core Data Resources (CDRs) | Data resources of fundamental importance for the long-term preservation of life science data |
| | ELIXIR Deposition Databases (EDDs) | Recommended resources for the deposition of experimental data |
| | Recommended Interoperability Resources (RIRs) | Tools and resources to support FAIR research |
31
14
20
Examples of ELIXIR high impact registries and services
| Life Science Login | Authentication service | Users |
| FAIRsharing | Data and metadata resource including standards, databases and policies | Standards |
| ELIXIR TeSS | ELIXIR’s training portal | Training materials |
| BioContainers | Software standardisation resource | Containers & packages |
| BioTools | Registry of tools, databases and services | Monthly visits |
13K
1.5K
1.9K
108K
35K
Metrics from 2021
Federation of human genomic data
Many national datasets from human research participants needs to be stored locally (European Genome phenome Archive – EGA) |
ELIXIR developing a federation with shared metadata (FAIR) and local data store (secure). Based on suite of interoperable, reusable, adopted, and fit-for-purpose standards |
Linking local EGA to national clouds and international access (ELIXIR-AAI - Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure) |
17/25 ELIXIR Nodes are funded in the FHD community |
Use case: COVID-19 |
Status as of
17 Feb 2025
Signed FEGA Collaboration Agreement
Central EGA
Expressed interest in joining FEGA Network
Joined FEGA Committees
Engaged in work to establish a FEGA node
Data available
ELIXIR services and resources
Hypothesis generation
Data generation
Data processing
Data analysis
Data preservation and sharing
Training
Services and resources covering the entire data and software lifecycle
ELIXIR’s support for FAIR data and software
Specific communities
Human Data, Structural Bioinformatics, Rare Diseases, Plant Sciences, Microbial Biotechnology, Proteomics, Metagenomics, Systems Biology…
FAIR data services & resources
Open registries, ontologies, identifiers, data management platforms, stewardship tools, data FAIRification methodology, standards
Trusted data resources
Open deposition databases and portals, scalable curation, sustainability
Data analytics & platforms
Workflows, reproducible and portable processing, software and AI best practice, FAIR assessment, federated analytics
Open & FAIR policy/advocacy
FAIR principles, FAIR leadership & partnering at the global, European and national level
Stewardship and training
Capability frameworks, skills, data managers network, training portal
ELIXIR services and resources
Data analytics & platforms
Tools, software, workflows, registries, compute infrastructure, AI best practice, reproducibility
FAIR data & software services, infrastructure, standards
Registries, ontologies, AAI, data management platforms, stewardship tools, standards for metadata and data harmonization & exchange
Trusted data resources
Stewarded and sustained national and community data resources, registries
Data & software stewardship & training
Networks of expertise, capacity building, RDM & software best practice, registries
Asset management registries & RDM platforms
RDM systems used in Nodes, RDMkit
ELIXIR research data management resources
Guidance for data stewards, project managers and researchers
Resources to access knowledge and curated digital objects
Life Science Login as a single-entry point
Originally ELIXIR AAI |
Co-developed through EOSC-Life Project (WP5) into current Life Science Login |
Applicability for federated authentication and access management for LS services |
Use case example: Federated EGA - Norway |
ELIXIR Commissioned Services
Commissioned Services are technical projects that guide future service development, drive standards adoption and connect ELIXIR Nodes
Building a single infrastructure by connecting Europe
Commissioned Service – human copy number variation (hCNV)
hCNV: Repeated sections of genome, varying between individuals & contributing to many human diseases
Research and diagnostic labs around to world have access to hCNV resources, guidelines and documents
Biomedical genomics accelerated by provision of global genomic data exchange & representation standards
24-month project – Commissioned Service
FAIRification of hCNV data
10 ELIXIR Nodes
Conference
External expert groups
BioHackathons
Staff exchange – building capacity in single-cell omics
Charles University
Imperial College London
6-month project
Single-cell analysis has many clinical applications, including studying the genetic evolution of cells
Publication in Frontiers in Oncology
Organisation of the Czech Republic Summer School of Single Cell with local and international participants and lecturers
Creation of new ELIXIR Single-Cell Omics Community
Return to Czech Republic and training of multiple researchers
Joint proposals for national and international single-cell projects in preparation
A network of researchers from Czech universities can now run and analyse single-cell experiments to help understand cancer
Pavel Ostasov
ELIXIR’s impact
Martin et al. (2021) Demonstrating public value to funders and other stakeholders — the journey of ELIXIR, a virtual and distributed research infrastructure for life science data. Ann Public Coop Econ, 00: , 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12328
Main categories of direct impact for work funded by and through ELIXIR
