The Benefits of ELIXIR to its Member States
Introduction
ELIXIR represents the future of life science data, capture, storage and delivery. In recent years
bioinformatics has come to the fore as a vital new discipline, providing solutions to the challenge of
managing ever greater volumes of research data. ELIXIR has emerged as the only viable solution for
the collective European management of data.
ELIXIR is a pan-European e-infrastructure, its Hub being located alongside EMBL-EBI in Hinxton,
Cambridge and with Nodes in centres of excellence for bioinformatics across Europe. The collective
whole will provide compute and storage on a previously unprecedented scale. Biological and medical
data of many different types will be integrated and made available on an open access platform with
tools and standards created to enable maximum benefit to be derived from users around the world.
Countries which are or will become ELIXIR Member States benefit in the following ways from their
participation in this infrastructure:
Scientific: Improved Life Science Research
Participating in the State of the Art
ELIXIR will enable high levels of data integration; vast datasets will become comparable, opening up
open up a wealth of opportunities for researchers that has previously not existed. Knowledge of
molecular data has become indispensable for basic biological research, diagnostics, drug
development, biotechnology, forensic biology and systems biology. By integrating more of Europe’s
bioinformatics services, researchers in participating organisations will find it easier to cross-reference
data and exploit new and innovative lines of research.
Contemporary science is dynamic and fast-paced and world-class research requires access to state
of the art technologies. The scientific excellence necessary to make new discoveries and to place
Europe at the forefront of the knowledge economy is dependent upon the highest quality of data
provision, which will be enabled by cutting-edge research infrastructures such as ELIXIR.
Through their participation in the distributed infrastructure of ELIXIR, the Nodes themselves will
benefit from an enhancement in the quality of the research they undertake in their respective national
institutes.
Data Integration
Databases are generally more valuable when they contain high-quality data in large volume as this
scale enables more robust results to be derived. The world’s most widely used bioinformatics
resources are frequently the result of international collaboration where data follows a standard and is
shared by many partners. In such collaborations, the data are distributed globally and partners work
on building a relevant cultural and local interface for their users.
Through ELIXIR, current and future bioinformatics resources developed in ELIXIR Member States will
become more widely used internationally and, through better integration with other ELIXIR services,
will ultimately become more powerful resources, than if they were developed and operated in
isolation.
Storage and Compute
ELIXIR Member States continuously generate new biological data. ELIXIR therefore need access to
vast computational and data storage resources. ELIXIR has already taken steps to find technical
solutions using large compute farms located at the ELIXIR Hub and in offsite hosting centres,
currently at the London Data Centre. ELIXIR thus acts as a driver for the technological evolution of
existing e-Infrastructure capacities and investments nationally and in Europe - it is clear that new
interfaces and investment strategies are needed to, for example, handle and deploy life science data
to improve human health. In the distributed ELIXIR setting existing e-Infrastructures like the GÉANT
research network are critical to create fair and transparent pan-European computational access to
very large biological data resources that ELIXIR protects.
Standards and Ontologies
ELIXIR will adopt and develop, where necessary, a standards infrastructure covering issues such as
programmatic access, which relates to the technologies used to build connections to databases and
tools. The ELIXIR standards infrastructure will also cover nomenclatures and the harmonisation of the
names and symbols of biological entities, controlled vocabularies and ontologies, and reporting.
Participation in ELIXIR will allow Members to be at the forefront of developing these bioinformatics
standards, rather than responding to and implementing the standards set by others.
Training
ELIXIR will develop and implement a world-class training infrastructure, building on existing training
provision within Member States. This training infrastructure will comprise physical courses and
workshops as well as eLearning. Whilst all life scientists will be able to benefit from eLearning
courses, the primary focus of physical courses and workshops will be users in ELIXIR Member States.
In addition, the ELIXIR training infrastructure will also focus on ‘train the trainer’, which will enhance
its reach and be especially useful for those ELIXIR Member States that currently have a limited
training capacity of their own.
Operating Bioinformatics Resources: Additional Training and Capacity
Building
Only ELIXIR Member States can establish ELIXIR Nodes in their country. Therefore, only ELIXIR
Member States can play an active role in the construction and operation of a world-leading research
infrastructure for biological data.
Benefitting from Collective Expertise in Bioinformatics
Individual ELIXIR Member States will benefit enormously from the shared expertise in bioinformatics
service provision that currently exists within the various organisations involved in ELIXIR. ELIXIR will
bring together some of Europe’s leading bioinformatics providers and through collaborating closely
with these, staff within Nodes will be able to learn new skills and adopt the state of the art quicker.
