First Step We use our scientifi c workfl ow system to defi ne the research workfl ow step by step. In every workstep metadata information is used to prebind to the proper identifi er system (eg. ports from geographic places and not people) which can then propose adequate suggestions upon user input leading to the correct assignment of the port in question. Sometimes a mapping between identifi er resources such as the german " Gemeinsame Normdatei " (GND) for people , institutions or geographic places and another like ISNI or OrcID for people only may be necessary for legacy reasons. For example our handwriting recognition system in conjunction with " digital enabled " paper uses names and maps to relate those to the respective systems in order to retrieve a global unique identifi er which is then used to reliably relate and store information (Figure 2). Identifi er system are ubiquitous but commonly they are not global(ly known) nor are they unique (national vs. international). Usage of global identifi ers in marine research greatly enhances search and retrieval of samples, data and related information and enbales scientists all over the world to reliably share and reuse research data. For many scientifi c disciplines numerous identifi er systems exists on a national and international level allowing non-ambiguous refernce to people, institutions and geosamples (Figure 1). Our goal is to reliably integrate these unique references in our virtual research environment, the Kiel Data Management Infrastructure (KDMI), supporting scientists in national and international projects and collaborative research centers.