The ELIXIR Data Platform is pleased to announce six new Implementation Studies for 2018. The six projects were selected via a rigorous peer-review process by a panel of independent experts in bioinformatics and bioinformatics service provision. The reviews were benchmarked by an Evaluation Committee, composed of leading figures in industry and academia.
The Request for Proposals from ELIXIR Nodes launched in August 2017 with the theme Increasing the Sustainability of the ELIXIR Data Resource Landscape. The overall objective was to strengthen the existing ELIXIR Data Resources in ELIXIR Nodes by (1) increasing the degree of sustainability, coordination, and integration between them, (2) promoting good practice in resource management, (3) facilitating easy of use and the capacity for re-use of the data in these resources.
It was open to ELIXIR Nodes who could submit project proposals involving two or more ELIXIR Nodes. The evaluation criteria were based on the quality indicators for the ELIXIR Core Data Resources.
Out of 17 submitted applications, six studies were selected, involving 13 Nodes. They will start in early summer of 2018 and will run for 12-18 months.
| Title | Lead Node | Partner Nodes |
|---|---|---|
| Increasing Interoperability between ELIXIR Protein Structure and Sequence Resources (CATH, SWISS-MODEL, PDBe and InterPro) | UK | Switzerland, EMBL-EBI |
| Integration and standardization of intrinsically disordered protein data | Italy | Switzerland, EMBL-EBI, HUngary, Ireland |
| Extending open proteomics data analysis pipelines in the cloud | Belgium | EMBL-EBI, Germany, France, Spain |
| FAIRness of the current ELIXIR Core Resources: Application (and test) of newly available FAIR metrics, and identification of steps to increase interoperability. | Netherlands | UK, EMBL-EBI, Italy, Sweden |
| Apple as a Model for Genomic Information Exchange | Italy | EMBL-EBI, Belgium |
| Establishment of an ELIXIR Contextual Data Clearinghouse | Norway | EMBL-EBI, Germany, Italy |
This is the first time ELIXIR Implementation Studies have been selected via independent peer-review. The goal was to drive excellence in the proposed work, increase transparency within ELIXIR resource allocation, and provide feedback to ELIXIR Nodes regarding their service provision plans and objectives. Following the evaluation of the peer-review process and feedback from the participants, ELIXIR may extend this procedure to Implementation studies in other ELIXIR Platforms.
We would like thank all 16 members of our anonymous reviewer panel for sharing their insights and expertise, as well as members of the Evaluation Committee who made the final selection. Equally important were our colleagues from the BBSRC who provided invaluable guidance and advice on the process.
Evaluation Committee: Ian Barrett (AstraZeneca, UK), Suzanna Lewis (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, USA), Ruth Lovering (University College, London, UK), Philippe Sanseau (GlaxoSmithKline, UK), Paul Schofield (University of Cambridge, UK), William Spooner (Genomics England, UK), Michael Sternberg (Imperial College London, UK).
We gratefully acknowledge the kind support from our external advisors on the RFP process and proposal evaluation: Alf Game (Formerly BBSRC, UK, and ELIXIR Board Member), Rowan McKibbin (Head of Science Strategy, BBSRC, UK), Daniela Hensen (Strategy and Policy Officer, BBSRC, UK).
About ELIXIR Implementation Studies
ELIXIR Implementation Studies are short technical projects to inform future service development, drive standards adoption and connect the ELIXIR Nodes. They support integration of ELIXIR services and collaboration among ELIXIR Nodes. They also facilitate integration of newly established ELIXIR Nodes into the ELIXIR Community, exchange of expertise and and capacity building.
More information about Implementation studies: https://www.elixir-europe.org/about-us/implementation-studies
More about the ELIXIR Data Platform: https://www.elixir-europe.org/platforms/data