Development of semantic data integration system, data visualization and FAIR data stewardship

Synapses are the central information processors in the brain. Their function, efficacy and plasticity are key determinants of all brain functions, and of the corresponding behavioral output. Conversely, aberrant synapse function is the cause of many neurological and psychiatric disorders. The ultimate objective of the project is to generate a functional virtual synapse, in silico, that covers both the presynaptic and postsynaptic compartments. The SFB consists of 28 subprojects, which research different aspects of synapse functionality. We work on the subproject Z2: Integrative data analysis and interpretation, and generation of a synaptic integrative data strategy (SynIDS). Semantic data integration is a complex process, which includes both technical and organizational aspects. FAIR data organization principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reproducible) is the “gold standard” of scientific data management. Semantics means using community-accepted, shared, meaningful dictionaries for terms used in data and metadata. We use and extend modern data integration systems (such as Semares) for data organization and analysis support in various projects. We develop python library, which supports interaction between data integration systems and Jupyter notebooks, which allows flexible analysis of data and custom visualizations. For standard data types, such as omics or microscopy imaging, we develop Web-based data viewer, which allows browsing and visualization of data from the data integration system, which allows users without strong bioinformatics skills to view and to analyze their data. We also support other groups in organization of their data. We provide data stewardship services, help the researchers to find optimal metadata and data structure, suitable dictionaries and ontologies, as well as to update it to new versions.