The ELIXIR IMPACT project was presented last week at the 25th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB 2026) in Geneva, one of Europe’s leading meetings for computational biology, bioinformatics and data-driven life sciences. Held from 31 August to 4 September and organised by the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ECCB brings together researchers, developers, clinicians, industry representatives and other experts working at the intersection of biology, data science and artificial intelligence. The 2026 edition is built around the theme “Biodiversity, AI & Health: computational biology to address the challenges of our time.”

With around 1,500 experts from across the world and participants representing more than 60 countries, ECCB provides an exceptional environment for exchanging scientific knowledge and establishing new links between academia, healthcare and industry. The programme combines scientific sessions with keynote lectures, ELIXIR and industry tracks, poster sessions, workshops, tutorials and community events.

The significance of data science and AI for both research and society was also reflected in the high-level opening ceremony. Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation, opened the conference alongside Simone de Montmollin, President of SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Audrey Leuba, Rector of the University of Geneva, and Anne Hiltpold, President of the Council of State of Geneva. Their participation underlined the growing strategic importance of data-driven research, responsible AI and international scientific cooperation.

From natural language to connected biological data

ECCB offered an excellent opportunity to introduce ELIXIR IMPACT – A Swiss–Czech Partnership for Integrating Molecular, Pathogen And Clinical Data with AI Technologies, supported by the Swiss–Czech Cooperation Programme.

One of the scientific topics directly linked to the project was presented by Jerven Bolleman from SIB in the dedicated ELIXIR track. His talk, “Bottom up interoperability using semantics in ELIXIR resources,” formed part of the ELIXIR session on resources and training.

This work is closely related to one of the central challenges addressed by ELIXIR IMPACT: how to make heterogeneous biological databases communicate with each other and how to make their complex data accessible to researchers in a more intuitive way.

Within the project, semantic technologies are combined with large language models (LLMs) to move towards interfaces in which researchers can formulate scientific questions in natural language. AI can support the translation of these questions into structured semantic queries, such as SPARQL queries, which can subsequently retrieve and combine information distributed across different biological resources.

This approach is particularly relevant for resources developed and operated within the Czech and Swiss ELIXIR Nodes. ELIXIR IMPACT aims to strengthen semantic interoperability across resources including SwissLipids, ChannelsDB and MolMeDB, integrate them through the Integrated Database of Small Molecules (IDSM), and ultimately enable federated querying across heterogeneous data resources. The ambition is not simply to place more data in one location, but to enable existing resources to be queried together while preserving their specialised knowledge and structure.

The project takes this concept further by developing a public federated querying platform and an LLM-based system for generating semantic queries. In practical terms, this could substantially lower the technical barrier for scientists who need information distributed across several databases but do not necessarily have expertise in semantic technologies or query languages.

ELIXIR IMPACT in the poster session

A broader overview of ELIXIR IMPACT was presented during the Wednesday poster session, introducing the complete Czech–Swiss partnership and the interconnected activities of the project. Poster sessions are an integral part of the ECCB scientific programme and complement the dedicated ELIXIR sessions showcasing European life-science data resources, research software and computational approaches.

The poster presented the project’s six interconnected areas of activity: integration of small-molecule data resources; AI-enhanced pathogen portals for infectious diseases and public health; AI-supported semantic database integration; secure federated infrastructure for cross-border analysis of sensitive clinical and omics data; training and capacity building; and project coordination and alignment with European initiatives.

Together, these activities address a common goal: to make biological and biomedical data more interoperable, accessible and usable by AI while ensuring that sensitive health data can be analysed securely and responsibly.

ELIXIR IMPACT will therefore combine technological development with capacity building. Among its targets are data resources serving more than 10,000 users annually, training activities for at least 160 participants, new AI and semantic services, and demonstrations of federated analytical workflows across Czech and Swiss infrastructures.

Czech–Swiss cooperation with a European impact

Presenting ELIXIR IMPACT at ECCB is particularly meaningful because the conference brings together precisely the communities the project seeks to connect: bioinformaticians, computational biologists, data scientists, research infrastructures, healthcare experts and industry.

At the same time, the project reaches beyond bilateral collaboration. Its activities are aligned with major European developments including ELIXIR, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), the Genomic Data Infrastructure (GDI), the Federated European Genome-Phenome Archive (FEGA), the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and the 1+ Million Genomes initiative.

By bringing together complementary Czech and Swiss expertise in biological databases, semantic interoperability, artificial intelligence, pathogen data, secure infrastructures and training, ELIXIR IMPACT aims to turn Czech–Swiss scientific cooperation into solutions that can be used by the wider European research community.

Data connects. AI amplifies. Together we impact health.