Bridging Communities: The Role of FIDs Between Disciplinary Research and National Infrastructure

As research data management (RDM) becomes an essential component of scholarly practice, the Fachinformationsdienste (FIDs) are playing an increasingly important role in sup-porting researchers across disciplines. Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the FIDs serve as key resources for researchers by providing tailored support in accessing, managing and sharing research data. Their position between research communities and national data infrastructures enables them to bridge the gap between the rapidly evolving research data landscape and the needs of individual fields. In recent years, an active network has emerged among the individual FID projects, fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the development of interoperable solutions across disciplinary boundaries. This networking effect strengthens the ability of individual FIDs to respond to complex RDM challenges and amplifies their collective impact. In regards to RDM, the FIDs serve as both educators and intermediaries. They support RDM education by organising workshops, webinars, and training sessions tailored to the specific needs of their communities. By offering discipline-specific best practices, tools, and guidelines, they help researchers navigate the complexities of data management while ensuring alignment with broader national and international standards. In addition, the FIDs act as a direct link between researchers and the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), which is tasked with creating a unified, nationwide framework for managing and sharing research data. Currently, more than 30 FIDs are actively collaborating with various NFDI consortia through regular communication, feedback, and joint initiatives. By teaching about the general principles of the NFDI and ensuring that the infrastructure meets the specific needs of different disciplines, FIDs play a crucial role in advancing RDM in Germany. This dynamic exchange is reinforced by the collaboration between FIDs, allowing for the adaptation of best practices, the re-use of successful models and the identification of gaps and opportunities. This presentation will focus on the growing interconnectedness among the FIDs and the added value that arises from this collaborative model. It will showcase selected best practice examp-les from across the FID landscape to illustrate how shared approaches, co-developed tools, and joint training initiatives are enhancing RDM services and competencies in various disciplines. These examples will serve as a basis for discussing potential scenarios for an enhanced RDM landscape, in which subject-specific services could be more seamlessly integrated. In conclusion, the FIDs are emerging as key facilitators of sustainable RDM practices in Germany – not only by training researchers, but by creating an exchange between the scientific community and the NFDI. Their work ensures that RDM practices are not only standardised, but also deeply embedded in the specific contexts and practices of individual disciplines. The networked activities of the FIDs represent a powerful model for how infrastructure, expertise, and community engagement can be aligned to build an interoperable and discipline-sensitive RDM environment in Germany. Going forward, continued collaboration between FIDs, NFDI and the wider research community will be key to furthering these efforts.