The ProDaC project is divided into three phases:
 
In phase one, all ProDaC partners will contribute to the finalisation of the PSI standard for the representation of protein identifications as well as to the PSI GPS modules for the overall representation of a proteomics experiment, in particular the sample description, sample handling, and separation modules. While standardisation work requires global consensus to be meaningful, this project will allow us to focus the work through meetings and co-ordination of work-intensive components, e.g. the development of ontologies.
To gain broad community acceptance, a standard needs to be developed in collaboration between experimentalists, bioinformatics scientists, and scientific publishers. It also needs to be intensively tested, supported by tools, and implemented by key organisations.
 
In phase two, ProDaC core partners will establish submission pipelines from experimental data providers and data analysis centers to the PRIDE proteomics repository. These submission pipelines will be intensively tested for technical performance and correctness as well as user-friendliness and user acceptance.
 
In phase three, the strategies developed will be implemented by a much broader group of project participants, building on previous experience in the project. This will be supported by dedicated technical advisors. At the end of phase three, the PSI proteomics standards will be adopted by major European and worldwide proteomics data providers, a significant portion of the published data will be available from PRIDE and the ProteomExchange partner repositories in a standardised, well-structured form. Scientific publishers will systematically recommend submission of proteomics data to ProteomExchange partner databases.