NFDI: Data as a common good for excellent research, organised by the scientific community in Germany.
NFDI: Data as a common good for excellent research, organised by the scientific community in Germany.
Our network
The non-profit association Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) e.V., based in Karlsruhe, was founded in October 2020 to coordinate the activities to develop NFDI. More than 300 institutions are now members of NFDI. Science organisations, universities, higher education institutions, non-university research institutions, scientific societies and associations are all involved. The future of research data management in Germany is being jointly shaped by a strong network.
Our structure
The individual scientific disciplines are involved in the NFDI in consortia. In each of these, numerous institutions are organised and work together on internal and interdisciplinary topics.
Many topics are relevant for all or several consortia. These are jointly identified and addressed in sections. The network of consortia, Base4NFDI, develops basic services for NFDI.
The association’s statutes also provide for five organisational bodies: The General Assembly of members, the Board of Trustees, the Scientific Senate, the Consortia Assembly and the Directorate. Together they shape NFDI.
Our vision und mission
The vision of NFDI is data as a common good for excellent research, organised by the scientific community in Germany.
Step by step, we are improving the possibilities for utilising data for science and society. Our collaboration in the NFDI Association is creating an overarching organisation for research data management in all branches of science. In collaboration with national and international partners, we are creating the framework conditions for legally compliant, interoperable and sustainable data infrastructures that are easily accessible for researchers in their day-to-day work. We provide training, strengthen expertise in handling data and open up new career paths.
Our international engagement
NFDI represents Germany as a mandated member of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). NFDI is also a member of the internationally active Research Data Alliance (RDA).
News
Love Data Week 2026: NFDI participates in the international action week on research data
From 9 to 13 February 2026, Love Data Week will take place once again—an international action week that brings together researchers, infrastructures, and data-interested communities worldwide. In 2026, the focus is once again on the conscious, responsible, and sustainable handling of research data.
News ELSA Webinar Series about Research Ethics
Tackling various topics and questions ranging from “What is (research) ethics?” to “Should we care about the CARE principles?” the series aims to engage anyone interested in ethics.
NFDITalks 2026: Inspiring lectures on NFDI and research data
NFDITalks is a series of events dedicated to the future of data research. This year, there are once again many exciting topics from our network and beyond on the agenda.
Learn more ⟶
Sections
Many topics are relevant to all or several disciplines. These cross-cutting topics are jointly identified and dealt with in sections, which are thematic departments.
- Common Infrastructures (section-infra)
- Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects (section-ELSA)
- Industry Engagement (section-industry)
- (Meta)data, Terminologies, Provenience (section-metadata)
- Training & Education (section-edutrain)
Consortia
The individual disciplines are organised in NFDI consortia. There are currently 26 funded consortia and the joint network of consortia, Base4NFDI. Up to 80 institutions are connected in each consortium and work together on internal and interdisciplinary topics.
Basic services
- Base4NFDI: Basic services for NFDI (joint network of consortia)
Humanities and Social Sciences
- BERD@NFDI: NFDI for Business, Economic and Related Data
- KonsortSWD: Consortium for the Social, Educational, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
- NFDI4Culture: Consortium for Research Data on Material and Immaterial Cultural Heritage
- NFDI4Memory: The Consortium for the Historically Oriented Humanities
- NFDI4Objects: Research Data Infrastructure for the Material Remains of Human History
- Text+: Language and text-based research data infrastructure
Engineering Sciences
- NFDI4DataScience: NFDI for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- NFDI4Energy: National Research Data Infrastructure for Interdisciplinary Energy System Research
- NFDI4ING: NFDI for Engineering Sciences
- NFDI-MatWerk: National Research Data Infrastructure for Materials Science and Materials Engineering
- NFDIxCS – National Research Data Infrastructure for and with Computer Science
Life Sciences
- DataPLANT: Plant research data
- FAIRagro: FAIR Data Infrastructure for Agrosystems
- NFDI4Immuno – National Research Data Infrastructure for Immunology
- GHGA: German Human Genome-Phenome Archive
- NFDI4Biodiversity: Biodiversity, Ecology and Environmental Data
- NFDI4BIOIMAGE: National research data infrastructure for microscopy and bioimage analysis
- NFDI4Health: NFDI personal health data
- NFDI4Microbiota: NFDI for Microbiota Research
Natural Sciences
- DAPHNE4NFDI: Data from PHoton and Neutron Experiments for NFDI
- FAIRmat: FAIR Data Infrastructure for Condensed-Matter Physics and the Chemical Physics of Solids
- NFDI4Cat: NFDI for sciences related to catalysis
- MaRDI: Mathematical Research Data Initiative
- NFDI4Chem: Chemistry consortium for the NFDI
- NFDI4Earth: NFDI Consortium Earth System Sciences
- PUNCH4NFDI: Particles, Universe, NuClei and Hadrons for the NFDI
Directorate and Office
As the association’s board of directors, the directorate – consisting of Prof Dr York Sure Vetter and Susanne Walter-Augustin – coordinates the association’s bodies, provides support for strategic, cross-consortia cooperation and represents the association externally.
Prof. Dr. York Sure-Vetter
Director
Susanne Walter-Augustin
Administrative director
The directorate is supported by the staff of the NFDI office. This is where the threads of the organisation come together. The office is the contact point for internal and external enquiries and is located in Karlsruhe.
Adress
Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) e.V.
NFDI-Direktorat
Albert-Nestler-Straße 13 | 76131 Karlsruhe
info[at]nfdi.de
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