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Neil Hall

@neilhall.bsky.social
413 followers 224 following 24 posts

Science, Genomics, FAIR data, a bit of politics, Liverpool FC #YNWA Director of the Earlham Institute

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Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Biological Databases are critical infrastructure - not projects. As so much effort is put into harnessing AI to solve all our problems, we are allowing the foundational data resources crumble. Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects
Letter to the Editor
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Marco MILAN LAB @milanlab.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects
Letter to the Editor
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Reposted by Neil Hall
Levayer Lab @levayerr.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This 👇, and Europe should also have more scheme to finance those essential "infrastructures" (rathen than implementing 10 millions single person grant...) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects
Letter to the Editor
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PomBase: The S. pombe knowledgebase @pombase.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects www.nature.com/articles/d41... We're quietly defunding the infrastructure modern biology runs on. PomBase, FlyBase, HGNC. have faced, or facing, existential funding crises since 2024. Curation expertise, once lost, is difficult to rebuild.
nature.com
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects
Letter to the Editor
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Reposted by Neil Hall
FlyBase @flybase.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects
Letter to the Editor
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Sally Warring @sallywarring.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
So nice to see this out in print, and thanks to @microbiologysociety.org for the smooth publish process! Single-cell sequencing reveals unexpected genetic diversity among Bodo spp. flagellates and their bacterial endosymbionts - www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
microbiologyresearch.org
Single-cell sequencing reveals unexpected genetic diversity among Bodo spp. flagellates and their bacterial endosymbionts
Bodo is a cosmopolitan genus of free-living bacterivorous single-celled flagellates in the class Kinetoplastea. Genus Bodo is considered the closest free-living lineage to the parasitic lineages Trypa...
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Quadram Institute @quadraminstitute.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
🆕 Vacancy! We’re looking for a Research Scientist to join the Laboratory of Dr Chris Quince based at the Quadram Institute and @earlhaminst.bsky.social in the Food, Microbiome and Health programme 🔬 💷 £37,500 to £45,350 🗓️ Apply by 30 November 2025 ➡️ buff.ly/E19Nd83
A social card with an illustration of DNA and the text "Research Scientist, to develop new experimental methods to better understand horizontal gene transfer in the gut microbiome, salary: £37,500 to £43,350, Contract length: 2 years, Apply by 30 November 2025."
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
A fantastic talk from @andrewmillar.bsky.social for our Dame Janet Thornton Lecture - some fascinating considerations and insights across science and societal impact, refocusing research questions, and the urgent pull factors beyond the lab presented by global threats. @neilhall.bsky.social
Prof Andrew Millar introducing his talk, focusing on Prof Dame Janet Thornton's impact in bioinformatics and data science.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
📣 Applications have just opened for our 2026 #PhD programme as part of the @nrpdtp.bsky.social and @aries-dtp.bsky.social! Begin your academic career with the expert scientists, technology, and facilities at the Earlham Institute in Norwich. buff.ly/327FNrX #genomics #findaphd #AcademicSky
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BioFAIR @biofair.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
🚀 The BioFAIR Fellowship launched today! Leaders in data & workflows, working together to advance FAIR practices for the life sciences. 👉 full details: biofair.uk/updates/2025... #FAIR #OpenScience
biofair.uk
BioFAIR Fellowship Launches to Empower the Next Generation of FAIR Leaders - BioFAIR
We are delighted to announce the official launch of the BioFAIR Fellowship, starting on 1 October 2025. This new programme is designed to build a vibrant and skilled community of researchers and profe...
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Craig Winstanley @cwinstan.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
The BBC are usually so keen to give us Reform news. Can’t imagine why this isn’t featuring prominently on their website…
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Scientists at the Earlham Institute and @quadraminstitute.bsky.social are part of a new collaboration looking at how different land uses impact #soil #microbes and their contribution to carbon storage. buff.ly/lKP3kGW #microbial #genomics
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New project explores potential of soil microbes to achieve UK net zero goals
Researchers are combining the latest science in climate forecasting and soil science to understand how land use management could enable soil carbon storage.
