BioData.pt All Hands 2025: MIRRI-ERIC as key guest on EOSC discussion

MIRRI‑ERIC participated in the Portuguese Node of ELIXIR's annual gathering, BioData.pt All Hands 2025 meeting, held over three days in Porto (PT), bringing together Portuguese life-science and bioinformatics communities to share knowledge, explore new strategies, and strengthen collaboration. The event provided a vibrant platform for networking, exchanging ideas, and discussing the core principles that guide research infrastructures across Europe, with a particular perspective from national actors.

The MIRRI‑ERIC team, represented by Executive Director Ana Portugal Melo, was actively involved on the second day of the meeting, which focused on Open Science and the role of European initiatives in supporting data-driven research. Ana Portugal Melo shared the MIRRI‑ERIC perspective on the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Association, highlighting how RIs contribute to collaborative science, FAIR data practices, and the European data ecosystem.

The second day deepened participants' understanding of EOSC, with participants gaining insights into the importance of this association in enabling collaborative, interoperable, and data-driven science in Europe. Taking part in a discussion intended to deepen acknowledgement and ideas around the effort to create a Portuguese Node of EOSC, MIRRI-ERIC was an insightful participant as the only representative of the European perspective.

In addition to MIRRI‑ERIC’s contribution, the session included the presence of prominent figures from the community, including Luísa Cortes (Euro-BioImaging ERIC PT), Margarida Archer (Instruct ERIC PT), and Ana Teresa Freitas (INESC-ID and ELIXIR-PT). The interactive format of the meeting allowed for deep engagement, fostering dialogue between participants and strengthening connections across national nodes of life-science networks.

 

ELIXIR and MIRRI-ERIC connection

The event’s collaborative environment encouraged participants to explore new ideas, identify synergies, and discuss the shared goals of European research infrastructures, from policy development to practical implementation of Open Science initiatives. For MIRRI‑ERIC, participation in BioData.pt All Hands 2025 reaffirmed the organisation's commitment to advancing Open Science, supporting the European data ecosystem, and contributing to the development of a cohesive and interoperable infrastructure landscape. Engaging with peers and stakeholders at this event strengthens MIRRI‑ERIC’s role in the European life-science community and enhances its capacity to support research that benefits both science and society.

ELIXIR, the European life-science infrastructure for biological data, plays a central role in connecting data, tools, standards, and people across Europe. MIRRI‑ERIC has a close connection with ELIXIR, integrating several European projects and working on common areas, as FAIR compliance, for example. The MIRRI‑ERIC team looks forward to continuing its active engagement with ELIXIR, EOSC, and the wider European research infrastructure community of national nodes, building partnerships and sharing expertise to advance collaborative, data-driven life-science research.