Incubator Projects
Set up your DMP/SMP service
DMP4NFDI supports consortia in providing Data and Software Management Plan (DMP/SMP) services to their community. For onboarding new consortia we hold a regular call for incubator projects.
An incubator project is a short-term engagement (3–6 months) with a clearly defined goal. Typical focus areas include:
RDMO hosting
DMP and SMP template development
Training and community outreach support
RDMO integration with other services
Call for incubator projects 01/2026
Submissions open: 17 Nov 2025
Our first call for incubators opens on Nov 17, 2025.
To propose an incubator project, please complete the short application template outlining your goals, team, and expected outcomes, and submit the template by Dec 15.
Download the Template: .odt, .docx, .pdf
Do you already have ideas for an incubator? Please reach out in advance to discuss them: Contact us!
Send your submissions (PDF) to dmp4nfdi@lists.nfdi.de.
Current incubator projects
We work with NFDI consortia to develop and enhance DMP and SMP services for their research communities. Browse our current incubator projects and filter by service type to learn more.
RDMO Hosting
Goal:
NFDI4Microbiota will use RDMO to provide and continuously maintain a tailored DMP template for the microbiological research community. A dedicated test environment already supports current catalog development and evaluation, with the productive system scheduled for release by the end of 2025. Data stewards from the consortium's help desk will receive manager rights to offer first-level support and ensure wide user adoption.
Duration:
July 2025 - December 2025
RDMO Hosting
Goal:
Establishing an RDMO environment tailored to the consortium’s needs. During the incubator project, a test client will be set up, followed shortly by a productive system to enable early evaluation within the community by utilising existing RDMO catalogs and templates, e.g. by NFDI4ING. User access will be managed through the NFDI-AAI login, providing federated authentication based on institutional accounts.
Duration:
July 2025 - December 2025
RDMO Hosting
Goal:
Implementing an RDMO client to serve the consortium’s research data management activities. A pilot version will be launched for internal testing. A productive instance is foreseen after validation of the pilot.
Duration:
September 2025 - December 2025
RDMO Hosting
Goal:
Setting up an RDMO client to explore integration with existing data workflows and to develop initial catalog structures. Create familiarity with the template system and build up Know-How to enable guidance and teaching of users. Integration with the NFDI-AAI Didmos login is planned to provide seamless and secure user authentication.
Duration:
October 2025 - December 2025
RDMO Hosting
Goal:
The goal is to set up a dedicated RDMO client for NFDI4Health, which will provide a Data Management Plan (DMP) service for the health research community. A test system will be set up in the first incubator project to facilitate the implementation, development and testing of the catalogue. Work on the catalogue will likely form part of another incubator project prior to migration to a productive RDMO system. The RDMO client will support authentication via the NFDI-AAI, enabling users to securely log in with their institutional credentials.
Duration:
October 2025 - December 2025
Template Development
Goal:
The aim of this incubator project was to help cultural heritage institutions find the right software solution for organising and presenting their artefacts. To this end, we have developed a decision-making aid comprising two complementary DMP templates. One template is designed from the user's perspective (i.e. collections) to help clarify their requirements and assist in selecting suitable software for collection management. The other template enables collection management products to be described in detail from the provider's perspective, making them comparable for users. This facilitates a matching between software products and users.
Duration:
December 2024 - September 2025
Template Development
Goal:
NFDI4Memory is developing a discipline-specific DMP template to support the historical research community in their application process. The questionnaire is being continually refined in close collaboration with the community. In this incubator project, the template is developed based on the existing NFDI DMP Template Framework, while adapting and extending results from the community. The project also includes the integration of the new template into the NFDI4Memory RDMO client.
Duration:
July 2025 - December 2025
Template Development
Goal:
The product of this incubator project is a DMP template to help museums and collections implement the FAIR principles. The template provides an accessible option for assessing the FAIR quality of collection data. The questions are categorised according to four typical processing phases: digitisation, documentation, publication and storage/archiving. Most of the questions within these categories are assigned to indicators from the FAIR Data Maturity Model. The template includes answer options, some recommendations for action, help texts, notes and links to useful materials. The aim is to create a template that illustrates the different levels of FAIR implementation, while also providing institutions with a roadmap to improve the quality of their data.
Duration:
July 2025 - December 2025
Template Development
Goal:
FAIRagro customises DMP templates of funding agencies based on the needs of the agrosystem community for efficient and straight forward usage. The close cooperation with DMP4NFDI will ensure the compatibility and reusability of the developments. During the incubator project, a customised DMP template for the agrosystem sciences will be created and made available, based on community feedback (e.g. through workshops) and aligned with the existing NFDI DMP Template Framework.
Duration:
July 2025 - December 2025
Template Development
Goal:
The institutions involved in Text+ advise researchers on all steps of the systematic organisation of their research data. Thus, Text+ offers its community a question catalogue for structured planning, which is provided by the eResearch Alliance of the University of Göttingen. Based on the RDMO standard catalogue and the question catalogue of the Max Weber Foundation, the Text+ catalogue was adapted accordingly in collaboration with participants of the consortium, based on the removal of irrelevant questions, the enrichment with subject-specific examples and the integration of suitable plugins. In this incubator project, the compatibility between the Text+ catalogue and the NFDI question catalogue will be ensured, specifying and adjusting the places where the Text+ catalogue is still too generic.
Duration:
September 2025 - December 2025
Training & Outreach
Goal:
NFDI4Chem has a productive RDMO client with a DMP template that has been optimised for the special requirements of chemists and can be used by everyone. The consortium is organising training activities for its community to showcase the use of RDMO for creating and managing DMPs based on the developed template. In this incubator project, DMP4NFDI supports the consortium by providing available Open Educational Resources (OERs) and other training materials, as well as a checklist for data stewards based on the Train-the-Trainer concept for DMPs and RDMO. This checklist will highlight key considerations for delivering introductory workshops on DMPs and the use of RDMO.
Duration:
July 2025 - December 2025
RDMO Integration
Goal:
MaRDI offers its MaRDMO service to all researchers using mathematical methods in their research, regardless of discipline background. In this incubator project, the MaRDMO plugin collection for RDMO is further enhanced to include instrument data bases. The plugin will be able to query different instrument databases across NFDI consortia, and to store instrument metadata inside the MaRDMO template.
Duration:
September 2025 - December 2025