Research Data & Information
Head: Sebastian Nix
Information Specialist: Nicole Engelhardt
Research Data Management Coordinator: Maike Kleemeyer
The RDI Service Portfolio
Software Solutions for Comprehensive Support of the Research Process
The Research Data & Information (RDI) unit is a central service facility supporting scientific work at the Institute across the entire research cycle. Its main activities cover research data management, literature research, scientific publishing (supporting Open Access in particular), output and impact monitoring, and the provision of digital and selected analog information resources. A focus is placed on supporting Open Science practices.
Team Profile: Research Data & Information
Excellent research requires excellent research support services. As part of the scientific infrastructure, we offer a wide range of services related to scientific publications and research data.
In doing so, we create an important basis for efficient, effective research work and ensure the best possible visibility of the research results of our scientists—especially, but not only, in various disciplinary communities.
Among other things, by promoting and implementing Open Science, we contribute to cross-disciplinary and cross-border scientific cooperation.
We work with a high degree of professionalism, reliability, and a focus on results. In providing and further developing our services, we consistently align ourselves with the needs of researchers, while systematically incorporating the changes resulting from the widespread digitization of research. We seek dialogue with researchers and continuously expand our professional expertise through participation in continuing education and training, as well as through collaboration, professional exchange, and networking with "information professionals" both within and outside the MPG.
The RDI Service Portfolio
During the reporting period, the RDI service portfolio underwent a significant strategic adaptation in response to changes in the Institute's research profile and targeted personnel developments within the team. Following the discontinuation of the humanities research of the Center for the History of Emotions in 2024, demand for traditional library services such as proactive collection building and document delivery declined considerably. As a consequence, proactive collection development and locally subscribed journal holdings have been substantially reduced. Instead, bibliographic data on selected new academic book publications are now automatically integrated into the specifically developed MPIB.Discovery search environment and presented via an internal weblog, enabling researchers to request acquisitions or document delivery with minimal effort. This shift in focus is also reflected in the renaming of the unit from "Library and Scientific Information" to "Research Data & Information."
A study conducted jointly with the Institute for Library and Information Science (IBI) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin provided an empirical basis for further developing the service portfolio. The results highlighted diverse and growing needs in research data management, publishing, and advanced literature research, as well as the importance of more effective communication of existing services. In response, RDI expanded its research-oriented services. A full-day workshop on systematic literature reviews (SLR), primarily targeting early-career researchers, was complemented by the joint licensing of the Covidence, a web-based software platform specifically designed to facilitate SLR, with two other Max Planck Institutes. Building on this, advisory services on literature research—particularly with regard to LLM-based tools—will be further developed. To improve the discoverability of relevant scientific resources and to provide a modern search experience, the MPIB coordinated the development of the MPG.Discovery search engine (https://disco.mpg.de) in collaboration with eleven Max Planck Institutes and an external service provider. MPG.Discovery was launched in January 2026 (see Figure 1). Funding was provided by the MPG Advisory Board for Core Provision of Software and Online Services.
As a request submitted to the MPG Administrative Headquarters in 2021 for the structural and functional redevelopment of the library space in the Institute building has not yet been decided, the RDI team contributed to improving on-site working conditions in the library space through targeted, interim measures. This included the renewal of furniture, the establishment of bookable workstations, and the installation of acoustic booths for web meetings and phone calls. The scarcely used reference collection is gradually being reduced and will be replaced by an open stacks collection of current scientific literature. Discarded materials were partly donated to academic libraries in Syria in cooperation with the German Syrian Research Foundation
In the area of research data management, activities focused on improving the reusability of data from the Berlin Aging Study (BASE) and its successor, the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II), in continued cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID). A tool created in-house for registering data-based studies (see below), introduced in 2023, was further developed to support access management for sensitive external datasets (e.g., UK Biobank), more efficient storage management, and optimized data offboarding workflows. RDI staff also contributed to MPG-wide recommendations on research data management and delivered training workshops for internal and external audiences.
RDI team members were closely involved in consolidating Open Science practices at the Institute (Open Science), including the coordination of the development of MPIB-specific guidelines on Open Science and research data management.
To further improve internal visibility of RDI services, the LLM-based chatbot AiRDI was launched on the MPIB intranet at the end of 2025, providing low-threshold access to information on all RDI services and on MPIB's new Open Science and research data management guidelines (see Figure 2).
Looking ahead, RDI will increasingly support the systematic documentation of research outputs for reporting and strategic management purposes. Preparatory work for the introduction of a current research information system (CRIS) has already been carried out in collaboration with IBI, and close coordination with other Max Planck Institutes and the MPG Administrative Headquarters is planned.
All activities benefited from intensive internal, MPG-wide, and external exchange, reflected in participation in relevant working groups, communities, and professional conferences.
Software Solutions for Comprehensive Support of the Research Process
The RDI team also supports researchers by developing and providing various software solutions, specifically adapted to MPIB needs, with the aim of offering comprehensive support for the research process.
Of central importance here is the Castellum database, which allows immediate responses to information or deletion requests by keeping track of the personal data of individuals who participated in MPIB studies. Since 2024, all studies at the MPIB have been managed using this database. Castellum currently contains data of over 20,000 individuals, about half of whom have agreed to be contacted for future studies.
During the reporting period, online courses were developed using the Moodle platform, allowing Castellum users to learn at their own pace. The data protection course was revised to focus on the day-to-day work of researchers and their use of Castellum. Pseudonyms are now displayed as QR codes, so that they can be transferred to laboratory equipment using suitable scanners without the risk of typing errors. For the Gertrud twin database, which is also based on the Castellum software, relationships between test subjects have been introduced, which enable mapping of family structures and, for example, specific recruitment of twins or twins' parents.
Another software project is the Study Registration Tool (SRT), a database in which researchers register their studies (see Figure 3). It currently contains metadata from more than 600 studies and is a valuable resource for providing support at various stages of the study life cycle. In addition, it has proven to be an essential component of storage space management. During the reporting period, the SRT was expanded to include a module for managing biosamples, which allows researchers to request the use of the corresponding refrigerators for clearly defined periods of time.
In addition to Castellum and the SRT, various smaller projects were implemented. For example, the signup process for individuals who are interested in study participation was revised by introducing a digital consent form, e-mail verification, and an automatic duplicate check. In addition, parents now have the option of registering their children. Finally, a digital form was created that participants can use to securely transmit their banking account details to the Institute for the transfer of expense allowances.
