Simplifying data movement for faster analysis: the new link between the Bioplatforms Data Portal and Galaxy Australia
Moving data is a key part of the research workflow, and can become a bottleneck if there’s significant separation between steps. Researchers are increasingly using multiple services and have to take on the role of the ‘network switch,’ moving their data back and forth to complete isolated functions.
A new data movement feature streamlines the connection between data and analysis, with a fast one-click transfer of data from Bioplatforms Data Portal for immediate analysis using the fully-subsidised Galaxy Australia service. By selecting your data and clicking 'Send to Galaxy', the previously manual process happens automatically and invisibly in the background - appearing in your Galaxy history ready for analysis.
The Bioplatforms Data Portal hosts over 400TB of valuable reference molecular life sciences data covering agriculture, biomedicine, the environment and industry. The data is generated by national collaborative projects using integrated ‘omics infrastructure to generate high-impact data and knowledge resources to support some of Australia’s biggest scientific challenges. The need to move data into an analysis environment like Galaxy Australia has now become very simple.
Biologist and bioinformatician, Dr Amy Tims, performs data QC, genome assembly, and data curation for the Australian Fish Genomics Initiative established by Bioplatforms Australia and Minderoo Foundation. Consisting of genomics, genetics and transcriptomics data from 56 partner projects representing fish species from all major Australian habitats, access to this huge volume of high-quality data is valuable for research into freshwater, estuarine and marine environments. Amy stated:
‘Being able to move data straight over to Galaxy from the Data Portal without having to copy-paste lots of URLs or download files first saves a lot of time and effort. The new connection makes it super-easy to grab your data and start analysing without any fiddly intermediate steps’
This integration was made possible by the introduction of the single-sign on system, BioCommons Access. Aiming to become a universal "key" to securely find, analyse, and move biological data, 3131 existing users of the Galaxy Australia and Bioplatforms Data Portal services were smoothly migrated across to the new system, and 3993 brand new accounts have signed up since March 2026.
What are the key benefits of BioCommons Access?
Single sign-on access to multiple analysis and data services
Streamlined use of Galaxy Australia and the Bioplatforms Australia Data Portal - other services coming soon!
A central portal to manage your user profile across services
Connection to curated bundles of tools and data
Read more about how National supercomputing and expertise to enable the Australian Fish Genomics Initiative
Sign up for BioCommons Access
