Free access to world-class biological databases for European science thanks to FELICS

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

I know this ain't Canada but this is what could be possible here.  I
sent a note to find out what access means in their context. What I like
however, is putting data at the forefront and the recognition that is is
a very important resource - they say "Biomolecular databases are a
crucial scientific infrastructure."! Imagine Canada doing something like
this! Youze!

Cheers
T
*****************
Hinxton, 3 May 2006
Free access to world-class biological databases for European science
thanks to FELICS
Press Release 3 May 2006 [PDF]

A unique electronic infrastructure project funded by the European Union
is launched today

Today the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's [EMBL] European
Bioinformatics Institute [EBI], the Swiss Institute for Bioinformatics
[SIB], the University of Cologne, Germany, and the European Patent
Office launch FELICS [Free European Life-science Information and
Computational Services]. The new project, coordinated by the EBI, will
give researchers unrestricted access to some of the world's most
important biological databases. The Commission of the European Union has
awarded 16.7 million Euro under the Research Infrastructures action of
the sixth Framework Programme [FP6] for the project to develop, enhance
and interlink many of the most important data resources in Europe and
widen their accessibility to the scientific community worldwide. This is
the largest ever European award for computational infrastructures needed
to support biological research.

The EBI is Europe's largest curator and disseminator of biological
information, and has played a leading role in ensuring that information
from genomes, for example, is freely provided to scientists and the
public. Its predecessor, the EMBL Data Library, launched the world's
first universal public database of DNA sequences in the early 1980s.
FELICS encompasses many of the EBI's familiar databases, but will also
feature some crucial new activities. Support for BRENDA, the University
of Cologne's enzyme database, will release it from its current licensing
constraints and provide unrestricted access to its data. FELICS will
also offer specific support for the extraction of information from
patent literature in collaboration with the European Patent Office, who
will also collaborate closely on CheBI, a database of chemical entities
of biological interest, which will receive a substantial boost as part
of the project.

"Bioinformatics now pervades biology," says Graham Cameron, Associate
Director of the EBI and coordinator of FELICS. "Bioinformatics experts
no longer sit between biologist and database. Researchers expect to
directly access the databases and do real work. FELICS gives scientists
the electronic right to roam the biological knowledge space.
Userfriendly software, developed within FELICS and other
Commission-funded projects, will facilitate navigation of that space."

Biomolecular databases are a crucial scientific infrastructure. The EBI
site currently receives around 2 million hits every day, and even the
most conservative estimates suggest a rise to ten million during the
next five years. The need for centralised public information resources
to provide global services for basic and applied biomolecular and
biomedical research can only increase.

"With other support from the EU and the EMBL Member States, the EBI
coordinates several FP6 networks of excellence between leading European
institutes in bioinformatics and is involved in many others. These
connections will ensure that the benefits of FELICS spread far beyond
the four partners involved in the project," Cameron says.

Press Contacts
Cath Brooksbank PhD
Scientific Outreach Officer
EMBL-EBI Hinxton, UK
Tel: [phone]
Email: [hidden email]
www.ebi.ac.uk

Anna-Lynn Wegener
Press Officer
EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Tel: [phone]
Email: [hidden email]

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

Here is the response regarding accessibility to these data:

"Thank you for your interest in the EMBL-EBI. Actually most of the resources that are funded by FELICS are already freely available, without restriction, from the EBI website (www.ebi.ac.uk); the money provided by the FELICS grant allows us to continue to maintain and develop these resources. The only database that previously wasn't open source but will become so thanks to FELICS funding is the University of Cologne's enzyme data resource, BRENDA. I've attached a PDF that explains a little bit more about the data resources hosted by the EBI, as well as our other activities. I hope this helps; do explore our website and, if you have any technical questions, don't hesitate to contact our user support helpdesk using the form at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/support/.

Best wishes

Cath"

Tracey P. Lauriault wrote:

I know this ain't Canada but this is what could be possible here.  I 
sent a note to find out what access means in their context. What I like 
however, is putting data at the forefront and the recognition that is is 
a very important resource - they say "Biomolecular databases are a 
crucial scientific infrastructure."! Imagine Canada doing something like 
this! Youze!

Cheers
T
*****************
Hinxton, 3 May 2006
Free access to world-class biological databases for European science 
thanks to FELICS
Press Release 3 May 2006 [PDF]

A unique electronic infrastructure project funded by the European Union 
is launched today

Today the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's [EMBL] European 
Bioinformatics Institute [EBI], the Swiss Institute for Bioinformatics 
[SIB], the University of Cologne, Germany, and the European Patent 
Office launch FELICS [Free European Life-science Information and 
Computational Services]. The new project, coordinated by the EBI, will 
give researchers unrestricted access to some of the world's most 
important biological databases. The Commission of the European Union has 
awarded 16.7 million Euro under the Research Infrastructures action of 
the sixth Framework Programme [FP6] for the project to develop, enhance 
and interlink many of the most important data resources in Europe and 
widen their accessibility to the scientific community worldwide. This is 
the largest ever European award for computational infrastructures needed 
to support biological research.

The EBI is Europe's largest curator and disseminator of biological 
information, and has played a leading role in ensuring that information 
from genomes, for example, is freely provided to scientists and the 
public. Its predecessor, the EMBL Data Library, launched the world's 
first universal public database of DNA sequences in the early 1980s. 
FELICS encompasses many of the EBI's familiar databases, but will also 
feature some crucial new activities. Support for BRENDA, the University 
of Cologne's enzyme database, will release it from its current licensing 
constraints and provide unrestricted access to its data. FELICS will 
also offer specific support for the extraction of information from 
patent literature in collaboration with the European Patent Office, who 
will also collaborate closely on CheBI, a database of chemical entities 
of biological interest, which will receive a substantial boost as part 
of the project.

"Bioinformatics now pervades biology," says Graham Cameron, Associate 
Director of the EBI and coordinator of FELICS. "Bioinformatics experts 
no longer sit between biologist and database. Researchers expect to 
directly access the databases and do real work. FELICS gives scientists 
the electronic right to roam the biological knowledge space. 
Userfriendly software, developed within FELICS and other 
Commission-funded projects, will facilitate navigation of that space."

Biomolecular databases are a crucial scientific infrastructure. The EBI 
site currently receives around 2 million hits every day, and even the 
most conservative estimates suggest a rise to ten million during the 
next five years. The need for centralised public information resources 
to provide global services for basic and applied biomolecular and 
biomedical research can only increase.

"With other support from the EU and the EMBL Member States, the EBI 
coordinates several FP6 networks of excellence between leading European 
institutes in bioinformatics and is involved in many others. These 
connections will ensure that the benefits of FELICS spread far beyond 
the four partners involved in the project," Cameron says.

Press Contacts
Cath Brooksbank PhD
Scientific Outreach Officer
EMBL-EBI Hinxton, UK
Tel: [phone]
Email: [hidden email]
www.ebi.ac.uk

Anna-Lynn Wegener
Press Officer
EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Tel: [phone]
Email: [hidden email]


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