European Life Science Research Infrastructures
The 15 European Life Science Research Infrastructures (LS RIs) have the mission to support cutting-edge science by offering access to their resources and services to European scientists from academia and industry.
Resources and services can simply be consultation, access to experts, but also access to data and biological samples, use of data analysis tools, access to facilities (e.g. highly specialised microscopes) plus support from technicians and much more.
Some of these services are even free to use for institutions location in the RI's member states.
The Catalogue of Services, which has been developed within the CORBEL project, is the first tool to list the main services of all LS RIs at a glance and it aims to facilitate the utilisation of RI services by researchers from all over the world. The Catalogue of Services as displayed below aims to provide you a basic overview on existing services within distinct thematic fields.
You can either use the Catalogue of Services to identify a single RI to help you with your work or you can create a service pipeline, i.e. using several RIs simultaneously.
What’s your need?
Please select…
Samples
Data & Databases
Technologies & Facilities
- accreditated/certified facilities (ISO certified, GLP, GMP, GCP)
- adaptation / development of assays (compounds etc.)
- adaptation / development of assays (human/non-human samples)
- high-throughput screening
- imaging (biological)
- imaging (medical)
- isolation / cultivation / characterisation of microorganisms
- -omics technology platforms
- plant phenotyping technologies/facilities
- production of high quality protein samples
- structural biology technologies/software
Models & Tools
Expertise & Support
- biomarker validation
- biosecurity / biosafety (incl. regulatory) issues
- data management expertise
- development of project towards a medical application
- ethical / legal issues, informed consent
- innovation management support
- mouse model generation, phenotyping and cryopreservation
- multinational clinical trial (establishment / management / monitoring)
- outbreak / emergency response / epidemiology
- support to submit a project proposal
- systems biology expertise
- training courses
- The following RIs offer complementary services:
BBMRI-ERIC
Contact person(s): Eleanor Shember, Contact(a)bbmri-eric.eu
BBMRI-ERIC is a research infrastructure of biobanks and biomolecular resources. Our main goal is to provide expertise and services, advancing the use of European sample collections and its data for the benefit of human health. Our activities are on a non-economic basis and primarily intended for our member countries.
Services provided
BBMRI-ERIC delivers services to their member states in IT; Quality Management; ELSI; Biobanking Development; Public Affairs; and Outreach, Education and Communications.
- Key IT Services
- Directory (collecting information about biobanks and their sample/data collections)
- Negotiator (facilitating communication between researchers requesting samples/data
from biobanks)
- Bibbox (toolbox for biobanks, open-source software)
- MIABIS 2.0 (Community standard for sharing information about biobanks)
- Key Quality Management Services
- Knowledge Hub (Consulting on international standards relevant for biobanking and biomedical research; Quality management tasks in EU projects)
- Training & Support (In-house and online training, university courses, summer schools, short courses, workshops and consulting services covering various quality management systems relevant for biobanking and biomedical research )
- Auditing (The BBMRI-ERIC Self-Assessment Surveys (SAS) help to determine relevant requirements for work processes defined in international standards for biobanking and biomedical research)
- Audit programmes (Remote/on-site) (Quality check mark in Directory (assessment processes, including a remote or on-site audit, can lead to a Q-mark in the BBMRI-ERIC Directory))
- Key ELSI Services
- ELSI Helpdesk
- ELSI Knowledge Base
- Ethics Check
- ELSI Policy Monitoring
- Task Force Societal Issues
- Task Force GDPR
Costs
Services are free for those biobanks that are located in a member state.
For further information please contact us.
Access modes
Access can be on-site or online, dependent on the requested service.
For further information please contact us.
Why work with us
Reproducible data in research is key and in order to achieve that, you need high-quality samples and data as a starting point. BBMRI-ERIC enables biobanks to work with high-quality samples and associated data and supports controlled access to the wider research community, being a true gateway to health.
Countries involved
Members: AT, BE, BG, CZ, EE, FI, DE, GR, HU, IT, LV, ML, NL, NO, PL, SE, SL, UK
Observers: IARC/WHO, CH, CY, LT, SP, TR
Services contact
Contact person(s): Eleanor Shember, Contact(a)bbmri-eric.eu
About
BBMRI-ERIC aims to improve the accessibility and interoperability of the existing comprehensive collections, either population-based or clinical-oriented, of biological samples from different (sub-) populations of Europe or rare diseases. These collections include the attached data on factors such as health status, nutrition, lifestyle, and environmental exposure of the study subjects. In order to fully realize the enormous potential of European biobanks and biomolecular resources for the benefit of European citizens, clinical, ethical and legal experts, the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, patient advocacy groups are collaborating in a participatory governance model (Stakeholder's Forum). The aim is to achieve standards and guidelines that properly balance individual values, such as protection of privacy and informed consent, with shared values of facilitated access to progress in health care and disease prevention.
