Periodic Reporting for period 2 - IS_MIRRI21 (Implementation and Sustainability of Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure for 21st Century)
Reporting period: 2021-08-01 to 2023-07-31
The aim behind ISMIRRI_21 project was to implement and to secure the long-term sustainability of the pan‑European Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI). Consequently, ISMIRRI_21 entirely fulfilled its role in creating innovation and societal value through the preservation, study, provision and valorisation of microbial resources and biodiversity.
Microbes are essential for life on Earth. Also, they have historically been used by humankind for its benefit (e.g. in food processing and preservation) and, in today’s world, microbial resources are and will continue to be an invaluable asset for bioindustries and the bioeconomy. Microbes are the source of or are used for the production of the following: sustainable, nutritious, and safe food and feed products; innovative medicines and therapeutic solutions, such as vaccines and antibiotics; renewable, biobased chemicals and materials, including biopesticides and biofertilizers that are safe, effective alternatives to harmful chemical substances, as well as clean, advanced biofuels. Microbes are used in the biological management of agricultural soils and crops, in processing and upgrading residues, side-streams and organic wastes, and in the bioremediation of polluted sites or contaminated effluents. Microbes play a key role in the functioning of ecosystems, contributing to healthy and fertile soils, to clean water, and to the mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
The preservation and provision of microbial resources for research, biotechnological and bioindustrial purposes greatly relies on microbial Biological Resource Centres (mBRCs) and culture collections (CCs), which are therefore an essential part of the infrastructure underpinning biotechnology and the bioeconomy. MIRRI brings together a variety of 50+ of these top-level mBRCs, CCs and research institutes, from 10 countries (excluding Russia).
IS_MIRRI21 set up, successfully tested, and launched a centralized, user-friendly webportal – Collaborative Work Environment (CWE), www.mirri.org – to integrate and make accessible the entire MIRRI offer. All in a single-entry point to microbial resources and associated data, services, expertise, education and training. The ever-increasing knowledge flow has been transferred and will continue to be conveyed to users via “Expert Clusters”, including fora, covering topics such as legal/regulatory issues, applications in biotechnologies/bioindustries, etc. ISMIRRI_21 promoted cross-disciplinary and Industry-Academia research collaboration through a successful transnational access (TNA) programme with 53 out of 60 possible accesses and major offers granted and implemented in the different labs and infrastructures. Society also directly benefitted from ISMIRRI_21, which had sought to raise citizens’ awareness on the benefits of microbes and microbial collections for the bioeconomy and society. Schools and students benefitted from educational materials, namely informative videos, and events.
To deliver the most value from MIRRI’s operation to its users/stakeholders, while assuring its long-term sustainability, tailor-made business model and business plan were established, with proper attention given to enlargement of the membership/partnership to further countries/organisations.
Finally, IS_MIRRI21 was key to implement MIRRI as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), a legal status acquired with the efforts of project beneficiaries among others, as well as to position it in the European Research Area (ERA) and, in particular, in the ESFRI Roadmap, where its position as a landmark in ESFRI Roadmap in the “Health & Food” domain and the connections with other domains were also further strengthened.
Microbes are essential for life on Earth. Also, they have historically been used by humankind for its benefit (e.g. in food processing and preservation) and, in today’s world, microbial resources are and will continue to be an invaluable asset for bioindustries and the bioeconomy. Microbes are the source of or are used for the production of the following: sustainable, nutritious, and safe food and feed products; innovative medicines and therapeutic solutions, such as vaccines and antibiotics; renewable, biobased chemicals and materials, including biopesticides and biofertilizers that are safe, effective alternatives to harmful chemical substances, as well as clean, advanced biofuels. Microbes are used in the biological management of agricultural soils and crops, in processing and upgrading residues, side-streams and organic wastes, and in the bioremediation of polluted sites or contaminated effluents. Microbes play a key role in the functioning of ecosystems, contributing to healthy and fertile soils, to clean water, and to the mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
The preservation and provision of microbial resources for research, biotechnological and bioindustrial purposes greatly relies on microbial Biological Resource Centres (mBRCs) and culture collections (CCs), which are therefore an essential part of the infrastructure underpinning biotechnology and the bioeconomy. MIRRI brings together a variety of 50+ of these top-level mBRCs, CCs and research institutes, from 10 countries (excluding Russia).
IS_MIRRI21 set up, successfully tested, and launched a centralized, user-friendly webportal – Collaborative Work Environment (CWE), www.mirri.org – to integrate and make accessible the entire MIRRI offer. All in a single-entry point to microbial resources and associated data, services, expertise, education and training. The ever-increasing knowledge flow has been transferred and will continue to be conveyed to users via “Expert Clusters”, including fora, covering topics such as legal/regulatory issues, applications in biotechnologies/bioindustries, etc. ISMIRRI_21 promoted cross-disciplinary and Industry-Academia research collaboration through a successful transnational access (TNA) programme with 53 out of 60 possible accesses and major offers granted and implemented in the different labs and infrastructures. Society also directly benefitted from ISMIRRI_21, which had sought to raise citizens’ awareness on the benefits of microbes and microbial collections for the bioeconomy and society. Schools and students benefitted from educational materials, namely informative videos, and events.
