Commission "Condensed Matter Research at Large Scale Facilities"

DAPHNE4NFDI is one of 10 consortia to receive funding this year as part of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). Together with the 9 consortia funded in 2020, the NFDI now increasingly reflects the broader German scientific landscape, where scientists are shaping important progress in terms of data management, data exchange, software, and digitisation in general.  DAPHNE4NFDI will focus on data from the field of photon and neutron research within the broader profile of the NFDI. The final funding decision was made on 02.07.2021 by the Joint Science Conference (GWK), following the recommendation of the expert panel of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Under the leadership of the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY), a total of 18 institutes and universities will receive funding for an initial period of 5 years within the framework of DAPHNE4NFDI.

Founded in 2020, the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI e.V.) is a coordinated, science-driven initiative to make research data from the German science system accessible, networked, and usable in the long term. The NFDI is organised as a network of independent consortia that are selected for funding by the federal and state governments in a competitive process in three application rounds and then funded for up to ten years each. In the second round, which has just been completed, the DAPHNE4NFDI consortium was successful and will start work on 1 October 2021.

DAPHNE4NFDI (DAta from PHoton and Neutron Experiments for NFDI) is an initiative of more than 5500 neutron and photons users in Germany coming from a wide range of different disciplines - from biology and pharmacy, engineering, physics and chemistry to geology and archaeology. This community is facing the common challenge of coping with the increasing need for rapid analysis of large amounts of data and data transfer rates and organising them according to the "FAIR" principles. FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable and describes the criteria for sustainable usability of data - even beyond the original purpose of collection. In the field of photon and neutron research, more than 28 petabytes (PB) of data are currently produced each year by researchers at large-scale research institutions, with some individual experiments generating over one million data files.  In order to be able to analyse this data quickly, efficiently and completely - if possible during the experiment - a new generation of data handling infrastructure is needed. Making data sustainable (FAIR) also requires new working concepts.  This includes searchable catalogues for data and analysis tools in addition to the recording of as many parameters as possible in digital form during the experiment (electronic lab books).   Another key issue is the training and recruitment of young, bright minds for this important field of the future. DAPHNE4NFDI unites scientists at universities, research institutes, large-scale facilities and industry with the goal of addressing these challenges of digital transformation in the field of photon and neutron research.  As a major source of research data, DAPHNE4NFDI is one of the consortia helping to build the National Research Data Infrastructure under the umbrella organisation NFDI e.V.

Funding is directed to 18 different universities, research institutes and major research centres where scientists have organised themselves under the leadership of the Committees for Synchrotron and Neutron Research (KFS, KFN) in order to advance the establishment of the new research data infrastructure in close cooperation with other NFDI consortia. Researchers from eleven other institutions in Germany and abroad are contributing their expertise and methodology to pilot projects. Research on photon and neutron sources is closely anchored in the European environment, and the development of standards and formats within DAHNE4NFDI will take place in close exchange with the cooperating large-scale European research centres.

 www.daphne-nfdi.de

https://www.dfg.de/en/service/press/press_releases/2021/press_release_no_25/index.html