Research data management as central aspect within the collaborative research centres

Research data is a central output of science. They expand the scientific knowledge and are the basis for future research projects. The documentation of research data should follow subject-specific standards. The long-term archiving of research data is important for the quality assurance of any scientific work, but is also a fundamental prerequisite to allow the reusability of research results.

Researcher from the INP Greifswald enrolled a BMBF funded project with the title Quality assurance and networking of research data in plasma technology - QPTDat. This project aims to develop and test processes and methods for a quality assured and interdisciplinary reuse of research data from plasma technology.

QPTDat cooperation

A collaboration between INP and the CRC 1316 started in 2018 and now the Research Department Plasmas with Complex Interactions, and also the SFB-TR 87 join the activities on research data management. A workshop organized by INP Greifswald in January 2020 was the starting point for further active implementations in the field of research data management in the plasma community in the CRCs as well as in the Research Department.

First measures at EP2

As a first measure, an initiative at the research group EP2 at RUB results in an improved data storage on the local server of the institute. The storage volume has a regular backup and granting access to the complete group or to individual persons is possible. Beside measurement data, all further analysis steps are documented including meta data from all process steps. The members of the research group used a file name scheme, so that files can be found easily by other researchers.

Research data repository

Finally, published research data can be stored and published for the open public on the repository at

The idea of such a repository is the full documentation of measurement conditions (measurement data in a readable file format including meta data). First research groups from the CRCs have access to this repository and upload research data of published papers.

The concept of the repository is based on a multi-level system for publishing records. Users can put data online for review, which are then published by group moderators. The standards for publishing records must be defined by the group. In addition, meta data standards are currently being developed within the CRCs and together with INP Greifswald, so that data entry will be clearer and more uniform in future.

NFDI4Phys

Recently, the Research Department Plasmas with Complex Interactions has started to join the collaboration of different scientific institutions within the so-called
NFDI4Phys consortium. It aims to create structures and tools to simplify and unify the exchange of (mainly) numerical factual data in all areas of physics, with related disciplines and with the industry. The consortium is applying to the DFG for funding within the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) project.

Within the framework of the NFDI4Phys consortium, the CRCs developing meta data standards for research questions in plasma science. Further goals are to contribute to the definition of basic and interdisciplinary standards and to develop methods to make research data from different sources generally accessible and interpretable.