[{"title": "Erfolgreiche Datenmobilisierung f\u00fcr Klimawandel-Forschungsprojekt des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald", "text": "

Die Ausgangslage: Ein Projekt, ein Problem, und die L\u00f6sung durch BEXIS2

Das Klimawandel-Forschungsprojekt BIOKLIM (Biodiversit\u00e4t und Klima) des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald ist von entscheidender Bedeutung f\u00fcr das Verst\u00e4ndnis der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf \u00d6kosysteme. Die Untersuchung von klimabezogener Ver\u00e4nderungen in diesem sensiblen \u00d6kosystem erfordert die Sammlung und Analyse umfangreicher Datens\u00e4tze. Doch die Vielfalt der Datenquellen und -formate stellt eine Herausforderung dar und erschwert eine effektive Datennutzung und -verwaltung.

Vor der Implementierung von BEXIS2 war das Datenmanagement im BIOKLIM-Projekt fragmentiert und unstrukturiert. Daten wurden in verschiedenen Formaten gespeichert, was die Zusammenf\u00fchrung und Analyse erschwerte. Zudem fehlte es an einer zentralen Plattform zur Datenerfassung und -verwaltung, was die Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Forschungsteams behinderte und die Langzeitnutzung der Daten gef\u00e4hrdete.

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem NFDI4Biodiversity-Team wurde das Informationssystem BEXIS2 unter der Leitung von Brigitta K\u00f6nig-Ries vom Institut f\u00fcr Informatik an der Friedrich-Schiller-Universit\u00e4t Jena in das Forschungsdatenmanagement des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald integriert. Diese Instanz dient nun als zentrale Plattform zur Erfassung und Vereinheitlichung der im Rahmen des BIOKLIM-Projekts generierten Daten. Statt die Daten an verschiedenen Orten und Formaten zu speichern, werden sie jetzt an einem Ort zusammengef\u00fchrt und mit Metadaten beschrieben. Das macht es viel einfacher, auf die Daten zuzugreifen und sie zu analysieren.

Ausblick: Langzeitarchivierung und Datenaustausch

Durch die Nutzung von BEXIS2 k\u00f6nnen die BIOKLIM-Daten auch f\u00fcr externe Interessenten zug\u00e4nglich gemacht werden. Dies ist ein wichtiger Schritt, um die Auffindbarkeit und Verf\u00fcgbarkeit der Daten sicherzustellen und die Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Forschungseinrichtungen zu erleichtern. Gleichzeitig wird es den Forschenden somit erm\u00f6glicht, ihre Arbeit zu optimieren und wertvolle Erkenntnisse \u00fcber die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Biodiversit\u00e4t zu gewinnen.

Aufgrund der Verpflichtung des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald als Sonderbeh\u00f6rde des Bayerischen Staatsministeriums f\u00fcr Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz, seine digitalen Unterlagen langfristig zu archivieren, tr\u00e4gt die BEXIS2-gest\u00fctzte Initiative von NFDI4Biodiversity zur effektiven Nutzung und Weitergabe von Forschungsdaten gem\u00e4\u00df den Best Practices f\u00fcr das Forschungsdatenmanagement bei und erf\u00fcllt somit die gesetzlichen Anforderungen an die Langzeitarchivierung digitaler Unterlagen.

In Zusammenarbeit mit den Staatlichen Archiven und deren Generaldirektion, die ebenfalls ein Partner des NFDI4Biodiversity-Netzwerks ist, wird derzeit ein Konzept f\u00fcr die Langzeitarchivierung der BIOKLIM-Daten entwickelt. Dar\u00fcber hinaus wird BEXIS2 in Zukunft einen standardisierten Datenexport erm\u00f6glichen, um den Austausch mit der internationalen Forschungsgemeinschaft zu erleichtern, etwa \u00fcber Portale wie GBIF, eines der gro\u00dfen Biodiversit\u00e4tsdaten-Portale, in dem NFDI4Biodiversity auch das Portal Lebendiger Atlas der Natur Deutschlands betreibt.

Bei Fragen zu den Inhalten dieses Artikels kontaktieren Sie uns gern \u00fcber unseren Helpdesk.

", "teaser": "

NFDI4Biodiversity implementiert das Datenmanagementsystem BEXIS2 als Schl\u00fcsselwerkzeug f\u00fcr ein effektives Forschungsdatenmanagement im Rahmen des Klimawandel-Forschungsprojekts BIOKLIM.

", "image": "/media/images/Mycetoma_suturale_4_D1niIYx.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Projektnews", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "03.04.2024", "year": "2024", "author": "Mark Frenzel und Marthe I. Eisner", "link": "/en/news/erfolgreiche-datenmobilisierung-fur-das-klimawandel-forschungsprojekt-des-nationalparks-bayerischer-wald/", "date_utc": "2024-04-03"}, {"title": "New online format BiodiversiTea \u2013 a space for exchanging ideas and project news", "text": "

Most of us already have more than enough online meetings \u2013 what is often missing are open spaces with time for exchange, networking or the joint development of ideas. The new BiodiversiTea format aims to fill that gap: From April, Judith Engel and Kristin Sauerland \u2013 cross-community coordinators in NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 will be inviting people to monthly online meetings.

While the two form the organizational framework, the format is open to input from the community in terms of content: \"Regardless of whether someone is looking for fellow campaigners for a sub-project, would like to get feedback or would like to report on news from or about the project \u2013 BiodiversiTea thrives on the ideas of the participants,\" say the initiators. The name BiodiversiTea underlines the deliberately relaxed character of the meetings: It is not necessary to register in advance; anyone who has the time and inclination can join spontaneously \u2013 with a cup of tea (or coffee).

The first edition will take place on April 16, 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Elisabeth H\u00fcllbusch from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and Anton G\u00fcntsch from the Botanical Garden Berlin will present a new interface established in NFDI4Biodiversity, which enables the retrieval of taxa and concept relationships from the BfN checklist system. Further information can be found on the event page.

The format will then take place every third Tuesday of the month from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. via Zoom. You can find a preview of the topics for the upcoming dates in our events.

All interested parties are invited; membership of NFDI4Biodiversity is not a prerequisite.

Questions or suggestions about the format? Write to Judith Engel and Kristin Sauerland via our helpdesk.

", "teaser": "

Every third Tuesday of the month, the BiodiversiTea coffee lecture series invites you to exchange ideas, present work results, get feedback or look for fellow campaigners in a relaxed setting.

", "image": "/media/images/BiodiversiTea_Logos_29.7_x_21_cm-2.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Save the Date", "color": "#00f7fb"}, "date": "26.03.2024", "year": "2024", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/kick-off-biodiversitea/", "date_utc": "2024-03-26"}, {"title": "Finding the E in ELSA: Kick-off for the Ethics Task Force", "text": "

Research data are not only valuable resources for scientific knowledge and political action, but also sensitive information that raises ethical, legal and social questions. For example, data breaches, unconscious bias in data collection or analysis, and insufficient transparency about the origin and use of data can jeopardize the integrity and credibility of research findings.

Given the multiple challenges and potential risks associated with the use of research data, it is essential to establish a clear framework that sets standards and best practices. While the ELSA Section (ethical, legal and social aspects) currently only has a data protection task force that deals with legal aspects, there is also an urgent need for a working group explicitly dedicated to ethical issues. The workshop \"Exploring Ethical Challenges across the NFDI\", which took place on February 28, 2023, therefore not only marked the start of a more intensive examination of ethical issues, but also served as an impetus for the establishment of an ethics task force within the NFDI. Representatives from the various consortia, including NFDI4Biodiversity, discussed the specific challenges facing their communities and discussed overarching ethical issues and goals.

Priorities and discussions of the consortia

The workshop was preceded by a survey on ethical issues. This provided an opportunity for the Section members to contribute their perspectives and help capture the diverse ethical challenges faced by the various NFDI consortia. A summary of the key issues was presented at the workshop, which will serve as a basis for the future work of the Task Force. Following on from these priorities, effective strategies for tackling the fundamental issues and concrete measures to promote research data management will be developed:

How can consortia such as NFDI4Health and 4Microbiota, which are entrusted with the management of patient data, ensure that patients are actively involved in research and understand what happens to their data and what they consent to, while ensuring that their data is not misused?
Which historical records should be accessible to the public and which should be restricted, for example to protect privacy or out of respect for cultural sensitivity?
How can different institutions work together to use research data responsibly?
How can we prevent open data from being misused for harmful purposes?
How can research data plans help to ensure that science remains fair and transparent?
How can we ensure that ethical principles are integrated into the management of sensitive data and ensure that all stakeholders are treated fairly?
What rules should apply to the use of AI in science and how can we ensure that it remains fair and transparent?
How can we ensure that global power imbalances are taken into account when collecting and processing data?
What responsibility do we have when dealing with \"dark data\"?
How can we responsibly collect and use data from social media or digital behavior?

Impulse talks

The impulse talks during the workshop highlighted various ethical challenges in the research data infrastructure in more detail, allowing an individual perspective of individual consortia and their focus areas:

Andreas Bruns from the BERD@NFDI consortium spoke about how it is crucial to obtain the consent of the people whose data we want to use, especially in the field of health research. He emphasized that it is not only about obtaining consent, but also about ensuring that patients are actively involved in decisions about the use of their data.

Ulrich Sax from the NFDI4Health consortium posed the question of whether it is ethically justifiable to link different data sets in order to achieve better research results. He emphasized that we must ensure that the protection of privacy and respect for patients' rights are not compromised.

Jan Krasni, an expert in media ethics from the Technical University (TU) Berlin, showed us the challenges associated with the digitization of materials that contain hate or discrimination. He emphasized the importance of respecting the dignity of victims and developing ethical principles that apply to all situations, regardless of the specific circumstances.

The question of who the task force is aimed at was raised afterwards. Should it be aimed at researchers, politicians, non-governmental organizations or other stakeholders? The consensus was that this question is still open at the moment and will remain so for the time being. In principle, there should be the possibility for various forms of cooperation, both with institutions and with other groups. However, it was emphasized that the task force would primarily like to address the NFDI community.

Outlook

As an integral part of the NFDI, the ELSA section plays a crucial role in ensuring transparency and trust in our handling of research data. The integration of ELSA principles into our work underpins the development of a sustainable and responsible research data infrastructure that not only promotes scientific excellence, but also meets the needs of society. These core values of integrity, fairness and responsibility form the foundation for our efforts to strengthen trust in the research community and create a sustainable knowledge base for future generations. During the workshop, it became clear that the Ethics Task Force wants to set clear goals and potential outcomes to concretize this approach. The discussions showed that the work will mainly focus on the development of guidelines to set out the values of principled research data management. The production of scientific papers, workshops, training networks and community building were also considered to ensure a comprehensive and sustainable integration of these values into our activities.

The first official meeting of the Ethics Task Force is scheduled for March 21. This will be an important opportunity to continue the discussions from the workshop and plan concrete steps to achieve the desired goals. It will be interesting to see how the work of the task force will develop in the coming months and what contribution it will make to the further development of ethical standards and practices in the cross-cutting topics of the NFDI. The NFDI4Biodiversity consortium will continue to monitor the task force process and report on progress.

", "teaser": "

An initial workshop to examine ethical challenges within the NFDI laid the foundation for the establishment of an ethics task force. The task of the working group will be to discuss ethical research practices and provide solutions.

