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Roadmap

This repository is an evolving collection of Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) for Materials Science and Engineering. We actively develop new patterns and welcome community contributions.

Current Patterns

The initial release covers three core modeling requirements:

Requirement Focus Status
Process Structure Processes, sub-processes, steps, execution order Available
Data & Resources Inputs, outputs, parameters (temperature, pressure, instruments) Available
Project & Roles Goals, stages, agents, roles (synthesis, microscopy, simulation) Available

These patterns are derived from ontologies including P-PLAN, PMDcore, M4I, OPMW, GPO, OntoCAPE, STATO, and WILD.

Planned Patterns

We are working on additional ODPs to cover more aspects of MSE modeling:

  • Material Composition Patterns — Represent chemical compositions, phases, microstructures, and material hierarchies.
  • Measurement & Characterization Patterns — Model experimental techniques (XRD, SEM, TEM), measurement setups, and result interpretation.
  • Simulation & Computational Patterns — Capture simulation workflows, computational parameters, software tools, and model validation.
  • Provenance & Reproducibility Patterns — Track data lineage, experimental reproducibility, and FAIR data principles.
  • Standards & Compliance Patterns — Align with domain standards (DIN, ISO, ASTM) and regulatory requirements.

How You Can Help

We encourage the community to contribute new patterns, especially from domains that are currently underrepresented.

  1. Propose a pattern — Open an issue describing the modeling challenge and your proposed solution.
  2. Submit a pattern — Follow the contributing guide and use the pattern template.
  3. Evaluate existing patterns — Test patterns against your use cases and share feedback.
  4. Add ontologies — Suggest ontologies from which new patterns should be extracted.

Long-Term Vision

This repository aims to become a community-maintained catalog of ODPs for the broader materials science ecosystem, connecting to initiatives like:

  • NFDI4Ing — National Research Data Infrastructure for Engineering
  • PMD — Platform Material Digital
  • MatWerk — NFDI for Materials Science and Engineering
  • EMMC — European Materials Modelling Council

By sharing and standardizing design patterns, we reduce redundant modeling effort and improve interoperability across MSE knowledge graphs.