BBMRI-ERIC will increase efficacy and excellence of European bio-medical research by facilitating fair access to quality-defined human health/disease-relevant biological resources through the inclusion of associated data in an efficient and ethically and legally compliant manner; by reducing the fragmentation of the bio-medical research landscape through harmonisation of procedures, implementation of common standards and fostering high-level collaboration; and by capacity-building in countries with less developed biobanking communities thereby contributing to Europe's cohesion policy and strengthening the ERA.
The EU’s ageing population is resulting in an increase in many of those diseases and consequently an increased healthcare expenditure for senior citizens that place pressure on the sustainability and viability of the EU’s healthcare systems. Through BBMRI-ERIC, biobanks and biomolecular resources shall develop into one of the most important tools for biomedical and clinical discovery. New medical applications, new therapies, new preventive techniques, new diagnostics, personalised or stratified medicine, and new biomedical industries shall evolve to improve socio-economic competitiveness and increase possibilities for equitable healthcare in Europe. The anticipated development shall pave the way for a new research culture in Europe. Expectantly, BBMRI-ERIC will have an impact on partnerships with patients/donors, who know that their own tissues, samples and personal data can yield discoveries and advances in medicine, diagnostics, and therapies. In return, BBMRI-ERIC is taking up the responsibility to make sure that the samples and data that have been entrusted for research are used in the best way possible for the advancement of knowledge, ultimately contributing to improved health care.
The key benefits for users of BBMRI-ERIC are fair access to quality-controlled samples and/or data from population-based, disease-oriented or rare disease biobanks including expertise in handling these biological resources for scientific purposes (ethical, legal and societal issues as well as quality handling). BBMRI-ERIC connects a distributed research infrastructure of biobanks and biomolecular resources for the benefit of the users of such resources. It puts pan-European biobanks on the map and promotes their specific strengths. BBMRI increases the accessibility to quality controlled human biological samples and associated biomedical and biomolecular data in making them findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. Ultimately, this is key for advancing stratified and precision medicine.
EATRIS-ERIC
Contact person(s): Florence Bietrix
EATRIS is the European infrastructure for translational medicine. The infrastructure brings together resources and services for research communities to translate scientific discoveries into benefits for patients.
Services provided
Services offered by EATRIS include
- support funding applications (Identification of partners for consortium building, assessment of the project plan's impact and innovation potential)
- translational research facilities and expertise for development of novel biomarkers, diagnostics and therapeutics
- molecular, functional & hybrid imaging technologies, preclinical models, samples, patient cohorts, GMP manufacturing
- regulatory and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) expertise
- advice on intellectual property issues and industry partnering strategy (innovation management)
Costs
Costs are calculated on a case by case basis depending on the service required; some services can also be provided as part of funding proposals with EATRIS joining consortia as partner or subcontractor.
For further information please contact us.
Access modes
Services performed can be offered either centrally by the coordination and support team based in Amsterdam or remotely by the EATRIS institutions.
Why work with us
Translating novel biology insights into effective interventions or medical applications is a highly complex process. It requires significant dedicated expertise, facilities and resources. We believe in your medical innovation and we want to support you by bringing together the multi-disciplinary expertise and infrastructure required for optimising your translational trajectory. Working with EATRIS gives greater confidence in the translational feasibility of your project and its impact.
Countries involved
FR, NL, CZ, HR, SE, NO, FI, IT, ES, SI, LU, LV, PO, BG
Services contact
Contact person(s): Florence Bietrix
About
EATRIS is the European infrastructure for translational medicine. The infrastructure brings together resources and services for research communities to translate scientific discoveries into benefits for patients.
EATRIS provides access to a vast array of pre-clinical and clinical expertise and facilities that are available within 115+ top-tier academic centres across Europe. The infrastructure focuses on improving and optimising preclinical and early clinical development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, and overcome barriers to health innovation.
The research infrastructure offers a broad range of research services for both academia and industry across various research fields. In addition, EATRIS works with public funding agencies, charities and policymakers with tailored actions to help improve the translational research and innovation ecosystem.