", "image": "/media/images/Bild5.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "12.03.2024", "year": "2024", "author": "Marthe I. Eisner", "link": "/en/news/task-force-ethik/", "date_utc": "2024-03-12"}, {"title": "NFDI4Biodiversity training team announces funding for the development of teaching materials and formats", "text": "

Exciting offer for all members of the NFDI4Biodiversity community: A training fund provides financial support for innovative and/or interactive teaching formats or materials for the fields of biodiversity research, data science or data management.

What can be funded?
Training materials such as Open Educational Resources (OERs), tools, training datasets and courses that are specifically tailored to the needs of the biodiversity community.

Who can apply?
All researchers associated or collaborating with a partner organization of the NFDI4Biodiversity consortium.

When does the application deadline end?
In June of this year. Applications can be submitted at any time until then. The project duration itself should not exceed six months.

You can find all the details about the call for entries here.

Questions about the tender can be directed to our helpdesk.

", "teaser": "

", "image": "/media/images/LinkedIn-Post_Ausschreibung.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Open Call", "color": "#813134"}, "date": "07.02.2024", "year": "2024", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/nfdi4biodiversity-trainingsfunds-forderung-fur-die-entwicklung-von-lehrmaterialien-und-formaten/", "date_utc": "2024-02-07"}, {"title": "Participants of the NFDI DataXplorers Hackathon present impressive results in Frankfurt", "text": "

Almost 50 participants from 28 institutions took part in the final of the DataXplorers hackathon \u2013 and presented great tools and services after just six weeks of implementation.

Our DataXplorers cross-community hackathon concluded with an inspiring hybrid event on December 5 and 6 in Frankfurt am Main. (You can read all about the start of the hackathon in October here.) Challenge providers, participants of the hackathon, and interested audiences from the community came together to present the accomplishments of their work, engage in discussions about future steps, and foster valuable connections. The event was joined by 20 in-person and 29 remote participants from 28 different institutions.

The hackathon was jointly organized by the NFDI4Earth Academy, NFDI4Biodiversity, and NFDI4Microbiota and focussed on developing tools and working on data bridging the different communities. The technical infrastructure was provided by de.NBI. Several NFDI4Biodiversity partners from the Bavarian State Archives (GDA), Bielefeld University, and Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development were planning and supervising the hackathon challenges. The DataXplorers hackathon started with an online kick-off event on October 23 and offered six challenges, four of which were actively pursued.\u00a0

Q&A tools answers data management questions

The teams achieved astonishing results within only six weeks of working time. In one of the challenges, which was jointly organized by partners of the Bavarian State Archives and the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), three teams worked towards the aim of an automatic colour inspection of directories or collections of scanned historical maps, their sorting according to colour information, and the determination of land use classes. Each team found its own approach to tackling the challenge. Further, a total of 60 historical maps were digitized and will be made publicly available in the process.\u00a0

In another challenge led by partners of the TU Dresden the team developed a prototype version of a web- and large language model-based Q&A tool that assists researchers in finding answers on RDM topics. The goal is to further develop this prototype and to bring it to usein the context of an NFDI-wide service.

Report on hackathon content and implementation in progress

A more educational approach was pursued in another challenge, organized by partners of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, where several teams were introduced to work with data cubes. The teams learned how to link climatological datasets to species distribution data and, thus how to access data from different sources, and to combine vector data and data cubes.

In a fourth challenge led by partners of the Leibniz-Institut f\u00fcr Analytische Wissenschaften (ISAS) and developed the prototype of a user-friendly web service that transfers metaproteomics data into standard formats and enriches them with further information and metadata. The team continues working on improving the functionalities of the prototype and aims to make it available for other data types.

All results, along with a comprehensive report, will soon be made publicly available in the DataXplorers Zenodo Community.\u00a0

We extend our sincere gratitude to all participants, organizers, and partners for making the DataXplorers hackathon a success!

", "teaser": "

Almost 50 participants from 28 institutions took part in the final of the DataXplorers hackathon \u2013 and presented great tools and services after just six weeks of implementation.

", "image": "/media/images/Banner_DataXplorers.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "31.01.2024", "year": "2024", "author": "Kristin Sauerland", "link": "/en/news/final-dataxplorers-hackathon/", "date_utc": "2024-01-31"}, {"title": "Endangered species: How members of the NFDI4Biodiversity network mobilised data for the Red List of freshwater fishes", "text": "

They are an important indicator of the state of biodiversity: the Red Lists. They are usually based on assessments by experts who observe and categorise population trends. However, data can also usefully supplement the lists \u2013 if it has been processed appropriately. An exciting case study shows how researchers from the NFDI4Biodiversity network have helped to mobilise data from various federal states and make it usable for the Red List for the very first time \u2013 and how nature conservation can benefit from readily available data.

Red Lists play an important role in nature conservation research as they exist for various species groups. Their main aim is to support the prioritisation of nature conservation and thus provide a fundamental basis for practical conservation measures. In this respect, the lists not only fulfil a scientific function, they also serve to inform the public about the state of our natural world.

It is important that red lists are updated regularly \u2013 ideally every ten years. These updates ensure that the information they provide is always up to date. This in turn helps to take effective measures to protect endangered species and continuously improve conservation efforts.

The new Red List of freshwater fish

The latest Red List for freshwater fish and lampreys was recently published \u2013 for the first time in 14 years. An update was therefore urgently needed. However, it is not only the list itself that is new, its creation is also a novelty: for the first time, it contains a data-based analysis of the population trends of many fish species for the period from 2004 to 2020, which was contributed and driven forward by stakeholders from NFDI4Biodiversity.

Assessment factors and challenges

But let's start at the beginning. How is such a Red List actually created?

In order to categorise a species in one of the Red List categories (from \"extinct or lost\" to \"endangered\"), the long-term population trend (the last 100 years), the short-term population trend (the last 15 years), the current population situation and the causes of endangerment are assessed. Although efforts are being made to increasingly supplement Red Lists with data-driven analyses, these assessments are currently still based purely on expert opinions in most cases. This also applies to the Red List of Fish, which was compiled by almost 60 experts from all German federal states.

Lack of data in freshwater ecosystems\u00a0

There is a lack of readily available data, particularly for freshwater ecosystems. There are various reasons for this, such as the difficulty of recording data \"under water\", which requires special equipment and techniques. Another reason is that different data standards exist in the federal states, meaning that the data is managed differently everywhere. This makes it extremely difficult to collate the data. For example, it is time-consuming to 1) harmonise the data from the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which is considered a solid basis for robust assessments of population trends over the last 15 years and must be collected nationwide, between different federal states, and 2) link it with other data, such as from flora-fauna-habitat monitoring or other fisheries.

Mobilisation and publication of the data with the support of NFDI4Biodiversity

The compilation of the current Red List represented a comprehensive work package that included the mobilisation and analysis of the WFD data as an additional basis for the expert assessments. With the active support of employees from the NFDI4Biodiversity project, considerable effort was put into collecting, standardising and finally analysing the data from various federal states.

Parallel to the creation of the Red List, the NFDI4Biodiversity initiative successfully worked towards publishing the FAIR+ dataset once it had been compiled. This initiative underlines the endeavour not only to create a Red List, but also to make the dataset transparent, accessible and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) in order to ensure broader use in the scientific community.

The result of these efforts is a new dataset that combines data from twelve federal states (excluding Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hamburg). The dataset was archived and published via the NFDI4Biodiversity partner Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change and is thus available and downloadable in the international network Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), which summarises information on biodiversity from numerous databases in a central portal, and ultimately also in the Living Atlas of Nature of Germany, a species search portal created within NFDI4Biodiversity.

The published data set comprises

the period 2004 to 2020
several thousand measuring points that were sampled at least twice
mainly data from electrofishing
mainly measurements in rivers
species identified by experts
precise abundance data

Data harmonisation \u2013 a key to improving nature conservation

Red Lists are complex and capture population trends over long periods of time, often spanning more than 100 years, as well as current and likely future species-specific threats. In NFDI4Biodiversity, we have endeavoured to make the database compiled for the Red List of freshwater fishes publicly accessible in such a way that it remains usable in the long term \u2013 for example as a reference for the next Red List of freshwater fishes.

The harmonisation of data sets from different federal states is still a time-consuming process and in many cases makes it difficult to accumulate data as a basis for Red Lists and other national nature conservation measures. NFDI4Biodiversity aims to improve this situation.

The case study shows that data and calculations usefully complement the work of experts. However, many of the criteria for Red Lists, such as long-term trends and causes of endangerment, still require the judgement of experienced experts. The knowledge of experts is essential, especially at regional level, and remains an essential factor in the interpretation of data analyses.

The author of this article was instrumental in mobilising the data used for the Red List. You can find out more about him in the author profile below this text.

", "teaser": "

The new Red List of freshwater fish and lampreys contains an analysis of population trends based on data that complements expert judgements \u2013 an innovation made possible by harmonising data from different federal states.

", "image": "/media/images/Newsbilder_Grossenvorlage-3.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "04.01.2024", "year": "2024", "author": "Martin Friedrichs-Manthey", "link": "/en/news/nfdi4bio-and-the-new-red-list-of-freshwater-fish/", "date_utc": "2024-01-04"}, {"title": "Great interest in exchange on research data management in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern", "text": "

As in the rest of the country, the topic of data management is of great relevance for researchers in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In December, around 80 experts from universities and research institutions in the state came together in Rostock to discuss the everyday challenges of data management and the establishment of a state initiative. The event was organised by Rostock University Library,, the Datenkompass M-V and representatives of the National Research Data Infrastructure.

On the political side, the networking meeting was enriched by two ministries from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: the Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior, Building and Digitalisation. Christian Pegel, Minister of the Interior, Building and Digitisation, was present and emphasised the urgency of good research data management and the necessary networking of research institutions in the state in his welcoming address.

The event also provided an excellent opportunity to deepen nationwide collaboration between the consortia and other research institutions. The participants took the opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss common problems in the management of research data. The aim was also to drive forward the establishment of a state initiative.

Many research institutions already active in NFDI consortia

After further welcoming addresses by Professor Dagmar Waltemath from the University Medical Centre Greifswald and Professor Ralf Ludwig from the University of Rostock, the NFDI consortia in which Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's research institutions are involved were presented to the participants.\u00a0

Dabei stellte Sarah Fischer von NFDI4Biodiversity das Konsortium und einige seiner Pilotprojekte vor, die sie zusammen mit weiteren Kollegen als sogenannte Use-Case-Managerin betreut. Weiterhin bot sie Teilnehmenden Gelegenheit, ihren Arbeitgeber, das Forschungsinstitut f\u00fcr Nutztierbiologie (FBN), sowie die Universit\u00e4t Rostock n\u00e4her kennenzulernen.

The following other consortia were also presented:

NFDI4Cat, presented by Prof Matthias Beller from the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis e.V. & Dr Mark D\u00f6rr from the University of Greifswald
NFDI4Health, presented by Prof Dagmar Waltemath from the University Medical Centre Greifswald
NFDI4BioImage, presented by Dr Markus Becker from the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP)
NFDI4Immuno, presented by Dr Robert Kammerer from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI)
NFDI4Memory, presented by Prof Stefan Kroll from the Rostock University Library

In addition, projects for the development and support of the infrastructure as well as the state initiatives in research data management from Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony could be familiarised with.

