The Nextflow Podcast

00:49:28

Episode 58: Writing Nextflow plugins in 2026

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2026/09/29

In this episode, Phil is joined by Ben Sherman, Jon Manning and Rike Hanssen to take a fresh look at Nextflow plugins, two years on from the plugin walkthrough in episode 35. They cover what plugins are for: sharing reusable functions across pipelines, hooking into workflow events with observers (e.g., nf-slack notifications for nf-core full-size tests, or carbon footprint tracking with nf-co2footprint), and building custom executors and file systems. Ben explains what changed in Nextflow 25.10: the

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00:48:27

Episode 57: Pipeline chaining, meta pipelines and...

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2026/03/16

In episode 57 (March 2026), Phil is joined by Edmund Miller and Ben Sherman to discuss how recent and upcoming Nextflow language changes can make pipeline chaining and meta pipelines easier. The episode was split into two parts: this first part surveyed current solutions, listen to episode 56 to check that out.In this episode we focus on defining workflow “contracts” through clearer inputs (typed params in Nextflow 25.10 and proposed record types, including streamlined sample sheet/record ingestion

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00:52:19

Episode 56: Pipeline chaining, meta pipelines and...

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2026/03/02

Episode 56 of The Nextflow Podcast (March 2026) focuses on pipeline chaining and meta pipelines in Nextflow, with guests Ben Sherman and Edmund Miller. The episode was split into two parts: this first part surveys current solutions, while part two will cover future Nextflow language changes. The discussion defines meta pipelines as importing pipelines (e.g., nf-core/rnaseq) as subworkflows to form one DAG with parallelization and full resume, versus pipeline chaining using external orchestration to

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00:39:16

Episode 55: Terraform & Seqera

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2026/02/16

In episode 55 of the Nextflow podcast (February 2026), Phil Ewels is joined by Adam Talbot and Ken Brewer to discuss a new Seqera project: using Terraform to manage Seqera Platform configuration as infrastructure as code. They cover why reproducible, reliable infrastructure matters alongside portable Nextflow pipelines, and how Terraform helps reduce “click ops,” provide version control, prevent drift, and support change control via plan/apply workflows and pull requests.The conversation introduces

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01:12:38

Episode 54: Fusion Snapshots, with Lorenzo Fontana

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2026/02/02

In this episode, Phil Ewels sits down with Lorenzo Fontana, an engineer at Seqera with deep expertise in Linux kernel internals, eBPF, and systems programming.Full transcript and summary blog post here: https://seqera.io/podcasts/episode-54-fusion-snapshots/Lorenzo is the co-author of the O'Reilly book "Linux Observability with eBPF" and a key developer behind Fusion and Fusion Snapshots.We explore Lorenzo's fascinating journey from Linux security tools to bioinformatics

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01:11:47

Episode 53: Highlights from 2025

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2026/01/19

The Nextflow Podcast is back! After a brief hiatus, Phil Ewels returns with a comprehensive look at everything that happened in 2025 across the Nextflow ecosystem. Joining Phil for this year-in-review are Rob Syme (Scientific Support Lead), Marcel Ribeiro Dantas (Senior Developer Advocate), and Rob Newman (Product Manager Lead) from Seqera.In this episode, we cover:* Nextflow Language Evolution - The new syntax parser, VSCode extension with native language server support, nextflow lint and format

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00:38:40

Episode 52: Australian BioCommons

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2025/06/03

In Episode 52 of the Nextflow podcast, Phil Ewels is joined by Ziad Al Bkhetan and Steven Manos from the Australian BioCommons to explore how Nextflow and Seqera Platform are transforming bioinformatics research across Australia.Discover how the Australian BioCommons emerged as a national infrastructure investment to support molecular life sciences researchers, building digital platforms and tools that serve diverse research communities - from genome assembly to proteomics. Learn about their journey

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00:50:03

Episode 51: Nextflow strict syntax

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2025/04/15

In Episode 51 of the Nextflow podcast, Phil Ewels and Ben Sherman discuss Nextflow's upcoming strict syntax - a significant evolution bringing clearer error messages and a more consistent language framework. They explore key changes including the separation of code from declarations, removal of for/while loops in favour of operators, and changes to type annotations. Learn how these improvements lay the groundwork for better developer experiences with features like static type checking and

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00:34:32

Episode 50: Imaging pipelines and analysis, with...

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2025/04/04

In this milestone 50th episode of the Nextflow podcast, host Phil Ewels sits down with Krešimir Beštak, a PhD student and active contributor to the nf-core community, to explore an exciting frontier in bioinformatics: microscopy and spatial omics.While Nextflow is traditionally associated with genomics workflows, Krešimir shares how it’s being used to power image analysis pipelines like MCMICRO, supporting complex research into cardiovascular disease and cancer diagnostics. Based at the University

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00:34:44

Episode 49: Finding novel proteins at Seanome, with...

