The Institute for Information Management and Communication (IIMC) launched a pilot service for the electronic lab notebook "eLabFTW" at Campus ICT Labs in July 2025. This service is available to faculty, staff, students, and part-time lecturers who hold an SPS-ID or ECS-ID.

What is eLabFTW?

The electronic lab notebook "eLabFTW" is open-source software that originated in a laboratory in France, designed specifically to support researchers. It can be used simply by accessing it via a web browser.

The service is suitable for use in both research laboratories and lectures. It comes equipped with a wide range of features, including:

• Creation of experiment notes
• Laboratory inventory management
• Equipment scheduling/booking
• Chemical structure drawing tools
• DNA cloning tools
• API integration

Key Features of eLabFTW

The following are key features of version 5.2.8 provided by Campus ICT Labs:

• EXPERIMENTS: Creation of experiment notes, etc.
• TEMPLATES: Creation of templates for EXPERIMENTS.
• RESOURCES: Management of materials, reagents, experimental equipment, supplies, rooms, etc.
• SCHEDULER: Booking items registered in RESOURCES.
• TOOLS:
  • Compounds: A chemical compound database where all teams and users can register and view entries.
  • Chemical Structure Editor: Utilizes the chemical structure drawing software, Ketcher.
  • DNA Cloning: Utilizes OpenCloning.

Categories and tags facilitate easy management and searching of experiment notes. Additionally, features such as RFC 3161 compliant timestamping, audit logs, revision history, and cryptographic signatures are available.

Created notes and scheduler history can be exported in PDF, PDF/A, JSON, ZIP, ELN, and CSV formats.

For more details, please refer to the document below:

eLabFTW Feature Introduction: https://u.kyoto-u.jp/elabftwinformation

How to Use

Please submit your application via the Google Form below. We ask that applications for team creation be made on a per-course (lecture) or per-laboratory basis.

Application Form: https://forms.gle/mVHmeqhDPEnxK6k59

If you wish to try out the features of eLabFTW before applying, you can access the "Playground" trial team. Please log in using the URL below:

eLabFTW Login URL:https://eln.rd.iimc.kyoto-u.ac.jp

This pilot service is already being utilized in actual student experiments and research activities. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about usage scenarios or implementation.

We hope this service will further enhance your research and educational activities and encourage you to make full use of it.

【Institute for Information Management and Communication (IIMC) Center for Open Science and Data Management / Center for Information Technology Infrastructure (System Design Group)】