This work package deals with the overall project coordination. ELIXIR will be the coordinator for the project and will be responsible for the technical, financial and administrative management on a day-to-day basis and its interactions with the overall management structure. ELIXIR will be the official contact point for the EC. Decision-making procedures, as well as IPR, dissemination, implementation and exploitation issues, will be detailed in a Consortium Agreement that will be updated during the project if judged necessary.

Task 1.1: Establish and implement the Project Administration
Task 1.2: Establish close integration with BMS RI long-term planning and strategy
Task 1.3: Organise and deliver all project management, partner and advisory board meetings
Task 1.4: Develop and implement a management contingency plan
Task 1.5: Develop and implement an equal opportunities programme within the project

Deliverables
D1.1 Project handbook (confidential)
D1.2 Project-wide data management plan adopted
D1.3 Implementation of an equal opportunities programme

The main objective of CORBEL is to drive interoperability and increased capabilities of the BMS RIs through the development and application of shared services. The distributed nature of the research infrastructures presents an opportunity, as users are co-located with RIs throughout the European Research Area. We will utilise this in our communication strategy. CORBEL will benefit from the excellent communication channels previously established amongst the BMS RIs through the BioMedBridges EU project.

This WP supports the effective documentation, communication and outreach across the project and to internal and external stakeholders, including BMS RIs, infrastructure users, funding networks and other stakeholders. User outreach is closely coordinated with WP3 and WP4 for maximum leverage and alignment with project delivery.

Task 2.1: Develop and execute suitable communication initiatives covering the different aspects of the project and reaching all stakeholders
Task 2.2: Develop and execute targeted user engagement and user experience activities to support opening of the services developed in the project to the wider community
Task 2.3: Stakeholder liaison and dissemination of results

Deliverables
D2.1 Communication strategy based on stakeholder analysis
D2.2 Website for internal and external communication (confidential)

D2.3 Report on user engagement activities

D2.4 Final stakeholder meeting

WP3 coordinates the activities of a series of tasks (WP3.1 to WP3.5) devoted to the development of common tools - each involving at least two of the ESFRI BMS RIs - to foster integration and interoperability of research infrastructures supporting the development of innovative prevention, diagnostic or treatment solutions. To capture the needs of user's communities, and to foster adoption and optimal use of this infrastructural support by health and medical research communities throughout Europe, a WP3 Medical Infrastructure/Users Forum (MIUF) will be established, including representatives of the research infrastructures involved and major thematic priorities represented by JPIs and ERA-Nets, and other strategic initiatives such as IMI-2, H2020 Health programme, ESFRI and Science Europe. This will guide the development of our shared services (WP5-8) and embed solutions not only within the research infrastructures but also into the working processes of stakeholders and users to lay a solid foundation for long-term cooperation. WP3 addresses the development of transnational and cross-infrastructure management of clinical and human samples and data. This is a huge challenge and the focus is on the critical and urgent issue of harmonising outcome measures between infrastructures, a roadmap and demonstrator for the long-term management of clinical trial data, and the equally important integration of molecular data, imaging endpoints and biobank samples for patient stratification and biomarker research.

For more information please visit the WP3 webpage.

Task 3.1: Establish a Medical Infrastructure/ Users Forum (MIUF) for joint infrastructural support for health and medical research
Task 3.2: Harmonising phenotyping of animal models and clinical outcome measures in humans
Task 3.3: Providing access to patient-level clinical trial data
Task 3.4: Data integration and management services for image-driven and genomics-driven biomarker studies
Task 3.5: Integrating population cohorts to derive prognostic biomarkers

Deliverables
D3.1 Medical infrastructure user forum reporting
D3.2 2nd Medical infrastructure user forum reporting
D3.3 3rd Medical Infrastructure user forum reporting

D3.4 4th MIUF report
D3.5 Core set of outcome measures for clinical trials for each disease condition 

D3.6 Assessment of animal model phenotypes against outcome measures
D3.7 Report on conclusions from multi-stakeholder taskforce

D3.8 Report on implementation, including economic model and solutions for sustainability
D3.9 data upload procedures for biosample data and molecular profiling data 

D3.10 Report on final assessment and generalization of integration platform
D3.11 Report describing informational lacunes and data enrichment strategy
D3.12 Report on integrated biomedical data and project proposals for biomarker validation in clinical trial monitoring

