Program of the membership meeting

This is the version of the program that might be final. Minor changes may occure during the meeting - but we do not hope so. To have it in your pocket you can download the full program. An overview of the different locations you will find in thevenue map.

09:00 - 14:00

euroCRIS board meeting

Domplatz 6-7, room 303 (3rd floor)

euroCRIS board members

This time slot is for the meeting of the euroCRIS board.

14:00 - 17:00

DSpace-CRIS User Group Meeting (Interest Group)

Johannisstr. 8-10, room KTh IV

Susanna Mornati, 4Science [Abstract]

DSpace-CRIS is the first free open-source extension of DSpace for the Research Data and Information Management ever developed. Differently from other (commercial/proprietary) CRIS/RIMS, DSpace-CRIS has the institutional repository as its core component, providing high visibility on the web to all the collected information and objects. DSpace-CRIS broadens DSpace functionality and expands its data model while remaining aligned with its code base.

DSpace-CRIS adopts/is compliant with international standards and practices to facilitate interoperability and data transfer:

  • - ORCID API v2 (complete compliance including pull/push of info for profiles, publications, projects)
  • - Signposting and ResourceSync (which implement COAR NGR Recommended Behaviors)
  • - OpenAIRE Guidelines for Literature Repository Managers, for Data Archives, for CRIS Managers v1.1.1 (based on CERIF, due Nov. 2019)
  • - PlanS (by Coalition S) and FAIR principles

The main characteristic of DSpace-CRIS is its flexible data model, which allows institutions to collect and manage research data and information typical of a CRIS system, to define entities and attributes with their reciprocal links. In addition, DSpace-CRIS can collect, manage, and disseminate digital objects, such as research publications and datasets, providing high visibility on the web thanks to its SEO distinguished features.

14:00 - 17:00

Developers' workshop: Implementation of the OpenAIRE CERIF-XML Guidelines

Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22, room F02 (1st floor)

Jan Dvorak, euroCRIS

Following the first edition of this developers' workshop at the Spring 2019 meeting in Helsinki, this event (still TBC) will revisit the process for making CRIS systems OpenAIRE-compliant via the implementation of the → OpenAIRE CERIF-XML Guidelines for CRIS Managers. The activity is aimed at CRIS managers and developers.

17:30 - 18:30

CERIF tutorial

Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22, room F02 (1st floor)

Jan Dvorak, euroCRIS

What you always wished to know about → CERIF but were afraid to ask.

17:30 - 18:30

Interest group meeting on the updated DRIS

Domplatz 6-7, room 303 (3rd floor)

Pablo de Castro, euroCRIS

A discussion on the gradual expansion of the → euroCRIS Directory of Current Research Information Systems (DRIS) and its associated workflows for information collection from institutions.

18:30 - 20:00

Welcome reception, registration and networking

Bezirksregierung, Domplatz 1-3, foyer hall 1 (ground floor)

An opportunity for catching up with other colleagues while enjoying a drink and a bite, for grabbing your name tag or just to check the event venue in Münster.

All sessions on this day will take place at → Bezirksregierung, Domplatz 1-3, hall 1 (ground floor).

08:00 - 09:00

Registration and welcome coffee

Hello and welcome to the membership meeting and to Münster. Grab a coffee, your name tag and have a good start of the meeting main track.

09:00 - 09:15

Words of welcome

Ed Simons, euroCRIS president

Short introduction to the topics and agenda of the membership meeting as well as some organisational aspects.

09:15 - 10:30

Opening session/Keynotes

Two keynotes about the current status and developments in management and usage of research information in Germany.

Research Information in the Selection Process of Germany`s Universities of Excellence

Inka Spang-Grau - Wissenschaftsrat Head Office → Abstract

The German Excellence Strategy is a permanent funding program seeking to promote world-class research at German universities and enhance the competitiveness of German universities internationally. The presentation illustrates how research information was used in the selection process of the funding line “Universities of Excellence” and addresses the question how excellence of entire universities can be identified.

The Research Core Dataset: standardizing the management and reporting of research information in the German science system

Sophie Biesenbender - German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) → Abstract

The Research Core Dataset (RCD) is a recently developed voluntary standard for the harmonized management and reporting of research information by universities and non-university research institutions in the German science system. The presentation provides an introduction to the RCD standard, its contents and development as well as compatibility with CERIF. It provides insights into the current implementation process and concludes with an outlook on the future development of the standard.

