The Challenge
Scaling FAIR Data Management for Advanced Materials
Research and innovation in nanomaterials and advanced materials can take decades to reach market deployment. Digitising these processes to support safe and sustainable material development requires large volumes of high-quality, interoperable data — something existing databases struggle to deliver.
NovaMechanics addressed this by evolving nanoPharos into a scalable FAIR data management platform built on an adapted ChEMBL schema, supporting multiple collaborative projects (DIAGONAL, CompSafeNano, INSIGHT) while maintaining rich metadata and provenance tracking.
How We Built the Platform
A comprehensive FAIR data management system designed for the nanomaterials community
Design a rich conceptual data model
Built on the ChEMBL schema adapted for nanomaterials, describing interlinkages from the atomic level (unit cell, crystallography) to macroscopic properties (physicochemical characterisation, exposure, interactions, and effects).
Implement three-tier metadata architecture
Structured all records around bibliographic metadata (title, DOI, ORCID, licence), provenance metadata (methods, dates, versioning), and scientific metadata (protocols, instruments, algorithms, software versions).
Build advanced curation interfaces
Developed four curation modes — embargoed/locked data access, bulk insert with CSV template mapping, single insert/modify with validation, and table/attribute configuration for administrators.
Implement FAIR findability and accessibility
Assigned URI-compliant unique identifiers, published nanopublications in nanodash and Zenodo, deployed a REST API, and secured access with KeyCloak SSO authentication.
Benchmark FAIRness and plan improvements
Tracked FAIR maturity using the JRC questionnaire, developed a FAIR Implementation Profile via the FIP Wizard, and planned structured vocabularies, ontology integration, and CoreTrustSeal certification.