Research efficiency: we make infrastructure, bioinformatics resources and processes faster, easier to use, and more integrated
Bioinformatics resource uptake:
we work to increase resource usage and appreciation by users
Research infrastructure sustainability:
we work to increase ELIXIR’s visibility with, and appreciation by, its funders
Skills development:
(i.e. human capital), we upskill resource users and service providers
Equal opportunity:
we raise awareness of diversity and inclusiveness
Policy influence:
we shape policy in the area of Open Science and FAIR
Public awareness: we raise awareness of socio-economic and societal benefits of bioinformatics and Open Science
Benefits derived from working together: (i.e. relationship/social capital), we facilitate knowledge-sharing and cooperation
Scientific legacy: we create and disseminate new knowledge on research infrastructure, bioinformatics resources and related guidelines
Adapted from Martin et al. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12328
ELIXIR-supported publications
ELIXIR-supported publications continue to increase - over 150 in 2024
Citations continue to increase too, highlighting ELIXIR’s scientific legacy as a research infrastructure
ELIXIR Gateway on F1000
Example high impact publication:
Peer reviewed scientific & technical papers |
Slides |
Posters |
Documents |
The Gateway contains:
ELIXIR’s visibility in the policy sphere
Number of mentions of ELIXIR, its projects, resources and key achievements, in policy documents, reports, guides for grantees, funding calls, etc.
Based on manual tracking supplemented by overton.io
Criteria for storage of environmental DNA samples and data, including reference to reference material
ELIXIR’s high impact events
ELIXIR impact dashboard
�
Real-time examples of ELIXIR’s impact |
New tiles added regularly |
ELIXIR’s contribution to jobs and recruitment
A jobs vacancies page to help job-seekers and recruiters in the bioinformatics sector by making opportunities more visible and easier to find |
Widely used by industry and academia |
ELIXIR’s role in shaping policy
Find out more
ELIXIR mentions in funding body guide for grantees
European Commission (EC) | Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC) | Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) | Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC) | Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) |
Horizon Europe Programme Guide | Open Research Data and Data Management Plans, Information for ERC grantees | IMI2 project guidelines for open access to publications and research data | Open Research Data and Data Management Plans, Information for ERC grantees | IMI2 project guidelines for open access to publications and research data |
2024 (v4.1), 2022 (v2.0) | 2022 | 2021 | 2018 | 2018 |
|
|
|
|
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ELIXIR’s key impact-related resources
Training and people development
The ELIXIR Training Platform
Strengthens national training programmes
Grows bioinformatics training capacity and competence across Europe
Empowers researchers to use ELIXIR's services and tools
Training Toolkit |
Gap analysis, training materials development and training delivery |
Training technical infrastructure |
Training capacity building |
Training e-Support System (TeSS) |
Focus 2022/3
ELIXIR’s Training Portal – TeSS (Training eSupport System)
Niall Beard, Finn Bacall, Aleksandra Nenadic, Milo Thurston, Carole A Goble, Susanna-Assunta Sansone, Teresa K Attwood
TeSS: a platform for discovering life-science training opportunities, Bioinformatics, Volume 36, Issue 10, 15 May 2020, Pp 3290-3291
Single entry point for trainers and trainees to discover online information and content |
Lists >1980 training materials and >165 events, plus collections and learning paths |
Training material collected from 67 content providers |
Event information collected from 73 content providers |
Train-the-trainer (TtT)
398 trainers trained since ELIXIR started in over 32 TtT courses |
ELIXIR TtT instructor community (~20 active members) |
Training materials developed to deliver courses face-to-face, hybrid and online (synchronously) |
Professional guidelines available for trainers |
Measuring ELIXIR’s training impact – the Training Metrics Database
ELIXIR’s training impact in the global arena
ELIXIR as case study in OECD report (2020)
Bioinformatics Education Summit
EMMRI –
spreading management expertise in ELIXIR Nodes
EMMRI graduates 2022
Executive Masters in Management of Research Infrastructures (EMMRI) run by the University of Milano-Bicocca in partnership with ELIXIR
4
5
11
35
modules featuring ELIXIR case studies
editions of the two
year course
ELIXIR Nodes represented
ELIXIR individuals participating
“The Governance and organisation module helped with the design and implementation of the governance and organisational structure for the ELIXIR Italy training programme, including incorporation of ethical and legal considerations and stakeholder analysis”
Allegra Via, ELIXIR Italy
Creating impact through knowledge exchange – �the ELIXIR Galaxy Community
“We foresee using the same processes we have used for Galaxy knowledge exchange to establish our national federated EGA node”
Brane L. Leskosek, Training coordinator, ELIXIR Slovenia
“We’ve been been mentoring Anne Fouilloux, a Research Software Engineer from Norway, who has created new community in Galaxy about climate science, which yielded a collaboration between EOSC-Life and EOSC-Nordic.”
