title: Future opportunities and trends for e-infrastructures and life sciences: going beyond the grid to enable life science data analysis.
abstract: With the increasingly rapid growth of data in life sciences we are witnessing a major transition in the way research is conducted, from hypothesis-driven studies to data-driven simulations of whole systems. Such approaches necessitate the use of large-scale computational resources and e-infrastructures, such as the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI). EGI, one of key the enablers of the digital European Research Area, is a federation of resource providers set up to deliver sustainable, integrated and secure computing services to European researchers and their international partners. Here we aim to provide the state of the art of Grid/Cloud computing in EU research as viewed from within the field of life sciences, focusing on key infrastructures and projects within the life sciences community. Rather than focusing purely on the technical aspects underlying the currently provided solutions, we outline the design aspects and key characteristics that can be identified across major research approaches. Overall, we aim to provide significant insights into the road ahead by establishing ever-strengthening connections between EGI as a whole and the life sciences community.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Oeiras Portugal.
authors.forename: Afonso M S
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki Greece ; Center for Research and Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki Greece.
authors.forename: Fotis E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Psomopoulos
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMS 3601 - Institut Français de Bioinformatique, IFB-core, Gif-sur-Yvette France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blanchet
authors.affiliation: Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alexandre M J J
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bonvin
authors.affiliation: The Genome Analysis Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich UK.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corpas
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, UMR BIOGECO 1202, Cestas France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franc
authors.affiliation: ELIXIR Hub, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Rafael C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Cantabria, Santander Spain.
authors.forename: Jesus M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: de Lucas
authors.affiliation: CSC - IT Center for Science Ltd., Espoo Finland.
authors.forename: Tommi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nyrönen
authors.affiliation: EGI.eu, Amsterdam Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gergely
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sipos
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory - European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Stephanie B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Suhr
keywords: Big Data; Cloud computing; Grid computing; e-infrastructures; life sciences