Initiative "NFDI"

The last pandemic showcases the importance of cooperative science: In order to understand the global implications of Covid-19 for physical and mental health, for the economy, the climate, and traffic, different disciplines have to join their research efforts.

In order to do so, scientists need access to data that is freely available and has as much consistency in formatting as possible. At the same time, it is essential to store data securely in order to prevent misuse or unwanted publication. The development of a German National Research Data Infrastructure, NFDI in short, is supposed to manage these tasks. Among their key tasks will be the systematic organization of data according to the FAIR data principle: They have to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. In 2016, the German Council for Scientific Information Infrastructures recommended setting up such an infrastructure. The project was then initiated by the Joint Science Conference (GWK). Federal and state governments in Germany will invest up to 90 million Euro annually into the ambitious project over the course of ten years.

In order to reach the ambitious goal of a common national infrastructure for research data of all disciplines, so-called consortia were formed in a first step. They are unions of universities, non-university research institutes, and other players. Next to the aforementioned securing and processing of research data, it is their task to connect and network with international initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud.

Scientists from the U Bremen Research Alliance are collaborators in the following consortia of the three funding rounds:

The funded consortia in the first round of calls, in which the members of the U Bremen Research Allaiance are involved, cover Biodiversity Research, Health Science, Engineering, and Social, Behavioral, Educational, and Economic Sciences as well as Architecture, Art History and Musicology to Theatre, Dance, Film and Media Studies.

The consortia are presented below.

The funded consortia in the second round of calls, in which the members of the U Bremen Research Allaiance are involved, cover Earth System Science, Data Science, Computer Science, AI Research, Microbiology, and Materials Science/Material Engineering.

The consortia are presented below.

The funded consortia in the third round of calls, in which the members of the U Bremen Research Allaiance are involved, covers Historical Sciences, Energy System Research and a research data infrastructure for the Material Remains of Human History.

The consortia are presented below.

  • NFDI e.V.
    In the National Research Data Infrastructure Germany (NFDI), valuable data from science and research are systematically accessed, networked and made usable in a sustainable and qualitative manner for the entire German science system.
  • Video: "What is the NFDI?" [ENGL.]
    In this video, the DFG explains how the NFDI situates itself in the national research data landscape, what its goals are, and how it is structured.

Cooperating in U Bremen Research Alliance:

Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
In­sti­tute for the Pro­tec­tion of Mar­itime In­fras­truc­tures
German Aerospace Center – Institute of Space Systems
German Maritime Museum
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials
Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems and Energy System Technology
Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing
Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research
Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology
Leibniz Institute for Material-Oriented Technologies
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Universität Bremen
 DE