Projects

Open Research Data Projects

Projects funded in the framework of the ORD Program

The joint ORD program of ETH Zurich, EPFL and the four research institutes of the ETH Domain has financially supported more than 60 research projects in the period 2020–2023. Funding supports researchers engaging in, or developing, ORD practices with and for their community and assists these researchers in becoming Open Research Data leaders in their field.

This page provides an overview of these projects. It highlights how researchers in the ETH Domain are currently applying ORD in exemplary ways. Some of the projects have already been completed, others are still in progress. The projects have been divided into three categories.

“Establish” projects help link existing ORD practices to a research agenda to establish them on a broader basis. They contribute to a shared and comprehensive understanding of ORD practices that can then become de facto standards.

“Explore” projects are the most extensive ventures in the program and are designed to explore and test early-stage ORD practices. The goal is to map processes of what an ORD practice might look like and develop prototypes. Through these projects, new teams form across disciplines and institutions.

“Contribute” projects help scientists integrate their research data into existing, often international, infrastructures. By standardizing the processes and making them generally accessible, the data are validated, and their potential is considerably expanded.

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MMS (Masonry MicroStructures database) - A 3D masonry microstructures database for advancing numerical research on irregular stone masonry structures

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Contribute

Institutions

EPFL

Researchers

Shah, Mati Ullah

Abstract

Stone masonry is an eco-friendly construction material, but its use has declined due to its vulnerability to earthquakes, mainly because of the poor arrangement of its microstructure. The microstructure includes the shape, size, and arrangement of stone units, which vary based on geographic, temporal, and material… Read more
Application Programming Interface for the River to Ocean Geodatabase for Education and Research

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Contribute

Institutions

ETH Zurich

Researchers

Paradis, Sarah

Abstract

In order to advance our understanding of the carbon cycle, it is essential to evaluate the spatiotemporal variations of carbon between river and marine environments and gain insights into the pathways of carbon transfer from land to ocean. To do this, we need to work jointly with riverine and marine data, accounting… Read more
Development of standardized Respiratory Open Access Research

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Contribute

Institutions

EPFL

Researchers

Dan, Jonathan

Abstract

Chronic cough is a common condition globally. While efforts are being made to develop wearables to detect and quantify cough events automatically, such monitoring devices have not yet been incorporated into routine clinical practice due to a lack of consistency in their validation, resulting in slow progress and a… Read more

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MiShMASh: Microbiome sequence and metadata availability standards

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Institutions

ETH Zurich

Researchers

Lina Kim

Abstract

Microbiome research relies on vast datasets, demanding unrestricted data access and consistent metadata. This project addresses two core issues: ineffective sequence data statements and inconsistent metadata standards. It proposes a dual solution - a tier-based FAIR ORD standard and compliance assessment software. The… Read more
Enabling compliance with ORD standards for cutting-edge time-resolved experiments at high data-rates

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Contribute

Institutions

PSI

Researchers

Filip Leonarski

Abstract

The upcoming Swiss Light Source 2.0 machine upgrade and the advent of free electron lasers (SwissFEL) enable novel advancements in X-ray science. One emerging technique is time-resolved serial crystallography, providing insight into biomolecular processes at micro- and millisecond timescales but generating extensive… Read more
Pycsou FAIR: A Community Marketplace for Discovering and Sharing Image Reconstruction Plugins

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Institutions

EPFL

Researchers

Matthieu Simeoni

Abstract

Pycsou is an open-source Python computational imaging software framework. It natively supports hardware acceleration and distributed computing. Its microservice architecture ensures optimized and scalable computational imaging tools that are easy to share across modalities. The framework's domain-agnosticity keeps it… Read more
Establishing Structures for an Efficient Management of Materials and Processing Data

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Contribute

Institutions

Empa

Researchers

Sebastian Siol

Abstract

Empa's Coating Technologies (CT) group excels in developing coatings and thin films for diverse applications. Our research focuses on advancing thin films through combinatorial techniques, yielding extensive datasets. However, many published datasets lack precise metadata. This project aims to automate metadata… Read more
Standardizing Encoding Elements for Lensless Cameras

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Institutions

EPFL

Researchers

Eric Bezzam

Abstract

In this project, the objective is to expand an open-source hardware and software toolkit known as LenslessPiCam, which is designed for lensless imaging. Lensless imaging relies on an optical element that serves as a substitute for a conventional lens, typically a thin mask. Although various methods for creating these… Read more
Mitigating spaceborne radio frequency interference through satellite database

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Contribute

Institutions

ETH Zurich

Researchers

Matthias Schartner

Abstract

The tremendous growth of satellite mega-constellations like Starlink and OneWeb, emitting radio signals, poses a significant threat to radio astronomy. These satellite signals can lead to radio frequency interference (RFI) or oversaturation of the broad-frequency receivers in sensitive radio telescopes, causing data… Read more
Traceable thermodynamic datasets for chemical modelling

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Contribute

Institutions

PSI

Researchers

George-Dan Miron

Abstract

Currently, thermodynamic datasets lack adherence to ORD FAIR principles. ThermoHub database offers access to meticulously curated and expert-documented thermodynamic datasets in an open-standard JSON format. This project's goal is to optimize ThermoHub and showcase its ORD capabilities by creating a comprehensive… Read more
Building Open-Source Tools for reproducible interaction with biological ORD databases

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Contribute

Institutions

ETH Zurich

Researchers

Nicholas Bokulich

Abstract

The life sciences increasingly rely on centralized online databases for sharing biological information (e.g., NCBI, EBI, MGnify). These databases enable the exchange of primary and secondary biological datasets for downstream re-use. However, technical challenges for depositing and accessing open research data (ORD)… Read more
Open JMP - unlocking the potential of global indicator data

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Contribute

Institutions

ETH Zurich

Researchers

Elizabeth Tilley

Abstract

Decades of manual data structuring have resulted in the most comprehensive and internationally-comparable information on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) coverage. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (JMP) maintains the database. The data are shared openly but in… Read more

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Application Programming Interface for the Modern Ocean Sedimentary Inventory and Archive of Carbon database

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Contribute

Institutions

ETH Zurich

Researchers

Sarah Paradis

Abstract

The growing use of data repositories in marine geosciences has led to dispersed and unstandardized datasets, making compilation and harmonization time-consuming. To address this, the Modern Ocean Sediment Archive and Inventory of Carbon (MOSAIC) database was created, focusing on factors impacting organic carbon… Read more
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