BioinfoCoreLeaders Club strengthens national community at Warwick meeting
BioinfoCoreLeaders Club, a national community for people leading and managing bioinformatics and computational biology core facilities, was formally established as an ELIXIR-UK-endorsed community following its launch at a University of Liverpool-led event in May 2026.
The community held its second meeting at the University of Warwick on 10–11 September 2026, bringing together 34 attendees, including 30 service bioinformaticians and four industry representatives. Members agreed working groups, meeting schedules and the community’s first collective outputs.
The meeting established working groups to develop a standard operating procedure for handling user queries involving generative AI, make the national case for local bioinformatics service units, improve access to interactive computing sessions across institutions, and engage the UK research computing community. Three online meetings are planned, alongside preparations for an annual meeting.
The community brings together heads, directors, managers and principal digital Research Technical Professionals from UK universities and not-for-profit research institutes. It also supports future leaders through career development, mentoring and opportunities to promote research technical professional careers.
Supported by DisCouRSE funding, the project enabled junior staff to attend the Warwick meeting and participate in mentoring and career development activities. The community aims to strengthen collaboration between bioinformatics core facility leaders and provide a collective voice in national discussions on research infrastructure, workforce sustainability and the responsible use of AI.
“When first meeting, many primarily felt about it as meeting with their competitors and now this has changed to an overarching feeling of meeting friends and partners who help each other – a big and useful transition in mood across the country.”
— Prof Sascha Ott, co-lead of BioinfoCoreLeaders Club
The meeting was funded through the ELIXIR-UK Flexible Bursaries Scheme activity BioinfoCore Connect UK, with support from 10x Genomics, Inflexa and Kidney Research UK. DisCouRSE funding supported junior staff attendance. ELIXIR-UK is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.
Membership is free and open to all. Find out more about the BioinfoCoreLeaders Club.