ELIXIR
Description
A distributed research infrastructure for biological data
ELIXIR, the European life-science infrastructure for biological information, is a unique and unprecedented initiative that consolidates Europe’s national centres, services, and core bioinformatics resources into a single, coordinated infrastructure. ELIXIR brings together Europe’s major life-science data archives and connects these with national bioinformatics infrastructures throughout ELIXIR’s member states, of which there are 22 across Europe. By coordinating local, national and international resources the ELIXIR infrastructure supports the data-related needs of Europe’s life-scientists. ELIXIR offers researchers access to bioinformatics expertise, data, tools, compute resources and training for their research. These provisions are made possible through extensive collaboration, consolidating the expertise and outputs of such a broad range of institutes.
Access to data services
ELIXIR facilitates virtual open and free access to more than 150 high-quality bioinformatics Services periodically reviewed and sustained by the ELIXIR Nodes. The types of services offered include those associated with:
- compute power, to aid large scale data analysis
- specific data resources, to aid analysis and hypothesis generation
- interoperability and data standards, to improve compatibility between tools as well as data
- software tools, to carry out specific analyses
- training, to aid researchers and developers in using and developing services
In addition, ELIXIR promotes access to key ELIXIR ‘Key Service Collections’ that are recognised by public funders as recommended services for Life Sciences, for instance:
