Pilot programme Open Research Data (ORD): Twelve Projects Could be Funded
Publishing Date:
Open access to qualified research data is a precondition for the reproducibility, verification and falsification of data for further scientific and practical purposes. Hence, the FWF, supported by the Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, has initiated the pilot programme Open Research Data (ORD) in order to create role models for the openness of research data in the digital age.
Open research data is defined as data produced in a course of research projects by experiments, source research, measurements, excavations, surveys or software developments and which are, following the FAIR Data Principles, findable, openly accessible, interoperable and re-usable.
In January 2016, the FWF invited to an expression of interest for the pilot programme Open Research Data (ORD). 48 letters of interest were submitted. Based on the decision of the FWF Board in May 2016, 47 of those were invited for a full proposal. Until July 2016, the FWF received 41 full proposals, 19 in Humanities & Social Sciences, eleven in each the Natural Sciences and Life Sciences. After an international peer-review according to the high-quality FWF procedures, twelve projects could be funded:
List of projects
Especially the high share of projects from the Humanities is remarkable.
On the basis of this experience, the FWF will implement guidelines in all programmes which help to increase the openness of research data. Furthermore, with the programme Synthesis Networks a new initiative is planned that will enable international projects to conflate, process and analyse large datasets in order to answer highly relevant questions to science and society.