Ultimately, it became clear that many institutions face similar challenges when it comes to research data management. An observation that Prof Dagmar Waltemath from Greifwald University Medicine commented on with the words: \"And that's why we need to join forces and drive this forward under the umbrella of Datenkompass M-V.\" The initiative Datenkompass M-V aims to develop a strategy for a data expertise network in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region by the end of 2024 and to pool the resources of academic institutions in order to provide researchers and industry partners with more targeted and better support in research data management.

Poster presentation offered opportunities for intensive dialogue

Ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Treffens bildete die auch Postersession, an der sich viele Teilnehmende aus Hochschulen, Forschungseinrichtungen und NFDI-Konsortien beteiligten und untereinander n\u00e4her kennenlernen konnten. Als Vertreterin von NFDI4Biodiversity pr\u00e4sentierte Sarah Fischer hier die ersten Ans\u00e4tze der Standardisierung in der Nutztierforschung, die mittels des Biodiversit\u00e4tsstandards ABCD erreicht werden soll. Diese Ideen fanden vor allem in Instituten, die sich ebenfalls mit Nutztieren auseinandersetzen Anklang, aber auch andere Erfolge des NFDI4Biodiversity-Konsortium, wie der Lebendige Atlas der Natur Deutschlands sowie der Podcast \"Rechtsdschungel\", der \u00fcber das Management von Biodiversit\u00e4ts- und Umweltdaten aufkl\u00e4rt, wurden interessiert zur Kenntnis genommen.\u00a0

Lively exchange on the establishment of a state initiative

In order to join forces and expertise in the federal state and promote sustainable research data management, the organisers of the networking meeting would like to encourage the establishment of a state initiative. In an interactive workshop, experiences and needs were compiled and strategic aspects of research data management were discussed. The challenges discussed at the networking meeting, which are shared by many stakeholders, can also serve as an inventory and basis for further work.

Desire for further networking meetings

At the end of the networking meeting, there was a positive mood and a shared certainty that the outstanding challenges can best be solved in a joint national initiative. The participants agreed to organise further meetings in order to drive forward the strategic planning of such an initiative together and also to exchange information in greater depth on topics relevant to research data that concern many participants in their daily work.

", "teaser": "

Around 80 experts from universities and research institutions in the state came together in Rostock in December to discuss the everyday challenges of data management and the establishment of a state initiative.

", "image": "/media/images/Gruppenfoto_EgSVvVk.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "03.01.2024", "year": "2024", "author": "Sarah Fischer", "link": "/en/news/vernetzungstreffen-fdm-m-v/", "date_utc": "2024-01-03"}, {"title": "The NFDI Association and many NFDI consortia are leaving Twitter/X", "text": "

Wir \u2013 viele NFDI-Konsortien sowie der NFDI-Verein \u2013 verlassen Twitter/X. In unserer Erkl\u00e4rung erfahren Sie, warum wir unsere Accounts zum Jahresende stilllegen \u2013 und, wo Sie uns stattdessen finden.

The NFDI Association and the NFDI Consortia are committed to the core values of Open Science. We value diversity \u2013 not only in the data we care about, but also in the conversations we engage in. We are therefore committed to creating an environment that is welcoming, supportive, respectful and free from threat, intimidation, bullying and discrimination.

Twitter/X's decision to significantly reduce the number of content moderation teams and to invite previously banned authors of hate messages back onto its platform is contrary to this commitment. We have therefore decided to adjust our social media strategy and distance ourselves from Twitter/X. From now on, we will focus our attention on our platforms that currently correspond better with our values, such as our new LinkedIn account.

We will no longer use Twitter/X as of December 31, 2023. Our account will remain inactive and will serve as an archive for some time, but no longer as a communication channel.

To stay in touch with us, feel free to follow us on other platforms that support a constructive and respectful dialog. An overview of all social media platforms where you can find us, the NFDI Association and other consortia can be found here.

", "teaser": "

Da wir den neueren Entwicklung der Plattform kritisch gegen\u00fcberstehen, verlassen wir \u2013 der NFDI-Verein sowie viele NFDI-Konsortien \u2013 Twitter/X. In unserer Erkl\u00e4rung erl\u00e4utern wir, warum wir unsere Accounts zum Jahresende stilllegen \u2013 und, wo sie uns stattdessen finden.

", "image": "/media/images/Exit-Twitterausstieg.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "19.12.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/we-are-leaving-twitter-x/", "date_utc": "2023-12-19"}, {"title": "The NFDI4Biodiversity Coordination wishes you Merry Christmas!", "text": "

Dear colleagues and friends of the NFDI4Biodiversity network,

we are taking a short Christmas break and wish you all happy holidays and a good end to the year!

Thank you for a year with many highlights and special moments \u2013 digital or personal, in meetings or workshops, conferences or hackathons.

Please find a small selection of pictures of our many memorable get-togethers at the bottom of this page.

We look forward to 2024 with you!

The NFDI4Biodiversity coordination team

", "teaser": "

A memorable year in pictures: We say goodbye to a short Christmas break with a gallery of the many wonderful moments of 2023.

", "image": "/media/images/Newsbilder_Grossenvorlage-2.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Notification", "color": "#a93b3c"}, "date": "19.12.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/happy-holidays/", "date_utc": "2023-12-19"}, {"title": "Improved Data Accessibility: The CL System of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Integrates New API Interface", "text": "

The CL system of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) already serves as an essential tool for the collection and management of plant and animal data in Germany. The integration of a REST API interface as part of the NFDI4Biodiversity project will now promote more efficient data exchange: The technological advancement enables direct as well as uncomplicated access to the collected data and improves interoperability with other research services. This expansion opens up new opportunities for the scientific community to research and protect biodiversity in Germany in greater detail.

What it's about: The established system for species lists by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

The CL System is an electronic system developed by the BfN since 2019. It serves a specific purpose: to create lists of plants and animals documented in Germany. These lists serve as an inventory of biodiversity, allowing us to understand precisely which plants and animals are nationally represented and in what frequency.

The CL System has several goals:

Comprehensive species overview: The CL System aims to provide a comprehensive overview of all species in Germany. This is crucial for a better understanding and protection of natural diversity.
Updated information: The system is continuously updated to ensure that information about species is as accurate as possible, allowing researchers to access current and reliable data.
Basis for research and conservation measures: The created species lists serve as a foundation for scientific research and conservation efforts. They are a valuable resource for anyone involved in biodiversity.

Integration with the REST API interface: A key to efficiency in data exchange

As part of the NFDI4Biodiversity project, an exciting development has been implemented for the CL System. It has been decided to integrate a REST API interface.

Anton G\u00fcntsch, contact person in NFDI4Biodiversity for usage scenarios of the new interface, explains the decision: \"The integration of the REST API interface significantly enhances the efficiency of the CL System. This interface makes data exchange between different research services smoother, thereby sustainably improving collaboration in biodiversity research.\"

The abbreviation \"REST\" stands for \"Representational State Transfer,\" and a REST API (Application Programming Interface) is a tool to facilitate data exchange between different applications and systems. This interface now allows other systems to access the data of the CL System directly without complicated logins.

Anton G\u00fcntsch adds: \"The integration of the REST API interface makes the CL System even more accessible. This opens up new opportunities for the scientific community to better explore, understand, and protect biodiversity in Germany.\"

The integration of the REST API interface in the CL System of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation thus marks a significant step towards improved data availability and collaboration in biodiversity research. In the future, we aim to achieve continuous progress together with the scientific community.

", "teaser": "

The CL System of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) is evolving with the integration of a REST API interface in the NFDI4Biodiversity project.

", "image": "/media/images/Scene_6.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "06.12.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Marthe Eisner", "link": "/en/news/neue-schnittstelle/", "date_utc": "2023-12-06"}, {"title": "Podcast \"Rechtsdschungel\": How do I licence my data? And how do I use the licenced data of others?", "text": "

Episode two of the podcast explains to listeners how they can protect their data and to what extent they are allowed to reuse the data of others. The episode is hosted by Ortrun Brand and Daniel Tschink from the NFDI4Biodiversity training team, with legal expert Tom Witschas as a guest.

Rechtsdschungel (Legal jungle) \u2013 that's the name of the NFDI4Biodiversity podcast on legal issues relating to biodiversity and environmental data. Because those active in the consortium know how challenging it can be to find your way through the maze of legal provisions and obligations.

Part two is about data licences and licensing your own data. The episode is aimed in particular at data managers and researchers who have ever wondered how they can protect their data from the fields of biodiversity, ecology and environmental sciences or to what extent they are allowed to reuse the data of others. All of this is regulated by the licence, which podcast hosts Ortrun Brand and Daniel Tschink take a closer look at together with legal expert Tom Witschas from the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU).

Click here for episode two.

", "teaser": "

Episode two of the \"Rechtsdschungel\" podcast explains to listeners how they can protect their data and to what extent they are allowed to reuse the data of others.

", "image": "/media/images/Podcast_Newsbild_Neue-Folge.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "21.11.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/podcast-rechtsdschungel-episode-2-licenses/", "date_utc": "2023-11-21"}, {"title": "Challenge(s) accepted! NFDI hackathon \"DataXplorers\" has started", "text": "

Six challenging data management projects and participants from more than 20 specialist areas: The start of the DataXplorers Hackathon makes us excited for the December unveiling of the results.

On Monday, October 23, we kicked off our \"DataXplorers\" hackathon. A total of 53 interested people responded to the call and took part in the lively virtual event, in which the six exciting and completely different projects (\"challenges\") were presented. The audience consisted of scientists who had registered in advance for one of the challenges, as well as other interested parties from the communities. After the official program, the participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas with the challenge providers in small groups to discuss the further process.

Who is behind the DataXplorers Hackathon?

The DataXplorers Hackathon is jointly organised by the three NFDI consortia NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Earth and NFDI4Microbiota. In the NFDI (National Research Data Infrastructure), we are working on legally compliant, interoperable and sustainable data infrastructures that are easily accessible for researchers in their day-to-day work. The aim is to improve data utilisation options for science and society. The NFDI consists of 26 specialised consortia and a network of consortia (Base4NFDI).\u00a0

NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Earth and NFDI4Microbiota are three of these 26 specialist consortia and together unite the communities of biodiversity and environmental research, earth system sciences and microbiology. The hackathon is organised by the NFDI4Earth Academy, which is dedicated to the education and training of young scientists from the Earth system sciences with a focus on data science. The infrastructure that enables participants to work on their topics from home is provided by our partner de.NBI, the German Network for Bioinformatics Infrastructure.\u00a0

What is the DataXplorers Hackathon all about?\u00a0

The DataXplorers Hackathon focusses on topics and data that are important across the community. The challenges are organised and supervised by partners from the three consortia. As already mentioned, we are offering a total of six completely different challenges.

Challenge 1, organised by our partners at Bielefeld University, is about the partial automation of the image and video annotation software BIIGLE. A nice report about the functionalities and possibilities of BIIGLE can be read here.

Two partners have joined forces for Challenge 2: the Bavarian State Archives Directorate General and the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER). The aim of the challenge is the automatic colour inspection of directories or collections of scanned historical maps (e.g. bog maps), their sorting according to colour information and the determination of land use classes.

In Challenge 3, participants work on programming a bot that answers questions about research data management based on a natural language model. The challenge is supervised by partners of TU Dresden.

Challenge 4 is offered by our partners at Justus Liebig University Giessen and deals with the complementation of the ARUNA Object Storage.

Hackathon participants can experiment with their own data and merge it with other data in Challenge 5. Climate and biodiversity data can be displayed and analysed in so-called data cubes. The challenge is organised by the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry.

