ELIXIR3 - Strengthening the Norwegian Node of ELIXIR

ELIXIR Norway is the national research infrastructure for bioinformatics and life science data, and the Norwegian Node in the European ELIXIR network. Our main mission is to safeguard life science data for now and the future. In that process, we also make sure that the society gets the most out of these data. We enable use and re-use of data by providing tools for analysis and management of data and comprehensive training on these matters. In the ELIXIR3 project, we will continue, consolidate and expand on our efforts from our previous projects, ELIXIR.no, ELIXIR2 and BioMedData, and at the same time strengthen our position in the ELIXIR Europe network. During this phase, we will expand the FAIRification efforts established in BioMedData and to a greater degree enable mobilisation of data from Norwegian research environments to FAIR data repositories. We will further strengthen our efforts within biomedicine and biodiversity in particular, by building- and engaging with relevant user communities, making sure that development of solutions and services is based on user needs. The project is coordinated from the University of Bergen and includes activity (sub-nodes) at the University of Oslo, The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and the Norwegian University of Life Science at Ås, outside Oslo.

The ELIXIR3 project will upgrade and strengthen the Norwegian Node of ELIXIR and its efforts to enable safekeeping, with optimal use and re-use, of life science data for present and future research and innovation, within and across disciplines. The project will strengthen its efforts within biomedicine, biodiversity and systems biology, through building and engaging with the relevant user communities, while ensuring user driven development of solutions and services. The efforts will be coordinated with relevant domain-oriented research infrastructures to avoid duplication of effort, while enhancing interoperability of resources, including data and workflows. The services will be made available through the Norwegian e-infrastructure for Life Science and the linked usegalaxy.no data analysis portal: enabling users with varying degrees of computer confluence to effectively upload, process and analyze data in a project-oriented fashion, and to share data in a FAIR manner through open public repositories. The project will strengthen the Support Desk, offering users training and support, enabling them to utilize the Node's infrastructure solutions, bioinformatics tools and workflows, and to perform data management analysis and sharing. In order to do this, we will strengthen our collaboration with data-generating infrastructures, enabling harmonized and coordinated end-user services, including management, analysis and sharing of data, as well as handling, analysis and sharing of sensitive data. We will work with Sigma2 in mobilizing their storage and compute capacity for users in the life science domain. The activities will enable us to engage in the scientific program of ELIXIR, take part in European level projects, and drive developments in areas of special interest and priority for the Norwegian node and users in Norway.