The Biodata Interest Group (BIG) within the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) brings together the consortia DataPLANT, NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Microbiota, FAIRagro, NFDI4Objects, and NFDI4BIOIMAGE to collaborate on research data management for the biological sciences.

The first version of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was initially signed in 2024 by the consortia DataPLANT, NFDI4Biodiversity, and NFDI4Microbiota. With the second version of the MoU, published in April 2026, the collaboration has now been expanded to include a total of six consortia. The continued development of BIG reflects a broader effort to strengthen cross-consortium collaboration within the NFDI, with the aim of advancing shared infrastructures, interoperable services, and coordinated research data management offerings in a more sustainable and efficient way.

The collaboration is based on the observation that, despite differing scientific focuses, the participating research communities work with similar methods, data types, and requirements for research data management and data infrastructures. At the same time, the consortia have developed complementary strengths in services, standards, training activities, and technical infrastructures during previous funding phases.

The MoU establishes a shared framework for connecting these developments more closely, expanding synergies between the consortia, and improving the interoperability of biological research data, services, and workflows.

The goal of the Biodata Interest Group is to further develop sustainable, FAIR, and interoperable research data management solutions for the life sciences and to facilitate cross-consortium access to biological data, services, and digital infrastructures.

The participating consortia are part of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), established in 2018 by the German federal and state governments to systematically unlock, connect, and sustainably make valuable scientific and research data usable across the entire German research landscape and all academic disciplines.

The participating consortia address different types of biological data and therefore complement one another through their services, infrastructures, and community offerings. Previous investments in standards, training, tools, and research data management provide a shared foundation for cross-consortium synergies within the Biodata Interest Group.

The Biodata Interest Group within the NFDI

Despite serving different scientific communities and research environments, the participating consortia work with similar methods and address comparable data types. Their investments in services, standards, training activities, and technical infrastructures complement each other in many areas and form the basis for cross-consortium synergies.

The Biodata Interest Group aims to make biological data, services, workflows, and digital infrastructures more interoperable and sustainably usable, while facilitating access to data-related resources in the life sciences. The collaboration remains open to additional consortia and initiatives related to biological data.

Shared Infrastructure and Services

The consortia jointly work on advancing sustainable research data infrastructures for the life sciences. This includes the development of shared services, interoperable cloud and storage infrastructures, and cross-consortium approaches for data curation, data publication, and the long-term usability of biological research data.

In addition, the partners develop and reuse common technical solutions and standards for data management, search services, workflows, ontologies, and FAIR Digital Objects.

Joint Support and Community Services

The consortia coordinate their helpdesk and support structures to provide researchers with low-threshold access to research data management services. Training activities, consulting services, and community support offerings are increasingly aligned and, in some cases, jointly developed.

Another key focus is coordinated outreach and increasing the visibility of existing services and resources within the biological research communities.

Joint Events and Training Activities

The Biodata Interest Group organizes joint workshops, training formats, and scientific events to strengthen exchange between communities and promote the adoption of shared standards and services.

Thematic priorities include data management, interoperability, data stewardship, data science, reference datasets, and data-intensive research and analysis methods.

Shared Perspectives

The Biodata Interest Group sees itself as a long-term and open collaboration within the NFDI. Its goal is to make synergies between biological research communities more visible, jointly advance existing resources, and build sustainable research data infrastructures for the life sciences.

Mary-Ann Blätke

2024

• Biodata Interest Group consisting of DataPLANT, NFDI4Biodiversity, and NFDI4Microbiota publishes the first version of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
• Founding members agree on a shared strategy for training, user support, as well as joint infrastructures and partner institutions

2025

• FAIRagro, NFDI4BIOIMAGE, and NFDI4Objects join the Interest Group
• First official in-person meeting of the group
• Joint contribution to the workshop "Synergy in Life Sciences" at the Conference on Research Data Infrastructure (CoRDI) 2025

2026

• Publication of the extended MoU
• First jointly organized workshop to deepen collaboration
• Joint organization of two scientific conferences:
  • nfdi4LifeScience Conference on Integrative Bioinformatics (2–4 September)
  • Boosting Biodata Bootcamp (15–17 September)

V2 (April 2026)

Ebert, B., Ewert, F., Förstner, K. U., Glöckner, F. O., McHardy, A. C., von Rummel, P., von Suchodoletz, D., Weidtkamp-Peters, S., Ebeling, M.-A., Engel, J., Hoffmann, C., Keller, C., Lange, M., Magel, M., Moore, J., Mühlhaus, T., Scholz, U., Specka, X., & thor Straten, M. (2026). Memorandum of Understanding between the NFDI consortia DataPLANT, NFDI4Microbiota, NFDI4Biodiversity, FAIRagro, NFDI4Objects, and NFDI4BIOIMAGE. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18694155

V1 (August 2024)

Förstner, K., Ebert, B., Glöckner, F.-O., von Suchodoletz, D., McHardy, A. C., & Mühlhaus, T. (2024). Memorandum of Understanding between NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Microbiota and DataPlant. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13880944

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