In Challenge 6, supervised by the Leibniz Institute for Analytical Sciences (ISAS), the participants are working on a user-friendly web service for the annotation of metaproteomic experiments.\u00a0\u00a0

Further information on the challenges can be found on the DataXplorers website. The results of the challenges will be made available afterwards.

Who are the \"data explorers\"?

A total of 31 scientists from 15 institutions each registered for one of the challenges. A casual round of questions during the kick-off also revealed that the participants came from a wide variety of parts of our communities. In addition to the fun factor, the main motivation for taking part in the hackathon was to gain experience and enjoy the challenge.

What happens next?

The participants have a total of six weeks to work on their project. Afterwards, the presentation of the project results will take place on 5 December in Frankfurt am Main. Interested parties are welcome to register online. The Zoom registration link can be found here. More information can be found on the DataXplorers Website.

", "teaser": "

Six exciting data management projects and participants from more than 20 specialist areas: The start of the DataXplorers hackathon makes us excited about the project results we will get to see in December.

", "image": "/media/images/Newsbilder_Hackathon.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "09.11.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Kristin Sauerland", "link": "/en/news/start-dataxplorers-hackathon/", "date_utc": "2023-11-09"}, {"title": "NFDI4Biodiversity Podcast: A Guide through the Legal Maze of Biodiversity Data - First Episode Available!", "text": "

Data in Research: A Key to Understanding

In research, data is the key to gaining insights. We work with our own data, access information from other researchers, and utilize data from public sources. In this complex landscape, important questions arise: What legal aspects must be considered? Who owns this data? What leeway exists for meaningful data utilization in research? And does data even have a clear ownership?

\"Rechtsdschungel\" Podcast

In our recently launched \"Rechtsdschungel\" podcast, we explore these and many more questions regarding biodiversity and environmental data. A solid understanding of what is allowed - or even necessary - with our research data is crucial to meet the requirements of good scientific practice, as demanded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Biodiversity Data for Biodiversity Conservation

Preserving biodiversity requires making as many of the collected biodiversity data available as possible. This is essential for creating complex syntheses and models, crucial for the work of the IPBES and serving as the foundation for political decisions.

Support from NFDI4Biodiversity

One of NFDI4Biodiversity's responsibilities is to assist researchers in making their data more available within a clear legal framework. This involves providing both technical solutions and extensive services, as well as offering training and exchange formats on FAIR data management, workflows, and legal issues.

The Complex Relationship Between Law and Science

Unser Podcast bietet einen Einblick in die komplexe Beziehung zwischen Recht und Wissenschaft. Unsere Fachdiskussionsteilnehmenden, Dr. Ortrun Brand von der Universit\u00e4t Marburg, Tom Witschas vom Unabh\u00e4gigen Institut f\u00fcr Umweltfragen (UfU) und Dr. Daniel Tschink von der German Federation for Biological Data (GFBio), beleuchten die rechtlichen Aspekte im Umgang mit Biodiversit\u00e4tsdaten. Ihr Ziel ist es, ein tiefgehendes Verst\u00e4ndnis f\u00fcr den rechtlichen Rahmen zu vermitteln, in dem Forschende, Datensammlnde und Datennutzende agieren. Die praktische Expertise unserer Partner bei NFDI4Biodiversity flie\u00dft ebenfalls in diese Diskussion ein und bereichert sie um wertvolle Einblicke und praxisrelevante Fragen.

First Podcast Episode: Rights and Responsibilities in Research Data

In the first episode of our podcast, we delve into the topic of rights and responsibilities in handling research data. We explore questions about data ownership when collecting information about animals and plants. Additionally, we discuss the ownership of the database that stores this information and the legal distinction between the data itself and the database. We cover the intricacies of data ownership, copyright, and intellectual property rights, especially in the context of field research and scientific collaborations. Challenges and best practices are thoroughly discussed to ensure that data is collected and shared ethically.

The \"Rechtsdschungel\" podcast offers an informative resource to navigate the world of biodiversity data. It is available in the NFDI4Biodiversity Knowledge Base.

Tom Witschas is a full jurist and project leader at the Independent Institute for Environmental Affairs (UfU). He specializes in environmental law and participation. His work heavily focuses on expediting environmental legal planning procedures and strategies to combat invasive species, with a particular emphasis on data-related questions.

Ortrun Brand is a political scientist and has been leading the state-wide collaborative project \"Hessische Forschungsdateninfrastrukturen\" (HeFDI) since October 2016. In this role, she coordinates the establishment of a research data management infrastructure at ten Hessian universities and colleges. She also heads the NFDI4Biodiversity subarea Training & Education (TA1M4). Prior to her current role, she worked on various third-party-funded research projects, with a focus on examining working conditions and organizational changes through digital research data and case studies.

Daniel Tschink is a biologist and serves as the training coordinator at NFDI4Biodiversity. His role focuses on designing training initiatives for researchers and data collectors in the field of biodiversity. The aim is to bridge the gap between biological research and effective data management, thereby improving data quality and accessibility.

", "teaser": "

'Rechtsdschungel' is the new podcast from NFDI4Biodiversity, focusing on the legal aspects of handling biodiversity data. In our first episode, we delve extensively into the topic of rights and responsibilities.

", "image": "/media/images/Newsbilder_Grossenvorlage_Artikelbild.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "06.11.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Juliane R\u00f6der", "link": "/en/news/podcast-rechtsdschungel/", "date_utc": "2023-11-06"}, {"title": "The NFDI4Biodiversity training portfolio is online!", "text": "

Customized training, self-learning materials and more: Since 2021, the training team has been developing a range of courses that enable students as well as researchers to deal competently with biodiversity data. An overview is now available on the website.

Since the consortium was launched in 2021, the NFDI4Biodiversity training team has been working to build an attractive range of courses that help broaden researchers' and students' understanding and skills in working with biodiversity and environmental data. An overview of the formats that have been created can now be found on the project's website!

Biodiversity is of crucial importance for the well-being of our planet, but also for the research community. Therefore, NFDI4Biodiversity's mission is to support researchers, students and other stakeholders in Germany in the management and analysis of biodiversity and environmental data, to foster collaboration between scientists and institutions, and to contribute to cultural change.

The course contents are based on the needs of the participants

To achieve these goals, we, the NFDI4Biodiversity training team, have worked hard in recent years to develop customized training offerings \u2013 the on-demand Custom Trainings and the once-a-year Seasonal Schools \u2013 that meet the needs of biodiversity researchers. Offerings range from courses on data management, analysis, and integration, as well as training on the use of specialized tools and platforms, to more in-depth looks at specific topics such as legal issues, and are aimed at both beginners and professionals looking to deepen their expertise.

To make this portfolio possible and expand the range and quality of training available, we have successfully forged partnerships with diverse infrastructures and research organizations. We are also constantly developing new, innovative learning resources, including online tutorials, podcasts, and a self-study unit. These resources allow users to expand their knowledge and gain practical skills at their own pace. Other formats include outputs from our consortium-internal exchanges on legal issues, which we make available to interested parties, and trainings on how to use the data management tools and services offered by the consortium's partner institutions.

Report on training activities 2021-2023 published

The new training pages are another step in the mission to make knowledge and resources for biodiversity research accessible. We have succeeded in offering a wide range of training opportunities that meet different needs and experience levels. If you are interested in an overview of the work of the training team we also recommend the recently published Training and Education Report.

We look forward to you visiting the new pages \u2013 and hope to see you soon in one of our courses!

Contact

Dr. Daniel Tschink (dtschink@gfbio.org)

", "teaser": "

", "image": "/media/images/Artikel_Foto_Trainingsseiten.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "18.10.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Daniel Tschink", "link": "/en/news/nfdi4biodiversity-training-portfolio-is-online/", "date_utc": "2023-10-18"}, {"title": "One Week of Ecology: Review of the Gf\u00d6 Annual Conference", "text": "

With the 2030 goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mind, the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Ecology brought together experts from a variety of fields to discuss the most pressing ecological issues and innovative solutions.

The German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig hosted the annual conference of the Gesellschaft f\u00fcr \u00d6kologie e.V. (Gf\u00d6) in the impressive Neues Augusteum in Leipzig from September 12-16, 2023. Under the motto \"The Future of Biodiversity - overcoming barriers of taxa, realms, and scales\", over 1100 participants from more than 30 countries gathered to present the latest findings from the fields of experimental, applied, and theoretical ecology, biodiversity research, conservation, modeling, and many other facets of ecology in more than 700 talks and 300 posters.

NFDI4Biodiversity in action

The NFDI4Biodiversity consortium played an active role with a wealth of its own sessions, talks, posters and workshops. Birgit Gemeinholzer organized a symposium on the future of biodiversity monitoring, while Birgitta K\u00f6nig-Ries led a session on the application of artificial intelligence to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of natural history collections. Mark Frenzel designed a session on long time series and historical data and their importance for our understanding of global change, while Christoph Schomburg organized a session on infrastructures and networks in biodiversity research with four presentations by NFDI4Biodiversity partners. Thore Engel and Martin Friedrichs-Manthey contributed a session on analyzing regional biodiversity change for conservation action. In addition, there were other exciting presentations, including one by Birgit Klasen, who presented a comparison of two large datasets on the flora of Bavaria.

The workshop by Jimena Linares and Daniel Tschink on the basics of research data management for biologists was particularly popular.

Keynote Insights: Discussions on the role of values in science

The four keynote speakers inspired the participants and triggered lively discussions in some cases. Esther Turnhout emphasized the importance, as scientists, of always questioning our own values and motives that guide our work. Her thesis that there is no such thing as neutral science and that cultural conditioning and societal norms and values influence us all provoked both dissent and agreement and led to stimulating discussions that continued well beyond the end of her talk in the hallways and halls of the conference.

Swedish successes: Data integration for nature conservation

A look at Sweden showed how successfully biodiversity data from academic, community, private sector, and private sources can be integrated into a common database. The species database curated by SLU not only serves as the basis for reports on the monitoring of FFH and Natura2000 species and sites, but public and private construction projects can also use it to find out whether they would affect protected species or habitats.

German Ecosystem Atlas: Insight into the world of terrestrial and marine ecosystems

The German Federal Statistical Office again presented their publicly available digital atlas of all terrestrial and marine ecosystems in Germany. The atlas is used to monitor changes in ecosystem extent, quality, and performance, as well as for environmental economic overall calculations.

Innovating in environmental protection and biodiversity: The role of the conference as a meeting place

The conference provided a framework in which experts could share their innovative ideas to jointly develop solutions to pressing issues in the field of environmental protection and biodiversity. NFDI4Biodiversity played an active role in this process by contributing to the strengthening of the data infrastructure for research and practice through its own contributions and by fostering collaboration between different stakeholders. Thus, during this event, not only valuable insights were shared, but also the foundations for future interdisciplinary collaborations and research projects were laid. This will help to deepen our understanding of environmental issues and take concrete steps towards sustainable biodiversity conservation.

NFDI4Biodiversity conference participation

Sessions

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 Regional biodiversity change analyses to support conservation management and actions (Martin Friedrichs-Manthey, Lina L\u00fcttgert, Shawan Chowdhury, Thore Engel).

