ELIXIR-DE Activities within ELIXIR
In August 2016, the BMBF signed ELIXIR Consortium Agreement allowing Germany to become a full member of ELIXIR. As national ELIXIR node, ELIXIR Germany includes 21 contractual partners from German universities and research institutions as well as the associated EMBL Heidelberg. Since implementation of the node, ELIXIR Germany has successfully integrated itself on national and international levels and has established a broad cooperation network with the aim of providing bioinformatics services, training and cloud computing for research in the life sciences.
Important achievements include the selection of the de.NBI data resources BRENDA and SILVA as ELIXIR Core Data Resources and the implementation of the ELIXIR Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (AAI) into the de.NBI network. Since January 2020 Björn Grüning from ELIXIR Germany is the new Platform Lead of the Tools Platform. In December 2021 Ulrike Wittig (HITS, Heidelberg) was elected as Platform Lead of the ELIXIR Data Platform. In addition to an active engagement in ELIXIR Platforms, ELIXIR Germany has a leading role in ELIXIR Communities, especially the Metabolomics and Galaxy communities, and is extensively involved in the establishment of new communities. Moreover, Sebastian Beier represents ELIXIR Germany as Community Lead of the Plants Community.
These efforts are highlighted by ELIXIR Germany involvement in over 40 implementation studies and platform tasks related to ELIXIR and several publications in the F1000Research channel. Widening of the node involvement in the ELIXIR network is showcased by its participation in the ELIXIR 2019-2023 Scientific Program.
