The French Bioinformatics Community at GCC2026 in Clermont-Ferrand

From June 22 to 26, 2026, the global Galaxy community gathered in Clermont-Ferrand, France, for the Galaxy Community Conference 2026 (GCC2026)—the flagship event for researchers, engineers, developers, and platform managers working with the Galaxy data analysis environment. Co-organized by Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), French Institute of Bioinformatics (IFB/ELIXIR-FR), and Johns Hopkins University (USA), this year’s edition brought together 200 participants to explore the latest advancements in open science, large-scale data analysis, and the integration of AI in Galaxy.

The conference featured three days of talks and discussions, followed by two days of hands-on training and a collaborative hackathon (CoFest), where attendees advanced existing projects and launched new initiatives.

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Relive GCC2026

A comprehensive recap of the conference is available on the Galaxy Project website, and all presentation videos are accessible on the GCC2026 YouTube playlist. This year’s event placed a special emphasis on AI-driven developments and applications within Galaxy, with a dedicated fishbowl session, find the summary here.

The French Bioinformatics Community at GCC2026

French Bioinformatics Community GCC2026 attendees gathered for the conference group photo in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

The French Galaxy community played a pivotal role throughout the conference, first by organizing it and then by contributing to sessions on data analysis, community dynamics, and cross-disciplinary collaborations. Beyond traditional “omics” fields, the community now embraces “non-omics” domains, including Earth system science and ecology, represented by members from Data Terra, the Muséum de Concarneau, and the BRGM.

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A person wearing a cap, orange sunglasses, and a GCC2017 tee-shirt drinks from a paper cup while making a peace sign with their fingers.

Below, we highlight the talks and posters presented by French contributors, showcasing their innovative work and collaborations.

Opening the Conference: A Look Back at the French Galaxy Community

As local organizers, Bérénice Batut, Gildas Le Corguillé, and Anthony Bretaudeau kicked off GCC2026 with a historical overview of the French Galaxy community (slides). Anthony Bretaudeau later contributed to the Galaxy Community Update, representing the French perspective.

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Contributions by Theme

🧬 Metagenomics & Microbiome

Talk & Poster: FAIRyMAGs: A Modular, FAIR-Compliant Galaxy Workflow Suite for Flexible and Scalable Metagenome-Assembled Genome Reconstruction Presenters: Bérénice Batut & Paul Zierep Summary: A collaborative effort across four ELIXIR nodes, FAIRyMAGs delivers a modular, FAIR-aligned workflow suite for MAG reconstruction and analysis, developed under ELIXIR’s “Biodiversity, Food Security, and Pathogens” (BFSP) program.
Poster: Microbiology Galaxy Lab: The First Community-Driven Gateway for Reproducible and FAIR Microbiological Data Analysis (HAL) Presenters: Bérénice Batut, Engy Nasr, Nikos Pechlivanis, Nikolaos Strepis, Paul Zierep Summary: The Microbiology Galaxy Lab (MGL) is a global community platform built on Galaxy, enabling reproducible, FAIR-compliant microbiological data analysis.

🌿 Biodiversity & Biotechnology

Poster: The Biodiversity Genomics Galaxy Lab: A Collaborative Hub with Curated Tools, Workflows, and Training Presenters: Solenne Correard, Bérénice Batut, Anthony Bretaudeau, ELIXIR Biodiversity Community, Robert M. Waterhouse Summary: A thematic Galaxy subdomain designed to make Galaxy’s bioinformatics resources accessible and relevant for biodiversity genomics researchers, featuring curated tools, workflows, and tutorials.
Talk & Poster: Leveraging Galaxy’s Superpowers to Enhance Fermentation Innovation through the Siduri portal Presenters: Agnès Barnabé Agnès, Emilie Fernandez, Erwan Le Floch, Thomas Lacroix, Sophie Schbath, Valentin Loux Summary: A user-friendly web portal Siduri to store and managed massive and heterogeneous data generated through the French Grand Challenge “Ferments du Futur” (FdF) public-private partnership that has been ongoing since 2022 and which aims to promote innovation in fermentation using a data-driven strategy to design new fermented products.

🛠️ Tools & Infrastructure

Poster: Navigating Galaxy’s Growth: How CoDex Lowers Barriers to Access (HAL) Presenters: Solenne Correard, Anthony Bretaudeau, Bérénice Batut, Paul Zierep Summary: Introducing the Galaxy CoDex, a catalog of Galaxy resources (tools, tutorials, workflows) that communities can filter and expose through Galaxy Labs—thematic subdomains tailored to specific research needs.
Poster: Galaxy-BioProd: An Integrated FAIR Platform for Synthetic Biology, Biotechnology, and Life Cycle Analysis (HAL) Presenters: Anthony Pragassam, Thomas Chaussepied, Anthony Bretaudeau, Gildas Le Corguillé, Jean-Loup Faulon, Valentin Loux Summary: A collaboration with UseGalaxy.fr to support Galaxy-BioProd, a FAIR-compliant platform for synthetic biology, biotechnology, and life cycle analysis.
Talk: A journey around Galaxy on the W4M boat: a feedback from someone caught in the middle Presenters: Mélanie Petera, Workflow4metabolomics Coreteam Summary: Workflow4Metabolomics (W4M), a diverse and Galaxy-powered initiative, overcame data analysis challenges in metabolomics to create a thriving ecosystem benefiting hundreds of users annually.
Poster: First-time Galaxy tool integration: feedback about challenges faced, from two trainees with different academic backgrounds Presenters: Anthony Sleiman, Ka Abdou Lahat, Quentin Ruin, Mathieu Cladiere , Workflow4metabolomics Coreteam, Mélanie Petera Summary: Two internship students with different backgrounds successfully integrated metabolomics tools into Galaxy, addressing common challenges like input/output formatting and dependencies, and proposed strategies to streamline the process for first-time developers.
Talk: Integration of experimental protocols into the Galaxy platform to support FAIR experimental workflows Presenters: Fanny Demange, Yassin Refahi, Valentin Loux, Gabriel Paës Summary: Integration of experimental protocols into Galaxy, applying FAIR principles to standardize, execute, and trace biomass transformation protocols, ensuring reproducibility and reuse, with potential for broader domain adoption.
Poster: Galaxy@Pasteur: A Centralized Execution Engine for Bioinformatics Services Presenters: Fabien Mareuil, Rémi Planel Summary: Galaxy@Pasteur, a high-usage platform with 3,200+ users and 100K+ monthly jobs, serves as both an interactive tool and a centralized backend for bioinformatics web services, enabled by infrastructure from Institut Pasteur and tools like django-to-galaxy and Galaxy-as-a-Service (GaaS), supporting reproducibility, scalability, and integration across projects like ABRomics and DefenseFinder.

Beyond the Conference: The Galaxy Summit

In addition to the main event, Anthony Bretaudeau and Gildas Le Corguillé represented the French community at the Galaxy Summit, an annual coordination meeting where international Galaxy leaders discussed funding, UseGalaxy. platforms, and the organization of future GCC events*.

A person wearing a white T-shirt with the text 'Galaxy: La science ouverte, partout, par tou·te·s' works on a laptop at a table during the cofest.

Photos in this post are by Bérénice Batut and are shared under a CC BY-SA license.