Establishing Semantic Research Data Modelling in Biological Anthropology

• Applicant: Dr. Stefan Schlager
• Subject Area: Evolution, Anthropology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 421601748

We propose to establish semantic modelling of osteological research data in biological anthropology as a basis for sustainable research data management. This technology will help to create comprehensively annotated datasets containing explicit statements about the inherent data structure, research design and provenance, modelling the entire process chain of scientific investigations. Advantages include increased transparency, unobstructed pooling of large bodies of data and suitability for long-term storage. Biological anthropology, interfacing with other disciplines, investigates human evolution and human-environment interactions throughout history by analysis of human remains. Their delicate nature and limited accessibility, as well as the wide range of research materials, methods and contextual data require well-formalised, yet flexible approaches to data standardisation. Despite various efforts, common practices for structuring and handling research data have not yet evolved. A previous research project funded by the DFG evaluated the demands for research data management in collections of human remains and developed RDFBones, a formalised framework for the creation of compatible standards, as a means of improvement. RDFBones draws on the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and several established RDF ontologies to model research data. A core ontology ensures compatibility of datasets, while study designs, research methods, materials and contextual information can be implemented as ontology extensions. The concept is well received by the scientific community and has proved to integrate well with other approaches to data handling. Semantic data modelling has the potential to solve existing problems with data standardisation and realise the acknowledged need for comprehensive research data management in biological anthropology. This will require application in current research, the establishment of virtual research environments at institutions and, finally, the formation of data repositories. This project takes a first step in this direction by developing a web application implementing RDFBones to enable researchers to create RDF data without specific knowledge of RDF technologies. It will support them during their investigations, serve as a collaborative research environment and an internet platform presenting selected data. Its technical purpose is the enrichment of conventional data entries into highly-annotated datasets. The software is developed as a minimum viable product that can be customised by research institutions and projects deploying the application and further configured through extensions to support various study designs. A second focus is the determination of a sustainable strategy for the establishment of semantic research data modelling in biological anthropology in coordination with other projects on data standardisation and by consultation of experts from biological anthropology and the field of research data management.

• DFG Programme: Research data and software (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)