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Research Information:The euroCRIS Context

Jan DvořákCERIF Task Group Leader @ euroCRIS

With contributions from my colleagues from the euroCRIS Board

28-29 November 2013 Rīga, Latvia

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Outline

• Research Information• Research Information Management

Current Research Information Systems (CRIS)• Common European Research Information

Format (CERIF) briefly• Information about Research Infrastructures• euroCRIS

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What is Research Information?Information about:• Researchers• Organisations

– Research performing orgs, Funders, Publishers, Facility Operators

• Scientific Disciplines• Funding

– Funding Programmes, Calls

• Projects– Proposed, Ongoing, Completed

• Research infrastructures– Facilities, Equipment, Services

• Outputs– Publications, Patents, Research Data, Research Software, Products

• Outcomes– New product on the market, Improved treatment procedure, Regulation update

• Impacts– Increased market share, Reduced death rate of a disease

• And their Relationships

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Who needs Research Information?

Research Informati

on

Funding Organisations

Researchers

Research Organisations

Decision Makers

Project Managers

Publishers

Enterprises

Intermediaries / Brokers

Media

Educators

General Public

visibility, generate CVs,find collaborators, track competitors

assess performance, support strategic

decisions, set priorities

integration of relevant findings into lectures

and training

finding research results of potential market or innovative value

distribution andcommunication

information and education,interest

finding reviewers, editors

assessment of proposals, finding reviewersevaluation of results,

finding information for participation in projects, partnerships, usage of results

integration and interoperability,strategic management

overview of ongoing activities

Librariesacquisition, dissemination

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Who needs Research Information?

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Everyone.

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Many of them.

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Extreme variety.

Use-cases for Research Information

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This calls for …

System

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InformationResearchCurrent (CRIS)

Information System containing Research InformationInformation System supporting Research

Information System containing Information on Current Research

Current = of current interest (not necessarily ongoing)

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CRIS is a Core IS of …

• Universities (together with a teaching mgmt system)

• Research Institutes• Funding Agencies• Facility Operators• Publishers• Patent Offices• Technology Transfer Offices• …

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Data Model for CRIS

Common

European

Research

Information

Format

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CERIF

• Covers all the use-cases• Very flexible

Tomorrow’s tutorial

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CERIF: a brief history

• CERIF ‘91: International standard for exchange of data about research projects

• CERIF 2000: A true database structure• CERIF 2004: General relationships; Semantics in the

Semantic Layer• CERIF 2006: Research outputs added; XML exchange

format• CERIF 1.5 (2012): XML exchange format update;

Federated identifiers• CERIF 1.6 (2013): Research data support

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CERIF usage

• Commercial CRIS products:– Pure by Atira [DK], now Elsevier– Converis by Avedas [DE]

• Open source CRIS:– DSpace-CRIS by CINECA [IT]

• Many information systems produce CERIF XML• In e-Infrastructures

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CERIF for Research Infrastructures3 entities:• Facility• Equipment• Service

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Link to all other entities:• Project• Funding• ResultPublication• ResultProduct

– Research Dataset– Software

• OrgUnit• Person• Measurement

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Information about Research Infrastructures

• MERIL• euroRIs-NET+ Observatory

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MERIL Portal

An inventory of openly accessible Research Infrastructures of more-than-national relevance in Europe

(Slides put together by Valérie Brasse, euroCRIS Board,

and reviewed by Sarah Moore, ESF)

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http://portal.meril.eu

MERIL was supported by the European Commission under FP7 Contract 262159 from 2010-2012and in 2013 by the ESF Member Organisations

MERIL, a directory of RIs

RI = Research Infrastructure

MERIL = Mapping of the European Research Infrastructure Landscape

Initial use-cases:

•Scientific community: searching for adequate infrastructures allowing access to facilities and resources, identifying new cutting edge / innovative developments at an early stage, looking for partners for research collaborations,...

•Policymakers: information supporting the analysis of the current RI landscape across geographical, disciplinary and organisational boundaries, thus providing for improved decision making capacity and funding efficiency

•But also…

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MERIL, a directory of RIs

…a bridge between academic and industrial worlds:“Research Infrastructures (RIs) constitute a bridge to access academic scientific expertise for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). RIs are a tool for economic development as they strongly contribute to the level of attractiveness for companies considering investment in a specific region. They can also serve to develop trans-regional cooperation. Developing a clear visibility on RIs is therefore a key element in terms of regional economic development.”

