Bridgit: A Lightweight Solution for FAIR Research Data Management in the Enterprise File Sync & Share Service Sciebo

11 pages•Published: June 18, 2026

Daniel Müller, Holger Angenent, Holger Przibytzin and Raimund Vogl

Abstract

This paper introduces bridgit, a modern web application designed to provide basic functionalities required for managing research data in accordance with the FAIR principles. It also explains its technical architecture. Bridgit was developed as part of the DFG-funded Sciebo Research Data Services project in collaboration with the universities of Münster and Potsdam. Bridgit’s core objective is to provide researchers with basic research data management (RDM) functions that are tailored to their needs and integrated into their familiar working environment: Sciebo. It also combines established RDM services to provide researchers with user-friendly, end-to-end workflows. Bridgit allows researchers to annotate research objects with structured metadata, create and maintain data management plans and upload data sets to external repositories, such as Zenodo and OSF. Technically, bridgit is designed for seamless integration into institutional infrastructures and is embedded in the Enterprise File Sync & Share (EFSS) service sciebo. A key contribution of the sciebo RDS project is the design and implementation of a modular architecture that takes into account heterogeneous research workflows and diverse third-party integrations. As a result, bridgit consists of several loosely coupled services that communicate via a messaging system that enables automated workflows and extensibility. The system supports configurable metadata profiles and a dynamic metadata editor. To enable publication to heterogeneous external systems, bridgit introduces extensible connectors that allow interaction with arbitrary target platforms. A central challenge is the integration of external authorization mechanisms; the platform therefore provides a robust approach for handling OAuth2 and additional authorization schemes required by third-party services. The architecture further emphasizes low-configuration deployment and maintainability within Kubernetes environments. Finally, we outline future work including sharing of projects, realtime collaboration and AI-assisted metadata extraction.

Keyphrases: fair, modular architecture, research data management, structured metadata

In: Laurence Desnos, Carmen Diaz, Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz, Lazaros Merakos, Raimund Vogl, Stuart McLellan and Ulrike Lucke (editors). Proceedings of EUNIS 2026 Annual Congress, vol 109, pages 220-230.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/FWLQ
	https://doi.org/10.29007/q3sd

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{EUNIS2026:Bridgit_Lightweight_Solution_FAIR,
  author    = {Daniel Müller and Holger Angenent and Holger Przibytzin and Raimund Vogl},
  title     = {Bridgit: A Lightweight Solution for FAIR Research Data Management in the Enterprise File Sync & Share Service Sciebo},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of EUNIS 2026 Annual Congress},
  editor    = {Laurence Desnos and Carmen Diaz and Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz and Lazaros Merakos and Raimund Vogl and Stuart McLellan and Ulrike Lucke},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Computing},
  volume    = {109},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2398-7340},
  url       = {/publications/paper/FWLQ},
  doi       = {10.29007/q3sd},
  pages     = {220-230},
  year      = {2026}}

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