End of June the DataPLANT Scientific Board meeting was held online to discuss the progress of the ongoing developments within the NFDI consortium. The developments are based on two main principles: personnel assistance and technical support, and infrastructure. The following key points were addressed:

🌱 Outreach to the fundamental plant research community
The need to extend outreach efforts to the wider community was recognized. The plan is after the successful onboarding of larger research groups like CRCs or Transregios to form hubs and encourage collaboration to formulate a call for participation addressing smaller projects by the end of the year. Further, a workshop at the upcoming "Botaniktagung" was proposed to engage with the wider scientific community. Additionally, DataPLANT's status as a flagship project in the field should be emphasized to the DFG. In the discussion some concerns were raised regarding better promotion of the work within the NFDI. Clarity was sought on the specific NFDI to be addressed and the appropriate timing for engagement. To be open to a wide range of resesearchers the board suggested to minimize branding efforts and maintain a more neutral approach to the general look and feel.

🌱 Discussion forums and collaboration:
Meetings, regular events, and sections were identified as platforms for discussion and collaboration. Further on data centers of excellence were seen as opportunities for engagement. For the future a more tight collaboration with NFDI4Bioimaging and NFDI4Biodiversity was suggested. Hackathons were seen as a valuable means of collaboration on specific projects.The meeting concluded with the acknowledgement of the importance of strengthening outreach efforts to the fundamental plant research community and beyond as well as collaborating effectively within NFDI initiative.