Results in Life Sciences increasingly rely on automated analysis of experimental data generated in massive amounts in -omics sciences. The control of the quality of bioinformatics analysis is now becoming crucial for interpreting and valorising results.

Bioinformatics is still an expanding discipline. A steadily growing range of resources is available on the web for consulting and searching information or for running programs to analyse experimental data. Large institutions such as the European Bioinformatics Institute or the National Centre for Biotechnology Information provide access to a wide range of interconnected databases and tools. They offer on-line tutorials only and exclusively dedicated to resources that are maintained on their respective servers. Alternatively, extensive catalogues of on-line resources available worldwide are published on a yearly basis (Jan.1/July 1 issues of Nucleic Acids Research, an Oxford journal) but in a form where the advantages of interconnection between complementary resources is not apparent. Finally, many university degrees now include bioinformatics graduate courses, either for computer scientists to learn basic biology or for biologists to learn basic computer science. These interdisciplinary students have to acquire a heavy load of new and specialised knowledge. Consequently, issues bridging biology and computer science that is, the heart of bioinformatics are often swiftly browsed through with limited opportunity to deepen understanding.

Ebiomics is an eLearning and eTraining platform in bioinformatics intended as a support to post-graduate students and scientists involved in -omics or systems biology projects. In eBiomics, training is regarded as the stepwise guidance of a trainee in order to: (1) improve and refine his/her information search strategies, (2) enhance his/her capacities for critical assessment of results and (3) develop a sense of extrapolation.

eBiomics is developed within a tight network of collaborators who share and have shared for years a concern for propagating good practices in bioinformatics.