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 Infrastructures and Networks in Biodiversity Research (Christoph Schomburg)

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 Long-term and historical data: prerequisites to reveal changes in ecosystems in the light of global change (Mark Frenzel, J\u00f6rg M\u00fcller)

Symposium

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 The Future of Biodiversity Monitoring (Henrique Pereira, Birgit Gemeinholzer, Wiebke Sickel, Vamsi Krishna Kommineni, Christophe Dominik, Michael Beckmann, Sebastian T. Meyer, Patrick M\u00e4der )

Workshop

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 How to better manage your data - and thereby enrich research (Daniel Tschink, Jimena Linares, Claas-Thido Pfaff, Ivaylo Kostadinov)

", "teaser": "

Mit Blick auf die Ziele der Biodiversit\u00e4tskonvention f\u00fcr 2030 brachte die 52. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft f\u00fcr \u00d6kologie Experten und Expertinnen aus verschiedenen Bereichen zusammen, um die dr\u00e4ngendsten \u00f6kologischen Fragen und innovative L\u00f6sungen zu diskutieren.

", "image": "/media/images/GfO_Titel_TEZWVPD.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "28.09.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Juliane R\u00f6der", "link": "/en/news/eine-woche-okologie-ruckblick-auf-die-gfo-jahreskonferenz-2023/", "date_utc": "2023-09-28"}, {"title": "The First NFDI Conference CoRDI", "text": "

The first CoRDI Conference 2023 in Karlsruhe marked a milestone for the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). In three days, diverse aspects of research data management were highlighted, accompanied by scientific presentations, discussions and networking opportunities.

Research data are the cornerstone of scientific knowledge and societal progress \u2013 and a high-performance data infrastructure is the key to their optimal use. From September 12 to 14, 2023, the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) e.V. association hosted the first Conference on Research Data Infrastructure (CoRDI) in Karlsruhe. Under the motto \"Connecting Communities\", national and international stakeholders from the various research fields as well as the infrastructure sector came together to present their contributions to the design of an effective data infrastructure for Germany and to discuss the latest developments. In cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the CoRDI conference offered NFDI members and all those interested in the field of research data management the opportunity to network on the KIT campus and engage in an intensive professional exchange.Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Focus on national and international networking with other data infrastructures

For many participants familiar with the NFDI, the CoRDI conference provided an opportunity to exchange ideas in a subject-specific context. The extensive program covered a variety of topics and allowed for diverse discussion opportunities.

Im Bereich der Biodiversit\u00e4tsforschung wurde der Fokus auf die Vernetzung nationaler und internationaler Dateninfrastrukturen gelegt, um die Bedeutung der Zusammenarbeit zu betonen. Die EOSC-Life Workflow Collaboratory f\u00fcr die Life Sciences wurde vorgestellt.
In den Ingenieurwissenschaften bot die CoRDI-Konferenz Einblicke in die fortschreitende Digitalisierung und Automatisierung von Arbeitsabl\u00e4ufen. Diskussionen konzentrierten sich auf Themen wie die Digitalisierung in der Katalyse und Reaktionstechnik, die Entwicklung von Tools zur gemeinsamen Nutzung und Entdeckung von Forschungsdaten, die Einf\u00fchrung elektronischer Labornotizb\u00fccher f\u00fcr das Forschungsdatenmanagement sowie aktuelle Erkenntnisse aus dem Bereich Energieforschung.

In the humanities and social sciences, the CoRDI conference focused on the importance of open science and language data. Participants exchanged ideas about the expectations and realities of open science and language data infrastructures. Workflows for object-based research data within NFDI4Objects and Drupal-based virtual research environments were also discussed.

The life sciences were also a significant topic at the CoRDI conference. Here, various aspects of research data infrastructure in the area of health data and biodiversity research were addressed. The introduction of a new publication standard for personalized health data through NFDI4Health was presented; in addition, the work of the COVID-19 task force was discussed.

Spotlight on the consortia: Enriching discussions with colleagues and inspiring new contacts

During the CoRDI conference, there was a variety of interactions between the participants. The project contents and progress of the individual consortia were presented at the \"Market of the Consortia\" at various poster stands.

In particular, it became clear that the participants already have a good overview of the consortia in the various research fields and that the focus was on subject-specific exchange and cooperation. Questions about the organization of the consortia - for example in the areas of training and public relations/science communication - as well as cooperation between them were the focus of the discussions. Valuable connections were made, and representatives from different work packages (task areas) came together to discuss issues and share experiences. Particular emphasis was placed on the widely held intention to create synergies, learn from each other, foster collaboration, and thus already work towards later consolidations.

Valuable forum for exchange within the NFDI and beyond

For all those involved in the development of research data infrastructures or interested in this topic, the CoRDI Conference 2023 offered valuable insights and findings. Reports from the interdisciplinary collaboration of NFDI consortia, the effective design of the national research data infrastructure, and the discussion of current developments in the field of research data illustrated how the goal of the NFDI is being put into practice in concrete terms. The wide-ranging discussions of ideas, identification of additional potential collaborative partners, and clarification of subject-specific issues helped to foster collaboration and ensure that the various consortia work together effectively to create a sustainable research data infrastructure.

NFDI4Biodiversity conference participation

Poster

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 From the GFBio Terminology Service to BiodivPortal: A Terminology Repository and Service for Biodiversity with the OntoPortal Technology (Naouel Karam)

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 Optimizing User Support through Synergistic Integration of Helpdesk Systems: A Case Study of NFDI4Biodiversity and DataPLANT (Judith Engel, Ivaylo Kostadinov, Jimena Linares, Kevin Frey, Dork von Suchodoletz, Cristina Rodgrigues)

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 ARAMOB: Semantic enrichment, management and mobilization of data on the ecology of spiders for research within the NFDI4Biodiversity framework (Huber H\u00f6fer, Florian Raub)

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 BIIGLE: Annotating images and videos in the National Research Data Infrastructure (Martin Zurowietz, Tim W. Nattkemper)

Sessions

NFDI4Biodiversity \u2013 Connecting national and international data infrastructures in Biodiversity Research (Ebert, Barbara; Engel, Judith; Kostadinov, Ivaylo; G\u00fcntsch, Anton; Gl\u00f6ckner, Frank Oliver), 2023. Proceedings of the Conference on Research Data Infrastructure (CoRDI), https://doi.org/10.52825/CoRDI.v1i.346

Towards a Research Data Commons in the German National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI : Vision, Governance, Architecture (Diepenbroek, Michale; Kostadinov, Ivaylo; Seeger, Bernhard; Gl\u00f6ckner, FrankOliver; Dieckmann, Marius; Goesmann, Alexander; Ebert, Barbara; Schimmler, Sonja; Sure-Vetter, York), 2023. Proceedings of the Conference on Research Data Infrastructure (CoRDI), https://doi.org/10.52825/CoRDI.v1i.355

The Aruna Object Storage \u2013 A distributed multi cloud object storage system for scientific data management (Dieckmann, Marius; Beyvers, Sebastian; Hochmuth, Jannis; Rehm, Anna; F\u00f6rster, Frank; Goesmann, Alexander), 2023. Proceedings of the Conference on Research Data Infrastructure (CoRDI), https://doi.org/10.52825/cordi.v1i.404

Finding a Common Ground for NFDI Terminologies \u2013 Proposing I-ADOPT as a NFDI Wide Semantic Layer (Huber, Robert; Karam, Naouel; Koepler, Oliver; Str\u00f6mert, Philip), 2023. Proceedings of the Conference on Research Data Infrastructure, https://doi.org/10.52825/cordi.v1i.366

", "teaser": "

The first CoRDI Conference 2023 in Karlsruhe marked a milestone for the NFDI. In three days, diverse aspects of research data management were highlighted, accompanied by presentations, discussions, and networking opportunities.

", "image": "/media/images/c5e7132d-5de6-42c4-bde0-1d0d84c66ae9.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "25.09.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Marthe Eisner", "link": "/en/news/so-war-die-cordi/", "date_utc": "2023-09-25"}, {"title": "DataXplorers Hackathon: Registration open!", "text": "

Chat bots that answer questions on research data management topics, historical peatland data that can be digitised and visualised in map tools for the first time, or a concept for the semi-automatic annotation of image data \u2013 what can emerge when curious minds from the earth system sciences, biodiversity and microbiology research come together to work on and with data?

We want to find out together with you: at our NFDI Cross-Community Hackathon \"DataXplorers\" (start: 23 October), which allows junior and experienced researchers to get together in larger or smaller groups and (accompanied by professionals) give free rein to their creativity.

The organising team has prepared various challenges on different topics to which participants can assign themselves according to their interests. There are several weeks to work on the tasks until the results are presented on 5 and 6 December in Frankfurt. The data comes from the disciplines of the three consortia that have joined forces to organise the hackathon:\u00a0NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Earth und NFDI4Microbiota.

Registration is now open. Click here to go to the event page with all the information about the challenges and registration: https://www.nfdi.de/dataxplorers-hackathon/

", "teaser": "

Was kann entstehen, wenn neugierige K\u00f6pfe aus Erdsystemwissenschaften, Biodiversit\u00e4ts- und Mikrobiologie-Forschung gemeinsam an und mit Daten arbeiten? Der Ende Oktober startende DataXplorers Hackathon will es herausfinden. Die Registrierung ist ab sofort ge\u00f6ffnet.

", "image": "/media/images/Banner_DataXplorers.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "04.09.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/dataxplorers-hackathon-registration-open/", "date_utc": "2023-09-04"}, {"title": "Concept publication offers insights into NFDI4Biodiversity Winterschool 2022", "text": "

A one-week course that introduced participants to the basics of data management met with great interest in 2022. Now the organizers are sharing their experiences in a concept publication.

To gain in-depth knowledge in handling biodiversity and environmental data, and to do so in just one week \u2013 that was the aim of the Winter School on \"Data Management in Ecology and Environmental Science\" organized by the Society for Ecology (Gf\u00d6) and NFDI4Biodiversity, which took place as an online event from December 5 to 9, 2022.

A format that met with great interest: 21 young scientists were able to participate, and more than 130 applied \u2013 an incentive to repeat the course as soon as possible. The organizers have now summarized their experiences in a publication that offers exciting insights into the structure of the event, the technical requirements and organizational aspects. In the spirit of reusable knowledge, the concept provides numerous empirical values and practical instructions for teachers who would like to plan similar formats.

Theory with the pros, practice on the laptop

To enable participants to directly apply their newly acquired knowledge, the Winter School combined lectures by renowned scientists and data specialists from the field of biodiversity and environmental research with practical exercises. The topics covered ranged from critical aspects and stumbling blocks of research data management to data collection and curation to data analysis, visualization and long-term archiving. In addition, participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with state-of-the-art software tools for data processing, including Jupyter Notebook, R, Python, RightField, and OpenRefine.

In addition to practical work with data, the event also offered insights into national and international legislation on data handling and addressed the influence of research data management on funding guidelines. The Winter School thus provided participants with an all-round package of knowledge along the data lifecycle, equipping them for the growing demands regarding the management of their own research data.

More seasonal schools in planning

Due to the positive feedback of the participants and the good experiences on the part of the organizing team, the NFDI4Biodiversity educational program will be further expanded. Events such as the Winter School, which are organized jointly with different partner institutions, are an integral part of the planning.\u00a0

Information about upcoming events can be found on our events page and will also be announced via our X channel (formerly Twitter).\u00a0

In addition, interested parties have the opportunity to request customized, individual training events at any time via our contact form.\u00a0

Contact

For questions about the Winter School, feel free to contact NFDI4Biodiversity Training Coordinator Daniel Tschink (dtschink@gfbio.org).

", "teaser": "

A one-week course that introduced participants to the basics of data management met with great interest in 2022. Now the organizers are sharing their experiences in a concept publication.