Reducing Fragmentation and Aligning National Priorities
Participating in ELIXIR has the added benefit for many Member States of helping to reduce
fragmentation nationally by bringing together several resources and service providers into one
dedicated ELIXIR resource. This national pooling of excellence has already been seen through the
first round of ELIXIR Node Applications, where the majority of Nodes constitute consortia of national
institutes. In many countries, such national coordination would not have happened were it not for
ELIXIR and it will continue to provide a long-term collective framework to ensure better cooperation
both within and between countries.
Capacity Building
For a number of countries, participation in ELIXIR will serve to support capacity building in the sphere
of bioinformatics. In countries with limited budget for science, or where existing bioinformatics
resources have a more limited international use, participation in ELIXIR will enable participating
organisations to improve their expertise in bioinformatics through the adoption of best practice
techniques and the application of the latest methodologies in use within the discipline. ELIXIR’s
independent Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) will also support this process through the provision of
valuable advice and suggestions in relation to deploying world-leading bioinformatics services. Staff
trained to handle and exploit the biodata are keenly sought in industry and will help to develop local
companies in this area of science.
Shaping the Direction of ELIXIR
ELIXIR Member States are able to contribute to the shaping of the direction of ELIXIR, both in its
implementation stage and as it progresses to full operation over the coming years. In real terms this
means that countries can ensure that their own national priorities in terms of bioinformatics can be
prioritised and responded to through the larger ELIXIR consortium. In practical terms, this will mean
contributing to decisions regarding the ELIXIR budget, ELIXIR’s scientific and technical direction and
operational matters.
Economic: Removal of Duplication and Better exploitation
Preserving National Investments in Life Science Research
ELIXIR will help to preserve the national investments already made in generating life sciences data
through research. The data storage and retrieval capabilities of ELIXIR will significantly increase
research efficiency, resulting in cost reductions through reduced replication of experimentation.
Countries which choose to act alone in the management of life sciences data risk not being able to
take advantage of the efficiencies which derive from working collectively within the framework of a
large e-infrastructure.
Supporting Local Jobs and Growth
In an increasingly global world, Europe’s economic prosperity lies in the knowledge economy; growth
can only come from the strength of Europe’s highly skilled workforce and its ability to attract top talent.
The hosting of ELIXIR Nodes will help to lay the foundation for, and strengthen, the knowledge-based
bio-economy throughout ELIXIR Member States. By funding the construction and operation of ELIXIR
Nodes, Member States are making sound long-term investments in their local workforce, putting steps
in place to help retain the best talent.
New commercial ventures and spin-outs will emerge from ELIXIR Nodes, creating new jobs and
supporting the local economy. Over time, a positive filtering effect will see well-trained and highlyskilled staff employed within ELIXIR Nodes taking their skills and knowledge into other areas of the
local labour force. This phenomenon is already witnessed in areas such as Cambridge, where there is
a positively healthy rotation of staff between leading bioinformatics organisations in the region.
ELIXIR’s Interactions with Industry
Very few ESFRI research infrastructures will have as high levels of industry usage as ELIXIR.
Intellectual Property (IPR) generated by users in using ELIXIR services will be the users to exploit.
Users from industry will range from SMEs to large multinationals and the sectors covered include
pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, healthcare, through to food and agriculture. These industries are
major employers, generating wealth and supporting Europe’s transformation to a knowledge-based
economy.
In addition to having a high expected consumption of data from industry, ELIXIR will also develop a
forward looking programme for comprehensive engagement with industry at all levels. This
programme, which will be developed exclusively by ELIXIR Member States, will enable industry to
derive support, expertise and training. Industry is already a partner in some of the emerging ELIXIR
Nodes, which demonstrates clearly one of the commercial benefits that can be derived from hosting
Nodes.
Improved Funding by Working Together
Joint Applications for Additional Funding
Given the importance of ELIXIR to life sciences, and the political investment Member States have
made in implementing ESFRI Research Infrastructures, it is expected that the European Commission
will wish to use a specific budget within the Horizon 2020 programme to supplement existing Member
State investments in these infrastructures. This funding would go towards to the construction and
operating costs of ELIXIR. Only ELIXIR Member States will be able to jointly access this funding
under the name of ELIXIR.
A Stronger Collective Voice
ELIXIR Member States will benefit from a stronger collective voice, as witnessed through successful
joint lobbying efforts, on behalf of the group of ESFRI Biomedical Science Research Infrastructures,
with EU Institutions, with the aim of highlighting the importance of such infrastructures under Horizon
2020.
ELIXIR will place Europe - and each of its Member States - at the heart of bioinformatics globally.
Individual bioinformatics providers will have a stronger collective voice through ELIXIR than they
would should they operate individually including on issues such as personalised medicine, Open
Access and the development of data management policies and systems. Additionally, Research
Infrastructures are a key component of European Research Area (ERA) policy and participation in
ELIXIR ensures that Members are active drivers in implementing the European Research Area.