BioFAIR is a UK-wide initiative that connects existing services, communities, and expertise to build a cohesive national ecosystem for FAIR data. By coordinating and aligning existing activities across the UK into four key capabilities – Data Commons, Methods Commons, People Commons and Knowledge Centre – BioFAIR will streamline infrastructure, enable better data stewardship, and empower researchers with the tools and training they need to make life sciences research more open, interoperable, and impactful.
The concept of BioFAIR was developed by ELIXIR-UK. What started as a pilot study proposal in 2020 led to ELIXIR-UK working with Technopolis Group to carry out a full Feasibility Study in 2021, and in turn to a successful joint proposal for BioFAIR; A data commons infrastructure for biological and biomedical sciences, to enhance the sharing, management and reuse of UKRI-supported data.
BioFAIR seeks to catalogue and pool life science data currently stored at different institutions and repositories. By bridging the gap between researchers, institutional data repositories, and existing data infrastructures, the project hopes to accelerate discoveries and innovation.
As bioscience research is often extremely collaborative, the gains from BioFAIR will not be limited to those that attend BioFAIR training courses or who embed the tools and workflows recommended by BioFAIR. Whole research groups, institutions and resource networks will see benefit from its adoption. Knowledge transfer will occur between academics and research groups, but is not limited to that space. Public and third sector innovation, private entrepreneurs and citizens will all benefit from this drive to ensure FAIR principles are adopted across UK bioscience research.
What we do
Our goals
The BioFAIR project is dedicated to advancing life science research by improving the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability (FAIR) of research data. Our mission is to enable more efficient and transparent research practices that accelerate discoveries and improve health outcomes.
We bring together a dynamic network of researchers, data scientists, and medical researchers to develop innovative solutions that make bioinformatic data more discoverable and usable. By implementing FAIR principles, we strive to overcome barriers that limit the potential of data-driven research.
Through collaborative partnerships and cutting-edge technologies, BioFAIR fosters a culture of open science and data stewardship. Our work not only enhances data management practices but also promotes ethical data sharing, ensuring that scientific advancements are built on robust, reproducible, and reusable research data.
How we are funded
BioFAIR was launched in 2024 with an investment of £34m from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI through the Biological and Biotechnology Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).
Culture Change
To drive adoption of FAIR principles and open data across the UK life sciences to provide high quality FAIR datasets ready for uptake and reuse.
Defragmentation
To increase the coordination,
collaboration and cohesiveness of the UK’s life science related data landscape, enhancing its
effectiveness and efficiency.
Access
To enable democratised access to
data and data methods within UK
life sciences via a national
capability.
Skills
To attract, develop and retain
excellent research data management
skills and capacity for UK life
sciences.
Data reuse
To improve the efficiency of research and enabling new research by increased re-use of data in the life sciences.
The BioFAIR Commons
BioFAIR brings together four interconnected Commons, each designed to support the UK life sciences community in embedding FAIR principles into everyday research. All of these services will be accessible through the BioFAIR Portal – your gateway to the full range of national resources, services, and communities.
Method Commons
A shared Method Commons will enable institutes and research teams to access trusted and robust analysis platforms, workflows and tools, using their own and reference datasets, and contribute their own computational methods. Nationally hosted analytical resources will enhance the digital infrastructure available to UK life scientists, supporting reproducible data analytics for data driven bioscience.
Data Commons
A shared Data Commons will enable researchers to prepare, analyse, share and manage FAIR research data across the data’s whole life cycle, from its collection to deposition and retention. A national Data Hub will catalogue a distributed “data lake” of researcher governed data, and support will be given for: data collection, data analysis and the submission of data into community public archives.
People Commons
A pooled community of BioFAIR Fellows, professional data stewards and Research Software Engineers will support researchers, bioinformaticians, institutional /project developers and data stewards with their Data and Software Management Planning, data quality and data analytics, AI-readiness and open science practice.
Training Hub
A central hub for FAIR data and workflow skills, bringing together workshops, courses, and hands-on resources to support researchers in data management, reproducible research, and open science practices.
Our Structure
BioFAIR is coordinated by a lean, collaborative hub team hosted by the Earlham Institute at the Norwich Research Park. From this base, the Hub leads national coordination to advance FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data practices across the life sciences, supporting the development of systems, skills, and culture for open and reusable science.
We operate on a hub-and-spoke model, with the BioFAIR Hub providing central coordination, strategy, and support across four interconnected commons: Methods, Data, People, and the Training Hub. These commons will provide focus and structure for BioFAIR’s national activities, helping to align technical development, community engagement, and capacity building across the UK research landscape.
The Hub works closely with a network of national delivery partners, leading UK research organisations that bring specialist expertise and ensure BioFAIR’s programmes meet the needs of diverse scientific communities.
This distributed model enables BioFAIR to remain agile and responsive while maintaining strong connections across academia, research infrastructures, and data initiatives. By combining central coordination with distributed delivery, BioFAIR will scale its impact, build shared capability, and strengthen collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and regions.
Together, the Hub and its partners are building a connected national community committed to embedding FAIR data principles, improving data stewardship, and enabling open, reproducible, and innovative science across the UK life sciences ecosystem.
People
Meet the team and explore the partners driving BioFAIR’s mission to make data FAIR and accessible across the research community.