10:30 - 11:00

Coffee break

Time for recreation. Grab a coffee, have some interesting talks, enjoy the city.

11:30 - 12:30

German session

Three talks on current developments in the domain of research information management and usage in Germany.

CRIS.NRW - the North Rhine-Westphalian CRIS-initiative

Malte Kramer - University of Münster / CRIS.NRW → Abstract

This talk will introduce to the federal initiative CRIS.NRW, which has been established in order to support the universities in the German federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) with two goals: (1) to establish a research reporting compliant with the German Research Core Dataset and – for this purpose – (2) to implement current research information systems within the universities’ IT infrastructures. The talk will highlight the political context of this project, its methodology and its preliminary results.

HeFIS - the Hessian federal CRIS-initiative

Julia Almering - University of Kassel / HeFIS → Abstract

The HeFIS initiative was established in 2013 for coordinated procurement, introduction and further development of research information systems at universities of Hessen. This talk will report on the current objectives of the initiative and showcase the current utilization of a RIS at the University of Kassel.

Building an All-in-one Service: Extending an existing Open Access Repository to a complete Research Information System

Rajski, Beate; Goldschmidt, Oliver; Weidt, Gunnar - Hamburg University of Technology → Abstract

The single-system approach taken by the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) to the implementation of a CRIS system, an Open Access repository and a system to support RDM is explained together with the challenges it poses in terms of the different focus that content-based vs institution-based systems have. TUHH have chosen a DSpace-CRIS platform at https://tore.tuhh.de to perform the various scholarly communications and research information management functions. The entities required to support all these features are examined, as well as the data curation and validation workflows aimed to ensure the maximum data quality.

12:30 - 13:30

Lunch break

Time for recreation. Grab some food, have some interesting talks, enjoy the city.

13:30 - 14:50

Identifiers in research information management

Time for four talks about the role, current development and usage of persistent identifiers in research information management.

Establishing the ORCID iD in the German Scientific Community

Friedrich Summann - Bielefeld University Library / ORCID-DE initiative → Abstract

The national funded project ORCID ID has aimed to establish the ORCID iD at German universities and non-university research institutions through a comprehensive approach. The project has targeted to distribute the experience and expertise of ORCID implementation solutions in the research network. Services include a dialogue platform that provides German-language information and additional support services. The ORCID Germany Consortium has been established and offers a reduced ORCID premium membership fee and supports its members during ORCID integration.

Crossref grant IDs: a global, open database of funding information and identifiers

Josh Brown - Crossref → Abstract

Research funders are crying out for better ways to share information about the grants they award, and for more reliable connections between grants and outputs that result from those grants. Researchers need easier ways to acknowledge funding and other support for their work. Content platforms and publishers want to enrich their metadata, and aid new ways to discover and convey relationships between research outputs, people, organizations and funding. Analytics and reporting platforms need authoritative data to build graphs and other tools. CRISs will be able to bring all of these connections together to improve analysis, benchmarking and intelligence.

A global group of funders has been working with Crossref since 2017 to develop a robust, open, reliable registry of grant IDs and metadata. In this discussion session alongside our partners, we will give an overview of the why and how of the development of this new infrastructural component. The talk will cover the project's initial demand, the process of community consultation, and the early adopter program Crossref is currently running to link funding to outputs in partnership with the Wellcome Trust and Europe PMC. This is a new community service led by funders and provided by Crossref, which will provide CRIS providers and users across the scholarly network with a richer picture of research support.

Expanding the World of PIDs: Conference Identifier and their Role in Managing Metadata Quality

Stephanie Hagemann-Wilholt - TIB - German National Library of Science and Technology → Abstract

Currently, information on scholarly events such as conferences is scattered and often not available on a long-term basis. Furthermore, the landscape for event metadata is heterogeneous and interoperability is missing. A Working Group led by DataCite and Crossref plans to establish a standard for Conference Metadata which will be re-used by our DFG-funded project ConfIDent.

