About the consortium
About the consortium
NFDI4Energy combines the vision for sustainable energy system research with a collaborative structure that connects expertise across disciplines and institutions. In this section, we provide insights into the consortium structure in order to show who we are and how we work together as a consortium.
Our vision:
Data and software as the scientific foundation for a sustainable energy future
Our mission:
We empower energy researchers to manage, reuse, develop, publish, and communicate data and software throughout the research process. To achieve this, we train and support energy researchers in research data management and research software engineering through our services that are available in our quality-assured portfolio. By continuously improving these services, we ensure simple usability for all stakeholders. Through close partnership with industry, society, and public administration, we make additional required data available and reusable for research. This collaboration benefits industry, society, policy, and public administration by providing accessible, comprehensive, evidence-based information. Together, we advance energy research and work towards a secure, sustainable energy future where data drives progress.
NFDI4Energy within the NFDI
NFDI4Energy is part of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). NFDI aims to systematically unlock, connect, and preserve valuable data resources for long-term use in the German research system. Since 2019, the federal and state governments have jointly funded its development. By 2025, a total of 26 consortia are being established to represent all scientific disciplines and ensure data is made available according to the FAIR principles. The German Research Foundation (DFG) oversees the selection and funding of these consortia.
Our task areas
The consortium’s work is organized into eight task areas (TAs), each focusing on a specific aspect of developing and implementing services and underlying concepts, involving stakeholders, or supporting all other task areas through support and management activities.
Further details on the consortium´s work are available in our published deliverables, which can be accessed via Zenodo:
Explore how these tasks come together in our task area overview
Task Area 1
Building and serving the energy research community
Task Area 2
Integrating society and policy in energy research
Task Area 3
Transparency and involvement of the energy-related industry
Task Area 4
FAIR data for energy system research
Task Area 5
Simulation in interdisciplinary energy research
Task Area 6
Use cases for community services
Task Area 7
Organisation & management
Task Area 8
Data and core services
Governance
NFDI4Energy governance structure
Under the leadership of our spokesperson, Astrid Nieße, NFDI4Energy is guided by a collaborative governance structure that ensures transparency, participation, and expertise. The consortium operates in accordance with its statutes and is supported by both an Industry Advisory Board and a Scientific Advisory Board, bringing together diverse perspectives to strengthen strategic and scientific direction.
Public sector involvement
NFDI4Energy offers public institutions pathways to engage with the consortium and benefit from shared data, tools, and expertise. Together, we can make energy research more transparent, reusable, and aligned with the realities of policy and planning.
Industry involvement
NFDI4Energy connects industry partners with the research community to advance data-driven innovation in the energy sector. By engaging with the consortium, companies can explore new use cases and contribute to an open data ecosystem.
Involvement opportunities for academia: NFDI4Energy FlexFund Projects
As part of our DFG funding, we fund small FlexProjects for up to one year with funding for up to one person.
Through the FlexProjects, additional RDM activities in energy research are integrated in the consortium. Therefore, the FlexProjects either build on previous developments in energy research data management or integrate energy research data management aspects into existing research. The FlexProjects are integrated in a fitting task area in NFDI4Energy to foster good collaboration with the existing efforts.
Since the activities should be part of a longer commitment for NFDI4Energy, we require all institutions applying for FlexProjects to be part of our consortium in the association.
Up to now, we have funded the following FlexProjects: