LUMEN Voices: FIZ Karlsruhe, Moritz Schubotz
In this series, we share short interviews to introduce you to the diverse partners contributing to our LUMEN vision. Each month, we’ll shine a spotlight on two of our partners—offering a glimpse into who they are, what they do, and what drives their work within LUMEN. In this edition, Moritz Schubotz answered our questions.
- Can you briefly introduce your organisation and its role within the LUMEN project?
FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure contributes to the LUMEN project through its expertise in developing research infrastructures. As the organization behind zbMATH Open, the world’s largest open-access platform for mathematical publications, reviews, and software, FIZ Karlsruhe brings experience in organizing and disseminating mathematical knowledge. With zbMATH’s history of over 90 years in summarizing and reviewing mathematical research, the institute collaborates with partners in other disciplines to share this knowledge more widely. In the context of LUMEN, FIZ Karlsruhe focuses on developing tools that are designed to be reusable across different domains and supports efforts to connect mathematical literature and software with research in other fields.
- What is the most exciting aspect of your contribution to LUMEN, and how does it align with your organisation’s mission or values?
One of the most exciting aspects of our contribution to LUMEN is the opportunity to collaborate closely with CNRS and other project partners to improve metadata quality across disciplines. This collaboration allows us to exchange expertise and evaluate which of our existing tools and workflows—originally developed for mathematical content—can be effectively applied in other research domains.
A key area of focus is the integration of modern language technologies, particularly large language model (LLM)-based chatbots and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems. These technologies present challenges that are not unique to mathematics but are shared by many platforms seeking to enhance accessibility and user interaction. Exploring how these tools can be implemented in a cross-disciplinary context aligns with our mission to develop sustainable, reusable infrastructure for research. We are particularly interested in identifying areas where synergies with other disciplines can be leveraged to make the most of these emerging technologies.
- LUMEN is all about interdisciplinary collaboration. How do you envision the project transforming the way research is conducted?
LUMEN’s emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration is supported by a clear vision and a well-structured approach to progressive enhancement. One of the most promising aspects of the project is its adoption of the data mesh concept, which helps formalize data and services across disciplines. This framework enables the project to break down complex challenges into manageable sub-problems, making improvements more measurable and structured.
By identifying and addressing “low-hanging fruit” early on, we can achieve quick wins that demonstrate tangible progress. At the same time, this incremental approach allows us to steadily work toward solutions for more complex, long-term challenges. In this way, LUMEN has the potential to reshape how research infrastructure is built and used across domains—encouraging greater reusability, interoperability, and collaboration.
- Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond, what impact do you hope the LUMEN project will have on the broader research community and beyond?
By 2027, we expect to have a clearer understanding of whether the LUMEN data mesh approach has proven effective in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and improving research infrastructure. If the approach is successful, the next crucial step will be securing long-term funding to ensure that the resulting infrastructure can be maintained and further developed.
Our hope is that LUMEN will lay the foundation for a sustainable, scalable framework that supports research across domains—not only during the project’s lifetime but well into the future. A lasting impact would involve broader adoption of shared data and service standards, greater interoperability between research platforms, and more efficient access to high-quality metadata and tools.