Overview of approved projects

Today, data competence is an important qualification in research and teaching. A thorough research data management (RDM) is essential to make research transparent and its results reproducible. The project “Einstein Your Data” aims to strengthen the data literacy of students and introduce them to the basics of RDM. In close cooperation with the State Initiative FDM NDS, the universities of Vechta and Oldenburg will (1) create self-learning modules for students as Open Educational Resources (OER), (2) develop workflows linked to secure data rooms for student projects and (3) develop concepts for the subsequent use of the resources at other institutions and for use in teaching.

Link to project webpage at Uni Vechta

Project duration: 01.11.2025 – 31.10.2027
Funding volume: 614.754 Euro
Lead university: Universität Vechta
Universities involved: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Contact: Prof. Dr. Karolin Bubke (karolin.bubke@uni-vechta.de)

The project involves the provision and sustainable operation of eLabFTW within the context of the Academic Cloud on servers at TU Braunschweig. By providing eLabFTW, the documentation of research data in scientific laboratories across Lower Saxony is to be modernized, optimized, and thus made interoperable. Regular maintenance and technical support will ensure high availability and data security. In addition, training and support will be offered to researchers and laboratory staff to enable seamless integration into existing workflows. A networking forum for eLabFTW users in Lower Saxony will also be established to facilitate the exchange of experiences, best practices, and solutions to specific challenges. The provision of eLabFTW will promote collaboration among researchers, improve the reproducibility of research results, and ensure compliance with data protection and security requirements.

Link to project webpage at fdm-nds.de

Project duration: 01.07.2025 – 30.06.2027
Funding volume: 269.628 Euro
Lead university: Technische Universität Braunschweig
Universities involved: Technische Universität Clausthal, Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen
Contact:  Lea Löhn & Dr. Benjamin Golub-Overbeck (info@fdm-nds.de)

In the ‘FAIRnetzt in Niedersachsen’ project, activities are carried out to bring together RDM stakeholders in Lower Saxony and to raise awareness of the services offered by RDM-NDS. The activities planned in the project go beyond the activities in pillars 1 and 2 of the state initiative. Measures are planned to improve visibility in order to publicise the state initiative and establish it as a network in Lower Saxony. A second focus is on networking members of the state initiative with stakeholders in the NFDI consortia and researchers at universities and non-university research institutions in Lower Saxony. An annual conference in presence, the ‘Data Days Niedersachsen’, is to be established as an annual highlight of the Lower Saxony RDM community. In addition, moderated workshops will be held to reflect on the activities of the state initiative in dialogue with data stewards and researchers from Lower Saxony in order to align the services offered by FDM-NDS with the needs of researchers.

Project duration: 01.07.2025 – 30.09.2029
Funding volume: 162.250 Euro
Lead university: Leibniz University Hannover
Universities involved: Technische Universität Braunschweig
Contact: Dr. Anneke Meyer (anneke.meyer@zuv.uni-hannover.de)

Research data management in aerospace is strongly constrained by competing interests from individuals, projects, companies, institutions, and governments. Knowledge management is a central bottleneck but often fails at project and organizational boundaries. Project-based infrastructures, such as in the SE²A excellence cluster, often leave valuable data for sustainable aviation unused after project completion.

We therefore propose an Aerospace Knowledge Base for (semi-)open data, following the “Open by Default” principle of NASA and Siemens. A multi-layered system links a publicly accessible aerospace.wikibase with institutional infrastructures such as the Dataverse of TU Braunschweig through an ontology layer, enabling semantic navigation and context-sensitive access control. Collaborative forums and the cooperation of knowledge engineers and aerospace experts accompany each layer.

While this approach does not completely prevent knowledge loss after project completion, it provides a scalable, sustainable infrastructure with a model character that extends far beyond aerospace.

 

Project duration: 04/01/2026 bis 03/31/2028
Funding volume: 351.376,00 Euro
Lead University: Technische Universität Braunschweig
Universities involved: TIB – Leibniz Informationszentrum Technik und Naturwissenschaften
Contact: Ulrich Römer (u.roemer@tu-braunschweig.de)

Data protection-compliant research data management is an important sign of quality of research endeavors – yet easier said than done, considering the complex legal requirements in place. To implement data protection aspects in the already demanding scientific everyday work, issues a challenge for both the researchers and their institutions. The current situation, characterized by a need for assistance of those involved, and potential regarding existing procedural structures, serves as a starting point for the project.
IProDaFo will develop a process to dovetail researchers with universities’ offices specialized in data protection, and work towards strengthening the institutionalization of data protection-related measures in research projects.
Its work plan comprises: To investigate the status quo of the integration of data protection tools and to network actors at universities in Lower Saxony; to develop a process to enquire research-related data protection information; and to formulate a strategy for the advancement of data protection-related consulting processes.