(MERIL Description of Work)

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More-than-national relevance

RIs indexed in MERIL:

• Offering transnational access, based on transparent selection process where appropriate

• High quality operational standards, including in data management where appropriate

• Defined management structure

• Greater-than-national relevance (e.g. evidence of extra-national users or partnerships with institutions abroad)

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RI, Equipment and Services

The information related to the Research Infrastructures is recorded using the CERIF format:• A Research Infrastructure is a Facility (cfFacility)

• An RI contains Equipment (cfEquipment) and provides Services (cfService)

• An RI is linked to a Hosting Organisation (cfOrgUnit), a Contact Person (cfPerson)

• An RI is classified along 4 dimensions (cfClassification): Scientific Domains, RI Categories, Status, and RI Type

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RI Detail page – use of CERIF

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The Services offered by the RI: cfService

The Equipment available at the RI: cfEquipment

Research Infrastructure, as a Facility: cfFacility

RI Detail page – use of CERIF

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Hosting Organisation: cfOrgUnit

Contact Person: cfPers

Classifications are used for:• Scientific Domains (8)• RI Categories• RI Status (Under

Construction, Operational, Being upgraded)

• RI Type (Single-sited, Distributed, Virtual)

-> cfClass x4

Browse and search for RIs

Analyse the RI landscape

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• MERIL• euroRIs-NET+ Observatory

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Information about Research Infrastructures

Dr. Nikos Houssos| National Documentation Centre / NHRF

European Network of National Contact Points for Research Infrastructures moving forward

The CERIF-based

EuroRIs-Net+ Observatory

Dr. Dimitris Karaiskos| National Documentation Centre / NHRF

Slides by

ObjectiveResearch Infrastructures Observatory Single Access Point for Information on RIs & Communication with RIs Stakeholders

Why? - RIs information dispersed at national/regional/European level - Complicated issue, Diversified policies, Different Stakeholders - RIs landscape is changing, intense ongoing discussion

The needOne-stop-shop with info & services to maximize:- Dissemination of information- Involvement and benefits for:

- stakeholders- end users

How? Highly interactive information infrastructure- Observatory for gathering and organizing RIs knowledge:

- consolidated & update information (national, regional, European level)

http://observatory.euroris-net.eu

Target Groups • RIs NCPs• PC members• EC officers• RIs policy bodies, (e.g. ESFRI, e‐IRG)• RI project coordinators and operators• RI‐centric ERA‐NET partners• International RI organizations• national/regional authorities• industry representatives• researchers• …

Different levels of participation depending on the assigned roles

Open consultation with stakeholders for improvements

http://observatory.euroris-net.eu

Focus

• interoperability• recognized standards (CERIF/CRIS)• open software• comprehensive info• visualization of data

http://observatory.euroris-net.eu

Contents

Information available- Research Infrastructures (retrieved from MERIL)- RIs projects - Organizations: policy bodies, funding institutions, participants in EC projects, …- Persons: contacts for stakeholders, policy makers, …- Documents / Publications: National roadmaps, reports, studies, surveys,

indicators, presentations, workshop proceedings, …

http://observatory.euroris-net.eu

Contents Acquisition

Information sources:• Entries by all EuroRis-

Net+ members • Retrieval from external

online sources– CORDIS– MERIL– …

• Entry option for registered users (moderated)

http://observatory.euroris-net.eu

Process:• Quality check by

nominated NCPs• System support for:

– content submission– automatic updates– reviewing– Merging

long-term sustainability

Services

For anonymous users / visitors - Search and browse Observatory content- Semantic links/relationships between entries - Provide feedback on the Observatory (online form)- Visualisations

For registered users (free registration – moderated)- Personal page: user’s public profile- “MyObservatory” personal private space with documents, contacts, projects –

saved from Observatory- May upload documents to the Observatory

http://observatory.euroris-net.eu

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Impact & Challenges

- Provides a single point of reference for RI stakeholders in Europe- Useful for:

- Policy makers to monitor the current status of the RI ecosystem in Europe- Researchers to identify RIs and services of interest (including TA Opportunities)- RI stakeholders (existing and potential) to identify key RIs, projects, persons,

organisations and cooperate closer with the community- NCPs to have a current holistic view of the RI ecosystem in Europe

- Sustainability- Favoured by use of standard data model (CERIF), widely adopted in Europe and

beyond- Automatic import of information from other systems significantly lowers update costs- Part of the enterprise-grade EKT infrastructure providing national scope services in

Greece

http://www.euroris-net.eu/stakeholders-forum

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euroCRIS

• Mission:Advance interoperability in the research community through CERIF

• A not-for-profit association of research information management professionals

• Registered since 2002 in the Netherlands• Appointed by the EC with the maintenance

and development of CERIF

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euroCRIS members

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Institutional members~130Personal members ~40Affiliate members ~25

Also from:Australia, Canada, China, Iran, Israel, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Korea, USA

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euroCRIS Task Groups

• CERIF• CRIS Architectures• Linked Open Data

28-29 November 2013 Rīga, Latvia

• Best Practice• CRIS-IR• Indicators

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euroCRIS events

• The CRIS conference series– Every second year

• Membership meetings– Once/twice a year

• Strategic seminars– September in Brussels

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Call for Papers publishedwww.cris2014.org

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