For a scientific project to fully exploit the joined up potential of the BMR RIs there must be technical and scientific capabilities to support the handover: molecular profiling of novel model organisms needs data services for annotation, analysis and archiving; bridging the nano to micro scale for structures and imaging requires adaptation of sample handling and data acquisition pipelines. Through four distinct use cases, vetted by a process of cross-RI prioritisation and covering all aspects of a bioscience translational pipeline - from novel model organisms to genotype-phenotype predictions - WP4 will drive the development of these scientific connectors in partnership with advanced users. Requirements, feedback and testing by the external partners will drive the development of shared services. The outcome will be a framework for transnational open user access across infrastructures for the sustainable use of the shared services.
WP4 organised the 1st CORBEL Open Call for Advanced Research Projects.

For more information please visit the WP4 webpage.

Task 4.1: Use Case 1 – Genotype-to-Phenotype analysis based on models and experimental data
Task 4.2: Use Case 2 – Predictive systems pharmacology for safer drugs and chemical products
Task 4.3: Use Case 3 – Structure-function analysis of large protein complexes – From nano to micro
Task 4.4: Use case 4 – Marine Metazoan Developmental Models for BioMedical research - from predictive integrated databases to functional testing

Deliverables
D4.1 Strategy for enabling user access within pilot use cases
D4.2 Sustainable plan for user access to common RI services for 4 use case cross-ESFRI BMS research infrastructure pipelines

D4.3 Report on impact of integrated access standards tested for open user access

D4.4 Framework in place for launching transnational open user access via the common BMS cluster web-portal and RI specific user community communication channels

Providing access to resources and services that enable cutting-edge biomedical research is at the heart of each of the participating research infrastructures. WP5 aims to develop a common access framework that facilitates user access to services and resources across the involved RIs.

To achieve this, WP5 assesses the different modalities for providing access to samples and reagents, physical or virtual services, and data which have already been established or are in development in the different RIs, as well as the policy framework that affects access individually or across RI. This is a major task involving 11 research infrastructures that cover the entire range of biomedical sciences, from basic science to clinical trials. Moreover, all involved RIs are distributed over many European countries. WP5 will tackle this by taking a step-by-step approach and building strong cross-links with the other work packages in the CORBEL project. Based on the identified commonalities and on the shared services developed in WP3 and WP4, the solutions for data sharing of WP6, and the harmonised ELSI processes in WP7, WP5 develops ‘trans-RI’ access models. Testing these access models in the involved RIs and in the pilot services in WP3 and WP4 and integrating user feedback obtained at this stage allows to incrementally build up a framework for a coherent single access route to all research infrastructures.

For more information please visit the WP5 webpage.

Task 5.1: Identify and collate existing user access models for each research infrastructure and the endpoint delivery from each RI
Task 5.2: Identify and collate regulatory policies for each RI and their existing implementation in the access processes and service delivery
Task 5.3: Based on tasks 5.1 and 5.2, identify process steps where standardisation can be implemented, taking into account the pilot shared services developed in WP3 and WP4
Task 5.4: Test and refine trans-RI user access models within RIs and in the shared services in WP3 and WP4
Task 5.5: Develop a common user access framework for all RIs

Deliverables
D5.1 Report on existing user access models and regulatory access policies identifying
common elements
D5.2 Report on Common Access Framework Concept

D5.3 Strategy for expanding application of common access model based on feedback from WP3 and WP4 pilots

WP6 delivers the implementation of core, sustainable services necessary to support inter  BMS ESFRI data standardization, integration, management, deposition and access. The planned services will benefit a range of users from biologists to software developers: for example, for identifying e.g. samples, generating data mappings to ontologies. The services will be driven by, and used in: (a) the WP3, WP4 and WP5 pilot projects as core services; (b) European e-infrastructure communities such as TERENA, EUDAT, and EGI communities who we have already engaged with; and (c) external engagements with popular major community projects such as OMERO (biomedical imaging), and IMI’s such as tranSMART (translational medicine) and open PHACTS (pharmacology), thus targeting a diverse and large pool of users. We will collaboratively deliver best of breed workable and interoperable standards, services providing robust access to open and secure data with visible and practical standards support. Utility across several pilot projects ensures the deliverables are fit for purpose. User engagement with the pilot projects and others, and testing and feedback by developers are crucial for high quality results and adoption. We will engage academic users, industry and leverage existing and future projects to ensure that our services and tools are tested and functional across a wide range of domains and are sustainable by monitoring community need for these. By engagement with the technology watch on specific issues such as identifier usage, service design, data security and semantic standards we will leverage investment and expertise and apply it practically.

