We are delighted to invite you to our inaugural BioFAIR Showcase. Join us for a two-day in-person event bringing together researchers, infrastructure leaders, service providers and the wider community to highlight progress, share ideas, and shape the future of the programme.
📅 Thursday 14 May 2026 | 12:00–17:00
📅 Friday 15 May 2026 | 09:00–15:00
📍 Hilton Cambridge City Centre
20 Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DT
What to expect
Join us to explore practical ways to embed FAIR practices into your research workflows. Whether you’re new to FAIR or looking to streamline data management, the event is designed to give you actionable insights and connections to help your work.
At the Showcase, you’ll be able to:
- Discover emerging BioFAIR services and tools to support research teams
- See demonstrations that simplify data management
- Connect with collaborators, infrastructure providers, BioFAIR Fellows and Pathfinder projects
- Engage in discussions shaping the next phase of BioFAIR and the future of UK life sciences
The event will combine talks, demos, and discussions, giving you a chance to learn from the community and explore how BioFAIR solutions can directly support your research.
Event code of conduct:
Who should attend
You know FAIR data matters — but knowing where to start is another question.
The BioFAIR Showcase is open to anyone working in data-intensive life sciences and interested in taking a FAIR journey, but unsure where to begin. If you are curious about what BioFAIR can do to help you and want to make your work more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, then this event is for you!
Join us to hear what the BioFAIR community has been building and discover practical ways these tools, services and collaborations can support your research.
Keynote Speakers:
Dr Nicola Knight is a Principal Enterprise Fellow at the University of Southampton and has been the project coordinator for the Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) since its inception in 2021. She oversees activities across the entire initiative, with particular responsibility for project management alongside community partnerships and engagement. Nicola’s background is in chemistry, with her PhD focusing on the interface between chemistry and computing, including chemical modelling, and digital technologies in scientific research. Her areas of interest focus on the integration of digital tools within laboratories, scientific notetaking, and research data management, with the aim of improving efficiency and reproducibility in physical sciences research.
Dr. Jeff Christiansen is Director of Australian BioCommons. He leads the team, who collectively aim to ensure that appropriate infrastructure is established at a national level to support Australian life research communities. Jeff has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Queensland, and started his career conducting research in the fields of cancer, molecular genetics and embryo development. He has since held many community facing roles in the UK and Australia, all focused on developing computational infrastructure to support health and life science research at scale. Jeff aims to ensure that Australian researchers can participate fully in a global life science digital ecosystem as first class citizens, and focuses on setting an inclusive culture of community engagement.
Poster Session
Venue and location
The event will be held in central Cambridge at the Hilton Cambridge City Centre, located on Downing Street. The venue is within easy walking distance of many hotels, restaurants, and key transport links across the city.
Its central location makes it straightforward to reach whether travelling by train, air, or road.
Further joining instructions and event information will be shared with registered attendees closer to the event.
Accommodation
As the Showcase spans two days and includes an evening reception, many attendees may wish to stay overnight in Cambridge.
The event venue itself is a hotel, and participants are welcome to book accommodation there directly if they wish to stay on site. There are also a number of hotels within a short walking distance of the venue across the city centre.
Please note that accommodation is not covered by BioFAIR, unless this has been arranged separately for invited speakers or specific participants. All other attendees should arrange and pay for their own hotel bookings.
Travelling to the event
By train
Cambridge is well connected to major UK cities by rail. Cambridge railway station is approximately a 10-minute taxi ride from the venue, around 20–25 minutes by bus, or about a 30-minute walk.
Regular train services operate from London King’s Cross, London Liverpool Street, Birmingham, Norwich, and other major cities.
By air
For international attendees, Cambridge is easily accessible from several airports:
- London Stansted Airport is the closest, with direct rail connections to Cambridge.
- London Luton Airport is around one to one and a half hours away by train or car.
- London Heathrow Airport can be reached in approximately two hours by train or car.
Parking
Limited parking is available at the venue, but spaces cannot be guaranteed or reserved in advance. Because the event is in the centre of Cambridge, we recommend travelling by public transport where possible.
Additional public car parks are available nearby if needed.
Privacy
Information provided during registration will be used to organise and manage the event. Details on how BioFAIR processes personal data can be found in the BioFAIR privacy policy.