Semantic x-Lab – Semantic Search on Ontology-based Descriptions of Laboratory Workflows, Resources and Data in Helmholtz

Institutions within Helmholtz and beyond have put significant effort into gathering metadata from a variety of sources including proposal and publication systems, and platforms covering processes and workflows. Furthermore, metadata standards have emerged that aim to improve provenance information of research outcomes and describe methods and steps involved. However, the information is distributed over various systems. Some of these are silos which must be opened and related to each other and enhanced in a semantic context in order to generate scientific knowledge.

The goal of our project is to interlink information, make it explorable, and even discover knowledge that was previously considered in a different context or research field in order to generate new insights. The outcome of the project is a distributed knowledge graph built in a user-centered co-design process involving developers and use case partners from laboratories and large-scale facilities and various research domains.

Semantic x-Lab is a joint project between the Helmholtz Centres HZDR, GFZ and GSI funded within the HMC Project Cohort 2024.