23 January 2024 - Software and ApplicationsNew Electronic Lab Notebook eLabFTW
The new service for the digital management of lab journals has been available for a wide range of users since the end of 2023. eLabFTW is an open source software and is hosted at the University Computing Centre. All data is encrypted by eLabFTW and stored on university servers. The digital lab notebook has a flexible design and can therefore be used for a wide variety of disciplines. Working groups at Heidelberg University can already create, manage and store their lab journals digitally.
Electronic Lab Journals
The planning, execution and evaluation of scientific experiments are often documented in physical lab journals. Electronic lab notebooks (ELNs) are the digital alternative to these paper notebooks and meet the requirements of good scientific practice. This means that ELNs can, for example, be more securely administrated through virtual access control and protected from failure or destruction with backup solutions. In addition, processes and results are easier to share thanks to digital export options that also take international data standards into account.
eLabFTW
The web-based software eLabFTW enables project managers to easily create electronic lab books for their team and use them to plan, monitor and document scientific experiments without having to hire IT specialists. eLabFTW is suitable for different disciplines due to its flexible and open design, which allows the software to be adapted as needed.
eLabFTW in Heidelberg
This service is operated and managed by the URZ under the Research Data Unit (RDU), a joint institution run by the University Library and University Computing Centre providing centralized services for archiving and publishing research data.
More detailed information about the technical details can be found in the Service Catalogue. Working groups can try out the paid service with a free six-month test period.
If you would like to requestion access for you and your team, you can send an email to