Galaxy Hackathon in Brest, France: Innovation on the Edge of the Ocean

March 18th–20th, 2025 | Brest, France 🌊

From March 18th to 20th, developers, researchers, and ocean data experts gathered in Brest, France, for a vibrant and hands-on Hackathon as part of FAIR-EASE. Set against the scenic backdrop of the Atlantic coast, the event brought together a dedicated group of innovators to build workflows, deploy tools, and push the boundaries of interoperability and FAIR data practices.

_{📷 © FAIR-EASE Hackathon 2025}

🌟 The Galaxy Challenge: From SAMBA to SAGA

A major highlight of the event was the Galaxy Challenge, focused on adapting the SAMBA workflow—developed by Ifremer—into a fully functional, Galaxy-compatible pipeline: SAGA.

• The effort began with a creative “prototype” Galaxy workflow (check it out) and a PR to tools-iuc to integrate key tools.

• Participants wrapped the missing dbotu3 tool and began developing a wrapper for microDecon, to handle contamination in metabarcoding data.

  • dbotu3 Tool Link

• The SAGA workflow was then rebuilt and polished from scratch using SAMBA’s logic and the prototype as a base.

  • 🧪 Galaxy History
  • 🧬 Final Workflow

OGC API Meets Galaxy

The hackathon also tackled interoperability head-on with experiments in OGC API - Processes using the fair-ease-galaxy-ogcapi project. The team successfully queried Galaxy’s API to produce compliant process records via FastAPI Swagger—a promising step toward broader data service integration.

⚡ Hackathon Highlights: Tools, Metadata & Scheduling

The energy in the room led to fast-paced development and great progress thanks to Sanjay, Paul, Marie, and Eli and all others that contributed: Members of the European Galaxy community achieved the following:

• ✅ TerriaMap Interactive Tool added to Galaxy

  • Tool link
  • Repo
• ✅ RO-Crate validation support added in Galaxy testing
• ✅ Deployment of two new ocean biogeochemistry tools, with one updated

• ✅ Pulsar integration completed on UCA testbed

  • Integration PR
• ✅ Ongoing work on OGC API process generation using a generic JSON builder

• ✅ Strategic advancement of TPV meta-scheduling including:

  • Updated consumer scripts and broker functionality
  • Metrics collection via Telegraf + InfluxDB
  • Deployment coordination with EuroScienceGateway (ESG) WP3 Pulsar admins
  • Migration of the TotalPerspectiveVortex (TPV) Broker and consumer to the EU infrastructure
  • Long-term planning for stable EU deployment

Looking Ahead

As waves crashed outside, ideas flowed inside. The Hackathon in Brest laid the groundwork for exciting future developments. Next steps include:

• Advancing OGC API integration into Galaxy workflows
• Enriching RO-Crate metadata with spatial and temporal context
• Exploring the Hunga Tonga Challenge for Galaxy-based contributions

Useful Links & Repositories

• SAGA Workflow in Galaxy

  • History
  • Workflow

• RO-Crate Metadata Work

  • Testing PR
  • Enhanced Metadata Branch

• TPV Broker & Pulsar Infrastructure

  • TPV Broker Repo
  • Broker Playbook
  • Pulsar Util
  • EU Infra PRs
  • UCA Pulsar PR

Final Thoughts 💬

The FAIR-EASE Hackathon in Brest was more than just a technical sprint—it was a celebration of community-driven innovation. It showcased the power of collaborative software development in tackling real-world challenges in data analysis, interoperability, and FAIR principles.

Huge thanks to Ifremer for hosting us in beautiful Brest and making this hackathon possible. The location, support, and good vibes made all the difference! 🌊✨

We’re proud of what we built, and even more excited about what comes next. 🚀
Stay connected—this is just the beginning.