Ontologies can help describe research objects, processes, and results in a way that not only humans but also machines can understand and work with. This paves the way for merging research data of various types and sources into a joint data space. In January, NFDI4Chem together with NFDI4Ing and NFDI4Cat hosted a joint webinar on ontologies in science and engineering. Nearly 200 participants attended to learn how ontologies can be used to formally describe the knowledge of a domain and to generate machine-interpretable research data. Presentations covered topics from knowledge engineering, ontology design to best practices in academic and industry projects. After a general introduction to knowledge engineering and ontologies for the three scientific domains of chemistry, catalysis, and engineering, a report on the development and application of ontologies from two CRCs (Collaborative Research Centres) in the engineering sciences, and the implementation of OntoCape into the work of the NFDI4Cat consortium followed. The session ended with exciting insights into ontology management, knowledge systems, and digitalization in R&D at BASF.
The final discussion with the participants illustrated a great interest in ontologies.
In case you missed the webinar, you can download the slides of the presentations on our website or watch a recording of the webinar on our Youtube channel. More events on this topic will follow. We will inform you in due time via our website, our newsletter, and Twitter.
Figure 1: Screenshot of the joint webinar on ontologies on 19th January 2021.
