DFG Funding Recommendation and Coalition Agreement: Tailwind for the NFDI

Good news for NFDI4Biodiversity and the entire NFDI community: The DFG expert panel has recommended continued funding for the second project phase—a strong signal for the protection of biodiversity based on reliable data. Political momentum is also growing: The new coalition agreement clearly commits to the long-term development of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).

After years of intensive collaboration, the development of diverse services, and immense advancements concerning the ongoing establishment of an infrastructures for biodiversity, ecological, and environmental data, there is now an opportunity to build on and deepen this progress. The NFDI expert panel of the German Research Foundation (DFG) has recommended continued funding for the second project phase.

In addition to NFDI4Biodiversity, the other eight consortia from the first NFDI funding round have also been recommended for continued support: KonsortSWD – NFDI4Society, NFDI4Culture, NFDI4Chem, NFDI4ING, NFDI4DataPlant, NFDI4Cat – NFDI for Catalysis-Related Sciences, NFDI4Health, and the GHGA – German Human Genome–Phenome Archive.

"We are committed to establishing the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) on a permanent basis."

Coalition Agreement: Commitment to a Long-Term NFDI

There is also encouraging news from the political arena: The new coalition agreement between CDU, CSU, and SPD explicitly states (p. 80): "We are committed to establishing the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) on a permanent basis." This is a clear political signal from the new federal government, which expresses its fundamental commitment to the long-term support of the NFDI initiative.

The final decision on whether the NFDI consortia will indeed receive continued funding will be made on July 4, 2025. On that day, the Joint Science Conference (GWK)—comprising representatives of both federal and state governments—will convene to decide on the allocation of funding.