European Commission launches pilot to open up publicly funded research data

Posted: December 18th, 2013 | Author: Sven | Filed under: Data Sharing, Projects, Research Data | Tags: European Commission, Horizon2020, open access | 1 Comment »

Currently, Europe’s eighth Framework Programme takes form: On December 2013 the European Council has adopted Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation for the years 2014 to 2020.

Horizon 2020, which has a budget of around 77 billion euros, will underpin the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs, as well as the goal of strengthening the scientific and technological bases by contributing to achieving a European Research Area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely.Part of this free circulation of scientific knowledge is the obligation to publish all scientific publications resulting from projects funded by the European Commission under the framework of Horizon 2020 open access. Beneficiaries of FP8 funding must ensure open access to publications within a maximum of six months (twelve months for publications in the social sciences and humanities).

In addition the European Commission has also implemented a novelty in Horizon 2020: a Research Data Pilot which aims to improve and maximise access to and reuse of research data generated by projects.

Researchers in projects participating in the pilot are asked to make the underlying data needed to validate the results presented in scientific publications and other scientific information available for use by other researchers, innovative industries and citizens. This will lead to better and more efficient science and improved transparency for citizens and society. It will also contribute to economic growth through open innovation. For 2014-2015, topic areas participating in the Open Research Data Pilot will receive funding of around € 3 billion.

The Pilot on Open Research Data in Horizon 2020 does for scientific information what the Open Data Strategy does for public sector information: it aims to improve and maximise access to and re-use of research data generated by projects for the benefit of society and the economy.

The Commission therefore already announced in 2012 that it would experiment with open access to research data.

For those interested in additional information: the full report “Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Research Data in Horizon 2020” is available here.

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