DataPLANT, NFDI4Biodiversity and NFDI4Microbiota intensify their collaboration as Biodata Interest Group

The consortia DataPLANT, NFDI4Biodiversity and NFDI4Microbiota have taken a significant step towards closer cooperation by signing a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The aim is to pool expertise, energies and technologies in order to provide even better support to the scientific community in the management and processing of biological data.

The focus of the collaboration is to harmonize research data management strategies across consortia. The target groups of the consortia in plant sciences, biodiversity and microbiology use similar methods and generate comparable data types, for which software-based services are being developed. A number of points of contact have already been identified in the past and joint activities have been initiated, which are now to be pursued and expanded. “The preliminary work of the three consortia complements each other perfectly. Through even closer, now also formalized cooperation, we can support researchers in the field of biology even better and facilitate their access to data, services and resources,” says Frank Oliver Glöckner (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research | University of Bremen - MARUM), spokesperson of NFDI4Biodiversity. Frank Förstner, spokesperson for NFDI4Microbiota, adds: “We are delighted that the three consortia will be working even more closely together in the future on overarching solutions for the life sciences community. The MoU forms an important basis for synergistically bringing together significant parts of our activities.”

A major topic area here involves a cross-consortia training portfolio. “Joint training courses bundle the expertise of the three consortia and enable a broad range of courses for various target groups,” explains Dirk von Suchodoletz (University Freiburg), spokesperson for DataPLANT. The aim is to be able to offer researchers, whose work often extends beyond the boundaries of the consortium's subject areas, needs-based and interdisciplinary support.

Another key aspect of the collaboration is strengthening the joint infrastructure, such as the de.NBI cloud, which is already used by all three consortia. The aim is to better represent the needs of the NFDI to cloud operators and to jointly drive forward the further development of modern technologies such as the multicloud and the research data commons.

Other areas of collaboration will include joint programming work for data management services and standards, joint partner facilities and staff, and coordinated outreach activities. “Our collaboration will strengthen all three consortia and promote new, joint projects for the community,” says NFDI4Microbiota spokesperson Alice McHardy (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research).

As Timo Mühlhaus (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau), co-spokesperson of DataPLANT, also emphasizes: Although the life science consortia were established from within their disciplines, “the management of research data is always a collaborative endeavor that enables researchers to share their data across disciplines and work together.” The future focus on even closer collaboration therefore has the potential to fundamentally change how research can be conducted and disseminated. “It's clear that teamwork is not just one aspect, but the driving force behind our most significant discoveries.”

The cooperation between DataPLANT, NFDI4Microbiota and NFDI4Biodiversity, which will be established as a Biodata Interest Group within the NFDI, is therefore open to further, specialist cooperation partners: “Our Memorandum is just the beginning. We are already in contact with other NFDI consortia that work with biological data and are interested in joining,” says Barbara Ebert (Gesellschaft für Biologische Daten e.V.), deputy spokesperson for NFDI4Biodiversity.

You can find out more about the content of the MoU here.