Become an ELIXIR-UK member

Why join?

ELIXIR is a distributed international research infrastructure for life science information, building on existing data resources and other services within Europe. It is an inter-governmental organisation with a single Hub and National Nodes model, with a growing number of Nodes located at centres of excellence throughout Europe.

The UK ELIXIR Node (“ELIXIR-UK”) is a consortium of UK research organisations committed to supporting and delivering FAIR Data Infrastructure in the Life Sciences.

Membership of ELIXIR-UK brings access to a range of UK and European (through our engagement with ELIXIR) forums for collaborating with others to achieve this goal. As part of this, it provides access to small funding calls for collaborative projects.

Being a member of ELIXIR-UK allows colleagues throughout your organisation to participate in the Communities and Focus Groups throughout ELIXIR, which in turn allows you access to participate in ELIXIR-funded projects.

A couple of examples of this:

  1. The University of Leicester joined us in 2020. Tim Beck is already a group chair for the Health Data Focus Group and is leading the work on the emerging Health Data Community, which in turn will lead to new projects being formed and funded.
  2. The University of Cardiff has recently been awarded funding from the hub to recruit a full-time position to work on a project with Maastricht University (Netherlands Node). This started with a member from Cardiff joining the monthly Data Management community calls and discussing a joint project idea on Lipid Pathways, which was successful.

Joining ELIXIR has many benefits, but you have to contribute actively.

The process

  1. Fill in the form
  2. The completed form is shared with the ELIXIR-UK Steering Committee (SC)
  3. Two-thirds, or more of the SC members need to agree to the addition of this organisation to the Consortium
  4. The Directorate/Contracts team read and agrees to the terms set out in the UK Node Consortium Agreement. They will do this by signing an Adherence Agreement.
  5. Once signed, the ELIXIR-UK Coordination Office notifies ELIXIR Hub of the change in membership of ELIXIR-UK and welcomes the new member into our Consortium
Fill in the form

FAQs

Is there a fee too membership?

There is no fee associated with joining ELIXIR-UK.

Are there any deadlines to apply?

There is no deadline for applications – any response to the form will be passed directly to the ELIXIR-UK Steering Committee. The result of their decision will be delivered by e-mail as soon as possible to the contact people specified in the application.

Is there any funding guarantee?

There is no guarantee or commitment to funding by joining ELIXIR-UK.

What is the main criteria for selection?

The main criterion for the selection of new members of the ELIXIR-UK Consortium is whether they are likely to make a significant positive contribution to the ability of ELIXIR-UK to fulfil its mission.