Edelweiss Connect offers a knowledge infrastructure which supports collection and sharing of physicochemical characterisation protocols, structured metadata and data.

Currently, the knowledge infrastructure (KI) supports the activities related to data collection and method optimisation in ACEnano project and aims to further disseminate this knowledge to the nanosafety community in a re-usable format.

The KI includes multiple instances (protocols, data and workflows) to optimally accommodate the requirements of the different data types (e.g. raw, processed data and protocols). The protocols database facilitates adding, sharing and comparison of methods in a questionnaire-like format that guides the user through the documentation process from sample identification and description to the preparation, measurement and data processing. Storing protocols in a structured way rather than in an open text format allows for an easier comparison of the experimental design and how these affect the final results. Further, the data warehouse offers long-term storage of the results in a reusable format that are directly linked to the methods applied.

KI provides a central place to access harmonised and standardised methods applied for physicochemical characterisation of nanomaterials, supporting the implementation of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) data principles, the reproducibility and documentation process towards the goal of generating reference resources for nanomaterials risk assessment.