EOSC-Life · Project

Europe-Wide Cloud Platform Letting Companies Access and Reuse Life-Science Data

digitalTestedTRL 6Thin data (2/5)

Imagine 13 of Europe's biggest biology and medical research libraries all kept their data in different formats, behind different locked doors. EOSC-Life built a shared cloud space where all that data can be found, accessed, and combined — like a single search engine for European life-science results. They also created tools so researchers and companies can run complex analyses across multiple datasets without downloading anything. The goal is that anyone doing biology or medical research can plug into this continent-scale data cloud instead of starting from scratch.

By the numbers

Biological and Medical research infrastructures connected

consortium partners

countries represented

total deliverables produced

SMEs in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Life-science companies waste enormous time and resources trying to find, access, and combine biological research data that is scattered across dozens of European institutions, each with different formats, access rules, and systems. For companies working with human health data, GDPR compliance adds another layer of complexity that most cannot navigate alone.

The solution

What was built

The project delivered a cloud-based Tools Collaboratory that runs cross-infrastructure workflows, a comprehensive workflow registry for publishing and sharing analysis pipelines, cloud implementations of workflows selected by research communities, and FAIRassist software for data compliance checking — 46 deliverables in total.

Audience

Who needs this

Pharma and biotech companies doing multi-source biological data analysisContract research organizations (CROs) needing access to European research datasetsHealth data analytics firms building AI models on clinical and biological dataAgricultural biotech companies running cross-disciplinary genomics workflowsResearch-intensive SMEs that cannot afford to build their own data infrastructure

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Pharmaceutical & Biotech

enterprise

Target: Drug discovery companies and CROs needing access to diverse biological datasets

If you are a pharma or biotech company struggling to find and combine biological research data scattered across 13 different European research infrastructures — this project built a cloud-based Tools Collaboratory and workflow registry that lets you search, access, and run analyses across all of them in one place. Instead of negotiating access with each institution separately, you get federated login and FAIR-compliant data ready for computational analysis.

Health Data Analytics

any

Target: Companies building AI/ML models on clinical or biological data

If you are a health data analytics firm dealing with GDPR restrictions when trying to use human research data — this project specifically addressed data policies for human research data under GDPR and built interoperable provenance tracking. Their FAIRassist software helps you verify that datasets meet findability, accessibility, and reuse standards before you invest in building models on them.

Agricultural Biotechnology

mid-size

Target: AgTech companies doing genomics or molecular biology research

If you are an agricultural biotech company that needs to run cross-disciplinary workflows combining genomics, proteomics, and environmental data — this project created cloud implementations of workflows that cross research infrastructure boundaries. With 70 partners across 16 countries contributing data and tools, the platform gives you access to biological datasets and analysis pipelines that would take years to assemble independently.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost my company to access this platform?

The project was publicly funded as a Research and Innovation Action, and the EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) is designed for open access. Based on available project data, the tools and workflows were developed for open use through the EOSC ecosystem. Specific commercial licensing terms would need to be discussed with the coordinator.

Can this handle the volume of data our company works with?

The platform was built to handle continent-scale biological and medical data from 13 major European research infrastructures, with 70 partners across 16 countries contributing. The cloud-based architecture was specifically designed because managing and integrating life-science data volumes is beyond the capabilities of most individual institutes.

Who owns the intellectual property for the tools developed?

EOSC-Life was funded as a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), which typically means results are owned by the consortium partners who created them. The project philosophy is open science — tools like the workflow registry and FAIRassist software were designed for open sharing. Specific IP arrangements for commercial use would need to be clarified with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory as coordinator.

How does this handle GDPR when working with human health data?

The project explicitly addressed data policies needed for human research data under GDPR. They built interoperable provenance information that describes the full history of samples and data to ensure reproducibility and adherence to regulatory requirements. Federated user access controls transnational resource access and authorization.

Is this still operational after the project ended in August 2023?

The project ran from March 2019 to August 2023 and delivered 46 deliverables including working software and cloud infrastructure. The tools and platforms were built within the broader EOSC ecosystem, which continues to operate. Based on available project data, the workflow registry and Tools Collaboratory were designed for sustained use beyond the project lifetime.

Can we integrate this with our existing research data systems?

The project was specifically built around FAIR principles and published standards like EDMI for data integration. The federated authentication system (AAI) enables transnational access, and workflows were designed to cross discipline and research infrastructure boundaries. This architecture supports integration with existing institutional repositories.

Consortium

Who built it

This is a massive research-heavy consortium: 70 partners across 16 countries, dominated by 34 research organizations and 30 universities. The near-absence of industry (just 1 industrial partner, 1% ratio, and only 2 SMEs) tells you this was built by scientists for scientists. The coordinator is the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany — one of Europe's most prestigious life-science institutions. For a business looking to use these tools, expect excellent scientific rigor but you will likely need to invest in adapting the outputs for commercial workflows. The breadth across 16 countries is a strength for pan-European data access.

