Welcome to the News Digest – RDM in Natural Science. Each week, I explore the latest developments in research data management, focusing specifically on natural sciences, and provide a concise overview.
chem-bla-ics
Creating IUPAC names
In one of the past News Digests, Orthonym was mentioned, a tool that creates IUPAC names for molecules. In the blog post Creating Preferred IUPAC names↗, Egon Willighagen is diving deeper into the topic and provides an overview of different approaches.
chem-bla-ics.linkedchemistry.info, DOI: 10.59350/v7f5q-e2t67↗
NFDI4Chem
Helmholtz Software Award for Chemotion ELN
Congratulation to the Chemotion ELN team for winning the Helmholtz Software Award↗ for Best Scientific Software. Read more about it in the article published by Theo Bender on the NFDI4Chem webpage.
PSDI
From FAIR data to AI-ready data
On the PSDI webpage a report on a workshop with the topic Transitioning from FAIR to AI-ready data↗ by Carolina Mayen Huerta and Matthew Partridge was published. The workshop took place in July 2026. One key take: FAIR data does not equal AI-ready data. For more check out the article or the recordings of the talks by Aileen Day and Matthew Partridge as well as some more flash talks.
Working with Atomic Force Microscopy data
If you are working with atomic force microscopy (AFM) data, then you should check out the talk by Thomas Catley. The talk was part of the From Project to Platform series of PSDI and you can find more information in the article on the AFM data↗ on the PSDI webpage or check out the talk directly.
Semantic Farm Updates
The Semantic Farm was extended with 16 new records this week covering chemistry ontologies, controlled vocabularies, and schemas relevant for the 5th Ontologies4Chem Workshop↗, which was hosted by the Beilstein Institute, NFDI4Chem, NFDI4Cat, and the UK Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) in Limburg an der Lahn from November 2-4, 2026. 47 existing records received updates, many motivated by improving records for ontologies and resources discussed at the workshop.
In lieu of a corresponding blog post describing the updates to the Semantic Farm this week, Ontologies4Chem participants created a collection (0000047)↗ that summarizes the resources presented and discussed at the workshop (both old and new).
Ontology4Chem Workshop
In connection with the Ontology4Chem Workshop, as mentioned by Charlie, multiple resource were published. I am sure over the next few weeks we will see more and more. Today we have two presentations and a overview.
Overview: data and ontologies for process chemistry
Darren Rhodes published a resource called From Literature to Plant: Which Open Ontology Describes Each Step?↗. The resource describes which ontologies already are there to support process chemistry and which gaps needs to be filled. The collection was the basis for a workshop and discussion at the meeting.
Zenodo, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.24036863↗
Update on PSDI
Need an update on what is going on in PSDI recently? Then have a look at the presentation Updates on PSDI for Ontology4Chem 2026↗ by Samantha Pearman-Kanza and Aileen Day, including AI-ready data, community efforts and future projects.
Zenodo, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23921526↗
Ontology mapping
It doesn't matter whether you are interested in semantic mapping or not, I recommend having a look at slide 7 of the presentation Ontology Mapping and SSSOM Updates at Ontologies4Chem 2026↗ by Charles Tapley Hoyt (yeah the guy who writes the Semantic Farm Updates ;)) and if you would like to know more about Simple Standard for Sharing Ontology Mappings (SSSOM) check out the whole presentation.
Zenodo, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23892214↗
Outro
That is it for today. Thank you for reading today's News Digest and have a wonderful day. See you next week.
Benjamin
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