ELIXIR

13 June 2008

ELIXIR: Securing the future of Europe's biological data resources

In a contract signed May 28th, the European Commission has awarded 4.5 million Euro to a pan-European consortium to decide upon the best way to unite Europe's biological data resources into a sustainable, integrative bioinformatics network for the life sciences.

The European Life-science Infrastructure for Biological Information (ELIXIR) project is led by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and involves 32 partners from 13 countries. The consortium ultimately aims to establish a sustainably funded infrastructure for biological information in Europe, to support innovation in life science research, knowledge generation and its translation to medicine, the environment, the bio-industries and society.

ELIXIR aims to protect the existing and future data held in biological data resources. The project will work to provide a European infrastructure for optimal information storage, access and integration supported by a secure funding mechanism. "Under the Framework Programme for Research, the European Commission provides support to the preparatory phase for the construction of new research infrastructures," commented Mr Robert-Jan Smits, Director of Directorate B (European Research Area: Research Programmes and Capacity) at DG Research of the European Commission. "This will help catalyse the efforts and resources needed to build and ensure the sustainability of large-scale, word-class infrastructures needed by Europe's research communities." In this way, the longevity of Europe's central molecular data resources will be guaranteed.

The development of such a network is a strategic step in maintaining the global position of Europe as a leader in scientific research.

The complete news item and more information on ELIXIR can be found at www.elixir-europe.org