EUROPEAN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY LABORATORYCoordinator · DE
ACADEMISCH ZIEKENHUIS LEIDENparticipant · NL
ECRIN EUROPEAN CLINICAL RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORKparticipant · FR
UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRAparticipant · ES
EATRIS ERICparticipant · NL
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIENparticipant · AT
HELSINGIN YLIOPISTOthirdparty · FI
THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGEparticipant · UK
CENTRO DI RICERCA, SVILUPPO E STUDI SUPERIORI IN SARDEGNA SOCIETÀ A RESPONSABILITÀ LIMITATAthirdparty · IT
INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALEparticipant · FR
Masarykova univerzitaparticipant · CZ
THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTERparticipant · UK
MEDIZINISCHE UNIVERSITAT GRAZthirdparty · AT
INSTRUCT-ERICparticipant · UK
OULUN YLIOPISTOparticipant · FI
STICHTING VUparticipant · NL
FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JULICH GMBHparticipant · DE
SWISS CLINICAL TRIAL ORGANISATION (SCTO)thirdparty · CH
STICHTING LYGATUREthirdparty · NL
BIOBANKS AND BIOMOLECULAR RESOURCES RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM (BBMRI-ERIC)participant · AT
KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE AKADEMIE VAN WETENSCHAPPEN - KNAWparticipant · NL
WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCEthirdparty · IL
UNIVERSITEIT GENTparticipant · BE
HELMHOLTZ ZENTRUM MUENCHEN DEUTSCHES FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM FUER GESUNDHEIT UND UMWELT GMBHparticipant · DE
USTAV MOLEKULARNI GENETIKY AV CR V.V.I.participant · CZ
ISTITUTO DI RICERCHE FARMACOLOGICHE MARIO NEGRIthirdparty · IT
HELLENIC CENTRE FOR MARINE RESEARCHthirdparty · EL
NACIONALNI INSTITUT ZA BIOLOGIJOparticipant · SI
UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEEparticipant · UK
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZEthirdparty · IT
ACADEMISCH ZIEKENHUIS GRONINGENthirdparty · NL
ALBERT-LUDWIGS-UNIVERSITAET FREIBURGparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIAparticipant · ES
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINOparticipant · IT
UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHTparticipant · NL
EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE ON HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AGENTSparticipant · BE
AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICASparticipant · ES
UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOAthirdparty · PT
CONSORZIO INTERUNIVERSITARIO RISONANZE MAGNETICHE DI METALLO PROTEINEparticipant · IT
EUROPEAN MARINE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCE CENTRE EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUMparticipant · FR
CENTRE EUROPEEN DE RECHERCHE EN BIOLOGIE ET EN MEDECINEparticipant · FR
FUNDACIO DE RECERCA CLINIC BARCELONA-INSTITUT D INVESTIGACIONS BIOMEDIQUES AUGUST PI I SUNYERthirdparty · ES
CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHEparticipant · IT
STICHTING HET NEDERLANDS KANKER INSTITUUT-ANTONI VAN LEEUWENHOEK ZIEKENHUISthirdparty · NL
CENTRO DE CIENCIAS DO MAR DO ALGARVEparticipant · PT
DIAMOND LIGHT SOURCE LIMITEDthirdparty · UK
CHARITE - UNIVERSITAETSMEDIZIN BERLINparticipant · DE
IRCCS OSPEDALE POLICLINICO SAN MARTINOparticipant · IT
VIB VZWthirdparty · BE
UNIVERSITETET I OSLOparticipant · NO
EREVNITIKO KENTRO VIOIATRIKON EPISTIMON ALEXANDROS FLEMINGKparticipant · EL
UNIVERZITA PALACKEHO V OLOMOUCIthirdparty · CZ
FUNDACIO INSTITUT HOSPITAL DEL MAR D INVESTIGACIONS MEDIQUESparticipant · ES
UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO-BICOCCAparticipant · IT
EUROPEAN INFRASTRUCTURE OF OPEN SCREENING PLATFORMS FOR CHEMICAL BIOLOGY EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTUCTURE CONSORTIUM (EU-OPENSCREEN ERIC)participant · DE
THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORDparticipant · UK
INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE POUR L'AGRICULTURE, L'ALIMENTATION ET L'ENVIRONNEMENTparticipant · FR
ABO AKADEMIparticipant · FI
CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRSthirdparty · FR
FUNDACIO HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARI VALL D'HEBRON - INSTITUT DE RECERCAthirdparty · ES
VLAAMS INSTITUUT VOOR DE ZEEparticipant · BE
UNIVERSIDAD DEL PAIS VASCO/ EUSKAL HERRIKO UNIBERTSITATEAparticipant · ES
INFRAFRONTIER GMBHparticipant · DE
KKS-NETZWERK EV -NETZWERK DER KOORDINIERUNGSZENTREN FUR KLINISCHE STUDIENthirdparty · DE
UNIVERSIDAD DE VIGOparticipant · ES
CSC-TIETEEN TIETOTEKNIIKAN KESKUS OYparticipant · FI
SORBONNE UNIVERSITEparticipant · FR

How to reach the team

European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany — search for EOSC-Life project lead at EMBL

Order a report on this consortium See EUROPEAN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY LABORATORY profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how EOSC-Life's cloud data platform could accelerate your R&D pipeline? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction to the right people in the consortium.

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