BioinfoCoreLeaders Club

A UK community for leaders and managers of bioinformatics, computational biology and related core shared research facilities.  

Launched in 2026, it convened a national forum for people who lead, manage or strategically support bioinformatics, computational biology, data science and related research service facilities in UK universities and not-for-profit research institutes.

Open to all, the community exists to cut duplicated effort, share operational and strategic practice, and give facility leaders a route into national discussions about research infrastructure, workforce sustainability and the responsible use of AI. 

It grew out of an informal network of facility leaders and was formalised as an ELIXIR-UK community  through the Flexible Bursaries Scheme activity BioinfoCore Connect UK. Seventeen organisations took part in the first meeting at the University of Liverpool in May 2026, A short story of the BioinfoCoreLeaders Club.

Recurring topics include cost recovery and pricing, service governance, procurement, demand against capacity, and career pathways and recognition for digital Research Technical Professionals (dRTPs). Longer term the community intends to produce good-practice resources, position statements, consultation responses and shared recommendations for funders and institutions.

What to expect

Discuss pricing, cost recovery, procurement and the gap between demand and capacity with people running comparable facilities. Find out what others charge, what they refuse and how they justify it.

Share templates, standard operating procedures, costing models, training approaches and examples of service governance, so each facility stops solving the same problem alone.

Compare how facilities handle metadata, workflows, repositories, code sharing and data stewardship in a service setting, where reproducibility depends on work you do not own.

Meet others carrying the same responsibilities for facility strategy, operations and staffing. Raise the problems that are difficult to discuss inside your own institution, in a trusted and informal setting.

Contribute evidence and expertise to discussions about service provision, FAIR practice, AI adoption, research integrity and sustainable infrastructure, through consultation responses and position statements.

Build direct links between your facility and ELIXIR-UK and other national research infrastructure initiatives, and identify collaborators for joint resources and grant applications.

Who is this for

The community is open to all. It is aimed at people responsible for facility strategy, operations or service delivery in UK higher education and not-for-profit research organisations, including:

  • Heads and directors of bioinformatics, computational biology and related core facilities
  • Facility managers and principal dRTPs
  • People with an active interest in the leadership and strategic development of research service facilities

Wider facility staff are welcome and can contribute through community activities and events, including bioinformaticians, data scientists, research software engineers, statisticians, data stewards, trainers and early-career dRTPs.

Initial topic leads

Four priority themes were identified at the inaugural meeting, with leads volunteering to take each forward.

  • FAIR and reproducible practice: Robert Andrews, Sam Haynes and Nicholas Owen
  • Advocacy: Lauren Mee
  • Peer-community support: Leo Zeef and Matthieu Miossec
  • Network promotion: Sascha Ott

FAQs

No. Membership is free. ELIXIR-UK support gives the community a maintained digital platform at no cost to members, and the co-chairs are seeking further funding to widen access to in-person events.

The community aims to meet monthly online. Members are encouraged to attend where they can and to share practice or evidence with the wider community. The model is deliberately light-touch while the network matures.

17 organisations took part in the inaugural activity, spanning universities, research institutes and CRUK institutes, with further representation added since. See how the community formed for the full list.