German federal government and federal states continue funding for all consortia established un-der the second 2021 call / New agreement between the federal government and the federal states lays the foundation for the NFDI beyond 2029

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) welcomes the decisions taken by the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz – GWK) of the German federal government and the federal states concerning the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).

Following its decision on 10 July, the GWK will continue funding all ten subject-specific and methodological consortia​ established under the second NFDI call in 2021. In doing so, the GWK has followed the recommendations of the NFDI Expert Committee appointed by the DFG. The decision forms part of the second funding phase of the NFDI, which focuses primarily on consolidating the services and structures developed to date in the area of needs-based research data management. 

“The continued funding of all ten consortia under the second call strengthens the NFDI as a science-driven network that brings together diverse research communities, stakeholders and services,” said DFG President Professor Dr. Katja Becker. “This reinforces the NFDI’s role as a cross-disciplinary forum for testing, establishing and further developing data-driven methods and technologies. In this way, the NFDI opens up new opportunities for research while also providing an important foundation for ensuring the digital sovereignty and resilience of the research landscape and its supporting infrastructure.”

As Germany’s largest research funding organisation and the central self-governing organisation for research, the DFG coordinates and manages the science-led review and selection process for the consortia and submits funding recommendations. The German federal government and federal states currently fund a total of 27 consortia spanning all areas of research. Their services are aimed not only at researchers within their own disciplines but are also developed and delivered jointly across consortia to support interdisciplinary use. The services include the development of software for electronic laboratory notebooks, training in the proper annotation of data, and support and advice on the preservation and sustainable storage of existing and newly generated data. The consortia also develop cross-disciplinary metadata standards to improve the reusability of research data across subject-specific boundaries. The nine consortia established under the first call successfully qualified for continued funding in 2025. 

The GWK also adopted a new agreement between the federal government and the federal states concerning the NFDI on 10 July. “The agreement reached by the federal government and the federal states to continue funding the NFDI until at least 31 December 2038 provides an indispensable basis for the long-term provision of data and services supporting good digital research practice. It also clearly positions the NFDI as a hub for efficient research data management in Germany and beyond,” said Dr. Heide Ahrens, Secretary General of the DFG. She added that the adjustments to the governance structure set out in the agreement between the federal government and the federal states are clearly designed to help achieve the NFDI’s strategic objectives, as reflected in the newly created position of Chief Technical Officer within a three-member Executive Committee, for example.

“At the same time, it will remain essential to ensure that the NFDI continues to be governed on a science-driven basis as the subject-specific communities and the operational network become more closely integrated in future. Through an innovation programme administered by the DFG, we will also be well placed to respond to the dynamic and continually evolving needs of research,” Ahrens added.

Further Information

Further information about the NFDI: www.dfg.de/nfdi/en(interner Link).