ECRIN-ERIC
Contact person(s): European Correspondent in your country, Christine Kubiak
ECRIN is a pan-European distributed infrastructure that links scientific partners across Europe to facilitate multinational clinical research. ECRIN provides sponsors and investigators with support for the development and implementation of multinational clinical trials.
Services provided
Services offered by ECRIN include
- information and advice for funding applications and preparation of multinational clinical trials (methodology, operational aspects, regulatory, ethics, contracting...)
- trial management operations (interaction with competent authorities & ethics committees, project management, monitoring, vigilance, data management)
- clinical trial tools (outcome measures, regulatory database, site locations, risk-based monitoring)
- data centre certification program (audits European, non-commercial data centres using ECRIN IT/DM standards, to confirm their ability to provide compliant, effective, and efficient data management services for controlled clinical trials)
Costs
Information and advice are free for ECRIN members. The cost of trial management services depends on the type of service requested. Data centre certification costs depend on the type of country membership.
Access modes
Users submit their proposal or request to ECRIN office; the access mode depends on proposal and needs. There are annual calls for data centre certification.
Why work with us
Difficulties in locating clinical trials units, fulfilling local legal, regulatory and ethical requirements, and coordinating multi-country clinical trial management deter many researchers from attempting multinational clinical trials. This means that most independent clinical trials are conducted in single centres, or multiple centres within one country. ECRIN provides a path through Europe's fragmented health and legal systems with its pan-European infrastructure that is designed to support multinational clinical research and unlock access to patients and medical expertise.
Countries involved
FR, DE, HU, IT, NO, ES, PT, CZ, IE
Observer: CH, SK, PL
Services contact
Contact person(s): European Correspondent in your country, Christine Kubiak
About
Since its creation in 2004, ECRIN has been working to help researchers overcome the challenges inherent to multinational clinical trials in Europe.
ECRIN focuses on academic-sponsored multinational clinical trials as well as clinical trials initiated by biotech and medical device small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It provides support to sponsors and investigator-initiated trials and helps them navigate Europe’s fragmented health and legal systems. Multi-country clinical trials mean greater access to patients, resources, and expertise, and, in turn, faster and potentially more robust results.
ECRIN’s organisational model is based on country membership. Each country has a European Correspondent, who manages the trial portfolio and coordinates with the national scientific hub (i.e. network of clinical trial units, CTUs) with support from the Paris-based Core Team.
ECRIN provides support for the preparation of multinational clinical trials (e.g. trial logistics, funding applications), the validation of study protocols (scientific and logistical review), and trial management (coordination, submissions to competent authorities and ethics committees; monitoring; adverse event reporting; data management). In support of these activities, it develops and maintains freely accessible tools such as databases on regulatory and ethical requirements, outcome measures, and risk-based monitoring.
ECRIN currently provides consultancy and management services to more than 40 trials, with an average of seven countries per trial.
In addition, ECRIN contributes to capacity building projects aiming to establish shared services in biomedical areas and to foster international cooperation in non-commercial trials.
EMBRC
Contact person(s): info(at)embrc.eu
The European Marine Biological Research Centre (EMBRC-ERIC) is a Research Infrastructure including 29 Operators across 9 different European countries. EMBRC is dedicated for marine biology and ecology research. EMBRC offers to the scientific community, academic institutions and private companies a comprehensive set of services to study marine organisms and to give access to ecosystems. EMBRC is providing local or remote access to state-of-the-art national facilities such as renowned marine biological stations.
Services provided
The EMBRC service offer includes
- access to ecosystems: coastal research vessels, scientific diving facilities, submersibles (ROV/AUV), in-situ sampling facilities and monitoring equipment, field stations
- marine biological resources (micro & macro, alive & fixed, wild & cultivated): biobanks, culture collections (algae, bacteria, zooplankton... within RCC, MOLA, PCC, MCCV), marine model organisms, sampling upon request
- experimental facilities: aquaria & mesocosms, wet and dry laboratories, climate rooms, field experiment
- technology platforms: aquaculture, biological analysis, imaging, molecular biology and ‘omics, remote sensing and telemetry, structural and chemical analysis, other
- e-Infrastructure, data & services: data, data analysis tools and softwares, computing and storage infrastructure, bioinformatics and data management services
- supporting facilities: in-house lodging, in-house catering (administrative restaurant), workspaces (e.g. offices, conference and meeting rooms with videoconference system), training facilities, lab spaces (wet laboratories, aquariums with different volumes capacities)
Costs
Prices depend on the nature of the service and are available upon request.
