Julián López Gordillo
Case study
Research organisation as a biosystem
Naturalis maps itself using RAiDs
Naturalis Biodiversity Centre wants to gain a better understanding of its research work. The solution: research activity identifiers, or RAiDs. Data specialist Julián López Gordillo explains what this entails. “It was as if we’d thrown a huge stone into a pond.”
Key facts
Who: Julián López Gordillo
Role: data specialist
Organisation: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Service: Research Activity Identifier (RAiD)
Challenge: mapping out the entire process of a research activity in a structured way
Solution: RAiDs bring PIDs together, thereby providing a comprehensive overview of all your research activities
It is 2024 when data specialist Julián López Gordillo, representing Naturalis, joins the Horizon Europe project FAIR-IMPACT to learn how he can apply more FAIR data practices in his work. “As we went along, we increasingly felt the need for a system to map out research activities. And then they told us that SURF was in the process of developing such a system for Europe, based on RAiDs.”
RAiDs are a type of ‘persistent identifier’ (PID): numerical or alphabetic codes intended to serve as a permanent reference to, for example, a publication, a researcher or an organisation. PIDs can be used in reference lists, but also in automated systems.
There is something special about RAiDs: they are particularly useful when used in combination with other PIDs, by linking them together. This allows you to accurately represent the design and results of a research project. The use of references ensures that the information remains up to date at all times.
We quickly established contact with SURF. Julián: “During our introductory meetings, we realised just how many use cases we had for RAiDs at Naturalis. For our pilot, we ultimately chose one that truly reflects the diversity of our work.”
The chosen pilot involved tracking the laboratory analyses of physical samples as part of research activities. There is an increasing number of such sample analyses thanks to projects such as eDentity, one of Naturalis’s key programmes. Its aim is to map Dutch nature using automated DNA scans: which life forms can be detected in a container of soil or surface water?
In the first step of the use case design, the sample analysis is recorded using a dedicated RAiD. In the second step, material is collected in the field by staff from Naturalis or an external organisation, and recorded. Step 3 involves analysis in the lab. This produces raw data for the database (step 4), which is processed into semi-finished products such as graphs (step 5). The final step is publication, which is stored in an external repository along with the code and datasets used.
“At Naturalis, we have all sorts of identifiers for these different steps,” explains Julián. “After all, different people are working on them using different systems. With RAiDs, we finally want to get a complete picture. So that we always know exactly what our data is based on.”
The pilot has brought us a great deal closer to that goal. “Thanks to the workshops SURF organised for us, we were not only able to draw up a schema for the metadata, but also to start building software links. After all, our ultimate aim is to integrate RAiDs into our systems.”
Image: In step 1, the expedition is set up as a project with its own RAiD. In step 2, material is collected in the field and recorded. Step 3 involves analysis in the lab. This produces raw data for the database (step 4), which is processed into semi-finished products such as graphs (step 5). The final step is publication, which is uploaded to an external repository along with the code and datasets used.
Analysis of samples is becoming increasingly common thanks to projects such as eDentity, which is mapping the Dutch natural environment using automated DNA scans: what forms of life can you find traces of in a container of soil or surface water?
Discussion on the definition of research
Julián: “It’s a major advantage that, as a research organisation, we already use SURF’s services. That lowers the barrier to entry when RAiD eventually becomes one of those services.”
What surprised him was just how much the topic of RAiD stirred things up. “It was as if we’d thrown a huge stone into a pond. We realised how everything is connected to everything else – and therefore to everyone.”
Naturalis has an Architecture Forum, in which management is also represented. The pilot led to fruitful discussions there. For example, on the question of what actually constitutes a research activity. Julián explains: “You might think of a project, such as a PhD thesis. But if you analyse a soil sample using a machine, isn’t that also an activity which, in its own right, is worth recording? And you can think of many more examples like this, of research activities that encompass even more research activities. Then research starts to resemble a fractal, a figure in which patterns repeat themselves at every scale.”
“Just like nature, Naturalis is a system of systems. RAiDs enable us to see the connections.”
Investigating biosystems
However you define the boundaries, RAiDs are extremely useful for bringing structure to the process. This is also necessary for the Naturalis Research Infrastructure, through which the organisation aims to harmonise many of its technical capabilities relating to research activities.
That challenge, Julián reflects, is not really so different from Naturalis’s mission to investigate biosystems and describe how they function. “We need to know where our data comes from, what happens to it, where we can find it, and what its purpose is. Just like nature, Naturalis is a system of systems. With RAiDs, we can see the connections.”
Text: Aad van de Wijngaart
About the Research Activity Identifier (RAiD)
Managing your research can become complicated and time-consuming when resources are spread across different systems. The Research Activity Identifier (RAiD), the permanent identification code for research projects, helps you to keep your information on resources, funding and staff up to date and linked together.