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What are research infrastructures?

Research infrastructures (or RIs) are long-term enterprises and strategic investments that are designed to enable and support research in various scientific domains. Europe is a world pioneer in the field and possesses RIs covering scientific domains from astrophysics to medical biobanking. Although RIs can be very different in focus, in size and in organisation, all RIs produce research infrastructure services for their scientific communities and increasingly work with industry providing a vital link in the innovation pipeline.

The 6 research infrastructures that are part of Bioindustry 4.0 are quite representative of RI diversity:

BBMRI-ERIC is one of Europe’s largest research infrastructures for biobanking in Europe. Biobanks store human biological samples and the data related to these samples, representing an essential resource for biomedical research. BBMRI connects researchers, biobankers, industry, and patients to boost this research and offers them quality management services, support with ethical, legal, and societal issues, and a number of online tools and software solutions. Headquartered in Austria, the BBMRI                                                                                   network currently includes 25 Member and Observer countries.

                                                                        www.bbmri-eric.eu

DSMZ is the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures . It prides itself on being one of the world’s largest collections with over 84000 items, which include microorganisms (like bacteria, yeasts or fungi), human and animal cell cultures, plant viruses, and bacteriophages. DSMZ is a global service provider for university, public, and industrial research.

                                                                        www.dsmz.de

ELIXIR is a European life sciences infrastructure whose activity is centred on data and digital resources – including life science databases, software, training resources, cloud storage and supercomputers. ELIXIR enables researchers to easily find, share, and exchange both data and expertise. While the Elixir headquarters is located in the UK, the research infrastructure extends across 23 countries.

                                                                        elixir-europe.org

Gaia-X is a European data infrastructure. Its goal is not to create an alternative cloud or its management, but to establish a system that links different clouds and spaces through open interfaces and set standards. Gaia-X is based on an international collaboration that includes over 350 members worldwide – from start-ups and big corporations to state entities and research institutes.

                                                                        gaia-x.eu

IBISBA is a distributed European research infrastructure with a focus on industrial biotechnology, which seeks to serve as a single access point for academic and industrial researchers alike, offering services that run the gamut from protein engineering, omics, strain development to bioprocess development. IBISBA includes Europe’s leading public research labs from 10 European countries and the UK.  

                                                                        www.ibisba.eu

MIRRI is a European research infrastructure focusing on microbial resources and biodiversity. MIRRI offers its academic and industrial users a single point of access to over 400000 items including microorganisms, cell lines, and genomic DNA. This is made possible by together over 50 resource centers, culture collections and research institutes from ten countries across Europe.

                                                                        www.mirri.org