Access modes
Through the 29 European operators, users can access the services remotely or on-site. The user has to select the service of interest, submit a proposal and he/she will receive feedback or be contacted.
Why work with us
Researchers should contact us in order to have access to marine ecosystems, marine biological resources and associated technological platforms for analysis.
Countries involved
BE, ES, FR, IT, GR, NO, PT, IL, UK
Services contact
Contact person(s): info(at)embrc.eu
About
The EMBRC-ERIC is a pan-European distributed research infrastructure that aims to provide a strategic delivery mechanism for excellent and large-scale marine biological and ecological research in Europe. With its services, EMBRC will support both fundamental and applied research based on marine bioresources and ecosystems.
In particular, EMBRC aims to drive forward the development of blue biotechnologies.
Catering for users from academia, industry, policy and the technology sectors, EMBRC provides a unique entry point to access an integrated portfolio of services, bio-technology research platforms and marine organisms, as well as analytical and historical environmental data, to investigate the potential of the marine bioresources to deliver for societally relevant research domains:
- Human health and well-being: Marine organisms have historically proven to be fundamental models to understand human cell physiology. More recently, the untapped chemistry of marine natural products is providing the necessary novel bioactives and biomaterials to address the issues of antibiotic resistance, cancer therapy, tissue regeneration and drug delivery, among others. EMBRC is the first step of the health and well-being biodiscovery pipeline based on the sustainable use of marine bioresources.
- Sustainability of food production: With a soaring global demand for protein, and aquaculture recently surpassing beef farming production, marine biology and ecology are key disciplines to create sustainable harvesting/rearing programmes and policies. EMBRC provides state of the art facilities to test the impact of treatments, such as nutrition and/or health measures, as well as the effects of environmental conditions, on the productivity of reared biological resources.
- Industrial process innovation: Marine enzymes and proteins can support novel process development in the chemical industries; efficient and effective cultivation methods and technologies, as well as extraction techniques are also in high demand by the bio-refinery industry. EMBRC is key to specifically bioprospecting marine biota for white biotechnology applications.
- Environmental adaptations to climate and pollution: In depth knowledge of marine biology and ecology is essential to preserve the natural marine environment and its services. EMBRC can provide the indoor and outdoor scalable settings to experiment the impact of different environmental conditions on biota, as well as mitigation and remediation measures.
Delegated services as well as private research are available at the EMBRC premises, satisfying both academic and industrial users. Excellence of research will be supported creating a virtuous mechanisms and a recognizable quality label, stimulating mutual development and building on reciprocal prestige. Coordinating a wide range of expertise in various research domains, EMBRC will be driven by a truly multidisciplinary community, setting the goals and achieving the objectives of the EU research and innovation agenda.
EMPHASIS
Contact person(s): Dr. Roland Pieruschka, Dr. Sven Fahrner
EMPHASIS is a pan-European, distributed plant phenotyping infrastructure. EMPHASIS will focus on developing and enabling access to plant phenotyping infrastructure and provision of services essential for the analysis of crop performance with respect to structure, function, quality and interaction with the environment. It will thus support the exploitation of crop genetic diversity required for the enhancement of plant productivity and progress in plant breeding.
Services provided
In cooperation with EPPN2020, EMPHASIS offers access to plant phenotyping infrastructures, which includes
- high-throughput facilities
- lean field facilities
- intensive field facilities
- assay development
- data management
Further services are currently under development and will be implemented in its operational phase.
Costs
The access provided currently via EPPN2020 is free of charge for selected user-groups, based on a simple application procedure and includes the logistical, technological and scientific support as well as specific training required to successfully complete the approved Transnational Access project.
For further information please contact us.
Access modes
European-wide access to plant phenotyping infrastructures is currently under development in our partner project EPPN2020 and is provided via its homepage.
Access will be accordingly provided by EMPHASIS once it reaches its operational phase.
Why work with us
EPPN2020 provides transnational access to plant phenotyping infrastructure as a basis for novel scientific approaches to quantitative plant assessment in high throughput. The installations represent a diverse set of facilities for plant phenotyping in Europe with focus on: i) non-invasive high-throughput phenotyping under controlled conditions, ii) destructive sampling aiming at assessing underlying traits helping to understand the genetic variability of different plant processes, iii) controlled field facilities allowing users to control rainfall and/or the concentration of air CO2 together with high-definition, non-invasive sensors. Transnational access will be available based on a simple and transparent access procedure.