For more information please visit the WP6 webpage.

Task 6.1: Identifier standards and infrastructure supporting data management, deposition an access
Task 6.2: Access to semantic standards
Task 6.3: Secure Access to Sensitive Data

Deliverables
D6.1 Review of identifier schemes, standards and interoperability maps and proposed
harmonization strategy
D6.2 Access to Sustainable cross infrastructure identifier service(s) through ELIXIR service registry
D6.3 Delivery of Toolkit supporting community ontology mapping and development
D6.4 Report on models and pilot designs for sustainable scalable cloud-based provision of
data access and compute across infrastructures
D6.5 Prototype implementation of distributed automated data access request, review and authorization and delivery systems

The specific aim of WP7 will be to identify the particular needs of the BMS RIs by calling on the expertise and use cases of WP3 and WP4 as well as WP 6 (data management) to integrate them into the on-going ELSI achievements and tool through the Common Service ELSI. Finally the development of a resource allocation model to ensure the continuation of the services established should be explored. Any technical requirements concerning data protection etc. will be handled in the respective technical work package, based on requirements identified by/with feedback from WP7 ELSI.

For more information please visit the WP7 webpage.

Task 7.1: Identify and assess the BMS RIs specific needs for ELSI support
Task 7.2: Develop and/or improve patient information and consent templates
Task 7.3: Integrate the BMS ELSI issues in the BBMRI-ERIC Common Service ELSI

Deliverables
D7.1 Report on ELSI support needs for BMS RIs and ethics check procedure
D7.2 ELSI guidance for new scientific, technological and cross-border developments using a “help-desk format”

D7.3 Sustainability Plan for extended BMS RI ELSI common services

The purpose of this work package is to enable each RI to maximise the socio-economic impact of the research undertaken therein, in order to ameliorate the European Research Area’s innovation potential in biomedical sciences, improve productivity of research spending, and work towards breaking the ‘innovation paradox’ (in which the high quality and quantity of fundamental science output is not matched by commensurate levels of innovation activity).

This will be achieved by providing the RIs access to tools and knowledge: by providing a platform for best practice exchange; and by facilitating the creation of public private partnerships by bringing industrial networks closer to the cluster.

Task 8.1: Creation of ‘Innovation Office’ web portal
Task 8.2: Legal templates
Task 8.3: Joint IP and partnering workshops
Task 8.4: Expert Centres

Deliverables
D8.1 Concept paper on intellectual property issues in pre-competitive research

D8.2 Concept paper on new business models related to open innovation

D8.3 Industry Collaboration Best Practice Guide

D8.4 Sustainability plan for extended BMS RI Innovation Office

For more information related to the CORBEL Innovation Helpdesk click here.

This WP will identify the competency requirements of staff in BMS RIs (RI) for the newly identified services proposed by this application and use these as the basis for a pilot training programme for those with the greatest need to develop these competencies.

Our main target audience is technical operators of RIs in BMS RI hubs and nodes. We will focus on the four Cluster areas: data management and integration, physical access, ethics and innovation. Training for RI managers is beyond the scope of this project and will be provided through other means including the INFASUPP-3 application RItrain. This application improves and professionalises the training of staff running RIs of European interest, and will be directly applicable to national or regional networks of infrastructures. The human capital of those RIs will be strengthened, contacts between RIs will be established, and best practice will be shared.

For more information please visit the WP9 webpage.

Task 9.1: Definition of competency requirements
Task 9.2: Mapping of existing training
Task 9.3: Developing and delivering training to fill the gaps

Deliverables
D9.1 Refined organisational competency framework needed by distributed RIs at
        3 development stages
D9.2 New course syllabi for a modular curriculum for piloting in RIs

D9.3 Pilot courses and staff exchange provided 

D9.4 Pilot courses and staff exchange provided