- Explore the list here: Global Core Biodata Resources (GCBRs)
Researchers the world over rely on data resources to manage, curate and provide access to research data. These resources include deposition databases which archive and preserve primary research data, and knowledge bases which draw together and add value to these data through expert curation and annotation—enabling those data to be mined, combined and used to advance research.
Inge Jonassen, Head of Department of informatics at the University of Bergen and representative on the GBC board, as well as member of Digital Life Norway’s Expert Task Force, said:
“John-Arne Røttingen was very eager to support this initiative when he led the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and I am very pleased that RCN is among the first funding agencies to help build the GBC. The biodata resources are of fundamental importance for life science research and innovation – and for example, they were crucial to enable a quick response towards the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Like keystone species in an ecosystem, GCBRs represent the most crucial components or nodes within the global life science data infrastructure, whose failure would have a critical impact on the global research endeavour. A key property of the GCBRs is that the data they hold is available openly and can be accessed and used without restriction by researchers the world over.
Read more about the two-stage concept and selection process, through which more than 60 resources submitted expressions of interest and were assessed by a panel of more than 50 independent experts. You can also learn more about the GBC’s partner funders and ambitions to establish funding models that sustain these GCBRs in the future.
It is envisaged that the list of GCBRs will grow and develop over time, and there will be further opportunities for resources to apply to be considered for GCBR status over the coming years.