The Platform MaterialDigital Core Ontology (PMDco) is a mid-level semantic framework for Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). Aligning with the ISO/IEC 21838-2:2021 standard, PMDco is built on the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) and reuses several BFO-aligned ontologies such as RO, IAO, and OBI. Its scope follows the fundamental paradigm of MSE — processing, structure, and properties — and provides general semantics for entities commonly required across MSE disciplines, such as devices, roles, functions, and plans.
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Processes MSE-related process chains, including materials manufacturing, characterization, and simulation processes. |
Structure & State Substances, engineered materials, their composition, and multiscale structural features. |
Properties Material properties and qualities, representing processing–structure–property dependences. |
Each variant is published in both .owl and .ttl serializations. Pick the smallest one that covers your needs.
| Variant | Description | Best for |
|---|---|---|
pmdco-minimal |
Lightweight minimal version with the essential class skeleton (#121). | Quick onboarding & beginners |
pmdco-simple |
Simplified version with basic subclass and existential axioms. | Lightweight applications |
pmdco-base |
Core entities without extended imports. | Building application ontologies |
pmdco-full |
Complete ontology with all imports and full axiomatization. | Reasoning & full inference |
pmdco |
Main ontology file — contains the full version. | General use |
This repository provides the modular implementation of PMDco, developed and maintained with the Ontology Development Kit (ODK).
Browse the layout
core-ontology/
├─ src/ontology/ Main development folder, generated and managed through ODK
│ ├─ components/ Modular ontology components (classes, properties, axioms)
│ └─ pmdco-edit.owl Primary editable ontology used during development
├─ patterns/ Logical patterns and SHACL shapes for consistent design
├─ docs/ Documentation sources for the website and user guides
├─ .github/ CI workflows and issue/PR templates
├─ mkdocs.yaml Configuration for building the documentation site
└─ README · LICENSE · CONTRIBUTING
The PMDco documentation site gives a clear overview of the core concepts, modules, and design principles — how PMDco is structured, how to apply it in real-world MSE data workflows, and how the components relate, with detailed explanations, examples, patterns, and release information.
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Documentation Site Concepts, modules, design principles, examples, and release notes. |
Class & Property Reference Widoco-generated full listing of all classes and properties. |
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PMDco in MatPortal
Browse, search, and download from the materials ontology portal. |
Publications
Peer-reviewed publications related to PMDco. |
We welcome contributions to the Platform MaterialDigital Core Ontology — here is how to get involved.
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Request terms or report issues Use the issue tracker to request new terms or classes, or to report errors and concerns about the ontology. |
Build application ontologies Start from the application-ontology-template, which applies the same framework and mirrors PMDco with all its modules. |
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Join the discussion
Share modeling concerns or other discussable topics in the discussion forum. |
PMD Playground meetings
Our online Ontology Playground runs every second Friday, 1–2 pm CET. Register via the mailing list. |
Please also read our Contributing guidelines and Code of Conduct. Need more information? Reach us at info@material-digital.de.
If you use PMDco in your work, please cite the article.
Markus Schilling, Philipp von Hartrott, Jörg Waitelonis, Thomas Hanke, Henk Birkholz, Hossein Beygi Nasrabadi, Khashayar Razghandi, Kamilla Zaripova, Felix Thonagel, Fabian Neuhaus, Martin Glauer, Lars Vogt, Harald Sack, Lutz Mädler, Bernd Bayerlein, Chris Eberl (2026). Semantic Modeling in Materials Science and Engineering With Platform MaterialDigital Core Ontology 3.0. Advanced Engineering Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.71106
BibTeX
@article{schilling2026pmdco,
author = {Schilling, Markus and von Hartrott, Philipp and Waitelonis, Jörg and Hanke, Thomas and Birkholz, Henk and Nasrabadi, Hossein Beygi and Razghandi, Khashayar and Zaripova, Kamilla and Thonagel, Felix and Neuhaus, Fabian and Glauer, Martin and Vogt, Lars and Sack, Harald and Mädler, Lutz and Bayerlein, Bernd and Eberl, Chris},
title = {Semantic Modeling in Materials Science and Engineering With Platform MaterialDigital Core Ontology 3.0},
journal = {Advanced Engineering Materials},
volume = {n/a},
number = {n/a},
pages = {e71106},
keywords = {knowledge graphs, plattform materialdigital, PMD core ontology, semantic data, semantic modeling},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.71106},
url = {https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adem.71106},
eprint = {https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/adem.71106},
}