We often explain and communicate the impact of work funded by, and through, ELIXIR using categories of impact.
Discover ELIXIR's impact categories
Literally any activity done under the umbrella of ELIXIR can be attached to one or more of these impact categories:
Research efficiency
We make infrastructure, bioinformatics resources and processes faster, easier to use, and more integrated.
Scientific legacy
We create and disseminate new knowledge on research infrastructure, bioinformatics resources and related guidelines.
Benefits derived from working together
We facilitate knowledge-sharing and cooperation
Public awareness
We raise awareness of socio-economic and societal benefits of bioinformatics and Open Science.
Policy influence
We shape policy in the area of Open Science.
Equal opportunity
We raise awareness of diversity and inclusiveness.
Skills development
We upskill resource users and service providers.
Research infrastructure sustainability
We work to increase ELIXIR’s visibility with, and appreciation by, its funders.
Bioinformatics resource uptake
We work to increase resource usage and appreciation by users.
Slides and icons are freely available for further use, and can be cited as Figure 1 in Martin et al. (2021). Martin et al. (2021) also provided (as Supporting Information) an initial list of indicators for monitoring the performance and impact of ELIXIR: an updated version is available.
If you are part of ELIXIR, you can access numerous resources related to performance and impact evaluation through the Documents area of the Impact Focus Group.
Search the examples of impact
The ELIXIR SME and Innovation events aim to increase awareness and appreciation of public bioinformatics resources by private sector users (industry), along with promoting a better two-way cross-sectoral understanding.
Impact areas:Bioinformatics resource uptake ~ Research efficiency
By bringing together participants with a range of expertise, the Biohackathon Europe events accelerate progress towards outcomes for hacking projects that are collaboratively worked on, along with fostering professional and personal outcomes.
Impact areas:Benefits of working together ~ Bioinformatics resource uptake ~ Research efficiency ~ Skills development
This workshop built capacity of ELIXIR Nodes in better understanding, and communicating with, their key funder/policy-maker stakeholders, in support of their long-term sustainability.
Impact areas:Policy influence ~ Research infrastructure sustainability ~ Skills development
These resources play a critical role in the long-term preservation of life science data, in line with the open science principles and in support of increased research efficiency.
Impact areas:Policy influence ~ Research infrastructure sustainability
ELIXIR is implementing technical solutions that make it easier for researchers to access the data they need for developing new therapies, together with ensuring safeguarding of sensitive datasets and the respect national-level regulations and laws.
Impact areas:Benefits of working together ~ Research efficiency
Research infrastructures are increasingly asked to demonstrate their public value to funders and other influential stakeholder - this EU funded project was instrumental in empowering ELIXIR to progress on this journey via being one of four case studies.
Impact areas:Benefits of working together ~ Research infrastructure sustainability ~ Skills development
Helping partners in the industry make their datasets Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable from the onset, hence increasing research efficiency
Impact areas:Research efficiency
A real-life example of a key impact area of ELIXIR: relationship capital or... the benefits of working together
Impact areas:Benefits of working together
This memorandum of understanding aims to facilitate collaboration, knowledge-exchange between these two sister research infrastructures, and the co-design of best practices in support of open science.
Impact areas:Benefits of working together ~ Research efficiency
By developing guidance to implement personalised medicine, this project will contribute to the development of more efficient national health systems, faster and more accurate diagnosis, as well as better health and quality of life.
Impact areas:Benefits of working together ~ Policy influence ~ Public awareness ~ Research efficiency
Progress towards outcomes of economic and societal benefits can be significantly slowed down by scientific practices that do not follow the Open Science principles.
Impact areas:Policy influence
This ELIXIR-funded project increased capacity at Node level to demonstrate and communicate public value to funders and other key stakeholders, thereby contributing to long-term sustainability of Node-led activities.
Impact areas:Benefits of working together ~ Research infrastructure sustainability ~ Skills development
ELIXIR Platforms are technical domains of implementation with regards to bioinformatics services, and their leadership plays a key role in collaboratively driving developments in these domains
Impact areas:
ELIXIR BioHackathons bring together developers and bioinformaticians of a range of expertise, who work together on a number of programming (“hacking”) challenges. Common outcomes include faster processes, new functionalities, increased data availability, standard implementation, better connected/integrated resources, and solved issues. The events also offer opportunities for participants to develop and network with like-minded bioinformaticians.
Impact areas:
This ELIXIR-funded project aims to unlock ‘cloud-native’ potential for Big Data in computational biology, enabling researchers developing tools and workflows to "think cloud” from the onset, moving away from lesser performing traditional approaches.
Impact areas:Research efficiency
ELIXIR SME and Innovation events increase the awareness/appreciation of public bioinformatics resources by private sector users (industry), along with better two-way cross-sectoral understanding. These events also offer networking opportunities for academia and industry (especially in the country hosting the event), which may lead to collaborations and projects.
Impact areas:Benefits of working together ~ Bioinformatics resource uptake
Through pan-European cooperation and using ELIXIR’s wide-ranging expertise, this ELIXIR-funded project will unlock ‘cloud-native’ potential for Big Data in computational biology. Researchers developing tools and workflows will be able to "think cloud” from the onset, moving away from traditional (often ineffective/under-performing) locally-installed and run approaches. Uptake of such state-of-the-art cloud-based research infrastructure will showcase ELIXIR’s leadership in the area of containerised applications and workloads.
Impact areas:Research efficiency
ELIXIR is working to increase awareness of diversity and inclusiveness across its Member countries.
Impact areas:Equal opportunities
With Open Science as its founding principle, ELIXIR provides the tools, skills, knowledge and infrastructure that are required for effective data management, as a driver of research efficiency.
Impact areas:Policy influence