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Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPSLeibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS

NFDI BioMed Consortia Advocate for a Biomedical Sciences Domain

Research Data Infrastructures and Data Science Research data Press

The National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) is entering a new phase: with long-term funding from the German federal and state governments, disciplinary priorities will increasingly be brought together in the future. The BioMed consortia are now jointly ad-vocating for a dedicated biomedical domain.

Image containing the 5 logos of the NFDI Biomed consortia.

NFDI enters its next phase of development
The Joint Science Conference (GWK) has decided that the German federal and state governments will continue funding the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) for a further ten years. This provides a reliable long-term framework for the management and use of research data. The BioMed consortia NFDI4Microbiota, NFDI4Immuno, NFDI4BIOIMAGE, GHGA and NFDI4Health warmly welcome this resolution. "This decision sends a strong signal that research data are an indispensable pillar of excellent and future-oriented science in Germany and across Europe," says Professor Iris Pigeot, spokesperson of NFDI4Health.

Biomedical Sciences as a strong shared domain
NFDI is now introducing scientific domains to strengthen collaboration across disciplines. These domains are intended to bring together expertise and foster closer cooperation among the 26 NFDI consortia. In a joint statement, the five NFDI BioMed consor-tia are collectively advocating for the creation of a Biomedical Sciences domain. They believe that their complementary scientific focus, well-established structures and trust-ed collaboration provide an excellent foundation for this initiative. "Together, we are already advancing FAIR data spaces in a field of major societal importance and developing responsible solutions that also meet the requirements of the European Health Data Space (EHDS)," explains Professor Juliane Fluck, Co-Spokesperson of NFDI4Health.

Research data as the foundation for better health research
The NFDI BioMed consortia bring together extensive expertise in managing the heterogeneous and sensitive data generated by biomedical research. Over recent years, they have connected their services and developed joint support offerings for researchers. Their aim is to make high-quality, sustainably reusable research data more readily avail-able for health research and to unlock their full potential. Data protection and ethical considerations remain central throughout this work. By enabling data-driven health re-search, these efforts can contribute to new approaches in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, ensuring that research data generate tangible benefits for society.

NFDI4Health is part of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), funded by the federal and state governments. NFDI4Health aims to build a comprehensive inventory of German epidemiological, public health, and clinical study data. The analysis of these data is essential for the development of new therapies, cross-cutting care approaches, and preventive measures. Personal health data require special protection. Therefore, NFDI4Health’s stated objective is to combine security with usability. The consortium comprises an interdisciplinary team from 14 partner institutions. In addition, 52 renowned institutions and individuals from the healthcare sector have pledged their participation; letters of support have been received from 8 (inter)national institutions.