European Life Science Research Infrastructures
What do LS RIs offer the life science community?
The 13 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:
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.
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!