Björn Grüning
Member of Galaxy Europe, co-lead of ELIXIR Galaxy Community
https://elixir-europe.org/communities/galaxy
Human Genomics and Translational Data
ELIXIR Human Genomics and Translational Data
Mission
To construct and operate a sustainable infrastructure for Human Genomics and Translational data in Europe to support life science research and its translation to medicine
Connecting molecular and biomedical research with human health
1+Million Genomes initiative
1+MG facilitates countries to realise a practice of personalised medicine and health, based upon a shared ‘trust framework’ and the infrastructure to safely access and integrate high quality genomic data and other health data across borders
The implementation of 1+Million Genomes
Cross-border access to genomic data, implementation of genomics-based health
2030
2028
2026
2024
2022
2018
1+MG
Declaration
Design & Testing
June 2020 –
October 2023
Scale-up & Sustainability
November 2022 –
October 2026
Population Genomics
March 2024 –
March 2028
EDIC, healthcare
February 2025 –
January 2028
Storage and compute procurement 17.5M
Citizen Portal and Data Tools 5M
Health data for biotech innovation leveraging the EHDS 14M
Genome EDIC
GDI project receives funding from the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme under grant agreement number 101081813.
Participating member state goals by 2026
Operational: 15
Fully deployed national node interconnected to EU services, able to provide access to data across borders following 1+MG Governance
Deployment: 3
National node operational and addressing challenges for EU level connections
Onboarding: 6
Addressing national challenges for deployment
1+MG Framework
The foundation of an ideal environment is:
… agreed standards (technical and ethical) and a shared governance framework
HDTR Portfolio 2024-2026
Human Data Communities
HDTR 5 CoS Jan 25-Dec 26
Internal Portfolio
External Portfolio
Contingent upon Node Services development & expertise
Data Infrastructure
Strategic Partnerships
Flagship Projects
Infrastructure Services
EU Cancer Mission
Personalised Prevention
International relations: Australia, Canada… National Implementation Forum
Genomic Data Infrastructure
Realising a practice of personalised medicine & health
1+MG Trust Framework
Long-term strategy: cross-border access to genomic data, implementation of genomics-based health
1+MG Group, National Mirror Groups and Thematic Working Groups, Use Cases Working Groups: cancer, infectious diseases, rare diseases, common complex diseases, industry
Design and testing
Scale up and sustainability
MATURITY MODEL
STANDARDS
DATA GOVERNANCE
(ELSI)
QUALITY
INFRASTRUCTURE
1+MG Cancer Use Case
Healthdata@EU Pilot
Federation of human genomic data
Many national datasets from human research participants needs to be stored locally (European Genome phenome Archive – EGA) |
ELIXIR developing a federation with shared metadata (FAIR) and local data store (secure). Based on suite of interoperable, reusable, adopted, and fit-for-purpose standards |
Linking local EGA to national clouds and international access (ELIXIR-AAI - Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure) |
17/25 ELIXIR Nodes are funded in the FHD community |
Use case: COVID-19 |
Federated EGA – February 2025
Federated European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) strives to support the discovery of and secure access to human data globally, while respecting national data protection regulations, with the goal of accelerating disease research and understanding and improving human health.
“Before the EGA, data from a research study were generated once, analysed once, and often ‘locked away’ on the institute’s servers.
The Federated EGA expands the benefits of data reuse across national borders and increases the value and impact of the data.”
Mallory Freeberg
EGA Coordinator
at EMBL-EBI
Data available
Federated EGA node
Central EGA node
Signed FEGA Collaboration Agreement
Engaged in work to establish a FEGA node
Expressed interest in joining FEGA Network
>24 nodes engaged�and counting!
Federated EGA – February 2025
“Before the EGA, data from a research study were generated once, analysed once, and often ‘locked away’ on the institute’s servers.
The Federated EGA expands the benefits of data reuse across national borders and increases the value and impact of the data.”
