Research data management (RDM) is an important topic for biomedical research due to the issue of “bit rot”. RDM aims to implement access to reliable digital data for local and distributed research groups. A key aspect for the understanding of data is the use of metadata. This understanding has been investigated on the basis of two use cases of the DFG project LABIMI/F: RDM for genome data and biomedical image data. The results show that metadata can improve research not only for others but also for the researcher himself. However, RDM is still far from integrating all biomedical data. In addition, RDM is not (yet) a valid approach for clinical trial data management.