About CRYOGENICX

A semantic knowledge graph platform for crystallisation science, built at the University of Strathclyde's CMAC Future Manufacturing Research Hub.

What is CRYOGENICX?

CRYOGENICX is a research platform that captures, connects and reasons over crystallisation science data using Linked Data and Artificial Intelligence. It provides a shared, machine-readable knowledge base for experimental results, materials, processes and conditions generated within the research community.

At its core is the CRYOGENICX Ontology — a formal semantic model built on OWL 2 that represents crystallisation processes, experimental parameters, materials and measurements . This ontology is aligned to established domain vocabularies, enabling interoperability with external datasets and tools.

Data stored in the platform is queryable via a SPARQL endpoint, accessible through a REST API, and explorable through an AI chat assistant powered by Claude that can answer natural-language questions by running live queries against the knowledge graph.

Key Capabilities

🔗
Linked Data Storage
Experiments represented as RDF triples in an Apache Jena Fuseki triplestore.
🤖
AI Knowledge Assistant
Claude-powered chat that queries the knowledge graph in real time using MCP tools.
🔌
REST API
ASP.NET Core API with OpenAPI documentation for programmatic access.
🔐
Role-Based Access
Keycloak-backed authentication with per-feature permission control.
✅
SHACL Validation
Data contributions validated against SHACL shapes before ingestion.

Why CRYOGENICX?

CRYOGENICX stands for:

CRYstallisation

Ontologies for the

GENeration of

Interfaces and the

Collection of

eXperimental data

Initially, the knowledge graph was going to be targeted and designed particularly for crystallisation experiments, but to take into account different types of crystallisation experiment the ontology was generalised. In principle, the solution should to be able to be applied to any scientific experiment that has steps, measurements and outcomes.

Technology Stack

Backend

ASP.NET Core 10 · C# · Entity Framework Core · PostgreSQL

Knowledge Graph

Apache Jena Fuseki · SPARQL 1.1 · OWL 2 · SHACL

AI & Integration

Anthropic Claude · Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Infrastructure

Kubernetes · Docker · Keycloak · nginx · Let's Encrypt

About CMAC

The CMAC Future Manufacturing Research Hub is a world-leading centre for continuous manufacturing and crystallisation science, hosted at the University of Strathclyde's Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow. CMAC brings together industry and academia to advance pharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

CRYOGENICX is developed as part of CMAC's digital research infrastructure, aiming to make crystallisation knowledge FAIR — Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.

How we handle your data