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Getting started with PSDI

Discover PSDI in 5 minutes.

This page will give you a brief introduction to PSDI and where to go to find more information about the resources, guidance materials and training that we provide. There will also be an introduction to our communities and the various events and activities that PSDI runs.

What is PSDI?​

The Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) is intended to help scientists to handle data more easily by connecting and enhancing the different data infrastructures that physical scientists already use in their research. PSDI enables researchers to access and combine reference quality data from both commercial and open sources; share data, software and models with the community, make use of technologies such as AI to explore data; and learn how to make their research open and FAIR.

You can find out more about the background to the project at About PSDI.

How do I find physical sciences data?​

PSDI provides access to over 20 different databases and repositories of physical sciences data including the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), Chemical Availability Search (ChASe), Propersea (Property Prediction), and the Chemotion Repository. You can perform a search of these data sources using the PSDI Cross Data Search Service. PSDI and our partners also provide a range of other data sources of interest to the physical science community that can be accessed through PSDI.

What tools and services are offered by PSDI?​

PSDI provides a number of web-based software services and tools that you can download and run on your own hardware that enable you to access, transform, and process your data, or to access guidance and training. In addition to the PSDI Cross Data Search described above and this Knowledge Base, highlights include:

For more information about the services and tools provided by PSDI, see Introduction to PSDI Resources.

What guidance and training does PSDI provide?​

PSDI offers guidance and training materials for physical scientists and those who support them, including guidance on working with scientific research data and using the technologies and resources provided by PSDI. Self-paced training supplements in-person learning opportunities to broaden researchers’ abilities beyond their specialised fields, focusing on areas like programming, machine-learning, research data management, and other transferable skills.

You can use the left hand navigation in this Knowledge Base to browse the different guidance topics provided or use the following links to see more about the guidance and training we offer:

  • Guidance for topics related to research data and PSDI technologies
  • Training for more about our on-line and in-person training opportunities.

How do I get involved with PSDI?​

PSDI actively seeks the involvement of the Physical Science research community to both contribute to PSDI and to drive our future direction. There are many ways to get involved:

What to do next​

About this page

If you would like to contribute content to the PSDI Knowledge Base or have feedback you would like to give on this guidance, please contact us.