What will the project deliver?
- Advancing the Quality of Czech Biobanks
Experts from the Swiss Biobanking Platform will carry out comprehensive assessments of Czech biobanks. Together with specialists from the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, they will support them throughout the process leading to the BBMRI-ERIC Quality Label or international ISO 20387 accreditation. As part of the project, Swiss expertise in quality assessment will be transferred to the Czech environment, enabling its future use by new BBMRI.cz partners
2. More Accessible and Harmonised Associated Data
Metadata describing data linked to biological material in biobanks will be harmonised and published through the national catalogues of BBMRI.cz (data.bbmri.cz) and SBP NExT. At the same time, biobanks and their collections will be updated in the BBMRI-ERIC Directory and the Federated Platform. This will improve the availability, interoperability, and readiness of both data and samples for future research projects, while contributing to the development of so-called digital cohorts.
3.Secure and Ethical Data Sharing
The project also includes the development of a practical ethical and legal framework to enable secure sharing of samples and associated data between the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
What Does This Mean for Researchers?
By harmonising processes across Czech biobanks, the project will facilitate their participation in international research cohorts and consortia.
Zdenka Dudová, Principal Investigator of the project, summarises:
“The CS-BIQ project will make it easier for researchers to identify samples and associated data from Czech and Swiss biobanks. This will be supported by harmonised, richly described metadata available through national catalogues and the BBMRI-ERIC Federated Platform. Researchers will gain a clearer overview of what samples—and, importantly, what data—are available for their research. I believe that project partners will also strengthen their chances of participating in both national and international funding calls.”
About the project
Title: Czech–Swiss Biobank Infrastructure Initiative for FAIR Data and Quality Certification (CS-BIQ)
Registration number: 8K0204
Project duration: 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2028
Funding body: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic
Funding programme: Swiss–Czech Cooperation Programme (www.svycarskyprogram.cz)
Budget: CZK 26,965,000
Coordinator: Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute
Partners:
CZ (5): Institute of Rheumatology, Charles University, Palacký University Olomouc, Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Masaryk University
CH (1): Swiss Biobanking Platform (SBP)
This project is funded by the Czech-Swiss Research Infrastructures Initiative under the Second Swiss Contribution to selected EU Member States, administered by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.
