About Us
The Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure – European Research Infrastructure Consortium (MIRRI-ERIC) was established by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/1204 of 16 June 2022. MIRRI-ERIC brings together 39 microbial Biological Resource Centres (mBRCs), culture collections, and research institutes from seven European countries. Belgium, France, Latvia, Portugal, and Spain are founding members, while Greece and Romania have recently joined, the former as a Member and the latter as an Observer. Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland are prospective members. Portugal hosts the statutory seat of MIRRI-ERIC and shares with Spain the Central Coordinating Unit. Spain hosts the Collaborative Working Environment (CWE) Hub at the University of Valencia, which acts as a platform for cooperation and data integration across the MIRRI-ERIC network.
The MIRRI-Spain Node is composed of five national institutions with expertise in microbial valorisation, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), and LifeWatch-ERIC’s common facility in Spain. The node plays an important role in supporting the Spanish scientific and industrial sectors by providing access to microbial resources and applied research services. Its main objective is to drive innovation in agro-food, healthcare, and environmental microbiology, while fostering both national and international collaborations.
The mission of MIRRI-ERIC is to serve users in bioscience and bioindustry by facilitating access to a wide range of high-quality biological resources and data, in full compliance with legal requirements. The consortium is organised into national nodes, each led by a national coordinator appointed by the respective member or observer country. Each node brings together national partners, which are mBRCs or institutions that provide resources, services, training, expertise, and that participate in joint projects and common activities of MIRRI-ERIC.
Our History
Spain has played a pioneering role in the development of MIRRI. It is a founding member of MIRRI-ERIC and, together with Portugal, shares the Central Coordinating Unit.
The Spanish Network of Microorganisms (REDESMI, INIA grant AC2013-00028-00-00) grouped 46 collections, including the two public collections (CECT and BEA) and 44 research collections, many of which originated from INIA-funded microbial resource projects. Later, the Excellence Network “MicroBioSpain” (CGL2016-81969-REDT) integrated REDESMI into the European research infrastructure MIRRI. As an outcome, the MicroBioSpain website (https://www.microbiospain.org/) was developed and is maintained by CECT. The site provides access to Spanish microbial resources hosted in 46 collections, including CECT, BEA, and the 44 research collections; microbiological, technological, and training services offered by the eight participating centres; the strain catalogue of research collections through the StrainsApp application, available both for public consultation and for internal database management; and information on MIRRI, now MIRRI-ERIC.
Through MicroBioSpain, institutions assessed the possibilities of structuring the Spanish Node of MIRRI and defining the service portfolio that Spain could contribute as part of the ESFRI roadmap. The national node was ultimately launched with the two public collections, CECT and BEA, as they were the only ones able to ensure compliance with MIRRI’s partnership requirements and financial commitments at that time. Spain’s formal obligations to join MIRRI-ERIC were secured through an agreement signed in May 2021 between the University of Valencia (represented by CECT), the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (represented by BEA), LifeWatch-Spain, and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU).
The dissemination of MIRRI’s objectives through MicroBioSpain fostered the interest of other public institutions such as ISCIII, Fundación Medina, IFAPA, and several CSIC centres (CIAL, IATA, INIA, IPLA), which later joined as part of MIRRI-ERIC. The common aim is to contribute to biodiversity conservation by applying quality standards, sharing expertise and knowledge in microbial resource management, and joining efforts at the European level to promote their valorisation and legal use. MIRRI-Spain connects the demand for microbiology-based innovation with microbial resource providers, reinforcing Spain’s role within the European research and innovation ecosystem.