Modern biological research and bioinformatics require a very complex approach to cover all data related issues. The scientific community has to deal with a whole range of relevant data management aspects on a daily basis. It is of utmost importance to address emerging challenges conceptually and systematically as the only way to succeed in this difficult task.
In ELIXIR CZ, we follow the best practices set out by the European ELIXIR, dividing our activities into five main areas called platforms. Every platform is mission-oriented, and consists of Europe’s best data management experts. The platforms provide the cornerstone for particular life-science directions, in the ELIXIR environment called Communities, such as Human Data, Plant Science, Marine Metagenomics and others.
Data Platform
The goal of the ELIXIR data platform is to manage the use and reuse of valuable research data from living nature. To this end, it provides users with robust, long-term sustainable data sources from a coordinated data ecosystem.
Tools Platform
The tools platform helps communities find, register and benchmark software tools. These tools help researchers to access, analyse and integrate biological data, and thus to drive scientific discovery across the life sciences. The platform maintains information standards for these tools, and produces, adopts and promotes best practices for their development.
Compute Platform
The Compute Platform is dedicated to the building and integration of the cloud, computation, storage, and access services for the life-science research community. The objective is to combine all components of the ELIXIR Compute services into a seamless workflow. A researcher may use the ELIXIR Authorization and Authentication services to securely create a scientific software analysis environment and use the environment to access large biological data resources stored in the cloud.
Interoperability Platform
The goal of the Interoperability Platform is to facilitate the discovery, access, integration and analysis of biological data. It encourages the life science community to adopt standardized file formats, metadata, vocabularies and identifiers in international and multidisciplinary collaborations to achieve its research goals.
Training Platform
The Training Platform was established to develop a training community that spans all ELIXIR member states. It aims to strengthen national training programs, to grow bioinformatics training capacity and competence across Europe, and to empower researchers to use ELIXIR’s services and tools.
