PUNCH4NFDI, the consortium of particle physics, astroparticle physics, astrophysics and hadron and nuclear physics, stands for a significant part of knowledge-driven basic physics research and in particular for data-intensive research on large research infrastructures. PUNCH4NFDI - which emerged from Astro@NFDI and PAHN-PaN - has gone through a transformative process in the course of the merger that is exemplary for the entire NFDI: working out commonalities in the relevant use cases, finding a common language and a uniform methodological approach, and defining and providing solutions that serve a broad audience - ideally the entire NFDI. The PUNCH community has always been a technological pioneer. In particular, it is a leader in research data management in the areas of ''big data'' and ''open data'' and has been an early adopter of FAIR principles. New data producers in PUNCH present the community with entirely new challenges in terms of volume, complexity and rate, as well as the ''irreversibility'' of the data generated.

The aim of PUNCH4NFDI is to develop and provide solutions to these challenges, which other scientific fields will also face in the future, in light of FAIR principles.

The core of PUNCH4NFDI's work will be the 'science data platform', which will be available to PUNCH and the entire NFDI. Technically, the platform will be realised via a ''data lake'' with storage and cloud-based computing resources; in addition, there will be a transformation layer for the analysis of data sets as well as an easy-to-use interface as a data portal.PUNCH4NFDI will approach the realisation of its goals in different ''task areas'' that relate to the different aspects of such layered data management: TA 2 ''Data management'' provides solutions for standardised data access and interoperable storage methods and works on the integration of data stores with federated computing resources and the corresponding dynamic ''work flows'' for data processing. TA 3 deals with the ''data transformations'' that are relevant for the optimal scientific exploitation of data and the combination of different data sets (and thus for new scientific knowledge). TA 4 provides the necessary ''data portal'' and connects the underlying digital ''research products'' using appropriate metadata. TA 5 addresses the growing challenge of data irreversibility and data loss and the corresponding real-time decision-making and dynamic archiving. TAs 6 and 7 provide ''Synergies & services'' and ''Training, education, outreach & citizen science'' relevant to PUNCH4NFDI and its links to other consortia and the NFDI and society at large.