NFDI4Biodiversity Flexfunds: Three Projects Show How Big Ideas Can Be Implemented with Limited Resources

When Data Is Available—But Cannot Be Used, or Only to a Limited Extent

Every day, vast amounts of biodiversity data are generated worldwide: microbiome sequences, agricultural land data, or historical observations from archives. Yet their potential often remains untapped. Some data is difficult to access, other data is not sufficiently standardized, or can only be analyzed with great effort. Still other data—such as historical diaries—is available but not in a structured format.

This is precisely where the NFDI4Biodiversity Flexfunds come in: With flexible portions of the funding budget, smaller projects are specifically supported to overcome such hurdles and open up new ways of working with data.

Drei aktuelle Projekte zeigen, wie unterschiedlich diese Ansätze sein können – und wie konkret sie zur Verbesserung der Datennutzung beitragen.

But first: What kind of projects are funded through the NFDI4Biodiversity Flexfunds?

Funding is available for projects that help make biodiversity, ecology, and environmental data more accessible, usable, and reusable—for example, through new tools, services, exemplary data mobilization initiatives, or training materials. What makes this program unique is that the funds can be targeted specifically where there is an immediate need or potential for innovation. A specially convened Reviewer Board evaluates all applications and makes funding recommendations, which are ultimately approved by the consortium’s Steering Committee.

Three new projects: Three perspectives on biodiversity data

The Flexfunds projects currently getting underway exemplify just how varied the challenges in handling biodiversity data are—and how they can be solved.

NFDI4Biodiversity

Support for microbiome data: Helpdesk for the community

The Microbial Community Database (MiCoDa) project addresses a rapidly growing field of research: microbiome data.

Such data—for example, from the analysis of environmental samples—is generated in large quantities worldwide. However, it is not always easily accessible or reusable. Researchers from less well-equipped regions, in particular, often have fewer opportunities to archive or reuse their data.

The Flexfunds project focuses on this challenge:

• It is setting up a help desk to assist researchers in archiving their data
• Data and metadata are curated and converted into a standardized, usable format
• In addition, training sessions, courses, and community events are organized

The goal is to sustainably improve the quality and reusability of microbiome data—while simultaneously strengthening international participation.

The project is being carried out at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) under the direction of Stephanie Jurburg. Other partners include the University of Bremen, the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), and the Society for Biological Data (GFBio e.V.).

NFDI4Biodiversity

Making Land Use Data Visible: InVeKoS in the VAT System

The InVeKoS project focuses on a data resource that has been difficult to access until now: high-resolution spatial land use data from the agricultural sector.

This data is generated as part of an EU-wide system for managing agricultural subsidies. Among other things, it contains information on:

• which crops are grown where
• which areas are farmed organically
• which landscape features (e.g., hedges) are present

Such information is extremely valuable for biodiversity research. However, to date, it is:

• decentralized
• processed inconsistently
• only available to a limited extent

The project therefore follows three key steps:

• Compiling and harmonizing data from various sources
• Processing it in a standardized format
• Integrating it into the VAT system (Visualization, Analysis, and Transformation)

This will make the data easier to analyze in the future and make it usable for research and practical applications.

The Leibniz Institute for Ecological Spatial Development (IÖR) and the University of Marburg are participating in the project. The contact persons are Lisa Eichler (IÖR) and Bernhard Seeger (University of Marburg).

NFDI4Biodiversity

Unlocking Historical Biodiversity Data: Diaries as a Data Source

The HistOrniGraph project demonstrates that historical sources also hold great potential for biodiversity data.

The focus is on ornithological diaries from the 20th century. These contain observations on bird species, locations, and environmental conditions—albeit in an unstructured format.

The project is developing a workflow to systematically make such sources usable:

• Content is partially automated
• enriched with metadata and controlled vocabularies
• converted into a knowledge graph
• and made available as Linked Open Data

A knowledge graph is a structured form of data organization in which information is linked together. This allows for better analysis of relationships and the formulation of new research questions.

The long-term goal is a transferable approach that can also be applied to other historical materials.

The project is being implemented jointly by the General Directorate of the Bavarian State Archives and the University of Passau. The project is led by Lina Hörl and Malte Rehbein.

Why Flexfunds Are So Important

These three projects make it clear: Progress in working with biodiversity data often does not result from large-scale individual measures, but rather from targeted, practical innovations.

Flexfunds create the necessary space for this:

• They enable people from the community to pursue experimental approaches
• They strengthen collaboration between institutions—often across disciplines
• They ensure that solutions are directly implemented in practice—thereby enriching the biodiversity data community as a whole

Next Call for Proposals  

The next Flexfunds call for proposals is expected to launch in early 2027. Subscribe to our community mailing list so you don’t miss the call.

If you have any questions about the Flexfunds, please contact Jan-Ocko Heuer (joheuer@gfbio.org), who will refer you to the Flexfunds project contacts if necessary.