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2025/03/18

Join host Phil Ewels in Episode 49 of the Nextflow Podcast as he interviews Dr. Olga Botvinnik, founder and CEO of Seanome. Olga discusses her journey from studying at MIT to founding her non-profit research institute focused on marine genomics. Discover her groundbreaking work in annotating unknown proteins and her efforts in collaborating with the Earth BioGenome Project.Olga also shares her experience with the Nextflow and nf-core communities, and her vision for developing tools to aid research

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01:06:08

Episode 48: Nextflow Summit Barcelona 2024 Highlights

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/11/28

In this episode of the Nextflow Podcast, we dive into highlights from the recent Nextflow Summit held in Barcelona in 2024. The summit featured an incredible range of talks, demonstrations, and discussions showcasing the latest advancements in workflows, data analysis, and community collaboration.With so much exciting content to explore, we’ve picked out some of our favourite moments to share with you. From impactful new features to inspiring keynote addresses and humorous presentations, this

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00:39:48

Episode 47: New Nextflow language server & VS Code...

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/11/05

In episode 47 of The Nextflow Podcast, Phil Ewels and Ben Sherman discuss the launch of the new Nextflow language server, a significant upgrade providing advanced code intelligence features such as code completion and error hints for VS Code users. They detail the benefits of formalizing Nextflow as its own programming language, reducing reliance on Groovy, and improving error messages and code clarity. They also cover new documentation, plans for future features like type annotations, and

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00:49:48

Episode 46: Nextflow meets WDL— Comparing modern...

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/09/17

In this episode of Channels, the Nextflow podcast, host Geraldine from Seqera and her colleague Ben Sherman dive into the differences and similarities between Nextflow and the Workflow Description Language (WDL). They discuss the origins and development of WDL at the Broad Institute, the challenges of working with different workflow languages, and how Nextflow's channel-based data flow model compares to WDL's approach. The conversation covers key features, type systems, and runtime

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00:42:06

Episode 45: tinybio - Nextflow x AI

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/09/03

In this episode of Channels, the Nextflow podcast, join us as we explore Nextflow and AI. Our special guest, Sasha from Seqera, shares his remarkable journey from the consumer tech industry to bioinformatics. Learn about the birth of TinyBio, its innovations in bioinformatics AI applications, and its recent acquisition by Seqera. We delve into AI concepts, the challenges faced, and the future of integrating AI with Nextflow. Tune in to discover how advancements in AI are reshaping the bioinformatics

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00:36:15

Episode 44: Regulatory revolution - Open source...

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/08/20

In episode 44 of the Nextflow Channels podcast, Phil Ewels welcomes Alex Pelzer— a key figure in the Nextflow and nf-core community. Alex shares his journey from academia to the pharmaceutical industry, highlighting the critical role of regulatory frameworks in bioinformatics.🌟 Key Highlights: The transition from working at QBiC to Boehringer Ingelheim. The importance of maintaining high-quality, reproducible pipelines in bioinformatics. Understanding regulatory requirements and their impact

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00:48:47

Episode 43: Data Studios

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/08/06

In this episode we explore the new features of Seqera's Data Studios and Data Explorer, with Phil Ewels, Rob Newman and Rob Syme from Seqera.Discover how to use these tools for troubleshooting Nextflow pipelines, tertiary analysis and Nextflow development. We discuss the pain points that led to the creation of Data Studios and how it's designed to allow scientists to interactively and collaboratively work with data and complex workflows, without having to move large datasets around. Rob

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00:40:04

Episode 42: Nextflow on the Road — ISMB 2024 in Montreal

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/07/23

A small but intrepid team of Seqerans recently attended the ISMB 2024 conference in Montreal, a great mix of computational biology and bioinformatics with a largely academic / research-focused audience. Join Geraldine Van der Auwera, Rob Syme and Florian Wuennemann for a lively discussion about the scientific themes of the conference, their experience running the booth, meeting with the ISMB and BOSC community, and resources for job seekers.

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00:46:31

Episode 41: New syntax in Nextflow 24.04.

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/07/09

Join us in exploring the latest Nextflow release, 24.04. Phil Ewels and Ben Sherman dive deep into the new updates in Nextflow’s most recent version. We discuss advanced retry strategies, job arrays, resourceLimits, Singularity’s OCI mode, and the game-changing Workflow Output Definition.We’re actively seeking feedback from the community on these new features. We would love for you to experiment with the new syntax and let us know your thoughts. Please let us know what you think either

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00:34:15

Episode 40: Origins of nf-core - SciLifeLab NGI

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/06/25

Join us to hear Phil Ewels chat with Maxime Garciaand Franziska Bonath about how nf-core started at the National Genomics Infrastructure (NGI) at SciLifeLab in Sweden.We chat about how the nf-core/sarek pipeline grew alongside and eventually joined nf-core,as well as the early days of nf-core bytesize talks and outreach organisation. Links: - SciLifeLab - National Genomics Infrastructure - Maxime's Nextflow Summit Boston 2023 presentation about Sarek - nf-core bytesize talks

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00:46:47

Episode 39: Spatial proteomics at Pixelgen

The Nextflow Podcast ·

2024/06/11

Tune in to hear all about Pixelgen Technologies - creators of a novel technologyfor doing single-cell spatial proteomics. We chat about how this fascinating technology works, what you can do with the data and why they chose to develop their analysis suite as an open-source nf-core pipeline. Links: Software: nf-core/pixelator pipeline Pixelator Python package Science: Nature Methods publication: “Molecular pixelation: spatial proteomics of single cells by sequencing”

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