Speaker
Description
The RHIC Data and Analysis Preservation Program (DAPP) at Brookhaven National Laboratory is a comprehensive initiative in nuclear physics, safeguarding 25 years of data, software, and institutional knowledge from the PHENIX, STAR, and sPHENIX experiments. As the community transitions to the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) era, DAPP offers a complete model for preserving scientific value beyond the lifetime of active experiments. We present an integrated overview of the program's three complementary pillars, with relevance to the broader HEP/NP community preparing for HL-LHC, the EIC, and future facilities.
The DAPP is built on a comprehensive strategy. It first establishes the core preservation infrastructure for long-term data and software retention, utilizing enhanced metadata to enable result reanalysis. Second, it introduces SciBot, a locally deployed AI assistant using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and locally hosted LLMs, which provides secure, natural-language access to preserved RHIC knowledge and critically guarantees data sovereignty for private documentation. Finally, the program presents CRISP, an integrated institutional knowledge and document management system that leverages automated workflows and federated identity to ensure digital preservation and long-term accessibility for future projects.
Together, these efforts provide a practitioner’s perspective on the full preservation stack—from raw data and analysis workflows to the organizational knowledge that gives them context and meaning. We will highlight cross-cutting lessons on metadata standards, access-control federation, AI integration, and the institutional structures needed to sustain preservation throughout experiment lifecycles, with direct relevance to the broader HEP and nuclear physics communities preparing for next-generation facilities.