ELIXIR services are a collective contribution from all national Nodes, encompassing specialised databases, data resources, software tools, workflows, and more. These services are as diverse as the national Nodes themselves and reflect the vibrant activities of the national bioinformatics communities.

 

Partner institutes of ELIXIR Belgium can apply for one or more Node Services following the call for Node Services organised every two years. All types of bioinformatics resources accelerating research in life-science are eligible (databases, data resources, software tools, workflows, web services,…) provided they are open to external users, preferably internationally, but at least at the national level. Commercial resources are not eligible.

 

Benefits. Selected Node Services are added to ELIXIR Belgium’s Service Delivery Plan, which identifies and labels important resources produced by the Belgian bioinformatics community. Although no direct funding is linked to ELIXIR Belgium Node Services, there are a number of benefits associated with it. The selection procedure includes evaluation of a service by international experts driving its further growth. Additionally, Node Services are published on the ELIXIR Europe and ELIXIR Belgium websites, significantly increasing their visibility. The Node Service quality label is also a criterion for eligibility in ELIXIR proposals and required to become an ELIXIR Core Data Resource, Deposition Database or Recommended Interoperability Resource. 

 

A list of the current ELIXIR Belgium Node Services can be found on the ELIXIR website. To discover all our services more into detail, you may visit the Services page on this website. 

 

Selection process

 

Members of our international Scientific Advisory Board evaluate candidate services on scientific focus, quality of service, maturity, sustainability and impact. Two categories are distinguished: mature Node Services and emerging Node Services. Established services with multi-year experience and a strong user base are classified as mature Node Services and are evaluated every other year. Emerging Node Services are services of high international importance that have yet not been able to attract a large user base, these are evaluated annually.

 

Node Services must be registered in the ELIXIR Tools and Services Registry bio.tools, the FAIRSharing.org resource or ELIXIR’s Training portal TeSS (if applicable). Websites of selected Node Services have to include the terms of use for their service and display the ELIXIR Belgium logo.

 

The previous call for Node Services was held in 2024, the next call is planned for Spring 2026.