IFB/ELIXIR-FR was represented on 25 and 26 June at the France Génomique (FG) General Assembly, through its member platforms at IFB, which are also affiliated with FG. This strong and diverse turnout is a testament to the vitality of the links between the two infrastructures.
A variety of contributions to the programme
Morgane Thomas-Chollier, Director of the IFB and Head of the GenomiqueENS platform (a member platform of France Génomique), presented the IFB/ELIXIR-FR, its remit and strategic priorities, before giving an overview of the IFB’s AI hackathon.
Thomas Denecker (IFB-core) presented the madbot tool, developed within IFB/ELIXIR-FR, for the management, description and sharing of scientific data. Previously presented as a support tool for researchers, a new use case was introduced, illustrating the synergies between IFB/ELIXIR-FR and France Génomique. In this use case, it is the data-generating or data-analysis platform that interfaces directly with madbot within the researcher’s project collaboration space. Laurent Jourdren (GenomiqueENS, France Génomique) presented a case study on this use case, which involves automating the addition of data and metadata to the madbot API using dedicated scripts. Following this positive feedback, several platforms represented at the general meeting expressed an interest in integrating madbot into their processes, as it meets a genuine need to collate data and metadata throughout the duration of the project, as they are produced, thereby saving researchers time when submitting their work at the end of the project. This approach addresses the challenges of digital sovereignty and compliance with European open science policies, by ensuring that platforms and researchers receive support in producing data that complies with the FAIR principles.
Several IFB member platforms also presented their work: Genotoul Bioinfo with a presentation focusing on the detection of variants in pangenomes, Migale with a project management system for analyses and an overview of AI models for biological data analysis, CUBIC (a platform at the Institut Curie) with its advances in single-cell annotation using AI models, and ATGC with a system enabling the integration of tools for use at the mesocentre. Posters were also presented by the Genotoul Bioinfo, Hub Pasteur and AuBI platforms.
The 2026 edition once again highlighted how the two networks complement one another: many IFB platforms are also partner platforms of France Génomique, making the AG a prime opportunity for discussion and for showcasing their shared expertise.