Project duration: 01.04.2026 – 31.03.2028
Funding volume: 264.264 Euro
Lead university: Leibniz Universität Hannover
Universities involved: –
Contact: Prof. Dr. Margrit Seckelmann (margrit.seckelmann@iri.uni-hannover.de)

KOMPASS-FDM is a research project for the comprehensive analysis and impact assessment of Lower Saxony’s state initiative for research data management (FDM-NDS), which has been supporting the expansion of RDM structures at universities in the state since 2023. The project aims to highlight the impact of the initiative, enable strategic management and promote sustainable development. KOMPASS-FDM pursues a multidimensional evaluation strategy: on the one hand, it examines the development of RDM structures at universities – for example, in terms of governance, visibility and implementation. On the other hand, it focuses on the individual level: the project is developing a psychometrically based measurement instrument for the objective assessment of RDM competence, which closes an existing gap in the field of impact measurement. The project is closely linked to the steering committee and the overall coordination and networking strategy of the state initiative. National networks are involved to ensure broad connectivity and sustainable use. KOMPASS-FDM thus creates a robust database for the further development of FDM-NDS and at the same time provides impetus nationwide for evidence-based strategies in research data management.

Project duration: 01.07.2026–30.06.2029
Funding volume: 650.880,00 Euro
Lead university: TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library
Universities involved: University Library of Technische Universität Braunschweig (UBBS), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen (HAWK), Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HsH), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo)
Contact: Ina Blümel (ina.bluemel@tib.eu)

The Nds-WiDaX project aims to sustainably network research data infrastructures in Lower Saxony by developing a domain-specific, semantically enriched knowledge graph. The starting point is the recognition that effective research data management is a collaborative challenge that requires cooperation and technical interoperability across disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Building on the Leibniz Data Manager (LDM) – an open, semantics-oriented software service – Nds-WiDaX enables the machine-readable and contextual indexing of heterogeneous (meta)data from data repositories in Lower Saxony. The resulting knowledge graph semantically links digital research objects via ontologies, controlled vocabularies, and named entity recognition. Nds-WiDaX is aimed at three target groups: Researchers gain semantic search and comparison options, scientific institutions benefit from standard-compliant interfaces and metadata exports, and research in Lower Saxony as a whole is strengthened by improved findability and interoperability of research data.

Project duration: 01.05.2026 – 30.04.2028
Funding volume: 299.690,00 Euro
Lead university: Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)
Universities involved: –
Contact: Dr. Angelina Kraft (angelina.kraft@tib.eu)

The project is developing a previously internal core database containing data from around 15,000 kidney patients into a controlled access “open user file.” External research institutions will be able to use the OPUS-CKD web app to obtain an overview of available parameters and then request anonymized data extracts. The KfH Preventive Medicine Foundation scientifically reviews applications and checks for potential conflicts of interest. Data is transferred via a data trustee at Leibniz University Hannover. The project is creating a model for transparent, data protection-compliant access to sensitive medical research data. The database—the largest of its kind in Germany—will be available for the first time as a research toolbox and will enable comparative analyses. The data protection and security concepts developed can serve as a template for other medical research databases. The program is divided into APs for the creation of the OPUS-CKD app: AP 1: Anonymization, security concept, created with MS1 security concept, AP2A: Website concept created with MS2 WK, AP2B: Website implementation with MS3, website created, AP3: Concept/implementation of data extract with MS 4 data extract interface, AP 6A/B: Simulation/optimization of data extract, MS 5: Standardized data extraction possible.

Project duration: 01.02.2026-31.07.2027 (18 months)
Funding volume: 264.112,00 Euro
Lead university: Leibniz Universität Hannover
Universities involved: Leibniz Universität Hannover, beratend Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (Prof. Zacharias, Peter L. Reichertz Institut für Medizinische Informatik)
Contact: Prof. Dr. Cornelia Blume (blume@iftc.uni-hannover.de)

WissKomm Wiki is creating a digital library for scientific videos and podcasts. Together with the community of researchers, developers, authors, and platform operators, we are establishing a secure, interoperable platform for audio-visual research data in the WissKomm knowledge infrastructure. By making copyrighted videos and podcasts findable, annotatable, and reusable according to FAIR principles, we are connecting knowledge across platform boundaries.

Specifically, we are first consolidating the framework conditions in a catalog of requirements and data protection concept for a legal expertise report. At the same time, we are creating a Wikibase-based wiki system, additional services, and interfaces for automation, networking, and community empowerment.

The community is represented in particular by an open stakeholder group. This will result in a Delphi catalog, as well as informational material such as concept graphics, overview and explanatory videos, and an accompanying podcast with interviews. The goal is 100,000 videos, 2,000 podcasts, 5,000 transcripts, and 1,000,000 metadata entries. To this end, we want to bring together over 20 researchers, 100 authors, and 1,000 users of the WissKomm knowledge infrastructure and generate added value in at least five project collaborations.

Project duration: 01.04.2026 – 31.03.2028
Funding volume: 522.504,00 €
Lead university: Leibniz Universität Hannover
Universities involved: TIB – Leibniz Informationszentrum Technik und Naturwissenschaften
Contact: Tim Wittenborg (WissKomm.Wiki@tib.eu)