The aim of ConfIDent – a joined project of TIB Hannover and RWTH Aachen, department for Computer Science – is to develop a service platform for sustainable information on scientific events. The sustainability of the service will not only be obtained an user-centred approach but also by connecting it to existing services enabling data exchange, and by the commitment to the FAIR principles. We want to assign PIDs to the events of the registry as well as connect them with PIDs of conference related entities and persons such as proceedings, videos, researchers, organizations etc. Part of the project will be to test the interoperability with CRIS system VIVO.

Using the PID Graph to augment the information in your CRIS System

Martin Fenner - DataCite → Abstract

The PID Graph is the network graph of all scholarly resources, connected via persistent identifiers (PIDs). The EC-funded FREYA project is building this service for the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). One important use case is collecting information such as publications and funding associated with an institution, enhancing the information collected in the institutional CRIS system. In this session I will give a short status report of the PID Graph work, and will then focus on practical examples using Research Organization Registry (ROR) identifiers and the discovery of connected resources via the PID Graph infrastructure built by DataCite.

14:50 - 15:05

Coffee break

Time for a little bit recreation, a coffee, and some interesting conversation.

15:05 - 16:05

Research classifications

Time for three talks about how to design and use classifications in research information management.

Classifications: From Registries to Hunters & Gatherers

Stephan Gauch, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin → Abstract

Classifications shape the ways we perceive both the objects classified as well as differences between objects. Naturally, they also shape bibliometric analyses, especially so when replication and consistency are key necessities. They also are, to no small extent, a product of discourse and therefore a special form of convention that can both be enabling as well as limiting. In the course of this session we will approach classifications from a theoretical as well as practical perspective. Among the questions addressed are “What does it mean to classify?”, “How can we determine what makes a *good* classification?”, “What to do if an object can be classified to multiple classes?” etc.. Furthermore, the talk will address the relationship between information retrieval and classifications, the shifts from heuristic and expert-driven approaches towards classifications driven by data and structure-detection algorithms as well as wide-spread misconceptions regarding the merits of classification and acts of classifying. The session aims at providing a deeper and more informed insight about what it means to use classifications, encouraging both a critical mindset as well as providing practical advice.

Research Classifications: Three major principles

Jürgen Güdler, DFG → Abstract

In the discussion about research classifications, there is often the argument that these should be as universally applicable as possible - even in detail. In my presentation, however, I would like to highlight other characteristics. In short, a good subject classification satisfies the following requirements:
  • - It is structured hierarchically whereas (1) at its finest level, it meets the needs of the respective institution (which can be very specific) and (2) on the highest levels it is compatible to international standards (esp. Frascati).
  • - There are clear rules as to which objects are to be classified (e.g. Projects, People, Institutes)
  • - There are defined processes that make a regular revision of the classification possible
The presentation illustrates these three principles using the example of the two main classification systems used in Germany by the Federal Statistical Office (DESTATIS) and the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Building a knowledge graph with automatically acquired publication classifications

Sven Blanck, Leipzig University → Abstract

Research information systems represent an optimal data source for research analyses of universities. In order to guarantee these analysis qualities, it is necessary to provide a data structure that covers a large information content. An important part of this is the classification of researchers into research categories in order to build up research profiles. Since such a classification process is very time-consuming, it is necessary that such a classification takes place automatically. For automation, the research information system of Leipzig University (leuris) has available as text data source the research papers with titles and abstracts, as well as partly the full text papers. Using state of the art text analytical methods, we generate a Topic Model which can assign one or more of its Topics to the individual publications. By linking the publications with the authors, a knowledge graph can be built up, which provides a good structure for detailed search queries. One of the key features of the knowledge graph is the ability to extract research profiles of researchers. Leveraging these opportunities, it is possible to find researchers with similar research interests and promote collaboration, if they have not been aware that there are other researchers doing research in the same direction.

16:05 - 16:30

Panel discussion

Is it possible to harmonise the use of research classifications?

16:30 - 16:45

Coffee break

Time for a little bit recreation, a breath of fresh air and some water.

16:45 - 17:15

News from the euroCRIS board

Get an update about current and planned activities of euroCRIS from the euroCRIS board.

