Integrated Data Storage and Analysis at the Core Facility Hohenheim

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The University of Hohenheim is currently establishing a university-wide Core Facility (CFH) that initially comprises three modules and will officially be founded at the first of June, 2016. The module Analytical Chemistry carries out analyses of inorganic and organic compounds in different matrices (e.g. soil, plants, animal feed or fertilizer). The module Mass Spectrometry performs qualitative and quantitative mass spectrometric analyses of proteins and metabolites. The Spectroscopy module uses NMR for structural determination of organic molecules and metabolites. The CFH will support scientific projects of users of the University of Hohenheim, but will also be open to external users. The combination of CFH modules will concentrate existing analytical expertise in Hohenheim in order to support the universities research in the fields of agricultural, nutritional, ecosystem and life sciences research and bioeconomy and promote the development of the scientific profile of the University. In addition, the CFH can be a focal point for novel collaborations and networks providing services and expertise to the scientific community beyond the University of Hohenheim. The proposed project intends to establish a common platform for data storage and analysis for the modules of the CFH, as well as to provide bioinformatics support for the users of the CFH. Implementation of a common data storage and retrieval system for all three modules will be achieved by installing the open-source information system openBIS (open Biology Information System) on a local sever network. OpenBIS allows efficient management of analytical data generated by CFH modules as well as metadata provided by the users via an appropriate graphic user interface. OpenBIS can be integrated in a specific data analysis workflow by implementing additional custom functionalities, such as visualization tools or connection of the data to data processing pipelines. Besides establishing workflows using already available data processing pipelines the project aims at developing bioinformatics tools for the integrated analysis of multi-omics data. This will be achieved by expanding freely available bioinformatics tools, developed, for example, in the STATegra FP7 EU project, for an integrated data analysis tailored to the needs of the CFH users. A further goal of this project will be to support users in the analysis of analytical data generated in their projects. In addition, users shall be enabled to perform data analysis independently by offering courses about data processing pipelines and statistical data analysis of high throughput data. In summary, the proposed project will enable reliable data storage and efficient data analysis for data generated at CFH.