Speaker
Description
MLZ is transitioning to the NeXus data format (https://nexusformat.org) as part of its commitment to FAIR data principles. Being a standardized data format, NeXus format is essential for ensuring interoperability among various facilities and users. It includes domain-specific structures for data and metadata defined by the scientific community that allows for a sufficient level of data description, necessary for its understanding, analysis, re-analysis, or even full reproduction of the measurement.
We actively work on the implementation of the NeXus data format across MLZ instruments. To achieve this, special templates will be provided in the NICOS instrument control software (https://www.nicos-controls.org), defining the data and metadata structure for a given technique at the instruments. Apart from the expected challenges related to the parameter mapping and selection of suitable application definition, we have encountered lack of existing NeXus definitions for certain techniques and instrumentation. This will require creation of new base classes and application definitions, and their subsequent approval by the scientific community and NeXus International Advisory Committee (NIAC).
In addition, the successful adoption of the new format also depends on the availability of compatible software tools. Therefore, out efforts are also directed towards creating necessary loaders for the software packages (e.g. Takin, Mantid, etc.) used for data reduction and analysis at MLZ.
