The winter edition of the FAIR Friday seminar series kicks off with an exciting presentation by Robert Ulrich from KIT on the topic of the Semantic Web & FAIR data:

14.11.2025 (10-11 am CET):
"FAIR enough: Semantic Web 101", Robert Ulrich (KIT)
Registration: https://events.hifis.net/event/2862/

Abstract: 
"The Semantic Web provides a foundation for transforming the web from a collection of documents into a web of linked data, enabling machines to understand, integrate, and reason over information.
 This talk briefly introduces the core concepts of the Semantic Web, including RDF, RDFS, OWL, and SPARQL, and illustrates how these standards constitute a complete stack. 
Building on these fundamentals, we explore how Semantic Web technologies support the FAIR Data Principles, making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
 Practical examples such as linked open data, vocabularies, and metadata standards (e.g. DCAT) demonstrate how semantic technologies enhance data quality, integration, and discoverability across platforms. 

The first part of the talk will give a basic overview about how those technologies allow knowledge to be modeled as interoperable, machine-readable graphs, breaking up information silos
 and constituting a web of data. The second part will showcase the practical application of the Semantic Web in creating a FAIR research data ecosystem. It will give insights into the pilot built
 and tested with the community within the EOSC FAIR-IMPACT project. 
Participants new to semantic technologies will gain an initial understanding of both the conceptual design and technical implementation of a web of data."

And coming soon:

05.12.2025 (10-11 am CET): 
"HMC Project HARMONise – Toward FAIR biomolecular (meta)data", Christina Bienhold (AWI)
Register here: https://events.hifis.net/event/2865/

Abstract:
Biomolecules, such as DNA and RNA, provide a wealth of information about the distribution and function of marine organisms. Biomolecular (meta)data, i.e. DNA and RNA sequences and all steps involved in their creation, exhibit great internal diversity and complexity. A lack of harmonized metadata documentation leads to a lack of interoperability and prevents the efficient exploitation of available datasets, as well as FAIR data exchange internally and externally. 

The HMC project HARMONise (Enhancing interoperability of marine biomolecular (meta)data across Helmholtz Centers) leveraged the existing MIxS standard (Minimum Information about any (x) sequence) introduced by the Genomics Standards Consortium to develop an advanced metadata schema from sample to sequence to enable high-quality and standards-compliant curation and management of marine biomolecular metadata. The schema’s modular structure ensures flexibility and allows for local adaptations, promoting fitness-for-purpose according to each Center’s or group’s research mission, as well as harmonization with other Helmholtz repositories, such as the World Data Center PANGAEA. 

In this talk, I will introduce the HARMONise metadata schema and the corresponding web-portal for metadata import, export and harvest, which facilitates sustainable metadata stewardship and supports researchers in adopting digital cultures and delivering high-quality metadata to national and global repositories. It enables the standardized export and exchange of metadata among researches and with national data portals, e.g. the AWI O2A Portal and the Marine Data Portal, enhancing the findability and accessibility of biomolecular (meta)data within and across research areas. A provision of HARMONise-hosted metadata in relevant exchange formats can further enhance interoperability with Helmholtz and global digital ecosystems in the future.

February 2026 
"ELN-driven interoperability for metadata", Nicole Jung (KIT)