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Funding for bioinformatics technical infrastructure
UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund has awarded £45 million to EMBL-EBI to support technical infrastructure enhancement
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has awarded £45 million to EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), to enhance the institute’s technical infrastructure. The funding, which comes from the UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund, will support EMBL-EBI’s existing and emerging data resources, including in areas of major interest, such as genomics and bioimaging.
A driver for new discoveries
The volume and diversity of life science research data are growing rapidly, partly due to the rise of new technologies, such as single-cell sequencing, and cryo-electron microscopy. Open, freely available research data is an important driver for new discoveries, but scientific data sharing requires, among other things, robust data resources. Databases and tools should be able to collate, store and facilitate the analysis of vast amounts of data produced around the world.
Robust data infrastructure
To meet the increasing demand for open-access data resources, EMBL-EBI will use the recently awarded UKRI funding to expand the institute’s technical infrastructure. This will include the set-up of new data storage solutions, as well as the scaling up of existing data resources. The funding will also be used to provide secure, shared analysis platforms for major research collaborations.
“EMBL-EBI websites receive over 38 million requests for data or analysis every day,” says Ewan Birney, Director of EMBL-EBI. “The demand for our data resources has risen dramatically in the last decade and we expect this trend to continue, so we need to be ready for when it happens. Building a robust and accessible data infrastructure is crucial for the life science discoveries of the next decades.”
“EMBL-EBI collaborates with academia, industry and governments to develop databases, tools and software that make life science research data available to all,” says Melanie Welham, Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UKRI. “We hope that this funding will enable them to scale up the amazing work they are already doing within the life science community and beyond.”
The economy of knowledge
“EMBL is extremely grateful for UKRI’s support. Supporting EMBL-EBI means investing into essential infrastructure that enables scientists worldwide to advance our understanding of life and contribute to the economy of knowledge, with an impact on areas such as human health and environmental sustainability,” says Professor Edith Heard, Director General of EMBL.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds world-class research and the Strategic Priorities Fund supports high-quality, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary programmes identified by researchers and businesses at the cutting edge of research and innovation.
This post was originally published on EMBL-EBI News.
