ELIXIR-UK All Hands 2025: AI, data and community at the University of Exeter

Over 70 members and collaborators of the ELIXIR-UK, from 31 organisations met in Exeter for the annual All Hands meeting, a two-day event focused on connection, reflection and community building.

The meeting brought together researchers, data stewards and infrastructure leads from across the UK to share progress, exchange ideas and discuss priorities for the year ahead. Sessions covered topics ranging from national funding and sustainability to the practical use of AI in research.

Highlights from day one

The meeting opened with a welcome from Joint Head of Node, Carole Goble, who reflected on the Node’s growth and priorities for the coming year. David Studholme, Jamie Harrison and Craig Willis, our hosts at the University of Exeter, introduced the local research landscape and innovation across the South West.

The morning sessions celebrated ELIXIR-UK’s achievements and new additions, including the University of Warwick and Queen Mary University of London, new Node services (Health Data Research Gateway), success case studies from our members and outcomes from joint activities such as the HDR UK–ELIXIR-UK hackathon and the BioFAIR Ambassadors network.

The afternoon focused on funding priorities and sustainability. Speakers from BBSRC, MRC and BioFAIR outlined upcoming funding opportunities and policy directions, followed by an interactive discussion on how national funding priorities align with the community needs.

Later, a World Café (an unconference-style session) brought participants together across seven discussion tables on topics including data stewardship, human data, training, sustainability, member participation and international alignment with EOSC. The day closed with a poster session and an early career researcher showcase with Manuel Lera and Hugh Gifford.

Highlights from day two

The second day focused on AI in practice. A live panel explored the realities, assumptions and reflections around AI in life sciences, featuring Gavin Farrell (University of Padova/University of Limerick), Carla Greco (BaseCamp Research, sponsoring the session), Mohab Helmy (University of Cambridge) and Dipali Singh (Quadram Institute and AI BIO UK). The session combined open discussion, audience voting and shared experiences to challenge common misconceptions and surface practical insights.

This was followed by a second World Café dedicated to AI, where participants discussed bias, skills, data access, productivity and the future of research careers in an AI-driven research landscape.

Neil Hall, Joint Head of Node, closed the meeting by thanking all contributors and highlighting the importance of community and cross-collaboration with our funders, other research infrastructures and all UK RPOs in the room and beyond. 

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A full photo gallery from the meeting is available below. A more detailed event report, including outcomes from the World Café sessions and participant feedback, will be published later this year.