Mallory Freeberg
EGA Coordinator
at EMBL-EBI
Institutes from Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden are first the nodes of the Federated European Genome-phenome Archive, one of the largest international networks for discovery of sensitive human data
ELIXIR Human Data Infrastructure Maturation Model
Beacon and the ELIXIR Beacon Network
A Beacon allows an anonymous query to see if a dataset contains a genome with a given base at a particular coordinate, with a simple yes/no response
The ELIXIR Beacon Network (EBN) enables human data discovery from European data resources
Improved ease of access to genetic data for researchers
Improved patient outcomes by using genomic data for diagnosis and treatment
Facilitated collaboration between researchers across Europe
ELIXIR Nodes empowered to become part of a federated network
Industry and international collaborations
Industry engagement and supporting innovation
Demonstrating impact
of ELIXIR resources for open science, innovation in the life sciences and society at large
Increasing the use of ELIXIR’s infrastructure services
by industry to allow for open innovation
Engaging with the private sector
Building capacity and ensuring ELIXIR Nodes are supported in engaging effectively with the private sector
Facilitating Collaborations
between researchers in academia and industry, around mutually-beneficial cross-sectoral challenges
Industry engagement and supporting innovation
Industry engagement roadmap
ELIXIR’s innovation and industry programme
>11,000 patent applications filed mentioning ELIXIR’s resources
22 countries in which these patent applications have been filed
In 2021, 76% of SMEs stated that they rely on open data for their products/services
Snapshot of Node industry engagement, Node engagement work is ongoing
External outreach
Engagement
41% Nodes with industry engagement, more coming online
38% Communities with industry engagement, more coming online
Patents
Open Data drives innovation
Open source software and workflows
Open source first
Open source support
Open source ingestion
The report explores current industry practices and provides evidence of the role OSSW play in driving the commercialisation of life science research.
Approaches to adopting OSSW
Benefits of OSSW for companies
Using open source tools like Nextflow and nf-core allows organisations to run best-practice pipelines off the shelf, which are reproducible and can be executed on various infrastructures, allowing them to focus on other areas of R&D.” – Seqera
“
The role of open source software in life science innovation
Read the full report: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17570133
Combining open and proprietary resources to generate business
ELIXIR Bioinformatics Industry Forums��
ELIXIR industry events
Innovation and SME Forums
Regular, themed, one day events for enterprises to learn more about emerging ELIXIR services and forge strong links with the local ELIXIR Node representatives running these services.
A community for bioinformaticians and technical specialists to discuss visionary ideas, bottlenecks and solutions to some of the major challenges in the data driven life science sector.
In 2025, over 60 participants from academia and industry joined ELIXIR Bioinformatics Industry Forum to discuss challenges in federated life science data analysis.
https://faircookbook.elixir-europe.org
Editorial Board: faircookbook-ed@elixir-europe.org
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02166-3
Pharmas and academia join forces to make data FAIR
Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange
Travel Grant
Staff Exchange
Knowledge Exchange
Industry Engagement Days
Support individuals in ELIXIR Nodes to attend ELIXIR-related events, travel between ELIXIR Nodes and the Hub.
Strengthen the links between ELIXIR Nodes and facilitate capacity building in ELIXIR Nodes and the exchange of best practices.
Support collaborations between industry and ELIXIR members to drive innovation in bioinformatics.
Provide the Nodes a chance to reach out to industry and forge strong links with the local representatives.
ELIXIR Knowledge Exchange Scheme
Support ELIXIR Node members and their staff to explore collaborations or establish a service with industry
Call open:
January
↓
October
Evaluation
Implementation
ELIXIR Node Industry Engagement Days
(including Innovation and SME Forums*)
Connect with the national industry ecosystem and boost the open innovation ecosystem in the life sciences in the Node’s country
Call open:
October
↓
September
Evaluation
Implementation
*Nodes with existing industry engagement are advised to consider hosting an Innovation and SME Forum scheme
ELIXIR International strategy 2025-28
Increase awareness of how ELIXIR’s flagship resources enable and support research communities internationally. |
Enhance ELIXIR’s services through strategic collaborations with international bioinformatics-related initiatives and organisations. |
Reinforce ELIXIR’s global impact by shaping international policies that promote open science and open data. |
Read ELIXIR International Strategy 2025-28: https://zenodo.org/records/15746153
International collaboration - extending our reach
Memorandum of Agreement with NIH (2024)
Collaboration Agreement with Australian Biocommons (2018)
ELIXIR staff exchanges
ELIXIR’s Staff Exchange & Travel Grants
Collaboration Strategies
(MoUs, Strategic Partnerships)
International Participation in flagship ELIXIR events
International Conference on Research Infrastructures
ELIXIR will continue to extending our reach through…
Connecting with global and regional initiatives
Global organisations and initiatives that are strategically relevant to ELIXIR and whose scope typically extends well beyond Europe |
Sibling national-level research infrastructures within and beyond Europe with which we currently have, or would be willing to build, strong relations |
Focus on regional organisations and initiatives that are strategically relevant to ELIXIR to maximise limited capacity |
ELIXIR STEERS T5.4 Internationalisation: “Mutually Beneficial collaborations with countries beyond Europe, notably in Latin America and Africa” |
Project specific examples
Research Data Management Toolkit
references
gets data
from
ELIXIR Resources
ELIXIR Registries
work in
progress
Authored by almost 100 data professionals from industry and academia, led by ELIXIR Nodes, with participation of USA NIH
An open, live resource for the life science with recipes that cover the operation steps of FAIR data management
Hands-on, technical step-by-step examples
Write recipes, share your expertise, showcase your tools
Recommend in policies, use in educational material
Sustained in ELIXIR and
adopted internationally!