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Rowena Hill @rowenahill.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
It was a delight to have Guillaume Delhaye and Torda Varga (@rbgkew.bsky.social) at @earlhaminst.bsky.social last week, talking to a packed Norwich Research Park audience about mushroom-forming and mycorrhizal fungi from molecule to ecosystem! 🍄🧬🌳 @neilhall.bsky.social @norwichmicro.bsky.social
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
🧬 Are you looking to establish and lead an internationally recognised programme of innovative research in #engineeringbiology? ⚙️ Join our Research Faculty as a new Group Leader: buff.ly/7uI1FQL #EngBio #Biotech #SynBio
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Group Leader - Engineering Biology
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
🧬 Are you looking to establish and lead an internationally recognised programme of innovative research in #engineeringbiology? ⚙️ Join our Research Faculty as a new Group Leader: buff.ly/VGQNod7 #EngBio #Biotech #SynBio
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Group Leader - Engineering Biology
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Rowena Hill @rowenahill.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Our paper on phylogenetics of fungal Starship TEs is now on the cover of the June issue of Genetics @genetics-gsa.bsky.social 🙂 academic.oup.com/genetics/iss... @mcmullan0.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social @rothamsted.bsky.social
Cover for the June issue of the journal Genetics, with an abstract illustration in the background showing starships flying through space trailing DNA sequences that meet in the bottom right corner to form a circular phylogenetic tree
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Register to join our #singlecell and #spatial symposium next month! We're bringing the community together to discover the last science and technologies in: 🦠 Environmental microbes 🧠 Healthy human development and ageing 🌱 Plant development 🧬 Human pathology ↔️ Cell dynamics 🖥️ 🧬 🧪
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Norwich Single-Cell and Spatial Symposium
Now in its eighth year, and extended to a two-day event, the Norwich Single-Cell and Spatial Symposium at Earlham Institute covers single-cell and spatial genomics technologies and their application…
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
A great morning of talks at our Scientific Advisory Board Symposium, exploring key research outputs from our #Cellular #Genomics research programme, as well as the expertise and research applications of our technology platforms. #genomics #datascience #engbio 🧬🖥️ @neilhall.bsky.social
Colleagues networking during the lunch time poster session.Dr Wilfried Haerty introduces the CellGen research programme, with a slide explaining the aim of exploring genomic variation within cell type.Dr Karim Gharbi, Head of Technical Genomics, with a sresentation screen explaining the capabilities of the high-performance sequencing platforms at the Earlham Institute, including automated DNA and RNA pipelines, long and short-read sequencing, deployment of new technologies, and integrated project management and bioinformatics analysis.Drs Sonia Fonseca and James Wilsenach present their research bringing together imaging techniques and transcriptomics to study megakaryocyte cells.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
📃 A new publication from @mcmullan0.bsky.social and the Hall Group studies pathogen genetic diversity to uncover how #crop #pathogens may be evolving in wild reservoirs. 🌱 buff.ly/I17w6p8 @neilhall.bsky.social
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Developing a crop- wild-reservoir pathogen system to understand pathogen evolution and emergence
Evidence for those pathogen genes selected specifically for success on crops.
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Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
I love football #LIVTOT
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Applications are open for an exciting new PhD project with @sarah-guiziou.bsky.social in collaboration with the Earlham Biofoundry. The project will focus on #engineeringbiology and the plant root #microbiome developing applications for sustainable #agriculture.
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Sentinel bacteria: engineering a soil bacteria to sense and record soil health
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Stephen Turner @stephenturner.us · 25/04/2025
High-quality metagenome assembly from nanopore reads with nanoMDBG www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧬🖥️🧪 github.com/GaetanBenoit...
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Applications are open for a #Postdoc Researcher to join @whaerty.bsky.social at the Earlham Institute. As part of a HorizonEU funded consortium, you'll undertake analysis of functional implications of variation within #noncoding #sequences in relation to cardiovascular disorders.
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Postdoctoral Research Scientist
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Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
This is the end of times amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/...
