Different scientific methods require vastly different approaches to data handling. A comprehensive materials data infrastructure needs to be able to integrate large amounts of very heterogeneous data from a variety of sources. As well as the 4Vs of big data (volume, variety, velocity and veracity), the challenges of long-term availability and data security need to be addressed.

FAIRmat Area D lays the foundation of a federated research data infrastructure for the wider condensed-matter and chemical-physics community. The main goals of Area D are:  

• Enable individual scientists and research institutes to manage data following common principles, with compatible technologies and a shared interface.
• Create a data exploration and sharing platform following FAIR principles.