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ELIXIR has been awarded €19m from the EU to accelerate the implementation of Europe’s life science data infrastructure over the next four years.

From September 2015, ‘ELIXIR-EXCELERATE’ will facilitate the integration of Europe’s bioinformatics resources, supporting all sectors of life science R&D. It will deliver excellence to ELIXIR’s users by fast tracking the development and deployment of essential data services.

Commenting, ELIXIR director Niklas Blomberg said: “In the age of big data, it is critical that we can all make the most of the bioinformatics capacity that has been developed in each of our member states. This will make a difference to Europe’s 500,000 life science researchers, who need public research data to be managed well over the long term so it can be reused to maximum effect.

“EXCELERATE will bring about a step change in how bioinformatics services are co-ordinated across Europe, ensuring they are integrated, grow in step with the advent of new technologies and maintained appropriately over the long term.”

The funding will help ELIXIR co-ordinate and extend national and international data resources to ensure the delivery of world leading life science data services. Anchored in national infrastructures, it will support a pan-European training programme to help increase bioinformatics capacity and competency. It will also provide efficiencies in management and operation throughout the infrastructure, which is distributed amongst 17 countries.

ELIXIR was invited to apply to a dedicated call within Horizon 2020 following a decision by the Competitiveness Council and the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures in 2014 to categorise ELIXIR as one of Europe’s three new priority research infrastructures; ‘ELIXIR-EXCELERATE’ represents ELIXIR’s submission to this call.

Dedicated use cases, defined in close partnership with diverse research communities, will help ELIXIR grow in keeping with the needs of scientists working on rare diseases, biomedical and human genomics, marine and plant sciences and other specialised areas. Partners in ELIXIR are located across Europe, including France, Portugal, Spain, Norway and the UK.