amp.cnn.com
DoorDash will let users buy now, pay later for fast food, a possible worrying sign for the economy | CNN Business
Buy Now, Pay Later services are typically used on large purchases, like furniture. But now one service is branching out into fast food.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
🆕 Fully funded #PhD with @neilhall.bsky.social and @mcmullan0.bsky.social analysing genetic diversity in the genomes of potential crop invasion pathogens and plant hosts associated with resistance. 📆 Apply by: 21 April ➡️ buff.ly/RpmTSFN #plantscience #agritech
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Host-pathogen environmental genetic surveillance: pathogen emergence and crop protection
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
💬 “Being in Norwich, at the heart of UK #plantsciences, will allow me to build strong collaborations and contribute to the development of resilient, sustainable #crops capable of meeting the challenges of a growing population and a changing climate.” - @willshaw.bsky.social buff.ly/FQEQcIP #synbio
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New Career Development Fellows enhance data-driven bioscience at the Earlham Institute
The Earlham Institute has appointed two new Career Development Fellows, supporting their journey towards establishing independent research groups.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Great to welcome collaborators to the Earlham Institute today for a meeting of the National Bioscience Research Infrastructure in Transformative Genomics. The NBRI unites specialist facilities and expertise in scalable genomics, #longread sequencing, and #singlecell. @drkarimgharbi.bsky.social
Dr Karim Gharbi, Head of Technical Genomics and NBRI Lead introduces the day's talks. Presentation screen demonstrating the key strands of EI's high-performance sequencing platforms, including ultra-long reads, high-quality genomes assembly and annotation, and low-cost library preparation.A presentation screen describing what a National Bioscience Research Infrastructure is: "A National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (NBRI) is an essential component of the Institute's core capability (e.g. facilities, biological collections, or databases, and associated expertise), which enhances its role as a National Capability, underpins wider UK research capability, and supports wider bioscience research and user communities."
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Rowena Hill @rowenahill.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
The final version of our paper on genomics of understudied fungal root pathogens/endophytes of wheat is now out! The result of close ongoing collab between @earlhaminst.bsky.social (@mcmullan0.bsky.social @greymj.bsky.social @neilhall.bsky.social et al) and @rothamsted.bsky.social rdcu.be/edlB9
rdcu.be
Evolutionary genomics reveals variation in structure and genetic content implicated in virulence and lifestyle in the genus Gaeumannomyces
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
💬 “LITE2 really shines when coupled with ultra-high-throughput #sequencing on the #Illumina #NovaSeqX, this has brought affordable whole-#genome sequencing to a new level.” 🧬 🖥️
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LITE2 takes affordable genome sequencing to a new level
The Earlham Institute's improved Low Input, Transposase Enabled (LITE) protocol is a low-cost method for high-throughput whole genome sequencing with reduced DNA input.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
🔬 Discover how #SpatialTranscriptomics is unlocking insights into the ageing brain with @parker-aim.bsky.social (@quadraminstitute.bsky.social) at the NBRI Transformative Genomics User Meeting. 📅 Register:
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NBRI Transformative Genomics - Annual User Meeting
A one-day meeting of the bioscience community to hear the latest updates and applications from the BBSRC-funded National Bioscience Research Infrastructure in Transformative Genomics at the Earlham…
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Derek Thompson @dkthomp.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Unbelievable news. Pancreatic is one of the deadliest cancers. New paper shows personalized mRNA vaccines can induce durable T cells that attack pancreatic cancer, with 75% of patients cancer free at three years—far, far better than standard of care. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Stephen Turner @stephenturner.us · 19/02/2025
MARTi: a real-time analysis and visualisation tool for nanopore metagenomics 🧬🖥️🧪 Preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202… Source github.com/richardmleggett/MARTi Docs marti.readthedocs.io Demo app marti.cyverseuk.org
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Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺 @plantepigenetics.ch · 19/02/2025
While the US trashes public research, the ERC proposes to double its budget. That would be huge and an excellent opportunity for scientists in the US to come to democratic 🇪🇺
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Susie Dent @susiedentwords.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Word of the Day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet individual whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.
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ELIXIR-UK @elixiruknode.org · 14/02/2025
Three days. Incredible minds. Big ideas. 💡✨ Just wrapped up an amazing hackathon with the folks at HDR UK – diverse talent, bold ideas at the intersection of #LifeScience and #HealthData. Can’t wait to share what we built! Until then, here’s a little visual teaser. Stay tuned for more! 👀
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Technological advances have transformed #sequencing, but costs and timescales can still be limiting, especially in library generation. Earlham Institute's updated Low Input, Transposase Enabled (LITE) protocol offers low-cost, high-throughput whole #genome sequencing with reduced DNA input. 💻🧬🧪
buff.ly
LITE2 takes affordable genome sequencing to a new level
The Earlham Institute's improved Low Input, Transposase Enabled (LITE) protocol is a low-cost method for high-throughput whole genome sequencing with reduced DNA input.
