Strengthening Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) in the Institutes of the Leibniz Association, Phase 2: Towards Open Research Information

The "Strengthening CRIS" initiative started in November 2022 as a two-year project and was later extended by one further year. The central aims of the initiative are to promote the use of current research information systems (CRIS) and the adoption of established standards in the Leibniz Association as well as to accelerate the transition to openness of research information, in accordance with the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information. The 96 institutes and the Leibniz Association's headquarters are to be enabled to collect, process and exchange standardised information faster and better and to make it available in a variety of ways, assisted by suitable APIs. Institutions that are not yet using an integrated current research information system are to receive comprehensive support during the preliminary and implementation processes (including consulting services and a comparison list of CRIS products) and in building up expertise.Activities of the "Strengthening CRIS" initiative include- Direct support and advice to Leibniz institutes on CRIS topics- Organisation of specialised online workshops on overarching CRIS topics as well as specific CRIS products- Organisation of an annual two-day in-person workshop ("CRIS Days")- Compilation of product information into comparative CRIS profiles for the systems used in institutes of the Leibniz Association- Providing expert consultation on CRIS topics to the Leibniz institutes by means of a framework agreement- Update of the data model of the "Information system for data collection and analysis" (IDA) at the Leibniz headquarters to improve usability, standardisation and connectivity- Networking with national and international CRIS communities- Broad support for the provision of open research information- Incentives for the use and further development of open source CRIS- Dissemination of standards and PIDs in the Leibniz Association- Provision of information on interfaces between systems (APIs)The activities are broadly adopted by the Leibniz institutes and are being continuously developed based on current circumstances in the CRIS field. A large and lively professional community of CRIS experts and people interested in using CRIS has formed across all 96 Leibniz institutes. Due to the focus on open research information and open source CRIS, the "Strengthening CRIS" initiative also makes an important contribution to the Leibniz Association's digital sovereignty.