Question 1

What is ERGA?

Accepted Answer

The European Reference Genome Atlas is a community of peers working to advance the generation of reference genomes for European Biodiversity. ERGA members share a passion for biodiversity and see reference genomes as key resources that can boost our understanding of biodiversity and inform conservation strategies. Our community is made up of researchers with very diverse expertise and backgrounds working in the European continent or interested in European biodiversity. ERGA also represents the European node of the global Earth BioGenome Project, which has the goal of coordinating the generation of reference genomes for all of Earth’s Biodiversity.

Question 2

What are ERGA’s main goals?

Accepted Answer

ERGA’s Core Objectives are to:
Create and consolidate a collaborative and interdisciplinary network of scientists across Europe and associated countries to deliver reference genome sequences;
Connect relevant infrastructures across Europe following a distributed model for genome sequence generation and analysis that can increase dynamically;
Develop guidelines and best practices for state-of-the-art reference genome sequence generation, and disseminate them through training and knowledge transfer;
Connect BioGenome initiatives working on European species to each other and with ERGA’s own initiatives to maximise synergies.

Question 3

How can I get involved and contribute to ERGA?

Accepted Answer

Firstly, please register as an ERGA member. Membership is free and will ensure you receive our monthly newsletter and information about upcoming events and meetings.
Once you become a member, you will have easy access to ERGA meetings. Our monthly plenary meetings are a good starting point to  get to know the community.
If you are interested or need support with a specific step of the genome generation process, you might want to interact with or even join one of the open ERGA committees. Each committee has their own way of operating and a monthly meeting slot. If you want to participate in any of the committees just send an email to the committee’s address to be added to their communication channels and learn the best opportunities to contribute.
If you have an ongoing genome project of any European eukaryotic species, you can associate it with ERGA as an ERGA Community Genome. Check this page for more information on this procedure.

Question 4

What are the benefits of joining ERGA?

Accepted Answer

If you are a researcher working on biodiversity genomics, joining and following ERGA’s activities can bring many advantages, including:
Taking an active role in the generation of high-quality reference genomes for biodiversity conservation;
Networking - through our network you will be able to interact and collaborate with colleagues from all across Europe working on topics related to your research;
Get support from the ERGA Committees - as a member, you have direct access to groups of specialists in all steps of the genome production workflow;
Go beyond science - Besides producing reference genomes and connecting researchers, ERGA is also committed to reaching out beyond academia to disseminate the importance of biodiversity and the role of genomics;
From theory to practice - Lead the application of genomics technologies to biodiversity research and conservation directly in the field.

Question 5

What is the policy of ERGA on data?

Accepted Answer

Check our Open Data Policy. This covers key requirements and recommendations regarding the collection, processing, storage, and publishing of metadata and data related to the production of high-quality reference genomes. If you have questions or concerns about our data policy, please reach out to the IT & Infrastructure committee at itinfra@erga-biodiversity.eu.

Question 6

How can I connect with other members of ERGA in my country?

Accepted Answer

To interact with the ERGA Community in your country, please contact your country’s Council representative through the email available here and ask about any local initiatives already in place and how to engage. If your country is not yet represented in the ERGA council, we are happy to welcome new countries and hope to have representation from all European countries! Please refer to the Governance Document for more details on how to join the ERGA Council as a representative of your country.

Question 7

How can I get in touch if I have other questions?

Accepted Answer

You can reach out to ERGA through many channels. Here are some ways to get in touch with us:
Email us at contact@erga-biodiversity.eu
You can join the ERGA Keybase team and ask your question in one of the many channels (instructions for this are provided when you sign up to become a member) 
Social Media: You can also follow us on X @erga_biodiv (previously Twitter), ERGA LinkedIn and Mastodon.

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