17:15 - 18:15

euroCRIS Sponsor session

Get an update on current and planned products and activities by the euroCRIS Sponsors. These may include 4Science, AT-CRIS, Clarivate Analytics, Elsevier, HIS eG, Sages and Sigma.

19:30

Social event and dinner

Ratskeller Münster, → Prinzipalmarkt 8

Enjoy the joint dinner at the Ratskeller Münster and get to chat to fellow attendees on all things research information management and beyond.

All sessions on this day will take place at → Bezirksregierung, Domplatz 1-3, hall 1 (ground floor).

08:30 - 08:45

Good morning coffee

Good morning and welcome back to the membership meeting. Take a coffee and start your day relaxed.

08:45 - 10:15

Lightning talks

Time for 10 mins lightning talks about national, European and international activities and trends in the area of CRIS, research information, research reporting / intelligence and further related topics.

DFG-funded projects 1920 to 1945 – notes on a research information system, that is definitely not ‘current’? But of course, it is!

Jürgen Güdler, DFG → Abstract

Since many years euroCRIS is well known and established as an organisation “that brings together experts on research information in general and research information systems (CRIS) in particular”. Quoting this phrase from the euroCRIS website, even people who are new in the field realize that the RIS-part of the acronym stands for “research information system”. But can they also decipher the C?

Well, the old hands know it stands for "current". And at the time when these systems were invented, the status "current" had a very high significance. The bibliographic databases so far had only made published research accessible, and therefore have concentrated on completed projects. The special achievement of the newly introduced RIS was that it provided information on new research projects that had not yet been published.

But some time has passed since the birth of these C-systems. And as they have grown and improved over the years, today many of them contain additional data on completed and so to say “non-current projects”. But is information on these projects therefore not of value? Should not this old stuff be deleted quickly, because it is essentially about making information on current projects accessible? In my presentation I would like to present a large-scale project that suggests a clear "no" in answer to these questions.

The DFG celebrates its hundredth anniversary in 2020. DFG is Germany's largest funding organisation of basic research, especially at universities. The annual budget is currently 3.4 billion euros. When the organization was founded, the situation was tough. The founding name "Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft" (may be translated as “hardship community of German Science”) reflects the state of distress/emergency that the German scientific world was facing at the time. After WWI the German science system was on the brink, international connections were cut off. Getting back on its feet after this initial situation was a challenge. The improvement progressed slowly and laboriously and not without success. But the Third Reich then led to an even worse collapse - not only financially, but above all morally, because much of what was researched and promoted at that time was criminal.

On the occasion of its anniversary, the DFG will open its archives and publish a RIS that will make more than 50,000 applications from the years 1920 to 1945 searchable. Each project informs about the name of the researcher, his or her institution and the title of the project. Further information relates to the funding instrument and the subject according to the subject classifications used at the time.

Owing to rather complex procedures, it was possible to assign identifiers from GND (Gemeinsame Normdatei / The Integrated Authority File) and WIKIDATA to a large number of the 13,000 scientists for whom data on funded (and non-funded) projects are available. This makes it possible to enrich the data pool considerably, as it also makes information accessible that is stored in external systems about these persons (but also about research institutions and sometimes even about some of the projects).

In this way, the adjective "current" will also gain importance for this system because only the identifier link makes it possible to connect and access up-to-date information on these historical entities at any time.

The presentation focuses on the essential features of the prepared archive data and the methods regarding the identifier topic.

Analyzing the research data infrastructure in Europe

Sadia Vancauwenbergh, U Hasselt → Abstract

Over the past decade, research data have been increasingly recognized as the distinctive asset on which the research community can capitalize as the new gold. In line with this, the European Union is implementing the European Open Science Cloud in order to give the European Union a global lead in research data management and ensure that European scientists reap the full benefits of data-driven science by offering a virtual environment for storing, managing, analyzing and re-using research data across borders and disciplines. The EOSC model envisions a pan-European federation of data infrastructures built around a shared core, as well as providing access to a wide range of publicly funded services supplied at national, regional and institutional levels, and to complementary commercial services. In order to build this federation, the Governing Board together with the Executive Board has established EOSC priorities around which five EB Working Groups have been formed. Within the Landscape working group, a stock taking of the existing research infrastructures is made, i.e. national data e-infrastructures, thematic, computational and networking infrastructures. During this presentation, the goals and the state of affairs of this working group will be explained with focus on the position of current research information systems.