", "image": "/media/images/felix-schmidt-jxOHTu2fabs-unsplash-2.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "17.08.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Marthe Eisner and Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/konzeptpublikation-winterschool-2022/", "date_utc": "2023-08-17"}, {"title": "\"Eddi Erpel\": A science comic explains how data becomes a map", "text": "

How is a map created from research data? This is explained in a scientific comic that resulted from the collaboration of two NFDI4Biodiversity project partners: the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL) and the Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA).

Science comics are a special way of conveying knowledge that combines vivid images with easy-to-understand texts - and thus offers low-threshold access to research topics that often seem complex at first.

The comic strip \"Eddi's Way into the Map\" was developed by the authors Robert K\u00f6pke, Jana Moser and Christian Hanewinkel in close collaboration with the illustrator Katrin Wolff. It illustrates in an exciting way the importance and use of data in biodiversity research and conservation. The story focuses on the work of the Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA), the umbrella organization of German avifaunists, which systematically collects information on bird populations during the annual winter bird census. These valuable data are of great importance for nature conservation, as they document changes in bird populations and distribution areas over time.

The publication was supported by NFDI4Biodiversity, under which the collaboration of IfL and DDA was established.

Eddi, the drake, takes on the role of storyteller in the comic and guides readers through the world of data acquisition, processing and use with ease and a touch of humor. The aim was to present the topic of data, which is sometimes perceived as abstract, in an entertaining way. Readers are thus explained in a vivid way how to use occurrence data and what steps are required to display this data in a map.

The main goal of the publication format is to address a broad public and to convey scientific content in order to arouse interest in ornithology, cartography and research data. In addition, it aims to illustrate the tasks involved in working with data in maps.

\"The comic Eddi's Way to the Map is a great example of how a science comic can be used to raise awareness of the importance of data in biodiversity and make the topic of data collection more accessible,\" NFDI4Biodiversity spokesperson Frank Oliver Gl\u00f6ckner says of the publication. \"Through its intuitive illustration style and engaging story, the comic provides an exciting opportunity to engage with bird science, mapping, and research data.\"

The comic has already proven its worth at several information islands and stands with which NFDI4Biodiversity has been a guest at conferences and other events. Amidst classic information material such as flyers and brochures, the comic attracted a lot of attention and was a great opportunity to get into conversation with visitors. Proof of its popularity: In terms of the most sought-after information stand items, it even tops our beloved chocolate bars

Anyone interested in the comic in-length, can find it here as a free download (PDF). If you would like to request a printed version, please send us a message via our contact form.

", "teaser": "

How is a map created from research data? This is explained by a scientific comic that resulted from the networking of two NFDI4Biodiversity project partners: the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL) and the Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA).

", "image": "/media/images/Bildschirmfoto_2023-07-24_um_15.29.06.width-300.png", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "16.08.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Robert K\u00f6pke and Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/wissenschaftscomic-eddi-erpel-so-kommen-die-vogeldaten-in-die-karten/", "date_utc": "2023-08-16"}, {"title": "Bayern4NFDI: First networking meeting of Bavarian NFDI participants took place in Munich", "text": "

Exchange, networking and inspiration for future cooperation: The Directorate General of the Bavarian Archives organised a meeting for all NFDI participants in Bavaria at the end of July. More than 80 participants from around 40 institutions attended.

On 20 July 2023, a networking meeting of Bavarian participants in the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) took place, organised by the Directorate General of the Bavarian State Archives (GDA). The response was impressive: more than 80 participants from more than 40 different institutions and a wide variety of NFDI consortia were present. The event offered a rare opportunity for cross-consortia, nationwide dialogue. Participants took the opportunity to network and discuss common challenges in research data management.

GDA Director General: Archives have a hinge function in scientific research

Bernhard Grau, Director General of the State Archives, opened the networking meeting with a welcoming address. He emphasised the role of the archives in their hinge function for scientific research and the consequences that this has for the GDA in the NFDI. Barbara Ebert, member of the Scientific Senate of the NFDI and deputy spokesperson of the NFDI4Biodiversity consortium, also addressed the participants. Barbara Ebert outlined the overarching goals of the NFDI, localised the overall social significance of the NFDI as a scientific actor and thus set the framework for the day. The subsequent keynote speech was given by Christian Pfrang, Head of Division at the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs. He presented the tasks of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and discussed the importance of research data management within it.

He also presented a project that is being implemented in collaboration with the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry: The project serves to visualise soil erosion data, which has been processed by GDA for long-term archiving and transferred to the digital archive. At the end of the first part of the event, GDA employees Markus Schmalzl and Michael Unger gave a brief overview of GDA's involvement in the five NFDI consortia NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Earth, FAIRagro, NFDI4Objects, NFDI4Memory and the long-term archiving working group in the Common Infrastructures section and presented various projects that have been launched in collaboration with partners from the NFDI.

Project pitches offered the opportunity to discover interdisciplinary intersections

The project pitches were a central component of the meeting: in a total of ten five-minute presentations, participants from different disciplines, institutions and NFDI consortia presented their current projects that were developed as part of their involvement within the NFDI. The presentation of the project pitches thus offered a unique opportunity to inform NFDI members outside of their own consortium about current projects and to identify interdisciplinary overlaps. As a representative of the NFDI4Biodiversity consortium, Tanja Weibulat from the Bavarian State Natural History Collections (SNSB) presented a use case in her pitch that is being carried out together with the GDA: The project aims to archive the collection of powdery mildew fungi already recorded in the Diversity Workbench system and the associated relational database structure in the long term using the SIARD software tool.

World Caf\u00e9: Intensive exchange and discussion

After a joint lunch break, the World Caf\u00e9 provided an ideal opportunity for an intensive exchange on the four topics of research data management & data literacy, networking, long-term archiving and law. Based on key questions, the participants worked in groups to address current challenges and options for regional cooperation in the respective areas, which led to many enriching discussions. One example of this was the exchange on how nationwide training in research data management could be made possible by integrating it into curricula, organising NFDI workshops or awarding Bavarian prizes.

Consistently positive conclusion: regional exchange to be continued

The final discussion gave the networking meeting a thoroughly positive report. The importance of regional networking between the various institutions in Bavaria was emphasised, particularly with regard to state-specific structures such as funding issues or the existing technical infrastructure. Last but not least, the participants considered the possibility of interdisciplinary cooperation across the consortia to be extremely valuable, as was the opportunity to exchange views on topics that are relevant to all institutions in everyday practice, but less so in the context of the NFDI. The format of a regional exchange received broad approval and is to be further expanded in the future.

", "teaser": "

", "image": "/media/images/_MG_6063.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "15.08.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Giada Matheisen", "link": "/en/news/bayern4nfdi-vernetzungstreffen/", "date_utc": "2023-08-15"}, {"title": "Interesting project for biodiversity researchers: Partners wanted for the processing of historical forestry data", "text": "

Are you interested in working with the General Directorate of Bavarian State Archives to process historical data from Bavarian forestry offices for use in research and nature conservation? Then you should take a look at this application.

The eight Bavarian state archives hold a lot of exciting data that is also highly relevant for biodiversity research. These include, for example, records of flora and fauna or central surveys of plant populations in the form of documents, files, maps, pictures or videos \u2013 media that enable today's researchers to make comparisons between historical and current data.

Currently, however, the extensive archival material is hardly used for biodiversity research, as it cannot be found via the data portals commonly used for this field. To change this, the General Directorate of State Archives of Bavaria (GDA) is working closely with NFDI4Biodiversity and the NFDI in general. We have explained what this looks like in more detail here.

In order to mobilize further information for this use, GDA is now looking for a project partner: Together, data is to be processed that was recorded in 1845 in the course of the Bavarian forest district reform. The aim of the reform was to document the fauna in the individual forest districts; listed are, for example, bear, wolf or beaver, but also many other species. GDA has already made a start: one inventory from the district of Upper Bavaria has already been indexed - now the data from the other offices are waiting to be processed and analyzed scientifically.

For this purpose, GDA is looking for interested parties from the biodiversity research community who are interested in the historical data, its processing, analysis and publication.

Click here for full application.

For questions, feel free to contact Markus Schmalzl, Head of the Stabsstelle Forschung of the GDA: Markus.Schmalzl@gda.bayern.de

We would be pleased if you would share your announcement and pass it on to potentially interested parties.

", "teaser": "

", "image": "/media/images/eva-h-OWIyVBhlLoE-unsplash.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Open Call", "color": "#813134"}, "date": "02.08.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/projektpartner-gesucht-forstamtsdaten/", "date_utc": "2023-08-02"}, {"title": "Image-based biodiversity research with BIIGLE", "text": "

News addition to the Research Data Commons: BIIGLE was one of the first services to be connected to the data infrastructure being created in NFDI4Biodiversity. Among other things, the web-based software makes it easier for researchers to count and annotate living creatures on images and video recordings generated by remote-controlled robots in the deep sea.

Biodiversity research is often based on counting living things. Marine biologists, for example, sometimes count everything they see in images or videos from the deep sea. Counted repeatedly over many years, they can estimate if the biodiversity of a deep sea habitat is stable or declining. Sadly, it is declining more and more often, these days, but this is a different story.\u00a0

Counting things in images or videos sounds easy, right? It is not. The most interesting habitats are often the hardest to reach. The deep sea is dark, cold and the water pressure is immense. On land, a shoreline may be full of spiky rocks or plains may be too vast

Fortunately, technology has got your back. There are remotely operated robots that can explore deep sea environments many kilometers below the surface. It is even easier on land with cheap aerial drones that can capture high-resolution images and videos. But now there is another problem: Too much data. It is just too easy to capture and store imaging data today and more data is always better. But it is still hard to count things in the data. So how do we solve the problem of too much data generated with modern technology? With even more modern technology of course!

How BIIGLE helps

BIIGLE is a web-based software that helps biologists (and other people) to count things in images and videos as fast as possible. This task of looking for things, marking and describing them is referred to as image (and video) annotation. A single annotation consists of two parts, a marker which is a point or a circle, for example, that specifies the position of the object in the image or video, and a label which describes the object.

In BIIGLE, you can upload images and videos and organize them in projects and volumes. These are like directories on your computer. You can also create label trees which are collections of labels that are available for new annotations. Since BIIGLE is a web application, you can invite other people into your annotation projects and annotate together.

BIIGLE can handle very large image collections with tens of thousands of images. It can also handle very large images with tens of thousands of pixels on each edge. These are called mosaics because they are stitched together from lots of regular images. While some marine biologists create mosaics for annotation, too, others annotate mosaics created from aerial images or digital microscopy slides.

While BIIGLE is highly specialized in supporting manual image and video annotation, it also offers several features for automated annotation support. One example is the so-called Machine learning Assisted Image Annotation method (MAIA), which guides users through a multi-step annotation workflow that includes automatic object recognition by an artificial neural network. Recently, BIIGLE has also begun offering the Magic SAM tool, which is based on the Segment Anything Model (SAM). With Magic SAM, all you have to do is point to an object and the tool automatically creates a detailed annotation. As before, many annotation tasks can only be done manually, and that is not likely to change in the near future. But with BIIGLE as a specialized tool, biolog:icists now have the ability to handle the huge amounts of data that are now generated for biodiversity research.

