The ULB Darmstadt is launching the DFG-funded project “DBRepo as a Service”. The goal is a sustainable, FAIR-compliant service for hosting relational research databases – open to institutions and research groups nationwide.

Relational databases are among the most widely used tools in research – and at the same time one of the most difficult research data formats to operate sustainably. After a project ends, many databases risk becoming orphaned: expertise is lost, infrastructure disappears, data becomes inaccessible. This is precisely where the new DFG project “DBRepo as a Service” comes in.

Since April 2026, the University and State Library Darmstadt has been building a central hosting service for relational research databases based on the open-source software DBRepo from TU Wien. The service enables researchers to provide their databases permanently, functionally, and FAIR – i.e., findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Data queries can be versioned and cited with persistent identifiers (DOIs); semantic metadata improves interoperability. Access is provided via a graphical interface as well as standardized interfaces (REST API, Python Library).

A central concern of the project is the establishment of an open user and development community around DBRepo. Institutions wishing to transfer their own research databases to the service, or libraries and computing centers that want to offer the service at their institution in the future, are cordially invited to get in touch.

Further information about the project and opportunities for participation can be found on our project page DBRepo