Introducing FAIR Data Practices at TiM

In 2023, the Information Infrastructure for BioImage Data (I3D:bio) project pioneered a new concept in research data management at TiM. This initiative integrated a live, on-site OMERO server to collect and annotate the diverse microscopy image data generated during workshops and demonstrations. A dedicated Data Management Support Corner was available throughout the conference, providing attendees with personalized assistance on data curation and metadata practices.

Expanding the Initiative in 2025

This successful concept was reintroduced and expanded at TiM 2025, held in March. This time, it was a joint effort between I3D:bio and the NFDI4BIOIMAGE Data Stewardship team, with enhanced infrastructure and outreach. The data generated during the workshops were uploaded to a local OMERO instance hosted on a HIVE server, generously provided by Bruker.

The team utilized the REMBI metadata checklist to ensure consistent and rich annotation of image data. OMERO’s structured annotation capabilities – Tags and Key-Value Pairs – were used to curate metadata comprehensively. This enriched data makes the image sets more understandable, discoverable, and reusable by others, who can now visually access the original data directly in OMERO.

Open Server Hosting and Public Access

Thanks to ongoing support from NFDI4BIOIMAGE, the data sets from both TiM 2023 and TiM 2025 have been migrated to a dedicated OMERO server hosted at the University of Münster. This public server provides access to all collected datasets under transparent licensing and with REMBI-compliant metadata annotations.

Explore the data: https://omero-tim.gerbi-gmb.de

Join the Movement for FAIR Imaging Data

We invite the scientific community to review and reuse the annotated datasets as a living example of FAIR data curation in the field of bioimaging. This effort not only showcases good practice but also encourages reproducibility and collaboration in microscopy research.

If you find it challenging to annotate and curate your bioimaging data, reach out to the NFDI4BIOIMAGE Data Stewardship team via our Help Desk.