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Richard Ostler @rostler.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
It's shocking to see how #OpenData has become a doom scrolling feed thanks to the orange turds great deletion of US data. As many others have noted open data is a cornerstone of transparent and accountable society. Dismantling and censoring it is a terribly regressive step.
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Gregory A. Hargreaves @bordergroves.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
"[A] democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism—ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." - FDR (1938)
media.tenor.com
a man stands at a podium with microphones that say wor on them
ALT: a man stands at a podium with microphones that say wor on them
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” ― George Orwell, 1984
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Rowena Hill @rowenahill.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
It was a pleasure to help with the first fungal genome assembly completed via @ergabiodiv.bsky.social - the endangered bracket fungus Somion occarium. Many thanks to all collaborators @earlhaminst.bsky.social #MENDELU #IMIC @czechacademy.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @neilhall.bsky.social
A photo of the bracket fungus Somion occarium and schematics of the number and size of chromosomes in its nuclear genome and the genes in the circular mitochondrial genome.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
💬 "We urge Ministers to heed the Committee’s suggestions on the need for longer-term funding, measures for talent recruitment and skills development, and implementation of new market-enabling regulation to unlock investment." @neilhall.bsky.social 3/4
Dr Carolina Grandellis, Manager of the Earlham Biofoundry using the Hamilton automated liquid handling robot.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
💬 "The DEFRA Secretary’s commitment to implementing the new Precision Breeding Act is great news. “The regulation that will be established by this legislation will create new markets for healthier, more environmentally beneficial plant products." - Prof Neil Hall, Director of the Earlham Institute.
earlham.ac.uk
Government committed to unlocking precision breeding technology
The UK Government has committed to a timeline for introducing legislation that will empower researchers, companies, farmers, and consumers to benefit from precision breeding techniques.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Following an earlier publication, researchers at the Earlham Institute and @oxfordbiology.bsky.social have further explored multiple independent genetic code changes within the Phyllopharyngea class of ciliates. journals.plos.org/plosgenetics... #protists #bioinformatics 🧪🧬🖥️
journals.plos.org
Multiple independent genetic code reassignments of the UAG stop codon in phyllopharyngean ciliates
Author summary The genetic code dictates the translation of nucleotide sequences into amino acids. It is one of the most conserved features of molecular biology. Most organisms use the “standard genet...
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Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
This is very sad news news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/01/07/o... Alan taught me microbiology as an undergrad and was later a great colleague and mentor. He was a talented scientist and teacher and a principled human being with a wicked sense of humour - a huge loss
news.liverpool.ac.uk
Obituary: Emeritus Professor Alan McCarthy - University of Liverpool News
Obituary: Emeritus Professor Alan McCarthy
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Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
Your welcome
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Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Jesus is having a good Christmas #CRYARS
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Applications are open for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral #PhD project with Prof Irene Papatheodorou, developing comprehensive cell atlases of regeneration in three different species, zebrafish, mouse and axolotl. #singlecell #cellatlas @daniorecode.bsky.social 📅 Apply by: 16 January 2025
earlham.ac.uk
Cross-species cell atlases for regeneration
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Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Heading home from Norwich Research Park for the last time this year. Back in 2025 !!
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ELIXIR-UK @elixiruknode.org · 18/12/2024
Exciting news! 🎉 Tony Burdett is the new Director of BioFAIR! With his expertise in FAIR data & leadership at EMBL-EBI and ELIXIR, BioFAIR's mission to enable global, FAIR-compliant data sharing is in great hands. Learn more: elixiruknode.org/news/2024/ap... #FAIRData #LifeSciences #Leadership
elixiruknode.org
ELIXIR-UK welcomes appointment of Tony Burdett – BioFAIR Director
ELIXIR-UK is proud to see BioFAIR, originally conceived within its community, take an important step forward with the appointment of Tony Burdett.
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Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
The Earlham Institute has appointed Tony Burdett as the new Director of BioFAIR - a £34m UKRI programme to revolutionise UK #lifescience research by transforming how we facilitate #research #datamanagement. 🧬🖥️ @neilhall.bsky.social @elixiruknode.org
earlham.ac.uk
Director appointed to lead transformative digital research infrastructure initiative
The Earlham Institute has appointed Tony Burdett as the new Director of BioFAIR, a £34 million programme to revolutionise UK life science research by transforming how we facilitate research data manag...
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