FAIR Data Publication Services for Disciplinary Support: RADAR in the German NFDI Context

RADAR is a reliable, standards-compliant repository for the archiving and publication of research data, developed and operated by FIZ Karlsruhe - Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure. Originally conceived as a generic infrastructure for secure long-term preservation and FAIR data sharing, RADAR has evolved into a flexible service platform that can be tailored to the specific needs of diverse scientific disciplines. This adaptability is demonstrated by RADAR’s adoption and further development within Germany’s National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). In collaboration with domain-specific NFDI consortia, three community-driven services have already been realised: RADAR4Chem, a core repository of the NFDI4Chem consortium, supports data publication across all chemical disciplines. It enables integration with electronic lab notebooks, data management planning tools, and standardised metadata profiles. RADAR4Culture, implemented in cooperation with NFDI4Culture, serves the cultural heritage domain. It accommodates heterogeneous data types and interdisciplinary research outputs, reflecting the complex requirements of this field. RADAR4Memory developed together with NFDI4Memory, is tailored to historically working humanities. It supports provenance-aware workflows, contextual metadata, and ethical standards. All three services build on RADAR’s robust and extensible technical infrastructure. A key strength of the platform is its interoperability via a standards-compliant REST API, as well as the ability to define discipline-specific metadata schemas. In addition, RADAR is progressively integrating foundational services developed by the national Base4NFDI consortium, e.g.: TS4NFDI for the integration of curated terminologies and ontologies, IAM4NFDI for secure, federated authentication and authorisation, and DMP4NFDI to support structured data management planning through interfaces with tools such as RDMO. These cross-cutting integrations enhance semantic interoperability, reduce metadata redundancy, and enable trustworthy, standards-compliant research data management across disciplinary boundaries. RADAR is open to data providers from publicly funded universities, colleges, research institutions, museums, libraries, archives and memorials in Germany, the EU, the UK, and Switzerland. As a generic and extensible infrastructure with a proven track record in multiple NFDI domains, RADAR represents a sustainable model for community-driven, FAIR-compliant data publication that can inspire similar developments across national and international research data initiatives. Looking ahead, RADAR is open to further collaborations with national and European research communities seeking reliable, customisable solutions for data publication and preservation. Our poster uses the example of RADAR to illustrate how domain-specific data publication services can be sustainably realized through a modular infrastructure embedded in national data strategies and offer added value for research communities and funders alike.