RDM4mic working group– Research Data Management for microscopy data as a community task

Authors

Susanne Kunis (3), Thomas Zobel (1), Stefanie Weidtkamp-Peters (2)

Affiliations

1. Cells in Motion InterfacultyCentre, Imaging Network Muenster, WWU Muenster
2. Centre for Advanced Imaging, University Duesseldorf
3. Department of Biology/Chemistry and Centre for Cellular Nanoanalytics, University Osnabrueck

Keywords

microscopy, data management, community standards, experience exchange

 

Abstract text

The data management of microscopy data is a particular challenge due to the many different proprietary formats generated by the microscope's manufacturer, the diversity of the data in terms of content and size and the associated requirements for the workflows, and the very extensive metadata in the field of the technical description of microscopy technology alone. Despite increasing demands for data sharing and making data FAIR by third-party funding bodies, public repositories and publishers, the scope of the supporting software solutions and the local infrastructures do not meet the needs of data management in microscopy in terms of usability and standardization. The RDM4mic working group is an association of over 20 core facilities in Germany that exchange information and experience on the topic of data management in core facilities.

Supported by German BioImaging (GerBi), meetings are held regularly to identify basic structures through the exchange of experiences of those involved and dealing with the different data and workflows, and to show various possibilities of how data management can be set up and established in a core facility. In addition to the exchange of experiences, further training is also offered in the form of lectures. Another important issue that the members of the RDM4mic group are dealing with is the establishment and evaluation of standards regarding the scope of metadata, formats and interfaces for the exchange of data.

Further informations: https://german-bioimaging.github.io/RDM4mic.github.io/ and https://gerbi-gmb.de/WG6/ImageDataManagement