MyTardis began at Monash University as an initiative aiming to solve the problem of users needing to store large datasets and share them with collaborators online. Its particular focus is on integration with scientific instruments, instrument facilities and research storage and computing infrastructure; to address the challenges of data storage, data access, collaboration and data publication.

It is currently being used to capture data from areas such as protein crystallography, neutron and X-ray scattering, optical microscopy, electron microscopy, medical imaging, flow cytometry, genomics and proteomics through deployments at Australian institutions such as Monash University, University of Queensland, RMIT, Australian Synchrotron and Australian Nuclear Sciences and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The Australian Synchrotron deployment alone has captured over 80 terabytes and 130,000 datasets; archiving and providing data access and sharing tools to its community.

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In 2017 the national project ‘Delivering durable, reliable, high-quality image data’ was jointly funded by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) and Research Data Services (RDS) to bring together informatics fellows from around Australia and combine their expertise to build a series of Trusted Data Repositories (TDR's).

Vast amounts of valuable research data are being generated by imaging equipment such as MRI, PET and CT scanners. In order to maximise research outcomes, data must be stored securely, have its quality verified, and should be accessible to the wider research community. The project addresses these requirements and guarantees the storage of data for at least 10 years for use in future research.

Led by the National Imaging Facility (NIF), the project brought together researchers and informatics specialists from the University of Queensland's Centre for Advanced Imaging (CAI) and Research Computing Centre (RCC), Monash Biomedical Imaging (MBI), Monash eResearch Centre (MeRC), the University of Western Australia's Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis (CMCA), and the UNSW Sydney Together, the team has established best practices for TDR's to store imaging data nationally, through the NIF network.

The CVL is a partner in the RDS Image Publication initiative, along with MASSIVE, Australian Synchrotron, NIF informatics and Microscopy Australia.

Under the Research Data Services (RDS) Image Publication initiative, VicNode and node partners QCIF and Intersect, have integrated 50+ instruments with cloud-based data management software to ensure that all data generated by these instruments is automatically captured, managed and delivered to the cloud for processing, analysis and visualisation. The project is seeking to continue to double that effort and expand to new types of instruments and facilities.

What it is​

• Leveraged investment in community-developed data management tools, including MyTardis, DaRIS, OMERO and XNAT, to capture data, help researchers manage the research data life-cycle and move data to centrally-hosted analysis environments.

• A community of eResearch practitioners working towards a common set of sustainable and jointly-supported research enhancing capabilities.

• Developed and installed services using existing community software, integrated instruments (50+ instruments integrated by the end of the project) and ingested extant and new data collections.

• Built user communities (estimated over 500 users have used the services developed - with precise metrics to be collated soon).

Who it’s for

• Biomedical, computer software, artificial intelligence, image processing, engineering and volcanology researchers.

What it does​

• Provides users with supported data management tools, including MyTardis, to capture data, help researchers manage the research data life-cycle and to move data to centrally-hosted analysis environments.

• Engages and integrates a wide variety of imaging modalities, including optical and electron microscopy, atom probe microscopy, cytometry, X-ray, CT, MRI, MR/PET, custom instruments, and specialised beamlines at the Australian Nuclear Sciences and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

• Connects 21 facilities (representing over 100 instruments) to data management tools.