BIIGLE as part of the NFDI4Biodiversity Research Data Commons

BIIGLE is developed by the Biodata Mining Group of Bielefeld University, led by Prof. Tim W. Nattkemper. Through the Bielefeld Institute for Bioinformatics Infrastructure (BIBI), which is a partner institution of NFDI4Biodiversity, it was selected as one of the first services in the Research Data Commons (RDC) \u2013 the ambitious concept developed in NFDI4Biodiversity for a research data infrastructure that will empower users to submit their own data, search the data of others and implement data-based projects.

To connect BIIGLE with the common infrastructure, Life Science Login is now supported to sign up for or log in to BIIGLE. Furthermore, users can now annotate images and videos stored in the Aruna Object Storage, which is developed as part of the RDC. The BIIGLE team is also committed to conduct regular training workshops the first of which already took place in April 2023 (LINK/Event). (Information on upcoming workshops can be found in our events calendar as soon as they are planned.)

While BIIGLE was originally created with a focus on marine imaging, it is now used in many other areas as well. Since the source code is open and freely available (at github.com/biigle), several research institutes maintain their own application instances. The largest public instance at biigle.de is maintained by the Biodata Mining Group at Bielefeld University and powered by the de.NBI cloud. As of the time this blog post is published, this instance hosts over 2,400 users from more than 40 countries who have created 16 million image and video annotations on 3 million images and videos.

About our guest author Martin Zurowietz

Martin is part of the team that has been developing and maintaining BIIGLE 2.0 since its release in 2017. In addition, he manages the application instance on biigle.de. During his PhD, he also worked on the development of methods for automated image annotation. This involved repeatedly collecting large amounts of training data for the algorithms by hand, so he greatly appreciates the support provided by software such as BIIGLE. Martin has been involved in NFDI4Biodiversity since 2022 and is happy to promote BIIGLE as an RDC service to new users. He also enjoys working on open source projects or admiring biodiversity in nature in his spare time. If you have any questions, he can be reached at martin@cebitec.uni-bielefeld.de.

", "teaser": "

New addition to the Research Data Commons: BIIGLE is one of the first services to be connected to the data infrastructure being created in NFDI4Biodiversity. The web-based software makes it easier for researchers to count and annotate creatures on images and video recording...", "image": "/media/images/titleimage-5.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Project News", "color": "#1f0dc3"}, "date": "11.07.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Martin Zurowietz", "link": "/en/news/image-based-biodiversity-research-with-biigle/", "date_utc": "2023-07-11"}, {"title": "The Living Atlas: How the Biodiversity Portal Illuminates the Abundance of Species", "text": "

The Living Atlas of Nature in Germany is currently being created in NFDI4Biodiversity. The aim is to bundle species observations in a descriptive way in order to make them available for specialised applications and the general public. The portal is a joint project of NFDI4Biodiversity and the broader biodiversity community.

The promotion of biodiversity and the protection of our nature require joint efforts and close cooperation between different actors. An important initiative of this collaboration is the Living Atlas of Nature in Germany (LAND) \u2013 a portal developed within the framework of NFDI4Biodiversity that bundles species observations in Germany. The publicly available atlas presents selected data sets on species occurrence clearly on a map and offers various filter options. The first version of the Living Atlas is currently being implemented as part of NFDI4Biodiversity.

An important milestone for the project was a community workshop that took place on 30 and 31 March 2023 (see event page). More than 50 representatives from associations, natural history societies, authorities and science took part and presented the current status of developments. In addition, further requirements and wishes from the biodiversity community were discussed and translated into concrete work assignments.

From Feasibility Study to Living Atlas: Focus on Data Quality, Participation and Configuration of the Portal

The first day of the workshop began with an introductory talk by Aletta Bonn (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)), Anton G\u00fcntsch (Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin) and Birgitta K\u00f6nig-Ries (iDiv), who presented the link between the feasibility study on the Living Atlas of Nature Germany in 2016 and the current project within the NFDI4Biodiversity consortium. This was followed by short keynote presentations on current developments in other portals and data platforms of the community.

\u2192 The LIVING ATLAS OF NATURE GERMANY is still under development, but can already be visited here.

In a first workshop session, data quality mechanisms were discussed to explore methods for testing and improving observation and collection data. Several topics of particular relevance to data quality were identified, such as plausibility testing, taxonomic checklists, data modelling and vocabularies, AI techniques and portal functions.

In another session it was discussed how to stimulate active participation in a living atlas. Target groups such as universities, research organisations, museums, specialised authorities, natural history associations and interested citizens were identified. Incentives and added values for the community were also discussed, such as motivation for participation through competitions, simple workflows, quality requirements and the interconnection of different data sources.

Session three was dedicated to the configuration of the portal, especially the search widget. Questions about the display of information, filters, quick searches and editorial content were discussed. Concrete configuration wishes were identified and feature requests for the operator were also formulated.

The day ended with a keynote speech by Barbara Ebert (GFBio e.V.), who shed light on the legal and organisational aspects of data transfer, specifically the supply and utilisation chain for data, which must be regulated by agreements between data archives and data producers.

In summary, the presentations, discussions and workshops on Day 1 resulted in the requirements for further developments and cooperation in building the Living Atlas of Nature Germany.

Community participation and synergies: Future perspectives of the Living Atlas

The second day of the workshop was characterised by ideas for the concrete design of the Living Atlas. A keynote lecture on data visualisation presented the possibility of using data stories to present complex information in a clear and appealing way. Two examples, a data story about fish counts and a science comic about bird occurrence data, illustrated the potential of these innovative formats.

The other sessions were dedicated to the mobilisation and digitisation of data. The focus was on concrete data sets to be made visible in the atlas. Topics such as data standards, data publication, licences and data rights were discussed. The connection of data to the data infrastructure of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) was an important focus. Cartographic visualisation of biodiversity data was also the subject of one session. The basics of cartography were explained and challenges in data visualisation and interpretation were discussed. Questions on colour selection, classification of datasets and source criticism were addressed.

During an open discussion round, wishes and suggestions for the Living Atlas were discussed. This included topics such as data harmonization, the target audience of the portal, data licensing, and various functionalities that should be provided to users.

The final plenary discussion focused on the perspectives and goals of the Atlas. Concrete proposals for autumn 2023 and 2025 were developed. The mobilisation of data and the implementation of simple functions were identified as priorities. Other aspects such as the coverage of different taxon groups, regular workshop series and appealing visualisations were also discussed.

Overall, the workshop confirmed the need for a comprehensive biodiversity portal such as the Living Atlas of Nature of Germany. The close connection with the data infrastructures of GBIF and the National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI offer great potential for improved data availability and analysis possibilities. It is important to keep the community motivated and involved and to feed back regular developments.

", "teaser": "

The Living Atlas of Nature in Germany (LAND) is currently being created in NFDI4Biodiversity. The aim is to bundle species observations in a descriptive way in order to make them available for specialised applications and the general public. The portal is a joint project of...", "image": "/media/images/emiel-molenaar-c6___zGObUc-unsplash.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "07.07.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Marthe Eisner", "link": "/en/news/workshop-living-atlas/", "date_utc": "2023-07-07"}, {"title": "Save the Date! DataXplorers Hackathon starts in October", "text": "

Chat bots that answer questions on research data management topics, or historical peatland data that can be digitised and visualised in map tools for the first time \u2013 what exciting things can emerge when curious minds from the earth system sciences, biodiversity and microbiology research come together to work on and with data?

Wir wollen es gemeinsam mit euch und Ihnen herausfinden: auf unserem NFDI-Cross-Community-Hackathon \"DataXplorers\" (Start: 23. Oktober), der es Nachwuchs- und erfahrenen Forschenden erm\u00f6glicht, sich in gr\u00f6\u00dferen oder kleineren Gruppen zusammenzutun und (begleitet von Profis) ihrer Kreativit\u00e4t freien Lauf zu lassen.

Das Organisationsteam hat daf\u00fcr verschiedene Challenges zu unterschiedlichen Themen vorbereitet, denen Teilnehmende sich je nach Interesse zuordnen k\u00f6nnen. F\u00fcr die Bearbeitung der Aufgaben ist dabei mehrere Wochen Zeit, bis am 5. und 6. Dezember in Frankfurt die Ergebnisse pr\u00e4sentiert werden. Die Daten stammen aus den Disziplinen der drei Konsortien, die sich f\u00fcr die Organisation des Hackathons zusammengetan haben: NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Earth und NFDI4Microbiota.

More information about the event can be found on the event page, which is updated continuously: https://nfdi4biodiversity.org/de/events/dataxplorers-hackathon/

", "teaser": "

Chat bots that answer research data management questions, or historical peatland data visualised in mapping tools for the first time \u2013 what exciting things can emerge when curious minds from the earth system sciences, biodiversity and microbiology research come together to ...", "image": "/media/images/01_Banner_Color.width-300.jpg", "category": {"title": "Save the Date", "color": "#00f7fb"}, "date": "20.06.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/save-the-date-dataxplorers-hackathon/", "date_utc": "2023-06-20"}, {"title": "Research Data Day in Bremen: Open Doors for Open Data", "text": "

Under the motto \"Open Doors for Open Data\", the members of the U Bremen Research Alliance, including the University of Bremen, jointly invited to the Research Data Day on 07 June 2023. Students, researchers and the interested public could expect a varied programme with contributions from different scientific disciplines on the campus of the University of Bremen. NFDI4Biodiversity was also present and offered visitors the opportunity to expand their knowledge of research data management and make new contacts.

Application-oriented lectures at the opening

A public opening of the event took place the evening before under the motto \"Research data in times of digitisation - successes and challenges of cooperative research data management\" in the Haus der Wissenschaft. The Rector of the University of Bremen and Chair of the U Bremen Research Alliance, Jutta G\u00fcnther, welcomed the participants.

Three exciting and application-oriented presentations highlighted the importance of sustainable research data management and its potential for science, business and society. Heide Ahrens, Secretary General of the German Research Foundation (DFG), presented the current developments in research data management in her talk and emphasised the need for a cultural change in dealing with data.

Hajo Zeeb, Head of Department for Prevention and Evaluation at the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology \u2013 BIPS GmbH, spoke about the role of research data management in knowledge-based policy decisions. He emphasised the importance of high-quality data and its use for policy advice, especially in times of crisis such as the Covid pandemic.

In his presentation, Christof Wolf, President of GESIS \u2013 Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, shed light on the prerequisites for data-based decisions in politics. He emphasised the importance of transparent data infrastructures and appropriate legal frameworks.

The presentations were complemented by moderated Q&A sessions where the audience had the opportunity to gain further insights and ask questions. There was agreement among those present that good data and sound analyses are essential to make good decisions for nature conservation and environmental protection. It was emphasised how important the exchange between science, politics and media reporting is. Furthermore, it was emphasised that a triangle of science, politics and media alone is not sufficient, but a quadrilateral with the involvement of the population is necessary. The acceptance and the benefit for society must be clearly communicated. The question was raised whether the NFDI is able to do this. It is noted that it is not enough to know what is needed, but that further action is needed.

Intensive exchange and networking: Open doors at NFDI4Biodiversity

On Research Data Day itself, the NFDI4Biodiversity project coordination opened its doors at Unicom near the Unicampus. With a workshop, an inspiring lecture and informal talks at the information stand, the consortium offered participants an intensive exchange and exciting insights into the work of the network.

The workshop offered at the event focused on research data management (RDM) and services that assist with key aspects of the data lifecycle. Participants gained insights into how to create a data management plan (DMP) as well as how to prepare, submit and archive heterogeneous data in domain-specific archives and collections.

