nanoPharos: A Case Study on FAIR (Nano)material Metadata Management

How NovaMechanics evolved nanoPharos from a simple data repository into a comprehensive FAIR data management platform — with a rich conceptual data model, advanced curation interfaces, and scalable multi-project architecture.

Published in NanoImpact (2026) • DOI: 10.1016/j.impact.2025.100602

The Challenge

Scaling FAIR Data Management for Advanced Materials

Research and innovation in nanomaterials and advanced materials can take decades to reach market deployment. Digitising these processes to support safe and sustainable material development requires large volumes of high-quality, interoperable data — something existing databases struggle to deliver.

NovaMechanics addressed this by evolving nanoPharos into a scalable FAIR data management platform built on an adapted ChEMBL schema, supporting multiple collaborative projects (DIAGONAL, CompSafeNano, INSIGHT) while maintaining rich metadata and provenance tracking.

3
EU Project Deployments
DIAGONAL, CompSafeNano, and INSIGHT collaborative projects
MySQL
Relational Architecture
Scalable relational database with entity-relationship diagrams and indexes
JRC
FAIR Maturity Assessment
Benchmarked against JRC FAIR maturity questionnaire showing high compliance

How We Built the Platform

A comprehensive FAIR data management system designed for the nanomaterials community

Design a rich conceptual data model

Built on the ChEMBL schema adapted for nanomaterials, describing interlinkages from the atomic level (unit cell, crystallography) to macroscopic properties (physicochemical characterisation, exposure, interactions, and effects).

Implement three-tier metadata architecture

Structured all records around bibliographic metadata (title, DOI, ORCID, licence), provenance metadata (methods, dates, versioning), and scientific metadata (protocols, instruments, algorithms, software versions).

Build advanced curation interfaces

Developed four curation modes — embargoed/locked data access, bulk insert with CSV template mapping, single insert/modify with validation, and table/attribute configuration for administrators.

Implement FAIR findability and accessibility

Assigned URI-compliant unique identifiers, published nanopublications in nanodash and Zenodo, deployed a REST API, and secured access with KeyCloak SSO authentication.

Benchmark FAIRness and plan improvements

Tracked FAIR maturity using the JRC questionnaire, developed a FAIR Implementation Profile via the FIP Wizard, and planned structured vocabularies, ontology integration, and CoreTrustSeal certification.

Results at a Glance

119
Material Descriptors
36 physicochemical, 3 structural, 18 molecular, and 62 atomistic descriptors per material
4 Modes
Data Curation
Embargoed access, bulk insert, single insert/modify, and admin table configuration
ERM + NInChI
Material Identifiers
European Registry of Materials IDs and NanoInChI for cross-batch traceability
High
JRC FAIR Score
Assessed as having a high degree of FAIRness via JRC maturity questionnaire
Multi-project
Scalable Architecture
Supports tailored deployments across DIAGONAL, CompSafeNano, and INSIGHT
Java + ZK
Enterprise Stack
Java backend with WildFly, ZK Framework frontend, MySQL database, and MVVM architecture

How NovaMechanics Applies This Work

NanoPharos Database

Access the full nanoPharos registry with advanced search configuration, modelling-ready dataset exports, and comprehensive metadata records.

Explore NanoPharos

Data & FAIR Infrastructure

Learn about our broader FAIR data infrastructure services including metadata design, repository architecture, and governance mechanisms.

Explore FAIR infrastructure

This case study shows how nanoPharos has evolved from a single-project data repository into a comprehensive, multi-project FAIR data management platform — demonstrating scalable metadata governance, advanced curation capabilities, and increasing FAIRness for the nanomaterials research community.

Read the full paper