ELIXIR-CONVERGE

ELIXIR-CONVERGE
Name	ELIXIR-CONVERGE
Acronym	ELIXIR-CONVERGE
Established	2022
Type	Research consortium
Headquarters	Hinxton
Coordinates	52.0833°N 0.1667°E
Parent organization	ELIXIR

ELIXIR-CONVERGE ELIXIR-CONVERGE is a pan-European research consortium project hosted within the ELIXIR infrastructure that coordinates bioinformatics capacity, data interoperability, and service convergence across national nodes. The initiative aligns with strategic frameworks developed by the European Commission, the Wellcome Trust, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory to support life-science projects such as the Human Genome Project, the Human Cell Atlas, and the Cancer Genome Atlas by improving standards and tools. It partners with institutions like the European Bioinformatics Institute, EMBL-EBI, the Broad Institute, and national research infrastructures to harmonize workflows and repositories.

Overview

ELIXIR-CONVERGE builds on precedents set by projects funded through the European Commission's Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes, drawing institutional connections to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the European Genome-phenome Archive, and the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. It interacts with initiatives and organizations such as the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Broad Institute, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Francis Crick Institute to foster interoperability among platforms like Galaxy, Nextflow, and CWL. The project situates itself among major consortia including the Human Cell Atlas, the International Cancer Genome Consortium, and the Cancer Research UK networks to enable cross-border data sharing and reproducible analysis pipelines.

Objectives and Scope

The primary objectives include harmonizing metadata standards used by repositories such as the European Nucleotide Archive and the Protein Data Bank, scaling compute resources similar to those employed by the European Bioinformatics Institute, and aligning credentialing with bodies like the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health and the ELIXIR Nodes. Scope encompasses national infrastructures in countries represented by agencies such as the Danish National Research Foundation, the German Research Foundation, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and the Spanish National Research Council, while supporting projects exemplified by the Human Genome Project, the 1000 Genomes Project, and the ENCODE Project.

Consortium and Governance

Governance follows models established by organizations like the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the European Bioinformatics Institute, and the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration, with advisory contributions from stakeholders such as the Wellcome Trust, the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The consortium includes institutional partners such as EMBL-EBI, the Broad Institute, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Max Planck Society, with steering bodies referencing frameworks from the Research Councils UK and the German Research Foundation.

Funding and Timeline

Funding sources include grants and awards administered by the European Commission under Horizon Europe, contributions from funders like the Wellcome Trust, and co-funding from national agencies including the Swedish Research Council, the French National Research Agency, and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. The timeline mirrors multi-year projects overseen by entities such as the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and typically spans several funding cycles comparable to projects funded by the European Commission, the Wellcome Trust, and the Research Councils UK.

Infrastructure and Services

Infrastructure development draws on platforms and services associated with EMBL-EBI, the European Nucleotide Archive, the Protein Data Bank, and compute models like those used by the Broad Institute and the Centre for Genomic Regulation. Services include metadata curation harmonized with standards promoted by the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health and the Research Data Alliance, workflow deployment using Galaxy and Nextflow, and persistent identifier integration with systems like ORCID, DOI registration agencies, and the European Open Science Cloud. The project interfaces with national e-infrastructures exemplified by SURF, GÉANT, and PRACE to provision storage and high-performance computing.

Research and Training Activities

Research activities support collaborative studies with partners such as the Human Cell Atlas, the International Cancer Genome Consortium, and the 1000 Genomes Project, while training programs echo curricula from institutions like the European Bioinformatics Institute, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Training delivery leverages models from the Carpentries, ELIXIR Training Platform, and workshops organized by EMBL-EBI, partnering with academic centers such as the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Karolinska Institutet, and University College London to run hands-on courses, hackathons, and fellowship schemes.

Impact and Outcomes

Outcomes aim to increase interoperability across resources including the European Nucleotide Archive, the European Genome-phenome Archive, and UniProt, improve reproducibility for studies affiliated with the Human Cell Atlas and the Cancer Genome Atlas, and accelerate translational research supported by institutions like the Broad Institute and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Impact metrics are informed by reporting practices used by the European Commission, the Wellcome Trust, and EMBL, and include the adoption of FAIR principles promoted by FORCE11, uptake by national nodes represented by the Max Planck Society and the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and citations in major consortia outputs such as ENCODE and the Human Cell Atlas.

Category:Bioinformatics projects Category:European research projects Category:ELIXIR