
- Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center Greece
- Utrecht University Netherlands
- University of Bordeaux France
- Spanish National Research Council Spain
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece
- Université Paris Diderot France
- Institut Français France
- Centre for Research and Technology Hellas Greece
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory - European Bioinformatics Institute European Union
- Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica
- Wellcome Trust United Kingdom
- STICHTING EUROPEAN GRID INITIATIVE Netherlands
- French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation France
- CSC - IT Center for Science (Finland) Finland
- Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique France
- Center for Research and Technology Thessaly Greece
- Universidade NOVA de Lisboa Portugal
- Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Information Technologies Institute (ITI) Greece
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory - European Bioinformatics Institute United Kingdom
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory - European Bioinformatics Institute United Kingdom
- Universidade Nova de Lisboa Portugal
- wellcome trust
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory Germany
- Norwich Research Park United Kingdom
- Missouri University of Science and Technology United States
- French National Centre for Scientific Research France
- Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives France
With the increasingly rapid growth of data in life sciences we are witnessing a major transition in the way research is conducted, from hypothesis-driven studies to data-driven simulations of whole systems. Such approaches necessitate the use of large-scale computational resources and e-infrastructures, such as the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI). EGI, one of key the enablers of the digital European Research Area, is a federation of resource providers set up to deliver sustainable, integrated and secure computing services to European researchers and their international partners. Here we aim to provide the state of the art of Grid/Cloud computing in EU research as viewed from within the field of life sciences, focusing on key infrastructures and projects within the life sciences community. Rather than focusing purely on the technical aspects underlying the currently provided solutions, we outline the design aspects and key characteristics that can be identified across major research approaches. Overall, we aim to provide significant insights into the road ahead by establishing ever-strengthening connections between EGI as a whole and the life sciences community.
AD was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal (SFRH/BPD/78075/2011 and EXPL/BBBBEP/1356/2013). FP has been supported by the National Grid Infrastructure NGI_GRNET, HellasGRID, as part of the EGI. IFB acknowledges funding from the “National Infrastructures in Biology and Health” call of the French “Investments for the Future” initiative. The WeNMR project has been funded by a European FP7 e-Infrastructure grant, contract no. 261572. AF was supported by a grant from Labex CEBA (Centre d’études de la Biodiversité Amazonienne) from ANR. MC is supported by UK’s BBSRC core funding. CSC was supported by Academy of Finland grant No. 273655 for ELIXIR Finland. The EGI-InSPIRE project (Integrated Sustainable Pan-European Infrastructure for Researchers in Europe) is co-funded by the European Commission (contract number: RI-261323). The BioMedBridges project is funded by the European Commission within Research Infrastructures of the FP7 Capacities Specific Programme, grant agreement number 284209.
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