To deliver the most value from MIRRI’s operation to its users/stakeholders, while assuring its long-term sustainability, tailor-made business model and business plan were established, with proper attention given to enlargement of the membership/partnership to further countries/organisations.
Finally, IS_MIRRI21 was key to implement MIRRI as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), a legal status acquired with the efforts of project beneficiaries among others, as well as to position it in the European Research Area (ERA) and, in particular, in the ESFRI Roadmap, where its position as a landmark in ESFRI Roadmap in the “Health & Food” domain and the connections with other domains were also further strengthened.
IS_MIRRI21 consortium achieved its intended results and beyond. The consortium supported research and innovation through a strategic perspective and different activities, and policy making by the participation in Strategy Groups and public consultations. The project contributed to intelligence & business development creating a Business Model in the 1st year, and a Business Plan at the end of the project, both cross with project deliverables as references especially public deliverables available on https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/871129/results. The partners investigated microbial resources for an innovative, competitive, and resilient bioeconomy in different scientific publications, conducted user surveys, and were strategically keen on broadening MIRRI’s partnership with the private sector.
In terms of access, two completed TNA calls provided opportunities to 11 researchers to access resources, data & services. A series of scientific publications are expected as outputs of TNAs.
On the CWE, four gates were created with diverse models. Catalogues of microbial resources and services/workflows are accessible through Gates 2 and 3; expert clusters to provide consultancy through Gate 3; Education & Training opportunities were supported through Gate 4 which promote training & education courses; tutorial videos were shot to promote literacy on microbial-related topics, and European Specialization Course on Microbial Resource Centres was launched and set up for upcoming years under MIRRI-ERIC.
Throughout the project, the Management Backoffice was operational in new HQ offices since 2021. The quality was always ensured in all tasks, procedures and reports, policies and rules of operation are in place / in progress; and MIRRI agreement on transnational field collection, and common procedures and standards for strain characterisation was accomplished. Partnerships & enlargement were key outreach activities for IS_MIRRI21 and the future of the RI. That is, continuous contacts with potential new Members / Observers / Partner Organisations were established, partnerships were formed seeking applications to Horizon Europe calls resulting in the approval of projects, namely Microbes4Climate, CanSERV, ISIDORE, and BYCOVID, besides Brokerage events.
The consortium also focused on branding & communication through outreach and dissemination activities. The CWE MIRRI webportal mirri.org and ismirri21.mirri.org along with very active social media accounts: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/microbial-resource-research-infrastructure/(opens in new window) Twitter @MIRRI_live, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mirri.esfri(opens in new window). In addition, communication materials were produced including six newsletters, institutional presentation, brochures, videos, infographics. Finally, several promotional events were organized physically and online, in addition to participation in external events related to science, enlargement, research and academia.
In terms of access, two completed TNA calls provided opportunities to 11 researchers to access resources, data & services. A series of scientific publications are expected as outputs of TNAs.
On the CWE, four gates were created with diverse models. Catalogues of microbial resources and services/workflows are accessible through Gates 2 and 3; expert clusters to provide consultancy through Gate 3; Education & Training opportunities were supported through Gate 4 which promote training & education courses; tutorial videos were shot to promote literacy on microbial-related topics, and European Specialization Course on Microbial Resource Centres was launched and set up for upcoming years under MIRRI-ERIC.
Throughout the project, the Management Backoffice was operational in new HQ offices since 2021. The quality was always ensured in all tasks, procedures and reports, policies and rules of operation are in place / in progress; and MIRRI agreement on transnational field collection, and common procedures and standards for strain characterisation was accomplished. Partnerships & enlargement were key outreach activities for IS_MIRRI21 and the future of the RI. That is, continuous contacts with potential new Members / Observers / Partner Organisations were established, partnerships were formed seeking applications to Horizon Europe calls resulting in the approval of projects, namely Microbes4Climate, CanSERV, ISIDORE, and BYCOVID, besides Brokerage events.
The consortium also focused on branding & communication through outreach and dissemination activities. The CWE MIRRI webportal mirri.org and ismirri21.mirri.org along with very active social media accounts: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/microbial-resource-research-infrastructure/(opens in new window) Twitter @MIRRI_live, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mirri.esfri(opens in new window). In addition, communication materials were produced including six newsletters, institutional presentation, brochures, videos, infographics. Finally, several promotional events were organized physically and online, in addition to participation in external events related to science, enlargement, research and academia.
MIRRI’s Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda 2021-2030 SRIA is an emerging top result beyond the state of the art. SRIA became instrumental to organize our partnerships in the European framework.
In fact, the offer of microbial resources tends to be dispersed and no single country can offer a complete coverage of microbial diversity and associated services, which makes the case for an overarching organisation to make best use of current capacity and address the needs of biotechnology and bioeconomy.
IS_MIRRI21 and its outcomes were key for the full implementation, operation and sustainability of MIRRI as a pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure providing access to high-quality microorganisms, their derivatives, standardised associated data and services.
In fact, the offer of microbial resources tends to be dispersed and no single country can offer a complete coverage of microbial diversity and associated services, which makes the case for an overarching organisation to make best use of current capacity and address the needs of biotechnology and bioeconomy.
IS_MIRRI21 and its outcomes were key for the full implementation, operation and sustainability of MIRRI as a pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure providing access to high-quality microorganisms, their derivatives, standardised associated data and services.