Chair of Fluid Systems at NFDI4Ing conference

Data literacy from the beginning – building blocks in engineering studies

The joint presentation by Prof. Pelz and Manuela Richter answered the questions why, what and how data literacy is taught in engineering studies. Transparency, trust and sustainability of socio-technical systems as well as the extension of the scientific method are the motivators. The presentation of the modules “Fundamentals of Digitization” and “Practical Digitization” showed where and how data literacy is taught. Already from the first semester, students will learn from now on version management of software, interoperable data formats and the collection, processing, analysis, storage and archiving of data.

Presentation of the journal ing.grid – Data Management in Engineering Sciences

ing.grid is an open access journal with the aim of promoting scientific discussion through an open review process. Thus, in the future, the journal will give academic recognition to scientists working on data management. Preparations are currently underway to constitute the editorial board, which so far includes 20 scientists from various fields, with strong representation from engineering.

Data stewards in collaborative research

Collaborative research projects have a special position in the research landscape. Many scientists from different disciplines work together on an overarching research topic. Professional research data management (FDM) is essential for collaboration. This has the three goals of (i) sustainability of generated data over the lifetime, (ii) transparency of the validation process of elaborated development methods and thirdly (iii) fostering collaboration of different disciplines. In order to achieve these goals, it makes sense to use existing FDM concepts of NFDI4Ing, to evaluate them and to adapt them if necessary. Against this background, decentralized data stewards have been identified as a necessary interface between NFDI consortia and collaborative research projects, who are to serve as multipliers for the empowerment of prospective researchers for professional FDM. Data stewards know needs and identify offers, are contact persons and experts, bundle competences and networks and thus enable users for subject-specific FDM applications.

plotID – Toolkit for linking images and research data

From the Task Area Alex, which deals with customized experiments, the toolkit plotID was presented. This supports researchers in the traceability of figures and plots. The traceability and assignment of data within plots is often difficult, this concerns meta-data, raw data as well as processing scripts. The PlotID toolkit therefore provides images with an ID and supports the storage of the associated data.