Ontology Landscaping Initiative
Join us for a hybrid collaborative workshop to advance the Pharma Ontology Landscaping Initiative (OLI)—a joint effort by the Pistoia Alliance, EMBL-EBI and ELIXIR to develop a high-level reference landscape of biomedical and pharma R&D ontologies across the R&D value chain and key scientific domains.
Ontologies are critical for enabling data interoperability, integration and reuse. Yet the current landscape remains fragmented, with overlaps and gaps that limit efficiency. This workshop marks the kick-off of OLI 2026, bringing together experts from industry, academia and standards bodies to develop and align the ontology landscape.
What to expect
Participants will have the opportunity to:
- Contribute to a foundational landscape linking ontologies across the pharma R&D value chain—from discovery (including chemistry) through pre-clinical/non-clinical and clinical development to CMC and regulatory affairs—and across key cross-cutting domains such as genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics
- Identify overlaps, gaps and opportunities to reduce redundancy and promote reuse
- Provide input on governance, sustainability and community-driven curation
- Help shape the annual OLI review process and future updates
This interactive workshop will combine working sessions, plenary discussion and cross-sector networking. It will be particularly relevant for ontology developers, data standards experts, bioinformaticians and R&D stakeholders across the life sciences.
This will be a hybrid event, giving you the flexibility to join either online or in person at the EMBL-EBI campus in Cambridge. Whether you’re participating remotely or attending on-site, you’ll be able to contribute to discussions, share insights, and help shape the future of the Ontology Landscaping Initiative.
For those joining us face-to-face in Cambridge, the day will conclude with an informal networking session with pizza and refreshments, providing a great opportunity to continue conversations, connect with peers across industry and academia, and build new collaborations in a relaxed setting.
This event has reached capacity and registrations are now closed.