NFDI4ING’s AI-based RDM assistance
With the start of its second funding period, the NFDI4ING task area “Copilot” has begun its work. “Copilot” is the umbrella term for NFDI4ING’s AI-based assistance systems. These systems build on results from the first funding period and are now being extended with generative AI.
By integrating AI-based components into existing NFDI4ING services, Copilot helps researchers more easily find, understand, and apply NFDI4ING’s recommendations and services. This supports them in integrating RDM into their daily workflows and in planning and delivering high-quality, FAIR data products. In addition to researchers, Copilot explicitly supports Research Software Engineers (RSEs) by providing AI-based tools that promote good coding practices and sustainable, reusable research software.
Current work is focused on two projects. First, a chatbot is being developed that offers a low-threshold entry point for questions on RDM and for accessing the knowledge base and services of NFDI4ING, for example by guiding users to suitable services or recommendations. Second, the NFDI4ING JupyterHub is being enhanced with features that improve the quality and reusability of research code, for example through integrated code quality checks and AI-assisted development support.
Together, these activities lay the foundation for more broadly AI-supported research data management and research software engineering in the engineering sciences. We will update you with more information as soon as possible.
D. Demuth