European Publication Information Infrastructure - metadata transfers in European context

Joonas Nikkanen, CSC → Abstract

For purposes of exploring research publications, OpenAIRE provides great starting point. However, if there is a need to evaluate, monitor or assess some part of research done on an institutional, national or international level, the contents fall short.

One major findings of the ENRESSHs projects is that for a research publication database it is of great importance to be able to have a complete and inclusive set of research outputs for it to be used in any form of assessment or evaluation of research. High quality metadata would be achieved by extending the mandatory and conditional attributes that are required from the source systems. This approach is similar to what is done on national level in e.g. VIRTA and was further explored in ENRESSH-VIRTA-POC. The CERIF data model, maintained by EuroCRIS, is a logical candidate, given its high level of sophistication, and broad coverage of research information. As another benefit of using CERIF is that there are many systems already aiming for compliance of their system in CERIF format e.g. for use in OpenAIRE harvesting.

For a lightning talk to be held at euroCRIS, a draft of the data model for European Publication Information Infrastructure should be discussed. The work for this draft was done on a short-term scientific mission of the ENRESSH working group 3 during June 2019. For the talk, a summary of minimum CERIF data model elements needed in research publication metadata transfers considering CRIS systems and national aggregators in European context and an outline of implementing this in European Publication Information Infrastructure would be shared with colleagues during the euroCRIS meeting.

Walking towards integrating CRIS and repository at the UPF: The CRIS/IR interoperability Project

Anna Guillaumet, SIGMA AIE → Abstract

With the advancement of the Open Science movement, the wide spreading of institutional repositories (IRs) and the ever-growing implementation of the CRIS’s by the universities, we need to take a step forward to integrate the CRISs and the IRs.

Considering that only 31% of Spanish universities have successfully implemented a CRIS/IR integration, it’s clear that working on a project that enables institutions to operate a repository system in conjunction with a CRIS is key to foster open access distribution of published research outputs.

SIGMA with the Pompeu Fabra University (and also other universities of SIGMA group) are working on the ‘CRIS/IR interoperability project,’ which will lead to expand CRIS’ functionalities to carry out all the management of the scientific publication and complete its integration with the institutional repository in order to reduce the time it takes since a publication is reported in the CRIS and is accessible in open access in the repository.

The project to be explained includes the automated process of uploading the publication on the repository, from the CRIS (including journal policies management such as embargoes, transformation to Dublin Core schema, SWORD and so on).

OpenAIRE Guidelines for CRIS Managers in DSpace-CRIS

Susanna Mornati, 4Science → Abstract

For developers of CRIS platforms, the OpenAIRE Guidelines for CRIS Managers provide guidance to add supportive functionalities for CRIS administrators and users. Exchange of information between individual CRIS systems and the OpenAIRE infrastructure is an example of point-to-point data exchange between CRIS systems, since the OpenAIRE infrastructure itself is a CRIS system.

On December 20th, 2018, an updated version was released for the OpenAIRE Guidelines for CRIS Managers. In May 2019, 4Science was awarded the implementation of the Guidelines in the open-source software platform DSpace-CRIS, which extends the DSpace repository platform by research data and information management.

Today we can already count more than 100 installations of DSpace-CRIS running in research institutions throughout Europe and other continents, which emphasizes the potential when making their rich research information interlinked and findable in OpenAIRE.

The main objectives of this project were to realize the implementation of the latest OpenAIRE Guidelines for CRIS Managers in DSpace-CRIS and to enable DSpace-CRIS platforms to expose research information to OpenAIRE. The implementation targeted DSpace-CRIS releases version 5.10 and version 6.3 and was released as open source in the first phase of the project.

The implementation allows every single institution to crosswalk the local DSpace-CRIS configuration, entities and attributes, toward the OpenAIRE CRIS specification in a 1:1, n:1 or 1:n mapping at the instance level. This means that a DSpace item entity, which in DSpace-CRIS is used to represent different sorts of research output, can also be mapped in a different OpenAIRE CRIS Entity (Publication, Patent, Product), depending on a specific metadata of the item or different entities in DSpace-CRIS; for instance the Journal and the Publication can be mapped to the same CERIF Publication Entity.

