Read the recap from the second session of the Open Insights Series highlighted the National Open Access Monitor's data quality initiatives! Discussions emphasized the OpenAIRE Graph's foundational role and the transformative impact of text mining for Research Funding Organisations. Learn more details!

On December 5, OpenAIRE joined the RDA Node Slovenia Workshop in Ljubljana, part of the Arnes Network of Knowledge conference. Researchers, IT experts, and policymakers gathered to discuss building Slovenia's open science infrastructure, advancing research data management, and preserving scientific heritage.

A New Era for Greek Research! OpenAIRE and HEAL-Link are joining forces to develop Greece’s National Infrastructure for Mapping Research Activity! This groundbreaking initiative will enhance transparency, collaboration, and innovation in scholarly communication across the country.

Let’s explore how OpenAIRE is tackling the Ten CoARA Commitments, shaping the future of research assessment in a way that prioritises diversity, equity and transparency. Keep reading to dive into the details!

On February 14, 2025, the ATHENA Research and Innovation Center welcomed Greece's Minister of Development, Mr. Takis Theodorikakos, to showcase cutting-edge projects and collaborations. Keep reading and learn all the details!

The Latin American Federated Network for Open Scholarly Communication has signed a MoU to formalize and deepen their decade-long collaboration in fostering Open Science and interoperability between Europe and Latin America.

Norway has policies for open access to research articles and research data in place. Read more under the heading Open Science Policy.

Work is in progress for a national research repository to replace the current landscape of institutional repositories in Norway. The new repository will be closely linked to, and in some cases merge with, the national CRIS-system Cristin. Both the national repository and Cristin is run by Unit. Unit is also the national Open Access coordinator and hosts the national repository aggregator NORA.

The Norwegian Research Council signed cOAlition S’ Plan S in 2018, requesting that publications on the results from research funded by NCR from 2021 onward be made fully open at the time of publication.

Major Research Performing Organisations

1. Public and private universities, polytechnics, funded by the Ministero dell’ Università e della Ricerca (MUR, Ministry of Universities and Research, former MIUR - Ministry of Education, University and Research) as part of their institutional mandate: currently there are 98 universities. Research is also carried out by interuniversity consortia and scientific and technological parks.
2. Fourteen large research organizations and institutions observed by MUR: CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche/National Research Council), ENEA (Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile/Agency for the new technologies, and sustainable economic development), INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare/National Institute for Nuclear Physics), INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica/National Institute of Astrophysics, INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geologia e Vulcanologia/National Institute of Geology and Volcanology), ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana/Italian Space Agency) are the most important ones. There are also other research institutions funded by other ministries, e.g. ISS (Istituto Nazionale della Sanità/National Health Institute ) funded by Ministry of Health or the network of the public veterinary institutes funded by the National Health System or other publicly funded institutions (laboratories, hospitals, central government research units etc.).
3. Business enterprises.
4. Associations, institutes and foundations (public or private) not for profit.

Major Funders

The main public funder in Italy is the Ministero dell’Università e Ricerca (MUR, Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, former MIUR - Ministry of Education, University and Research), but other ministries (e.g Ministry for the Economic Development, Health, Foreign Affairs, etc) other central administration agencies and regional governments also play a role in funding research in specific areas (high-tech; nanotechnologies; environmental sciences and health, space research; etc.) and fostering synergies among universities, research organizations and small-medium sized enterprises (as part of the EC Field Programs).
Public research funding can be further split into three categories:

1. national (originated by central government, e.g. ministries etc);
   
2. regional (funded by Regions mainly to promote collaboration among universities and, small-medium sized enterprises at regional level);
   
3. EC originated (Field Programs or co-financed projects with Italian institutions).
   

In 2018 the total investment in Research & Development accounted for 1,39% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), but the data is still a forecast while writing (early 2020). In 2017, 482.703 people were involved in research and development both in the public and private sectors.

The Finnish model for Open Science coordination involves universities, polytechnics, research institutes, funding bodies, libraries and archives. The coordination is supported by The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) with funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The coordination is based on collaboration between working groups, expert groups and strategy group. In the centre of the coordination work are fourOpen Science Expert Panels: Culture of open scholarship, Open data, Open access and Open education.

One result of this cooperation is the Declaration for Open Science and Research 2020-2025. The declaration provides a common direction for the development of the research community. The declaration outlines a vision, where open science and research are seamlessly integrated into researchers' everyday work.

Open Science coordination in Finland participates actively in many open science networks in Europe and globally (eg.CoNOSC and EOSC).

Responsible research is present in the activities and communication of the TSV and the research support bodies associated with it: the Open Science Coordination, the Publication Forum (JUFO), the Committee for Public Information (TJNK) and the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic is the main body supporting research and development funded from public resources. There are public, private and state operated universities, research organisations (e.g. Slovak Academy of Science - SAS), research institutes and private companies. The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport realises the process of evaluation to perform R&D. The certificate for research organisation as result of evaluation process allows to use public resources for R&D.

Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (SCSTI) is the national information centre and specialised scientific library of the Slovak Republic focused on natural, technical, economic and social sciences. The SCSTI provides several information systems supporting R&D on national level funded by the ministry, i.e. Central Registry of Publication Activities, Central Registry of Theses and Dissertations, Central Information Portal for Research, Development and Innovation and Slovak Current Research Information System (SK CRIS).

Updated in August 2022.

SUPPORT

Research libraries offer support to researchers regarding open access to publications and managing research data. 

Regarding open access to publications, researchers comply with Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe and national provisions by depositing peer-reviewed publications into the Slovenian OpenAIRE compatible repositories. 

A network of research infrastructure centers is funded by the Slovenian Research Agency, also offering relevant support.

LANDSCAPE

Organization of the Slovenian research and innovation system is determined in the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act, which also contains provisions on open science. Development of open science ecosystem is planned in the Slovenian Scientific Research and Innovation Strategy 2030. Development of research infrastructures is steered by the Research Infrastructure Roadmap 2030 (it also covers participation of Slovenia in ESFRI infrastructures).

Major funders of research are the Slovenian Research Agency and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

Public universities and  research institutes  are the major research performing organisations.

There are three public universities in Slovenia: theUniversity of Ljubljana, theUniversity of Maribor, and theUniversity of Primorska. The largest among the private academic institutions is theUniversity of Nova Gorica.

The largest research institutes in Slovenia areJožef Stefan Institute,Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts,National Institute of Chemistry,Institute of Oncology, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, andNational Institute of Biology.

Data on Slovenian research performing organisations, researchers, research groups and projects are publicly available via the Slovenian Current Research Information System SICRIS (resulting personal bibliographies of researchers are also used for research evaluation by funders and for promotion and tenure at universities and research institutes). 

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) is responsible for the development and implementation of research policy. The Ministry provides core funding for the statutory activities of various types of research institutions and for large infrastructure investments, and it also supervises the two major governmental funding agencies – the National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki, NCN) and the National Centre for Research and Development (Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju, NCBR).

The Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools (CRASP) in Poland is the representative body of academic schools, which have the right to award the doctor's degree (or equivalent) in at least one scientific discipline. On July 5, 2013 CRASP and Polish Academy of Sciences (Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) issued a joint statement on open access to scientific publications and educational resources. In 2018 CRASP published a statement on the implementation of open science model. CRASP is a member of European University Association, which supports universities in the implementation of Open Science principles.

The Polish Academy of Sciences (Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a national research institution founded in 1952. It conducts advanced research at its scientific units, integrates research community in Poland, supports and promotes various forms of research and educates young scholars. 

State research institutes (see: Main Council of the Research Institutes) are government-run institutions that conduct R&D work in line with the needs of the national economy and social life.

Two major governmental agencies are responsible for the bulk of research funding in Poland.

The National Science Centre (NCN) was launched in 2011 as the main governmental agency supporting basic research in Poland. This is achieved through the funding of research projects in all fields of sciences and humanities as well as doctoral fellowships and post-doctoral internships. NCN belongs to the cOAlition S from its beginning (September, 2018).  In April, 2019 NCN announced plans to introduce open science policy, as well as the requirement for data management plan (DMP) and published guidelines for applicants to complete the DMP form in the proposal. In February 2020 members of the Council expressed their approval for a new open access policy to publications created as a result of research projects funded entirely or in part from NCN resources. The obligation to ensure open access to published research findings will apply to all projects recommended for funding under calls announced on 16 June 2020 and later (see: Introducing a policy of open access to research project publications).

The National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) was established in July 2007. It is a governmental agency responsible for the funding of applied scientific research programmes and activities. Its main task is the managing and implementation of strategic scientific research that should lead directly to the development of innovations. NCBR also supports the commercialization of scientific research results.

Another important research funder is The Foundation for Polish Science, a non-governmental and non-profit institution. 

The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) was established in 2017. It is responsible for coordinating state activities driving the process of internationalization of Polish academic and research institutions. Members of the Board and the Director of the Polish National Agency of Academic Exchange (NAWA) declared support for Plan S.

More information on the research landscape in Poland can be found on the EURAXESS website.

In February, 2020, Estonian Research Council signed the agreement for Estonia to join the Nordic e-Infrastructure Collaboration NeIC, which gives Estonian research infrastructures the possibility to maintain and enhance their competitiveness and do more international cooperation.

At a national level, Jisc offers open access support to its own members and as the National Open Access Desk (NOAD) for OpenAIRE2020.  

For queries regarding OA in general, Jisc Monitor, Jisc Publications, Router, or if you are a UK project funded by Horizon 2020, please email us: help@jisc.ac.uk -- just make sure to indicate which area your query is about in the subject line.