Search Hub: Looking for Datasets
What is it?
The FAIRagro Search Hub’s Dataset Finder allows you to search for datasets from various agrosystems-related repositories in one single location.
It harmonises metadata from many associated research data infrastructures (RDIs) such as BonaRes, OpenAgrar, and e!DAL. The metadata are automatically harvested and transformed into a standardised metadata schema FAIRagro Core Metadata Specification.
The FAIRagro Search Hub’s Dataset Finder allows searching and filtering over all present metadata. We’re constantly involved in improving the richness of the available metadata.
Who is it for?
- Researchers
- Agronomists
- Plant Breeders
- Developers
How can one benefit from it?
The FAIRagro Search Hub’s Dataset Finder collects information about datasets from various German repositories related to the different areas of agrosystems research (mainly plants, soil and environment), and allows you to search and filter for datasets from all of them.
This means, if you’re looking for agrosystems-related datasets, you can simply use the FAIRagro Search Hub’s Dataset Finder instead of having to search for the same terms using a long list of repositories’ search functions. At the same time, the FAIRagro Search Hub’s Dataset Finder covers just the scope you need, to prevent polluting your search results with barely-related hits.
The Data Life Cycle
and Search Hub’s Dataset Finder
The Search Hub’s Dataset Finder is an important part of the data life cycle, mainly covering the steps “Share” and “Reuse”.
Share: The Dataset Finder can help you share your datasets with a broad audience by making it findable beyond the repository it’s published in.
Reuse: If you are looking to reuse datasets, you can use the Dataset Finder to discover exactly what you want, by filtering for interesting datasets across our many sources, at once.
Search Hub: Looking for Repositories
What is it?
The FAIRagro Search Hub’s Repository Finder brings together repositories from all across the different areas of agrosystem research (mainly plants, soil and environment).
The Repository Finder is not collecting any novel information about repositories, but facilitates the discovery of trusted research data repositories by leveraging metadata harvested from re3data.org as well as metadata curated by Data Steward and Service Center (DSSC).
The list of the included repositories is being constantly extended.
Who is it for?
- Researchers
- Agronomists
- Plant Breeders
- Data Scientists
- Policy Makers
How can one benefit from it?
The service proveds a search engine to discover Research Data Infrastructures in the respective domain. If you’re looking for trustworthy agrosystem-related repositories, you can simply use our Repository Finder.
The Data Life Cycle
and Search Hub’s Repository Finder
The Search Hub’s Repository Finder is central to the Data Life Cycle, providing acess to reliable resource discovery, quality assessment and collaboration.
Plan: The Repo Finder helps you plan your data management early on by identifying suitable, trustworthy repositories for your field of research before you start collecting or organizing your data.
Preserve: The Repo Finder highlights repositories that offer reliable, long-term preservation, so you can be confident your data stays accessible and usable well into the future.
Share: The Repo Finder makes it easier to share your data with a broad audience by helping you identify the most relevant, discipline-specific repository to publish your data in.
Reuse: If you are looking to reuse existing data, the Repo Finder helps you pinpoint which repositories are likely to hold datasets relevant to your interests, pointing you to the right sources to search.
Events & Docs
On July 25, 2025, Julian Schneider introduced the Search Hub in a screencast:
Feedback
We’re always open for feedback. If you have any feedback on which information about datasets you would like to see, or are missing any sources, please let us know. You can do this by clicking the feedback button directly in the Search Hub, through our FAIRagro Helpdesk, or through any other channel.
News About the Search Hub
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FAIRagro Interim Report Symposium in Bonn
On July 7, the time had come: the FAIRagro interim report was presented to the NFDI expert panel and the DFG. Each consortium in the third round was asked to present and discuss its progress, achievements, and challenges through a presentation, a poster, and live demonstrations. Representing FAIRagro, Frank Ewert, Xenia Specka, Senthold Asseng, Sophie…
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Ready for testing: The FAIRagro Search Hub is online!
What is the FAIRagro Search Hub? It brings together data sets from the various areas of agricultural systems research (primarily plants, soil and the environment). The aim is to promote the implementation of the FAIR principles (findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability) in the field of agricultural research. The Search Hub is not a repository of…