FAIR Workflows to establish IGSN for Samples in the Helmholtz Association (FAIR WISH) is a joint project of the Helmholtz Centers GFZ, AWI and Hereon, which was funded by the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC) as part of the HMC Project Cohort 2020.

The International Generic Sample Number (IGSN) is a globally unique and persistent identifier (PID) for physical objects. IGSNs enable the digital connection between scientific publications and research data with the samples from which the data was obtained, thus closing one of the last gaps in the full provenance of research results.

Tasks

Within the FAIR WISH Project we developed: 

• discipline-specific and standardized IGSN metadata schemas/templates for different sample types in the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment, which complement the core IGSN metadata and
• Workflows for the generation of machine-readable IGSN metadata based on various stages of digitization of the sample description, both from structured tables (templates) and from databases and workflows for automated registration of IGSNs.

The three use cases offer a wide range of sample types (rocks, water, plants, soil from terrestrial and marine areas) and scientific sub-disciplines, and represent the different stages of digitization (from the individual researcher collecting his sample description in field books to the digital sample management system with app-controlled metadata recording in the field).

As part of the HMC project “FAIR AIMS - Automated IGSN Management System” approved in December 2024, the results of FAIR WISH can be made scalable over the next 2 years through further automation. This, and the planned revision of the IGSN metadata schema, will make the IGSN service of GFZ Data Services more attractive and usable for researchers. 

Time frame

• 01/2022-12/2024

Funding Agency

• Helmholtz Initiative and Networking Fund

Principal Investigators

• Kirsten Elger (GFZ 5.1)
• Birgit Heim (AWI)
• Ulrike Kleeberg (Hereon)

Personell

• Alexander Brauser (GFZ 5.1)
• Linda Baldewein (Hereon)
• Simone Frenzel (GFZ 5.1)
• Ben Norden (GFZ 4.3)
• Mareike Wiezcorek (AWI)

Cooperation

• Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
• Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon

Publications

• Project presentations and outcome are published within the FAIR WISH Zenodo Community.