Do your questions about data management in the life sciences and related disciplines concern not just one, but several areas? Do you have a query that would be better suited to another helpdesk’s area of expertise? Or are you unsure who to contact? We have something for you: FAIRagro and nine other NFDI consortia have launched the Geo-Chem-Life Science Helpdesk Cluster.
Researcher’s questions often cannot be clearly assigned to a single discipline or they concern several disciplines at once. In the Geo-Chem-Life Science Helpdesk Cluster, which was formalized in March 2025 through a memorandum of understanding (MoU, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15065070) in March 2025, FAIRagro and nine other NFDI consortia from the geosciences, chemistry, and life sciences have joined forces to offer researchers comprehensive support in data management issues.
In this cooperation, our helpdesk works together with those of DataPLANT, GHGA, NFDI4Biodiversity, NFDI4Bioimage, NFDI4Chem, NFDI4Earth, NFDI4Health, NFDI4Immuno, and NFDI4Microbiota to pool and optimize support capacities. By sharing expertise, resources, and best practices, the cluster ensures that inquiries from various fields are supported as efficiently as possible. Inquiries that require additional expertise are forwarded anonymously or referred to the appropriate experts. To access the network, those seeking help can simply contact one of the cluster’s help desks.
Marcus Schmidt is coordinating the FAIRagro Helpdesk: “It’s good for researchers to know that we work closely with other disciplines. Even if we don’t know the answer ourselves, thanks to this cooperation we know which of the other helpdesks we can ask, so that in the end we always get the best possible answer.”