NFDI conference decision guide for September 2026

In 2026, the NFDI Biodata Interest Group and the NFDI consortia NFDI4Microbiota, FAIRagro, NFDI4Biodiversity, DataPLANT and NFDI4Bioimage are increasing their efforts in aligning tools and services that can be offered to the interdisciplinary research community.

For this, two distinct but highly related conferences are being offered in September.

Unsure, which one to attend?

Ideally, both, but if time is an issue, we worked on a conference decision guide for you!

The NFDI4LifeScience Conference on Integrative Bioinformatics 2026 (nfdi4LS-IB2026) and the Boosting Biodata Bootcamp 2026 (NFDI - B3) are conceptualized as complementary formats that establish a synergistic cycle for FAIR research data management (RDM) in the life science community.
The NFDI4LS-IB2026 serves as the primary platform for scientific exchange regarding methodological and technological advancements. It offers bioinformaticians, developers, and RDM stakeholders the opportunity to discuss service, tool, and infrastructure systems with peers, including the possibility to publish their advancements.
Building upon this foundation, the NFDI - B3 subsequently allows for these ready-to-use tools to be introduced to a broader user base. This event is brought free-of-charge to the community as well as the access to all presented tools.
This structure enables the entire life science RDM community to not only validate their innovations with fellow experts but also to demonstrate their applications to active researchers, facilitating the collection of direct, user-centric feedback essential for future iterative development.

Which Format Suits My Profile?

Should you be uncertain which event corresponds to your profile, please utilize the following orientation guide:
Please register for the Boosting Biodata Bootcamp (Sept. 15–17) if:

• You are a researcher (lab/field) aiming to learn practical steps to utilize existing tools and make your data FAIR and AI-ready.
• You write code, develop workflows, or want to present your ready-to-use tools to help others organize their data.
• You, as a Data Steward, aim to harmonize metadata standards with other consortia.
• You require concrete support or consultation for a specific data problem in your domain.
• You wish to provide direct feedback to developers regarding which tools are actually required in everyday research.

Please register for the NFDI4LS - IB2026 (Sept. 2–4) if:

• You write code, develop algorithms or AI models, or work on RDM infrastructure.
• You, as a data steward, aim to harmonize technical standards with other consortia.
• You intend to present a technical paper regarding a new bioinformatics infrastructure, tool or pipeline.
• You like to present a data journey to come out with an FAIR and AI ready dataset
• Your interest pertains to the system-side implementation of the FAIR principles.