Center for Research Data Infrastructure and Data Science

Researchers often cannot fully exploit the enormous potential of research data to address diverse scientific questions because data from different sources cannot be linked or hypotheses arise only at a later stage. To ensure efficient use of health data and expand research capacities, researchers must publish data according to established standards and share them with external partners. The FAIR-principles provide the basis for appropriate processing and documentation of data, ensuring they are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

To establish these processes across departments, BIPS founded the Cross-departmental Center for Research Data Infrastructure and Data Science in Epidemiology in January 2023 under an extraordinary item of expenditure [Sondertatbestand]. The center focuses on:

the responsible handling of health data and the implementation of the FAIR principles throughout the entire data lifecycle, as well as
conducting its own research by analyzing and combining various external data sources and developing novel research questions based on such a broader data foundation.

This ensures high quality and integrity of health data, promotes interoperability and exchange between different health systems and research institutions, while meeting legal and ethical requirements. This initiative is closely aligned with a key objective of our research strategy "Leveraging complex health data".

The BIPS consolidates projects related to research data infrastructure and data science in the Research Data Centers. Currently, we are working on 4 projects (STB: FD Infrastructure, STB: Data Science, Biomarkers4Pediatrics, and BIPS Research Data Portal):