MIRRI-ERIC highlights the power of FAIR Microbial Resources at IFIB 2025

At the International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (IFIB 2025), MIRRI-ERIC showcased its leading role in advancing Europe’s bioeconomy and the transition from research to industrial innovation. Represented by its Executive Director, Ana Portugal Melo, MIRRI-ERIC took part in the high-level round table "Research Infrastructures, Tech Transfer and Scale-Up: How to Move the Bioeconomy from Lab to Industry".

Moderated by Cristina Varese from the University of Turin, the discussion gathered prominent experts including Jussi Jäntti (IBISBA), Estefania Paredes (EMBRC), Marco Beccuti (HPC4AI), Elena Sgaravatti (Federchimica-Assobiotec), Ricardo Gent (DIB), Antonino Maltese (Arsenale Bioyards), and Claudia Biffoli (MIMIT). Together, they discussed strategies to overcome the "valley of death" in bioeconomy innovation, emphasising the need for stronger collaboration among academia, industry, and policymakers.

It was also explored how research infrastructures can accelerate the scale-up of bio-based innovation and strengthen Europe’s industrial biotechnology landscape. In her presentation, titled "FAIR Microbial Resources to Advance Industry Competitiveness", Ana Portugal Melo illustrated how MIRRI-ERIC plays a pivotal role in connecting scientific excellence with industrial needs and presented the MALDIBANK project as a collaborative initiative that exemplifies a success case in co-development between research and industry. 

 

The bottlenecks to overcome

Despite the progress, Ana Portugal Melo acknowledged existing challenges, such as limited mutual understanding between academia and industry, different operational languages, and complexities around intellectual property and profit-sharing. Addressing these issues requires strong collaboration, trust, and frameworks that enable innovation without compromising scientific openness.

MIRRI-ERIC’s participation at IFIB 2025 reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Europe’s bio-based innovation ecosystem through FAIR microbial resources, open science, and coordinated access to expertise. The organisation continues to build bridges between research and industry, enabling sustainable, science-driven progress across the continent

 

About MIRRI-ERIC

The Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure — European Research Infrastructure Consortium (MIRRI-ERIC) is the pan-European distributed Research Infrastructure for the preservation, systematic investigation, provision, and valorisation of microbial resources and biodiversity.

MIRRI-ERIC brings together 44 microbial domain Biological Resource Centres (mBRCs), culture collections, and research institutes from eight European countries and connects an unparalleled collection of over 180,000 high-quality microbial resources from across Europe in a single access point, having its activities particularly focused on the fields of Health & Food, Agro-Food, and Environment & Energy.