Biodiversity Data Unlocked: Publishing in GBIF with IPT

21-22.05.2026

Dre Valeria Di Cola, SIB Dre Sarah Miéville, CUSO Microbiology Dre Cathy Suarez CUSO Ecology & Evolution

Pr Christophe Dessimoz, UNIL & SIB Pre Natasha Glover, UNIL & SIB Pr Robert Waterhouse, UNIL & SIB Pr Marc Robinson-Rechavi, UNIL & SIB

This course will introduce participants to the process of publishing biodiversity data in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), using the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT), with a focus for the research community. The IPT is a powerful, widely used tool developed by GBIF for publishing biodiversity and ecological data, including species occurrences and sampling events, in a standardized, FAIR-compliant format.

Participants will gain hands-on experience in preparing, structuring, and publishing datasets via the IPT, making them available for global reuse through the global platform of GBIF. The course will leverage documentation and learning resources from GBIF, including:

• Introduction to GBIF
• GBIF Data Mobilization Course
• IPT User Manual

The course addresses the growing demand for FAIR data publication in biodiversity research, aligning with Swiss and international open science initiatives. Researchers and biodiversity data holders will learn to make their data discoverable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR).

Audience

This course is designed for PhD students, postdoctoral and other researchers in the life sciences who are working with species occurrences, ecological information or other pertinent data.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the participants are expected to:

• Apply biodiversity data standards, specifically Darwin Core and Ecological Metadata Language.
• Prepare and structure datasets for publication.
• Use the IPT for metadata creation and publishing datasets.
• Manage licensing and ensure compliance with GBIF publishing standards and tracking system.
• nn Share and integrate datasets into the GBIF network to boost visibility and reuse.

Knowledge / competencies

This course is designed for beginners. There are no specific requirements, but some notions on the structure used by GBIF to organise data (Metadata-only, Occurrences, Sample events, Checklists), together with basic knowledge on standards, such as Darwin Core and Ecological Metadata Language, can be an advantage.

We recommend the following video tutorials: see the SIB activity webpage

Technical

You are required to bring your own laptop, and it would be an advantage to have your own dataset, but this is not mandatory. An access to the IPT-test used for the course will be provided before.

Schedule

Day 1- AM: Introduction to Biodiversity Data Publishing

Day 1- PM: Darwin Core Standards & Data Preparation

Day 2- AM: Publishing with IPT

Day 2- PM: Advanced Topics & Wrap-up

Bern, Room TBA

Reimbursements for CUSO Students: Train ticket, 2°class, half-fare from your institution to the place of the activity.

Reimbursement of your travel tickets can be asked online through your MyCUSO. See HERE for the procedure.

For any question concerning reimbursement please contact the CUSO Microbiology coordinator Sarah Miéville

Important informations :

• A waiting list will be prepared to ensure that there are no empty seats.
• For cancellations after the deadline of registration or no-show: 50 CHF administrative fee

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