UEFISCDI - Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding
Mission
Established in November 1999, UEFISCDI is a public entity of the Central Administration under the ultimate authority of Ministry of National Education and Research, with the mission to promote quality and leadership for higher education, research, development and innovation.
UEFISCDI hosts and coordinates the Open Science Knowledge Hub Romania (OSKH RO) which has the two folded mission: to offer national support and policy advice to research and innovation community and to be the main connector to the European and the international communities involved in open science, being part of important initiatives as the Romanian NOAD within the OpenAIRE Advance project, also as a partner by supporting the development of the EOSC in the National Initiatives for Open Science (NI4OS) project and as RDA Node Romania in RDA Europe 4.0 project. For open science policies support OSKH- UEFISCDI also collaborate with Science Europe, CoNOSC and the UNESCO Chair for Science and Innovation Policies – SNSPA.
The institution is the main open science promoter in Romania, implementing activities and projects to support the transition towards open science at national level.
UEFISCDI hosts and coordinates the Open Science Knowledge Hub Romania (OSKH RO) which has the two folded mission: to offer national support and policy advice to research and innovation community and to be the main connector to the European and the international communities involved in open science, being part of important initiatives as the Romanian NOAD within the OpenAIRE Advance project, also as a partner by supporting the development of the EOSC in the National Initiatives for Open Science (NI4OS) project and as RDA Node Romania in RDA Europe 4.0 project. For open science policies support OSKH- UEFISCDI also collaborate with Science Europe, CoNOSC and the UNESCO Chair for Science and Innovation Policies – SNSPA.
The institution is the main open science promoter in Romania, implementing activities and projects to support the transition towards open science at national level.
Contribution to Open Science
UEFISCDI has been previously involved with the OpenAIRE initiatives as the Romanian NOAD during the project OpenAIRE Advance and is also the RDA Romanian Node. The institution is involved as partner in NI4OS Europe Project contributing to it’s objectives dedicated to EOSC development.
UEFISCDI has been a promoter of open collaboration and open exchange of information and knowledge for some time and this was the main driver in building communities like EERIS (Engage in European Research Infrastructures System - the booking gate for RIs, research & technological services), and BrainMap (the online community of researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs – with over 48 000 accounts presently). Those two communities for RDI stakeholders developed and administrated by the institution grew in the past years as the biggest networks in the RDI national system and their success led to their inclusion as a conditionality for accessing RDI public funds in Romania.
Currently, there are no dedicated funding programmes for OS, but through the National instrument for research funding there are tools that encourage OS practices, namely since 2014 the costs associated with the OA publication are eligible in all national research and innovation funding mechanisms – research grants . In addition, since 2020, this year, all the PhD dissertations starting 2016 are open access in a platform administrated by UEFISCDI (over 10 000 full thesis: https://rei.gov.ro/teze-doctorat).
UEFISCDI has been a promoter of open collaboration and open exchange of information and knowledge for some time and this was the main driver in building communities like EERIS (Engage in European Research Infrastructures System - the booking gate for RIs, research & technological services), and BrainMap (the online community of researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs – with over 48 000 accounts presently). Those two communities for RDI stakeholders developed and administrated by the institution grew in the past years as the biggest networks in the RDI national system and their success led to their inclusion as a conditionality for accessing RDI public funds in Romania.
Currently, there are no dedicated funding programmes for OS, but through the National instrument for research funding there are tools that encourage OS practices, namely since 2014 the costs associated with the OA publication are eligible in all national research and innovation funding mechanisms – research grants . In addition, since 2020, this year, all the PhD dissertations starting 2016 are open access in a platform administrated by UEFISCDI (over 10 000 full thesis: https://rei.gov.ro/teze-doctorat).
Goals and objectives
Open Science Knowledge Hub – UEFISCDI will continue offering support through national actions for the OS strategic framework development and capacity building, connecting the national initiatives and community to the European and the international communities involved in open science.
UEFISCDI, in collaboration with MCID (Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization), is developing the first national strategic framework for Open Science (deadline being at the beginning of 2022).
As NI4OS Partner, UEFISCDI was involved in the establishment and is one of the coordinators of the Romanian National Open Science Cloud Initiative (RO-NOSCI) - a coalition of organizations at national level with the aim of establishing the national cloud for open science, in the context of the development of the EOSC ecosystem, optimizing and coordinating activities on the integration of national infrastructures and services in the EOSC, facilitating the access of the academic and research environment to EOSC resources and promoting and implementing open science policies at national level.
UEFISCDI, in collaboration with MCID (Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization), is developing the first national strategic framework for Open Science (deadline being at the beginning of 2022).
As NI4OS Partner, UEFISCDI was involved in the establishment and is one of the coordinators of the Romanian National Open Science Cloud Initiative (RO-NOSCI) - a coalition of organizations at national level with the aim of establishing the national cloud for open science, in the context of the development of the EOSC ecosystem, optimizing and coordinating activities on the integration of national infrastructures and services in the EOSC, facilitating the access of the academic and research environment to EOSC resources and promoting and implementing open science policies at national level.
Contact Info
Alina Irimia | Mihaela CUCU
Services
UEFISCDI as a funding agency, implements partially or entirely, the programmes of the National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation 2014-2020 (PN III): The development of the national research system, Boosting the competitiveness of the Romanian economy through research, development and innovation, European and international cooperation and Fundamental and frontier research.
Apart from its main role of a funder, the institution has notable experience in policy advise for RDI, implementing projects for evidence based policy making, organizing large participatory consultations, such as the first National Foresight Exercise for S&T - 2005, followed by the foresight process 2008-2011 for developing the White Paper and Vision on the Future of Romanian Higher Education 2025; the participatory (foresight-based) process to develop the RDI S3 National Strategy 2014-2020; and currently having a main role in defining the current RDI and RIS3 strategy 2021-2027 and the national strategic framework for Open Science.
Being involved in various activities, UEFISCDI addresses a wide range of stakeholders: universities, research institutions and researchers, libraries, publishers, public institutions and also private companies.
Apart from its main role of a funder, the institution has notable experience in policy advise for RDI, implementing projects for evidence based policy making, organizing large participatory consultations, such as the first National Foresight Exercise for S&T - 2005, followed by the foresight process 2008-2011 for developing the White Paper and Vision on the Future of Romanian Higher Education 2025; the participatory (foresight-based) process to develop the RDI S3 National Strategy 2014-2020; and currently having a main role in defining the current RDI and RIS3 strategy 2021-2027 and the national strategic framework for Open Science.
Being involved in various activities, UEFISCDI addresses a wide range of stakeholders: universities, research institutions and researchers, libraries, publishers, public institutions and also private companies.