The presentation will deal with the challenges and the results of the project, the lessons learnt by its participants and the expected outcomes and impact on the OpenAIRE and CRIS communities.

New professional roles? Competencies and task profiles in IT-supported research reporting – Introduction to the research project “BERTI”

Christoph Thiedig, Stefan Schelske, DZHW → Abstract

Changes in the governance structure of research have resulted in a growing need for information to enable strategic management of higher education institutions. As a consequence, new occupational roles and task profiles for IT-based reporting of research activities emerge which often necessitate the use of Current Research Information Systems (CRIS). We introduce a research project that aims to develop new insights about this specific occupational group in the field of research management by investigating their task profiles, qualifications and competences. We present a concept and major dimensions of professional competence in IT-based research documentation and illustrate practical implications of modelling competencies and job roles for the qualification and training of this new occupational group.

A New Approach to Interoperability

Andreas Esch, ELFI → Abstract

For over two decades, our ELFI system has been working in the field of research funding information. More than 160 customers from German research institutions and universities are currently using it. Our systems have always worked with web crawlers to collect relevant information quick and easily. The underlying data model has evolved over the years in dialogue with CERIF.

In 2018, we introduced our new software and created a sophisticated role model to separate unregistered users from non-customer users. We work with two types of registered users, a normal user profile used to conduct one-to-one searches, and the Research Manager profile, which can be assigned once per institution and used to pass preselected information to other systems as shops, CMS's and CRIS's with HTTP-based RESTful API. Research managers can define relevant selection criteria to be shared with all users of an institution. All IP networks of our customers are known, so that every request receives the appropriate answer. Our focus is on interoperability with other CRIS programs. Our integration with the underlying framework Liferay is very powerful. By using the Angular web framework with its modularity, it is easy to integrate selected information into customer websites and systems. In Münster we want to give some examples of how to use it efficiently.

10:15 - 10:45

Poster session with coffee break

Time for having a look at the posters, lively discussions, and a coffee.

Using DSpace at Fraunhofer – Building up the Fraunhofer Open Science Cloud

Andrea Wuchner, Dirk Eisengräber-Pabst, Michael Erndt, Fraunhofer-Informationszentrum Raum und Bau, Germany → Abstract

Since 2016, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Europe’s largest organization for applied research,is facing the challenge of implementing andmigrating three repository systems: Anew current research information system(CRIS), a new open research data repository and the complete renovation of the longstanding bibliographic database »Fraunhofer-Publica«, along with its younger sibling, the open access repository »Fraunhofer-ePrints«.The goal is to implement a unique repository landscape as a key enabler for Open Science. For all systems, DSpace or DSpace-CRIS is being used. Reasons for selecting DSpace were the availability of a plug-in for individual CRIS functionalities, numerous out-of-the-box functionalities, the large, well-organized community and the high amount of successful installations around the globe. The software enables the systems to use entities such as people, projects and organizations jointly. In addition, standard submission workflows for all datatypes and a consistent user experience will be available. The poster will give a simple visual overview of the three basic systems which are or will be running with DSpace / DSpace-CRIS and it will also indicate that using DSpace / DSpace-CRIS for these three systems can offer the possibility to combine the single systems to a kind of virtual “Fraunhofer Open Science Cloud”. The poster addresses the topics of the background, the objectives, the concept and the challenges on the way to the “Fraunhofer Open Science Cloud” using DSpace and DSpace-CRIS.

Linking normative data in Converis

Marcus Walther, Bastian Melsheimer, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany → Abstract

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) is one of the largest German research universities. Our Converis-based current research information system (FAU CRIS) contains 6.000+ projects and 70.000+ publication data sets from a wide variety of research areas. Keywords provided by project PIs, funding sources, authors and publishers rarely follow a common ontology, but use non-structured, non-standardized, subject specific terms instead. In order to answer enquiries from the government and other institutions quickly and concisely, these are not always useful. The German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, DNB) offers a common normative ontology (Integrated Authority File, German: Gemeinsame Normdatei, GND) with more than 2 million hierarchically structured entries. The database is in German, but linked to the Library of Congress and other national libraries. By cross-referencing our available terms with the GND data, we aim to create a complete landscape of our university’s research output. We present the available sources for our data, our current working model for this process along with future considerations to expand and automate this effort.