A web-based toolkit for the bioscience community written by the bioscience community
https://rdmkit.elixir-europe.org
Research Data Management –
national guidance in a European context
RDMkit is a European resource, with 15 national pages, and more in the pipeline
ELIXIR Sweden receives government funding to provide data management consultancy to researchers generating life science data
To facilitate Sweden’s national open science policies, ELIXIR Sweden provides researchers with free-for-use data management support
��
A FAIR workflow registry |
Launched 2020 |
An EOSC service provided by ELIXIR, the University of Manchester and the EOSC-Life project |
Open development |
https://workflowhub.eu |
551 workflows |
11 system types |
226 teams |
221 organisations |
704 people |
The European COVID-19 Data Platform
Democratised access to reusable complex workflows
Housekeeping slides
Webinar Slide Templates and Housekeeping�
Please make a copy of the appropriate slides for your meeting.
Include only those components that are relevant to your event (webinar, online, hybrid, face-to-face)
Housekeeping
The webinar control panel is at the bottom
This webinar is being recorded and will be uploaded to the ELIXIR Europe YouTube channel.
Raise your hand if you want to speak.
The host will address you
FOR QUESTIONS
Use Q&A panel to ask questions to any of the panelists.
The host will read them for you
Use the chat to share comments or opinions with all attendees.
NOT FOR QUESTIONS
We follow the ELIXIR Code of Conduct at all our online events/webinars.
For more details visit the ELIXIR Europe website.
Welcome to the…
This session will be recorded
Please remain muted unless you are invited to speak by the Chair
This meeting will be run in line with the ELIXIR Code of Conduct
If you have any concerns, please refer to the Code of Conduct on the ELIXIR website
Please use “Q&A” to raise questions during the presentation
Please use the “hand-raising function” to indicate you would like to contribute directly
Please use “Chat” for further comments or discussions.
The meeting will start at the top of the hour
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Housekeeping components
Please remain muted unless you’re invited to speak by the Chair
This meeting will be run in line with the ELIXIR Code of Conduct, which can be found on the ELIXIR website
Please use the “hand-raising function” to indicate you would like to contribute directly
Please use “chat” for comments, questions or discussions
This meeting will be recorded for internal notes/public release (delete as appropriate)
Attendees are encouraged to have their camera on when appropriate (bandwidth and circumstances allowing)
Please use “Q&A” to raise questions during the presentation
The meeting will start at the top of the hour
CC
Closed Captions are available for a rolling transcript
ELIXIR’s Code of Conduct
ELIXIR’s Code of Conduct – the principles
We value
each other’s perspectives
We maintain
high ethical standards
We’ll apply
honesty and integrity in the dealing of any transgressions against the Code.
We’re committed
to making ELIXIR events collaborative, supportive and enjoyable
We’ll ensure
a respectful and inclusive environment
The Code of Conduct
We adopt
a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination
The Code of Conduct pertains to ELIXIR organised or funded events
ELIXIR’s Code of Conduct – the material
ELIXIR’s Code of Conduct – the oversight group
The Oversight Group
The Code of Conduct
Reach out to the Oversight Group to enforce the Code of Conduct
coc.oversight@elixir-europe.org
Frederik Coppens
Zuzana Clarke
Patricia Palagi
ELIXIR’s Code of Conduct – the oversight group
The Oversight Group
The Code of Conduct
Identify the ELIXIR Allies with the yellow lanyard
Frederik Coppens
Zuzana Clarke
Patricia Palagi
Closing slides
Acknowledgements
Connect and stay up to date
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ELIXIR Europe
Follow our LinkedIn for event information and new job vacancies in ELIXIR Hub.
Follow our YouTube channel for recordings of ELIXIR webinars and workshops.
https://elixir-europe.org/events
Check out ELIXIR’s events page for upcoming webinars and events.
Thank you
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@elixir-europe.org
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