EMBRC-ERIC

The European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) is a pan European research infrastructure that provides researchers and companies with access to marine organisms and ecosystems and the facilities to study them, including experimental facilities and technological platforms. EMBRC enables researchers to better understand our impact on the oceans and ensure the sustainable use of marine resources.

Types and number of datasets

EMBRC is an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium by the European Commission in 2018) and a distributed research infrastructure focused on marine biological resources and experimental services, covering a wide range of biological, genomic, ecological, and environmental data types. Ocean observation is in the spotlight of research, policy and society with biology being an integral part of it. Yet, the capacity for biological observation is not as standardised or developed as in other ocean scientific disciplines. EMBRC decided to fill this gap by creating Europe’s first long-term, coordinated genomics observatory network, EMO BON (European Marine Omics Biodiversity Observation Network) in 2021. Using DNA-based techniques allows EMO BON to capture a plethora of biodiversity data, allowing to study community composition and health, temporal trends, and response to environmental change. The operational stations receive central support for long-term biological observation that would be beyond the scope of individual stations. Through EMO BON, experts across Europe share knowledge, streamline research, and improve methods, while continuing to push the frontiers of marine science. This collaboration also helps the stations to connect and work with researchers worldwide, pooling available data to answer pressing research questions more efficiently. In 2024, EMO BON is made up of 22 observatories at coastal marine stations across 10 participating countries in Europe. Since its creation in 2021, EMO BON has collected 3,569 samples using DNA-based methods.

Discovery and access mechanism

EMO BON ensures data comparability across its observatories through shared protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs). All participating sites follow harmonised workflows for sample collection, preservation, processing, and data management. Through this standardised approach, users can confidently combine observations from multiple locations and time periods to support large-scale biodiversity assessments and environmental monitoring. The SOP repository provides access to: Sampling protocols Laboratory procedures Metadata standards Data management guidelines Quality assurance and quality control procedures SEQUENCING DATA ACCESS Raw sequencing data generated through EMO BON are archived in the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) under project accession number PRJEB51688. Users can: Discover sequencing datasets linked to EMO BON samples. Access raw sequence files and associated metadata. Reuse data for biodiversity, ecological, and methodological studies. Link sequencing records to environmental observations collected by EMO BON observatories.

Data Access Policy

EMBRC follows an open science-oriented access policy aligned with FAIR principles. Discovery-level access to catalogue information is generally open and does not require authentication. However, authentication and user registration via AAI mechanisms are required for requesting biological resources, accessing facility services, and using advanced digital services such as experiment management, resource allocation, and user-specific processing tools.

Function in Blue-Cloud 

A core function of the system is the injection of EMO BON datasets to the Blue-Cloud ecosystem, where marine biodiversity data can be combined with oceanographic, environmental, and Earth observation resources. Through standardised metadata and machine-readable services, the system enables: Discovery of EMO BON datasets through Blue-Cloud catalogues. Automated harvesting of metadata and data products. Interoperable access through FAIR-compliant services. Reuse of biodiversity observations in analytical workflows and virtual research environments.