HÉRCULES: Semantic of Universities Research Data

Francisco J. Vizcaíno, Reyes Hernández-Mora, Isabel Martínez, Universidad de Murcia, Spain → Abstract

Hercules’ project objective is to create a Research Management System (RMS) based on open semantic data that offers a global vision of the research data of the Spanish University System (SUS), to improve the management, analysis and possible synergies between universities and the general public.

The project has been constituted encompassing research and development, appointing on Web Semantics (WS) to blend in the data and homogenize the information and knowledge staged within the SUS. The SUS will apply the Web Semantics approach in order to ensure the representation, distribution and adoption of the research information available.

Linked Open Data for Current Research Information Systems (CRIS)

Florian K. Gantner, Steffen Illig, Philipp H. Rumpg, University of Bamberg, Germany → Abstract

At the University of Bamberg a Research Information System (FIS) on the basis of the open-source software DSpace-CRIS has recently been introduced (→ https://fis.uni-bamberg.de). To increase the visibility of the research results, we aim at providing the RDF-Triple through a full-fledged SPARQL-Endpoint. After evaluating different approaches, we decided to develop a stand-alone DSpace-CRIS module based on the existing DSpace module for Linked Open Data. In addition to publications, this can also present CRIS entities such as awards, researcher profiles or projects and their relationships.

Hamburg Open Science: DSpace-CRIS @ TU Hamburg

Oliver Goldschmidt, Beate Rajski, TU Hamburg, Germany → Abstract

The Hamburg Open Science program aims to develop an open science infrastructure for universities in Hamburg. This includes open access repositories, research data repositories and research information systems. With limited programming capacities available Hamburg University of Technology opted for an integrated approach instead of three different systems. The current open access repository (based on DSpace-CRIS and fully ORCID-enabled) has been extended with a research data repository and is supposed to include all institutional researchers, organization units, projects and publication information building a research information system and a university bibliography. This poster illustrates the components of our extended repository and shows how DSpace-CRIS, an open source software with a vibrant community, helped us cover the two new components of the repository.

10:45 - 11:15

Guest talk

Large Research Infrastructure Building using FAIR Digital Objects

Peter Wittenburg, Max Planck Computing & Data Facility → Abstract

Very high investments are planned for the coming decade at European level (EOSC), in Germany (NFDI), by the Nordic and other European countries in building large research infrastructures. The expectations are also very high to overcome the threat of a "dark digital age" (V. Cerf), to increase the efficiency of digital work (80% are lost with data wrangling), to offer best circumstances for advanced data intensive science and to enable participation in the exploitation of data for the benefits of societies. There is no doubt that solutions need to be based on global agreements that have the power to reduce fragmentation which is the result of an ongoing creolisation during the last decades. Technological innovation is extremely dynamic with new standards and thousands of tools being invented by smart people.

However, it is yet not commonly agreed how these agreements could look like. It is now widely agreed that the FAIR Principles should be taken serious as a guideline by all stakeholders. It is also agreed that we urgently need FAIR Maturity Indicators, as developed in RDA, to assess the FAIRness and not leave this to subjective evaluations. But such principles are not blueprints for building infrastructures. For a few decades some initiatives (CNRI, DONA, RD, GEDE) worked on the concept of Digital Objects (DO) and aspects of them such as protocol independent globally resolvable unique identifiers which are now in broad use in large data labs for about 20 years. DOs have the potential to reduce the enormous complexity in the digital domain by applying aspects such as abstraction, stable binding and encapsulation. Recently, the experts working on DOs on the one hand and those working on FAIR implementations on the other hand joined forces to agree on the concept of FAIR Digital Objects (FDO). FDOs are extensions of DO by introducing explicit semantics to meet the FAIR Maturity Indicators in a way that machines can process all information.

In newly designed research infrastructures covering many different sub-disciplines such as in biodiversity and sciences focusing on experiments with humans (from physiology to economics) this concept of FDO is now systematically applied. In addition, complex challenges such as creating joint metadata catalogues respecting the semantic spaces as defined in the sub-communities need to be solved. The talk will describe the challenges and discuss the solutions found.

