Skip to content
University of FribourgEDDBDatabases for teaching and research

Databases for your teaching and research projects

EDDB (Educational Databases) is a service of DIT-ER at the University of Fribourg. It supports teachers and researchers who need a database for their project, from data modelling to publication.

Start a project

Open science

Funders, starting with the SNSF, expect research data to be FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. EDDB helps you get there, together with the University’s Open Science team.

Our support

We help you structure, document and describe your data from the start, so that it can be published, shared or deposited when the time comes. Together with you and the Open Science team, we look for the solution that suits your project.

Data management plan

For an SNSF application, EDDB can be named in your data management plan as a storage and publication solution.

After the project

A database does not disappear at the end of a grant or when your team leaves, EDDB keeps it. We also help you plan its long-term preservation.

Some projects

Databases from every discipline: law, history, art history, archaeology, biology. Some can be browsed online, others support the internal work of the teams.

Biochemistry and Microbiology

Department of Biology and Section of Medicine · Science and Medicine

Five laboratory databases, migrated from a former server, for antibodies, protocols, plasmids and primers.

Datacant

Institute of European Law · Law

Cantonal case law on data protection since 1984, with a summary of each decision in German and French.

Visit →

NAFO

Department of History and Fribourg Museum of Art and History · Humanities

Numismatic collection, one record per coin with its images, identification, issuing authority, mint and metal.

Visit →
More projects ↓

ABC arts & musées

Department of Art History and Archaeology · Humanities

Database of artworks behind a virtual exhibition.

SNSF

Callisto

Department of Art History and Archaeology · Humanities

Material culture and representations of childhood in Antiquity, extended to the whole iconography of play, from 800 BC to AD 500.

ERCVisit →

Federalism

Institute of Federalism · Law

The Institute's database, serving an observatory and a survey of information on federalism, run with the ch Foundation.

Holy Networks

Department of Art History and Archaeology · Humanities

Holy sites, pilgrimage routes, written evidence and memorial networks, linked together.

SNSF

LEFem

Department of Art History and Archaeology · Humanities

Images of women and female art patronage in the Latin East, from the 12th to the 15th century.

SNSF

Ludus

Department of Art History and Archaeology · Humanities

Ancient game boards, from ancient Egypt to the end of the Western Roman Empire, with a searchable map.

ERCVisit →

Pilgrims

Department of Art History and Archaeology · Humanities

Excerpts from some 300 medieval pilgrim accounts in various European languages, grouped by site and documented (sources, geography, context).

SNSF

NocoDB databases

NocoDB is at the heart of the service: an online relational database that works like a spreadsheet, with no programming.

  • Tables, relations between tables, attachments (images, PDF), filtered views and data entry forms.
  • An account for each team member, with their role: read, edit or administer. Partners outside the University can be invited.
  • An API, to work with the data in R or Python, or to feed a showcase.
  • An export of your data as CSV, at any time.

EDDBs, for sensitive data

A second instance, reachable only from the University network, hosts projects with sensitive data.

Included

  • Hosting on the University’s servers.
  • Backups, updates and security.
  • Modelling your data, together with you.
  • Migrating your existing data: spreadsheet, CSV, former database.
  • Training your team.

Not included

  • Data entry, which remains your team’s task.

PostgreSQL databases

For teams who need direct SQL access, from R, Python or a GIS such as QGIS: a PostgreSQL database on a server dedicated to your project, administered together with the DIT. Each project undergoes a security review before it opens.

A PostgreSQL database can also be given a NocoDB data entry interface: your team enters its data in NocoDB, and you analyse it with SQL.

Included

  • A server dedicated to your project, on the University’s infrastructure.
  • Backups, updates and security.
  • Setting up the database and your team’s accounts.

Not included

  • Your queries, scripts and analysis applications.
  • Data entry, unless a NocoDB interface is connected.

Public showcases

A showcase is a website developed by DIT-ER to publish all or part of your data. It reads your database directly: what your team enters appears online, with no export. You choose the published fields; the rest stays private.

Three levels, on quotation:

  • Simple: list, search, detailed record, standard design, one or two tables.
  • Intermediate: advanced search, links between records, customised design, several tables.
  • Full: interoperability (IIIF), maps, several languages, tailor-made design.

A showcase is served under eddb.unifr.ch or at its own address, such as datacant.unifr.ch.

Without a showcase: public access

A NocoDB database can also be opened for anyone to read. The data then keeps the look of the NocoDB interface: a quick solution when a public address is enough.

Included

  • Developing the showcase, at the chosen level.
  • Its hosting and updates.
  • Its address, under eddb.unifr.ch or at its own domain name.

Not included

  • The texts and images of the showcase, supplied by your team.
  • The presentation page of your project on the University website: it is up to your department.

Start a project

Who can submit a request?

Teachers and researchers of the University of Fribourg, for a teaching or research project. Your partners from other institutions can then be invited to your database.

How a project unfolds

  1. First contact. Describe your project, your data and your timeline to us by email.
  2. Meeting. We review your needs together and propose a solution: NocoDB database, PostgreSQL database, showcase.
  3. Modelling. We design the structure of your database with you.
  4. Data migration. We import your existing data.
  5. Access and training. Each member of your team receives their access, and we train you to use the tool.
  6. Project life. We remain available for your questions and for changes to your database.
  7. Publication and beyond. Showcase, open science, preservation of your data beyond the project.

Contact

Write to us at eddb@unifr.ch.