Community
Our consortium is a true bottom-up initiative – shaped by you and driven by the needs of everyone working with bioimaging data. You are the community, and our mission is to support your everyday research practice with practical, sustainable research data management solutions.
Our work programme is guided by the challenges and priorities you identify. We actively explore the research data management needs in bioimaging in Germany and beyond via our community via the Community Survey. Together, we develop approaches that strengthen bioimaging data management across disciplines and institutions. Successful collaborations are highlighted in our Wall Calendar and featured in our publications. We invite you to actively engage, share your perspectives and contribute your expertise. Connect with us via the Help Desk or the Coordination Office and become part of a growing network built by the community, for the community. We look forward to working with you!
Work with NFDI4BIOIMAGE
We work closely with our community by providing access to our tools and services, supporting local or institutional deployment, and integrating community-developed solutions into our infrastructure. These collaborations help ensure that our outputs are practical, sustainable, and widely usable.
Engagements often start through topic-specific collaboration requests to the Coordination Office or via our Help Desk. If there is shared interest and clear added value, the collaboration can be developed into a more formal partnership within NFDI4BIOIMAGE. We established the Help Desk network bringing together thematically related NFDI consortia to enhance our collective support capabilities. By sharing best practices, resources, and expertise, we ensure a streamlined and efficient approach to user assistance across different areas.
Collaborations with us are formalized through an agreed project framework, referred to as a Community Use Case, which is integrated into the consortium by decision of the Steering Board. The framework defines shared goals and ensures mutual benefit. While no direct financial funding is provided, NFDI4BIOIMAGE can support collaborations by allocating expert time, including technical guidance and hands-on support from our Data Stewards.
BioMed & BioData Interest Group
Biological research produces diverse, interrelated data, from omics and imaging to clinical and immunological datasets. Managing these in a FAIR, secure, and interoperable way requires coordination across domains, especially for sensitive genomic and health data.
The BioData and BioMed Interest Groups are formed by related consortia within the NFDI and engage with the research community and other NFDI consortia to provide guidance, training, and cross-domain support. By aligning standards, metadata, and security practices, we help researchers navigate complex projects, connect with the right consortia for each data type, and manage sensitive data safely and efficiently.
Bioimaging community
Bioimaging data are complex, high-volume, and highly interdisciplinary. Ensuring that such data remain reusable and FAIR requires coordinated international standards, shared software ecosystems, and aligned community practices. NFDI4BIOIMAGE therefore works closely with global partners to maximise interoperability, reuse, and long-term sustainability.
Global initiatives & data platforms
NFDI4BIOIMAGE consortium members play an active leadership role in the international bioimaging landscape. Thereby, we contribute to governance and strategic development in major global initiatives. In addition, we maintain close operational links with key international data resources to ensure that national bioimaging efforts are fully embedded in the global data ecosystem.
Ensuring Quality and Accessibility in Bioimaging
Open-source software development and standardization form a cornerstone of NFDI4BIOIMAGE’s international engagement. Alongside active engagement in the community-driven quality initiative QUAREP-LiMi, ISO working groups on microscopy metadata and the FAIR Image Objects effort (FAIR-IO), consortium members steer and develop new technologies to strengthen interoperability, reproducibility, and alignment with international best practices.
Cross-Discipline and International Partnerships
Beyond domain-specific activities, we contribute to major cross-consortial infrastructures. In addition, we participate in major funding and development programmes such as Global Image Data Ecosystem (foundingGIDE), Wellcome Trust initiatives, Wellcome Leap (Delta Tissue), Chan Zuckerberg Initiative–supported activities, and AI4Life. These collaborations extend interoperability beyond bioimaging, particularly with spatial omics, AI-based analysis, and multi-domain research workflows, while ensuring long-term sustainability through international reuse.