Uniting life science research infrastructures in Europe Biomedical discoveries require interdisciplinary research efforts and access to different types of instruments and infrastructures. To facilitate advanced biomedical research, the EU-funded CORBEL project integrated various resources across European institutes, such as biological and medical technologies, biological samples and data services. Fundamental Research Health © Kinga Lubowiecka, EMBL Translation of biomedical discoveries to novel diagnostics and treatments is often impeded by fragmented research efforts. Cutting edge European research projects require a wide variety of scientific services and tools, including biobank samples, imaging facilities, molecular screening centres or animal models. European research infrastructures under the same umbrella To assist research efforts across Europe, the EU-funded CORBEL initiative has merged 13 new biological and medical research infrastructures under the same platform. “CORBEL embeds the combined infrastructure capabilities of European institutes into a single scientific workflow, from planning and applying for grants to experimentation and data management,” explains Niklas Blomberg, project coordinator. The CORBEL platform offers cutting-edge services including advanced imaging technologies, high-throughput screening, systems biology, 3D modelling, data repositories and biobanks. Using this pipeline, researchers have employed marine organisms as models for dissecting many cellular phenomena, including the gene regulatory networks underlying cellular and developmental transitions, stem cell biology and ageing. Apart from marine animal models and their associated data, CORBEL has given researchers access to high-resolution imaging data, computational models and results from toxicology testing. CORBEL launched two Open Calls for research projects to meet the prevailing need of advanced research for technologies and scientific expertise across Europe. More than 50 project applications were evaluated for research infrastructure access, finally allowing the realisation of 37 interdisciplinary projects. Successful applicants had the opportunity to access cutting-edge technologies and services for free and, if needed, their travel costs to partner institutes were covered. Joint management - the key to infrastructure service provision “Joint project management support is critical for users to access the advanced facilities across disciplines,” emphasises Susan Daenke, Chair of the Life Sciences Strategy Board. CORBEL has successfully established harmonised solutions and delivered a single sign-on user access to computational services. Embedding the combined infrastructure capabilities into a scientific workflow has advanced research opportunities. The resources portal is continuously being updated alongside guidelines and recommendations which enable users to manage data across different domains. Importantly, these recommendations have been used by third parties, such as the ERC, as well as in the recently published EC guidelines for COVID-19 research. Central to the CORBEL infrastructure services provision has been the recruitment and training of highly trained operators. In this context, the consortium has established a common competency framework for research infrastructure operators, including training courses and e-learning resources, as well as staff exchange programmes. Where next? Maintaining the CORBEL infrastructure According to Blomberg, “several projects would not have discovered and accessed services without the interdisciplinary CORBEL calls.” By giving them access to services and tools not available to researchers at their local institutions, CORBEL has contributed to the understanding of biological mechanisms and the translation of findings into medical care. The CORBEL research infrastructures have now published a common website which will be jointly financed by the involved institutes and managed by BBMRI-ERIC. This website will host some of the common services developed in CORBEL. The work of CORBEL will be continued through the H2020 project EOSC-Life, which will address the various data-sharing issues initiated through the project. Among the aims of EOSC-Life is to provide solutions for the acquisition and analysis of multi-modal data in projects which often need tailor made solutions. Keywords CORBEL, service, research infrastructure, platform, sample, data management, biomedical research, life science