Countries involved
Preparatory Phase of the project: BE, FR, IT, NL, UK, DE
Services contact
Contact person(s): Dr. Roland Pieruschka, Dr. Sven Fahrner
About
EMPHASIS is a pan-European distributed plant phenotyping infrastructure project. EMPHASIS will focus on developing and enabling access to plant phenotyping infrastructure and provision of services, essential for the analysis of crop performance with respect to structure, function, quality and interaction with the environment. It will thus support the exploitation of crop genetic diversity required for the enhancement of plant productivity and progress in plant breeding.
Plant derived products are at the centre of grand challenges posed by increasing requirements for food, feed and bio-based raw materials. Integrating approaches across all scales from molecular to field applications are necessary to develop sustainable plant production with higher yield and at the same time using limited resources. While significant progress has been made in molecular and genetic approaches in recent years, the quantitative analysis of plant performance has become the major bottleneck. The challenge is to address multi-scale phenotyping for analysing genotype performance under diverse environmental conditions and quantify the diversity of traits contributing to performance, i.e. plant architecture, major functions, yield components and quality. Improvement of plant performance under changing climates requires the use of different categories of infrastructure combined with a coordinated infrastructure for storing and analysing data, and platforms for plant/crop modelling associated with phenotyping platforms.
Thus, plant phenotyping focuses on development and implementation of non-invasive technology, which can be used beyond plant sciences in disciplines such as image analysis, remote sensing or automation engineering. Additionally, plant phenotyping produces a number of data relevant for basic understanding in life sciences and practical breeding.
MIRRI
Contact person(s): MIRRI Interim Secretariat
MIRRI is the pan-European research infrastructure for microbial resources [i.e. bacteria (including cyanobacteria), archaea, fungi, yeasts, plant viruses, bacteriophages and their isolated DNA]. In addition, the MIRRI repertoire also covers human, animal and plant cell cultures.
By provision of high quality microorganisms, associated data and the broad expertise of our partners, MIRRI aims to support research and development in the field of biotechnology.
Services provided
MIRRI services comprise
- access to microorganisms/cell lines deposited in public collections
- deposit of microorganisms/cell lines (public collection/patents)
- phenotypic/molecular characterisation of microorganisms
- identification/molecular typing of microorganisms
- isolation/cultivation/preservation of microorganisms
- microbial community analyses
- microbial phylogenetic studies
- screening/bioassays with microorganisms
- access to microbiological databases
- consultancy/contract research
- legal issues (e.g. Nagoya Protocol)
- biosafety/biosecurity
- training
Costs
Costs depend on the kind of service requested.
For further information please contact us.
Access modes
Access modes depend on the kind of service requested.
For further information please contact us.
Why work with us
MIRRI offers not only a broad spectrum of high quality microorganisms, but also a longlasting expertise in each field of microbiology. Aiming at harmonising the current microbial Biological Resource Centre (mBRC) landscape, MIRRI enables facilitated access to deposited microorganisms and is constantly improving the corresponding state-of-the-art service offers. Our experts ensure legal compliance of resources (Nagoya Protocol) and with the envisaged interoperability of existing and future databases researchers can exploit the full value of microorganisms.
Countries involved
under development
Services contact
Contact person(s): MIRRI Interim Secretariat
About
MIRRI-ERIC provides a unique access point to biological resources, related information, services and expertise of 35 microbial resource centres (mBRCs) located in 10 countries. This means that about 450.000 resources (such as bacteria -including cyanobacteria-, archaea, fungi, yeasts, plant viruses, bacteriophages and their isolated DNA as well as human, animal and plant cell cultures) can be readily provided to users from academia, health and agriculture authorities, and the bio-industry. Pathogenic material is provided to risk group 2, selected risk group 3 organisms are available from a few mBRCs. In addition MIRRI-ERIC offers unrivalled expertise in the integrated analysis of complex microbial interactions, ranging from the isolation of a specimen from the environment to the description of novel species, deciphering the genomic information and its path to gene expression. Targeted identification of genes of interest for biotechnological exploitation as well as analysis of ‘microbiomes’ make MIRRI-ERIC an interesting partner not only for academic researchers but also for industry and ‘personalized medicine’.
Currently MIRRI-ERIC is under development, but basic services are already available. Full operability as well as the virtual entry point to all services will be achieved once the legal status is established.
Please note: Most of the RIs are constantly developing their portfolio of services, so if you do not find the service/tool you are looking for, do not hesitate to contact the RI and ask for it!