Forum Helmholtz Research Data Commons: Sample Handling and Tracking – Good and FAIR Data Practices in Action

The Forum Helmholtz Research Data Commons serves as a collaborative format to improve research data management at the Helmholtz Association. This report documents the forum on Sample Handling and Tracking – Good and FAIR Data Practices in Action, held on 3 February 2026. It featured presentations on use cases and examples from four different institutions and research fields. Speakers presented how they handle and track different types of samples – such as material samples, soil samples, bio samples and plant samples – in their respective areas of application. The talks allowed to gain both practical insights into the specific use cases as well as into the general challenges in collecting accompanying good-quality metadata for samples. A subsequent discussion highlighted that successful sample handling and tracking hinges on a variety of components: strong user involvement; clear cost awareness and considerations; a robust, generic infrastructure plus well‑designed, domain‑specific tools; and flexible, metadata‑rich, modular workflows that allow for adaption in new contexts.