GFBio - Gesellschaft für Biologische Daten e.V.

We are

• #FAIRData champions, helping researchers on a daily basis to improve their Research Data Management.
• the forum for shaping the future of Research Data Management (RDM) in biodiversity, ecology and environmental research.
• aggregating and communicating the needs of our target  communities to funding agencies and policy makers.

We are hiring - join our team!

We don't have any open positions at the moment but we are always happy to speak about opportunities in our team (jobs@gfbio.org). Contact can be made in either German or English.

Our role in the German Federation for Biological Data (GFBio)

GFBio e.V. was founded on 31 May 2016 in Bremen as the legal entity for the sustainable operation of the GFBio service portfolio beyond the funding period. It is a non-for-profit (gemeinnützige) association to promote science and research in the area of scientific data management in accordance with its statutes (in German only).

GFBio e.V. Fact Sheet (in German)

Our role in the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI)

In October 2020, GFBio e.V. has become part of the German National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI. The association acts as coordinating partner in the NFDI4BioDiversity consortium, one of the large, community-driven networks that form the NFDI. This role comes with a substantial increase in staff and the responsibility to organize the transition of GFBio services into new structures. Also, the network of data providers will grow substantially. The brand GFBio will be sustained.

GFBio e.V. as project partner for data management

With our growing team we take responsibility for data-related tasks within scientific projects and programs.

In the Priority Programme (SPP) 1991 – New Approaches to Discovering and Naming Biodiversity - Taxon-OMICs, we serve as co-leads for the subproject titled “Concepts, Tools, and Support for Managing, Archiving, Mobilizing, and Integrating Taxonomic Data in the Framework of SPP 1991”.

In a DFG-funded consortium of collection centers dedicated to the three-dimensional digitization of insect specimens - DISC3D, GFBio e.V. acts as the data management partner. We lead the development of workflows for data transfer and analysis in the cloud.

Furthermore, GFBio e.V. supports the Knowledge lab for natural science collections and object-centred data - WiNoDa, with a dedicated helpdesk, research data management support and a training portfolio to enhance data competencies.

Engaging for data policy

Reusable data for research is at the heart of our mission. We engage in initiatives which foster data mobilisation and openness, international data exchange and the application of the FAIR principles. As experts for data infrastructure and services we take a keen interest in policy development on the European and global level. As of October 2022, we started a feasibility assessment of regulation for digital sequence information (DSI), a policy development settled in the context of the UN negotiations on the post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The project called FAR-DSI is funded by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN).

GFBio e.V. staff

Executive Secretary

Administration

Project Office

Data and Software Services

Project Coordination

GFBio e.V. board members

The GFBio e.V. board is the highest management body of the association. All members are working in an honorary capacity.

1. Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Frank Oliver Glöckner
2. Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Birgitta König-Ries

• Treasurer: Dr. Janine Felden
• Assessor: Dipl.-Biol. Tanja Weibulat
• Assessor: Dipl.-Inf. Anton Güntsch

Institutional Members

Interested in joining GFBio e.V.?

We are an open community. Active supporters of RDM best practices in biology - individuals and organisations - are always welcome! There are many ways to contribute: you and your organisation may represent the needs of a scientific community, offer solutions and insights, or simply be a FAIR advocate.

Please download our membership application form and send the signed form to vorstand[at]gfbio.org for review. The annual GFBio membership fee is 50 € (including VAT). We recommend subscribing to our SEPA Direct Debit Schema. For more details please check the GFBio e.V. contribution rules (Beitragsordnung).

Further questions?

GFBio - Gesellschaft für Biologische Daten e.V.

Unicom 2, Haus 2-4
Mary-Somerville-Str. 2-4
28359 Bremen

office[at]gfbio.org