During the lecture, challenges and solutions were presented using concrete use cases from the national research data infrastructure NFDI. Approaches for the management of biodiversity data were presented that were particularly relevant for the participants.

NFDI4Biodiversity was also able to enrich the informal exchange. Representatives of the network held interesting discussions with students, young scientists, established researchers and the interested public. They provided information about the network's services and were available for questions and suggestions. Particular emphasis was placed on access to modern technologies and a comprehensive stock of biodiversity and environmental data, as well as tried and tested methods and tools for archiving, publishing, searching and analysing data.

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Vielf\u00e4ltiges Programm auf dem Campus der Universit\u00e4t Bremen: Vortr\u00e4ge, Workshops und Diskussionen vermittelten am Tag der Forschungsdaten die Potenziale, aber auch die Herausforderungen, die mit dem Forschungsdatenmanagement in Zeiten der Digitalisierung einhergehen.

", "image": "/media/IMG_0497_2.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "15.06.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Marthe Eisner", "link": "/en/news/forschungsdatentag-in-bremen-open-doors-for-open-data/", "date_utc": "2023-06-15"}, {"title": "\"Data is lifeblood\": The NFDI at the Herrenhausen Conference", "text": "

\"Heart and soul\", \"an important part of me\", \"the children of scientists\" \u2013 these were the answers given by researchers when asked what their research data meant to them. Emotional statements with which sociologist Eva Barl\u00f6sius introduced her talk at the Herrenhausen Conference on Datenr\u00e4ume in Deutschland und Europa gestalten on 24 and 25 April 2023.

The researchers' formulations reflected what many speakers at the event also addressed in their contributions: data infrastructures are not only technical, but also social constructs. It is important to involve people inside and outside the consortia, to invite them to participate and to convince them of the relevance and advantages of good research data management.\u00a0

NFDI in the spotlight

At the invitation of the Volkswagen Foundation and the Council for Information Infrastructures (RfII), around 120 participants from science, politics and research funding gathered in the Xplanatorium at the Herrenhausen Gardens to discuss how the establishment of sustainable research data infrastructures can succeed. The clear focus of the discussion was the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), which was represented with a presentation by Director York Sure-Vetter as well as a large information stand jointly organised by eleven consortia.\u00a0

\"The joke about it is also the staying power,\" Petra Gehring, chair of the RfII, commented in her introduction to the large-scale NFDI project. Creating sustainable structures for the better availability of (research) data from the disciplines requires time and a permanent exchange within the specialist communities as well as among themselves.

Exchange of experience and networking

The conference offered plenty of opportunities for this: between impressive lectures and discussions, several information stands - in addition to NFDI from NFDI4Biodiversity partner Museum f\u00fcr Naturkunde Berlin and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation - as well as a poster session offered the opportunity to get into conversation with other visitors.\u00a0

The joint NFDI information stand, which was very well attended on both days, also attracted a lot of interest. Since most of the visitors were familiar with the NFDI as a project, questions mainly concerned the concrete organisation of the consortia internally or among themselves: How does NFDI4Biodiversity work? Where are the staff members who are known from Zoom conferences? How do the consortia network with each other, with their specialist communities and with other similar initiatives? And above all, what exactly does it mean to \"build a data infrastructure\"?

Building a data infrastructure, what does that actually mean? \u2013 Reading and listening tips

Especially in connection with the latter question, it once again became clear how important it is to make this often seemingly abstract project tangible through concrete examples. This overview presents the so-called NFDI4Biodiversity Use Case projects: concrete projects in which we support data holders in making their exciting wealth of knowledge accessible to a broader user community, including actors from research and politics. One of these use cases is the Society of Ichthyology, which has more than 100,000 data sets on the distribution of all regional species in its fish species atlas; another is the Society of German-Speaking Odonatologists, which has more than two million data points on the occurrence of various dragonfly species.

The recently published episode of the podcast Digitalgespr\u00e4ch with the deputy NFDI4Biodiversity spokesperson Barbara Ebert also offers interesting insights into the development of a platform for research data on biodiversity research. The focus of the exchange is on the multifaceted demands such a project places on all participants and the hurdles that need to be overcome.

We hope you enjoy listening, browsing and discovering!\u00a0

", "teaser": "

How can sustainable research data infrastructures be built and established? Around 120 stakeholders from science, politics and research funding discussed this question over two days in Hanover.

", "image": "/media/IMG_20230424_105651_0dekv81.jpg", "category": {"title": "Report", "color": "#7af842"}, "date": "13.06.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/herrenhauser-konferenz-2023/", "date_utc": "2023-06-13"}, {"title": "The Red List of Freshwater Fishes - a valuable resource", "text": "

Biodiversity is a crucial aspect of our natural world and monitoring the status of species is essential for conservation efforts. An important tool for this is the Red List, which assesses the conservation status of species based on scientific criteria. In Germany, the Red List of freshwater fishes and lampreys is an important resource that is regularly updated and used for conservation and research purposes. J\u00f6rg Freyhof from the Museum f\u00fcr Naturkunde Berlin and Martin Friedrichs-Manthey, coordinator for NFDI4Biodiversity, report in their keynote lecture at the NFDI4Biodiversity All Hands Conference, which took place in Berlin from 12 to 14 October 2022, on how the Red List of fishes is compiled, what challenges it faces and what opportunities the link with the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI4Biodiversity) offers for biodiversity research.

How is the Red List compiled?

The Red List of German freshwater fish and lampreys was first compiled in the 1970s. Endangerment criteria based on status descriptions were mainly used for this purpose. Long-term developments were neglected. Today, the classification criteria specifically ask for three sets of data for each species \u2013 regardless of whether it is a plant, bird or fish:

Current population situation (How is a species distributed and how common is it?)
Long-term population trend (How has the population changed over the last 100 to 150 years?)
Short-term trend (How have populations changed in the last 10 to maximum 15 years?)

As part of the assessment process, data will be collected from various sources. As fisheries - like nature conservation - are a matter for the federal states, organised surveys by means of expert workshops in the federal states are to provide information on the three relevant data sets. In order to balance the bias risk within these expert surveys for the short-term stock trend, standardised fish data from the regular monitoring of fish from the federal states were compiled for the first time. The data are analysed and the species are classified into different Red List categories, ranging from \"not endangered\" to \"extinct\", depending on their conservation status.

Challenges in compiling the Red List

One of the challenges in compiling the Red List of freshwater fishes and lampreys in Germany is the heterogeneity of data from the different federal states. The interpretation and integration of data from different sources can be complex due to differences in data quality, availability and methodology used. For example, although monitoring data from the federal states have been available since 2004 as part of the monitoring of water body status, in order to be evaluated together at the federal level for the Red List, they must first be acquired and then harmonised in an elaborate process. This includes:

Taxonomic harmonisation: German/Lat. Names, old/new names, search for obvious misidentifications
Calculation of fish numbers on a 100 metre stretch
Harmonisation of the coordinates

The importance of the Red List for research and nature conservation

The Red List of Fishes is of immense importance for research and nature conservation. It provides a comprehensive overview of the status of freshwater fish and lampreys in Germany and is thus a valuable tool for identifying knowledge gaps. The data basis enables researchers and political decision-makers to assess the conservation needs of the various species and to set appropriate priorities for conservation measures. It also serves as a basis for monitoring changes in the species' status over time, which is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation measures.

Linking the Red List with NFDI4Biodiversity: potential and benefits

In addition, the Red List dataset can be linked to the National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI4Biodiversity. This aims to build a standardised and interoperable data infrastructure for collaborative use of biodiversity and environmental data and thus promote the conservation of biodiversity. Linking Red List data to NFDI4Biodiversity can improve their discoverability, accessibility, usability and interoperability with other biodiversity datasets, enabling more comprehensive and integrated research on freshwater fish and lamprey conservation.

Conclusion

In summary, the Red List of freshwater fish and lampreys in Germany is an important tool for assessing the conservation status of fish species and guiding conservation measures. Despite the challenges of harmonising data from different sources, the Red List is a valuable resource for research and conservation purposes. By linking it to NFDI4Biodiversity, its potential for biodiversity research can be further enhanced. Prioritising the conservation needs of freshwater fish and lamprey can help conserve rich freshwater biodiversity for future generations.

For more interesting lectures and other recordings, we recommend visiting our YouTube Channel..

The author of the cover picture of this article, which shows the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), is Heiko Brunken, Chairman of the Society for Ichthyology (GfI).

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How is the Red List of freshwater fish in Germany actually created? In a lecture now available on YouTube, experts talk about assessment criteria, challenges and the link to the NFDI.

", "image": "/media/Gasterosteus_aculeatus_Westlicher_Stichling_Hand_Foto_Heiko_Brunken_Rbd1Nm7.jpg", "category": {"title": "New on YouTube", "color": "#ed756a"}, "date": "10.05.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Marthe Eisner", "link": "/en/news/rote-liste-der-susswasserfische/", "date_utc": "2023-05-10"}, {"title": "Poster flashtalks: NFDI4Biodiversity in many one-minute glimpses", "text": "

What is a use case? How does the helpdesk work? And where can I submit my own ideas for training and education formats?

Answers to these and many other questions are provided by the Poster Flashtalks of the NFDI4Biodiversity Annual Conference 2022, which are now available on YouTube. The aim of the so-called All Hands Conference, which took place from 12 to 14 NFDI4Biodiversity in Berlin, was to offer plenty of space for consortium-internal exchange and to advance the work in the project in workshops and free time slots. Day one also included a poster session, which was preceded by almost 30 one-minute flash talks. Each poster author had the opportunity to invite the participants to visit his/her poster.\u00a0

The result is an entertaining, colourful compilation that takes you across the topics and work areas of the consortium. Some talks and associated posters offer insights into the concrete application cases \u2013 our so-called use cases \u2013 in which we identify challenges with regard to sharing and making data available and develop prototype solutions together with partner organisations. These include, for example, the Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten e.V., which has extensive data on bird life in Germany, the PlantHub of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), a new platform that will provide access to the wealth of plant data in the iDiv consortium and beyond, or the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, which brings not data but extensive expertise in geovisualisation for biodiversity data.

Other posters invited participants to contribute their own ideas - for example, for engaging training or outreach formats. A large number of the posters submitted also provide insights into the smallest working units of the consortium, the Measures, which work on the description, documentation and certification of tools, services and (data) repositories, into the further development of the Helpdesk \u2013a central contact point for questions on the management of research data \u2013 or into the national and international networking of NFDI4Biodiversity with related initiatives. More information on how we organise ourselves internally can also be found here.

The video recording of all the Flashtalks is now available on YouTube \u2013 and a really entertaining insight into many areas of the consortium's work.\u00a0The clip is time-stamped so that you can quickly and easily jump to individual topics via the description text. The posters of the talks, most of which were published in the Zenodo community of NFDI4Biodiversity (www.zenodo.org/communities/nfdi4biodiv), are directly linked.\u00a0

Copyright of the cover picture: Anne Barth (www.annebarth.de)

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The poster session of the NFDI4Biodiversity Annual Conference 2022 was preceded by around 25 interesting and entertaining flash talks. They are now available on YouTube \u2013 and invite you on a journey through the consortium.

", "image": "/media/Freisteller_Libelle_29.7__16_cm.png", "category": {"title": "New on YouTube", "color": "#ed756a"}, "date": "04.05.2023", "year": "2023", "author": "Katharina Frohne", "link": "/en/news/poster-flashtalks/", "date_utc": "2023-05-04"}]

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