In a new publication, researchers from the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and the University Medicine Greifswald show how research data can be processed to be FAIR on a step-by-step basis, i.e. such that they can be found, accessed and reused in an interoperable manner. Using the DZD Core Data Set as an example, they compare different FAIRification work flows, evaluate their strengths and challenges and provide concrete recommendations for the scientific community.