About
Modern biological imaging produces enormous volumes of rich, multidimensional data. Without shared standards, clear metadata and interoperable tools, much of this data becomes difficult to find, understand or reuse, even by the people who created it. Valuable scientific information is lost simply because data cannot travel smoothly across software, platforms or disciplines.
We work to make biological imaging data easier to use, share and trust. By bringing together experts from biology, microscopy, data science and research infrastructure, we build the foundation for sustainable and interoperable image data management.
The Data Lifecycle
Bioimaging data go through several stages. First, images are captured at the microscope. Then, they are stored in reliable formats and described with clear metadata, so everyone can understand what the images show and how they were generated. Next comes analysis, where data are processed, quantified and interpreted. Finally, data are shared, reused or integrated with other experiments to answer new scientific questions.
We develop standardised image data formats that ensure long-term usability and compatibility across tools and platforms. Building on this, we create FAIR digital objects for imaging data, enabling scalable, cloud-ready access, processing and reuse.
We support and distribute metadata and annotation standards, supported by user-friendly tools that improve data description and quality. To enable robust science, we promote reproducible image analysis workflows and better interlinking of image analysis tools, so that every step of an analysis can be documented, shared and validated.
Because imaging data rarely stand alone, we enable multimodal data integration, linking images with other data types from diverse experimental approaches and disciplines.
Alongside technical development, we focus on training and capacity building, helping researchers build expertise in image data management, and on international networking and visibility, connecting our community with global imaging initiatives.
Team
Our consortium brings together experts from biology, imaging, data science and research infrastructure. We organise our work into Task Areas, each focused on a specific goal, from developing standards and tools to training and community building.
The Coordination Office supports the consortium in all organizational matters and is your point of contact for all questions regarding our work and cooperations. Feel free to approach our Training & Outreach team for workshop, events and community matters.
Via our Help Desk, you can get in touch with our Data Steward team. They support researchers with individual support to questions about data formats, metadata, workflows and software. Services and tools are specifically tailored to our communities needs by our Research Software Engineers team.
By combining focused teams, hands-on support, and close collaboration across disciplines, we make it easier to manage, analyse, and reuse bioimaging data effectively.
The Coordination Office
The Coordination Office is staffed by experienced scientific project managers and supports the consortium in all administrative, organizational, and strategic matters.
Feel free to reach out for inquiries regarding collaborations, representation of NFDI4BIOIMAGE at conferences, meetings or symposia, our work in sections of the NFDI association and organizational and administrative questions regarding budget, data protection and collaboration agreement.
Administrative Project Coordinator
HHU Düsseldorf, Center for Advanced Imaging (CAi)
Building 26.24.00.011
Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf
Phone: + 49 211 81-12831
Office hours: Mon – Fri, 8:15 – 5
- budget planning and administration
- organizational matters
- communication and outreach
- reporting and evaluation
Networking and Outreach Coordinator
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Room 01.MC.120
Berliner Straße 41, 69120 Heidelberg
Phone: +49 6221 42-2657
Office hours: Mon – Fri, 8:15 – 5
- national and international networking
- community integration and collaboration
- organizational matters
- communication and outreach
- reporting and evaluation
The NFDI4BIOIMAGE consortium comprises legally independent partners and does not act autonomously towards third parties. Both Project Coordinators represent the contributions from their respective affiliated institutions and work together for the project.
Outreach & Communications
The NFDI4BIOIMAGE Outreach and Communications team connects the bioimaging community through clear, accessible, and engaging communication. We share resources and updates across our channels. We translate complex bioimaging topics into formats that are easy to understand and use. Our goal is to foster exchange across disciplines and make NFDI4BIOIMAGE’s services, standards, and tools visible and impactful for the wider community.
Our Data Stewardship team
Get to know our Data Stewardship Team for community support! NFDI4BIOIMAGE Data Stewards are scientists from diverse research fields with a focus on bioimaging. Working across different Task Areas within the consortium, they combine their knowledge and expertise to provide support for a wide range of data management cases.
No matter your research field, we are here to help with handling data acquired with microscopes. If needed, our team can also connect you with additional contact partners, for example within other NFDI consortia. The Data Stewardship Team is built by the community, for the community, to ensure that bioimaging data management is accessible and well supported for everyone.
To contact our Data Steward team for support in bioimaging data management, please use the Help Desk.
Dr. Mohsen Ahmadi
Background: Biochemistry & Microscopy
Affiliation: INP Greifswald
Dr. Vanessa Fuchs
Background: Plant Sciences
Affiliation: Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Dr. Riccardo Massei
Background: Environmental Sciences and Toxicology
Affiliation: Helmholtz Center f. Env. Res. (UFZ), Leipzig
Dr. Maximilian Müller
Background: Ecotoxicology
Affiliation: University of Konstanz
Jens Wendt
Background: Electrical Engineering/Information Technology & Biomedical Engineering
Affiliation: University of Münster
Dr. Cornelia Wetzker
Background: Molecular Biology, Immunology, Zoology
Affiliation: Dresden Technical University
Research Software Engineers
Meet the NFDI4BIOIMAGE Research Software Engineering team: a dedicated group of experts bridging biology and technology. They develop, optimise, and support software tools for bioimaging data, enabling FAIR data management, advanced analysis, and seamless workflows for the research community.
Dr. Michele Bortolomeazzi
Background: Bioinformatics, image analysis
Skills: Containers, Nextflow, OMERO
Affiliation: ScOpen Lab, DKFZ, Heidelberg
Niraj Kandpal
Background: Physics, Astronomy, Bio & Geo-image analysis, Data Science, system administration, data management
Skills: Image Processing, Machine Learning, System administration, OMERO, Docker
Affiliation: CECAD Imaging Facility, University of Cologne
Julia Thönnißen
Background: Neuroinformatics, Research Software Engineer, Data Management
Skills: Docker/Apptainer, HPC, Snakemake, DataLad
Affiliation: Big Data Analytics group, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich
Yi Sun
Background: research software engineer
Skills: Containers, Virtual desktops, Cloud, Knowledge Graph/Ontologies,rif-cs,oai-pmh
Affiliation: EMBL Heidelberg
Rodrigo Escobar Díaz Guerrero
Background: Computer Science
Skills: Full-stack developer, Image processing, Deep learning, Docker containers
Affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology
Haowen Jiang
Background: Electrical Engineering, Computer science
Skills: Hyperspectral imaging, Deep Learning
Affiliation: Georg August University of Göttingen, HAWK
Dr. Tom Boissonnet
Background: Neurobiology, Computer science
Skills: Python, JS, (C, Java), OMERO
Affiliation: Heinrich Heine University
Michael Scherle
Background: Computer Science
Skills: QEMU, Virtualization, VDI
Affiliation: Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg
Tobias Gottschall
Background: cognitive Neuroscience (Psychology)
Skills: psychometric based neuroscience, image processing, neural networks
Affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg
Find NFDI4BIOIMAGE in social networks
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The NFDI association and NFDI consortia are dedicated to the core values of Open Science. We value diversity – not only in the data we care about, but also in the conversations we engage in. We are committed to nurturing an environment that is welcoming, supportive, respectful and free of harassment, intimidation, bullying and discrimination. Together with the NFDI association, and many other consortia, we have decided to move our social media engagement away from Twitter/X in favor of platforms currently more aligned with our values. We stopped using Twitter/X from March 2024. Our account will remain inactive, serving as an archive rather than a conduit for communication. We encourage you to join us in other spaces serving a constructive and respectful dialogue.