The Data Provider Forum of the Astronomy Competence Center Pilot project will take place in Heidelberg from Wednesday 25 to Friday 27 March 2026.
The goal of this forum is to bring together researchers and technicians, Research Infrastructures, data-intensive projects, astronomy data providers to exchange knowledge and experience related to the online publication of astronomical and astroparticle data and related services using the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) standards to ensure their data is findable and usable with common, standard tools. This forum is the right place if you want to be FAIR in astronomy, or help others become FAIR.
The forum offers a space to:
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discuss shared challenges in data publication;
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present approaches, solutions, and lessons learned;
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engage with peers and build connections across projects and infrastructures;
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participate in practical, hands-on sessions on widely used VO data publication tools and technologies.
Introductory and Hands-On Sessions
To accommodate both newcomers and experienced data providers, the programme will include:
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Introduction to the Virtual Observatory (VO):
A dedicated session for participants new to the VO, covering its concepts, architecture, standards, and core tools. -
HiPS (Hierarchical Progressive Surveys): Here you can learn how to create and publish hierarchical sky survey data.
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DaCHS (Data Center Helper Suite): a full publication suite that lets you enter the VO without writing any code; if you are interested in getting help publishing your data, please contact gavo@ari.uni-heidelberg.de as you register.
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EPNTAP: If you have solar or planetary data, publishing them through EPN-TAP makes it findable in the Virtual Observatory and through custom portals like VESPA. This workshop will teach you how to set up an EPN-TAP service. Advanced EPNTAP users can learn how to add datalink to an EpnCore table for solar and planetary data;
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HAPI: here you can learn how to setup a HAPI service (time-series interface for heliophysics)
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“How to Register Your Data” workshop: Whether or not your data service already is standards-compliant, you can and should register it; at the EDP forum, we will tell you how you can do that.
Opportunities to Contribute
If you have experiences or requirements to share, you are most welcome to submit an abstract for either a show-and-tell lightning talk of 2 minutes or a longer, 15+5 minute presentation. However, we absolutely welcome observer-only participation as well.
