About
What do we do, and how do we help?
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. 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 supports the consortium in all organizational matters and is your point of contact for all questions regarding our work, cooperations, events and workshops. Feel free to approach our Outreach & Communications team for 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. We organize our work into Task Areas, each focused on a specific goal, from developing standards and tools to training and community building.
Work program
NFDI4BIOIMAGE works towards four main goals: advancing standards, providing scalable infrastructure for FAIR bioimage data, supporting reproducible image analysis, and empowering researchers in data management. Our work programme brings together six Task Areas and a broad community of members and partner institutions to develop practical solutions for bioimaging research data management.
NFDI consortium
NFDI4BIOIMAGE is part of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), a nationwide initiative supporting research data management across disciplines. As a community-driven consortium, we bring together researchers and institutions to develop practical solutions that make bioimage data easier to store, share, manage, and reuse according to the FAIR principles.
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.