Euro-BioImaging at ‘Data Stewardship goes Germany – from going to growing’

This September, Euro-BioImaging was part of the Data Stewardship goes Germany (DSgG) Community Meeting in Cologne.  Under the theme “from going to growing”, the gathering on 28. & 29.9.2026 brought together data stewards, RDM professionals, and research infrastructure representatives from across Germany and beyond.

Through all kinds of different sessions including talks, workshops, ignite talks, and poster presentations, the DSgG meeting offered a valuable opportunity to connect with the data stewardship community across disciplines and to share exchange experiences with data management support services.

“I enjoyed connecting with fellow data stewards and RDM colleagues within and beyond the imaging domain who all care deeply about making research data FAIR, open, and sustainable. That sense of shared purpose made this event so special “

Isabel Kemmer, FAIR Image Data Steward at Euro-BioImaging.

We enjoyed meaningful conversations with data stewards and RDM professionals from universities, libraries, and national initiatives, many of whom are navigating similar challenges. Recurring themes were integrating playful elements into data management learning and providing data stewardship as a service with special focus on profiles and working environments of data stewards. This provides valuable shared experience for the following generations of data stewards in the coming years.

Meetings with data steward communities like these are especially relevant in light of the recently launched Horizon Europe project STARDAST, in which we are a partner and which aims to develop modular training curricula and clear career pathways for data stewards thus ensuring lasting recognition, rewards, and career stability for data curation roles. These conversations make clear how much we can learn from each other and how much stronger we can become when working together.

A warm thank you to the organisers at the University of Cologne, C³RDM, ZB MED, and everyone who made this event so welcoming and inspiring. We left Cologne with new connections, fresh ideas, and eager to continue building bridges between the imaging and data stewardship worlds.