On 26 June 2020, the Joint Science Conference (GWK) decided to establish the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) initiative. In a first selection round, funding was approved for nine different consortia. The IPB is a member of the Chemistry Consortium (NFDI4Chem), which is dedicated to the collection, analysis, publication and sustainable storage of chemical research data. Under the leadership of Steffen Neumann, the institute's chemists and bioinformaticians are involved in the development and maintenance of data standards and infrastructures. "As part of the consortium, we will further develop the MassBank reference database into a repository for mass spectra," says Steffen Neumann. The IPB will also contribute its expertise in biochemical research data and cheminformatics, which are important components of the digitization strategy in chemical research.
The National Research Data Infrastructure aims to establish a nationwide dynamic network of services for joint research data management. To this end, collected data from the scientific community must be systematically indexed and, where possible, made publicly accessible. The GWK initiative is funded by the Federal Government and the Länder. The initial five-year funding of the consortia in the first round will begin in October 2020 and will amount to up to 90 million euros per year in the final phase.