11:15 - 12:45

Jostein Hauge session

Time for 20 mins talks from euroCRIS members on national, European and international initiatives around CRIS systems, research information and further related topics.

Citation Content Analysis in the Cirtec project

Sergey Parinov, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) → Abstract

Citation content analysis studies data extracted from a full text of research papers (in different languages) registered in CRIS. It works specifically with reference lists typically located at the end of papers, with in-text citations which refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from reference list entries, and with citation contexts, meaning a text around the in-text citations.

The Cirtec project is funded by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA, http://www.ranepa.ru/eng/). It has two main aims: 1) to create a public service for processing available research papers (in PDF format) in order to build and regularly update an open dataset of citation content data, and 2) to use the citation content data for developing methods of qualitative citation analysis and new indicators and services, which can improve scholarly communication and visualization of scholarly cooperation.

Towards a reference implementation for open scientometric indicators: the ROSI project

Christian Hauschke, TIB Hannover → Abstract

The objectives of the BMBF funded project ROSI are to build a reference implementation for scientometric indicators based exclusively on open data sources and geared to the needs of researchers. For this purpose, various possible scientometric data sources were evaluated. On that basis a prototype was built, where scientometric indicators can be shown based on persistent identifiers. In parallel, interviews were conducted in which the wishes and reservations of researchers were collected. The first preliminary findings from the interviews and the prototype will be presented and put up for discussion.

Transitioning from Current to Collaborative Research Information Systems

Nick Veenstra, Technical University Eindhoven → Abstract

CRIS systems are rapidly being repurposed from systems of record to a source for showcasing and valorization of research. Because research impact is primarily measured through the level of collaboration, researchers are focused on promoting their cooperation with both peers and industry to (potential) funders. Showcasing these achievements through the university website has become a focal point where researcher needs collide with IT practices and regulations, as well as a CRIS system that is not equipped to efficiently handle collaborations with external partners.

In the last three years at Eindhoven university the CRIS system Pure has become the center of the research information chain from proposal to showcasing results on the research website. ‘Data driven’ is key here, as we try to eliminate as much of the repetitive data entry and curation as possible in the entire chain. While implementing this new chain, the boundaries between CRIS, repository and CMS began to fade quickly, and choices had to be made to adapt our systems to a more up to date reality; aligning data driven web exposure with researcher needs became the primary focus. Researchers rediscovered our CRIS system, this time as a PR tool.

In this context interoperability takes on a whole new meaning. This talk highlights some of the issues encountered and the steps taken to improve on them, but ultimately we are coming to the realization that a new breed of CRIS systems or modular structure is needed. The question then is, will we trust this new generation in the hands of a select group of software vendors, or do we start contributing ourselves?

Deployment of the Finnish Interoperability Platform in the Design of the Research Information Hub

Tommi Suominen, CSC → Abstract

In Finland, a suite of integrated tools has been created for interoperable digital public service development – an Interoperability platform. The service is provided by the Finnish Population Register Centre and it serves the entire public administration in Finland. The main components are the concept definition tool, the code list tool and the modelling tool.

A driving idea behind this development is that public administration should maintain and use information in a cost efficient, secure manner and make them as available as possible. Semantic interoperability and shared tools enable the integration of services and data content and user-centric service development.

In the development of the Finnish Research Information Hub (www.research.fi), the starting point is to define and refine concepts from the national Glossary for Research Administration. In many cases, relevant terminologies have also been defined in other public sector efforts. Next code lists are either reused or developed. Finally, by using the Interoperability platform, the data models are built, utilizing the concepts, code lists and model definitions of other domain-related models. Reuse of these information structures from other services means that they can share the same conceptual definitions, code lists and model components for those parts where there is conceptual overlap. This reflects positively on the exchangeability of the data that they hold. All defined components are public on the interoperability platform.

The hub will use as its resource both national sources such as universities’ CRISes, funders’ registries and international ones like ORCID, and the enriched research information will be available e.g. back to the universities’ CRISes, ORCID, OpenAIRE. The data models and terminologies are interoperable with international standards such as CERIF and CASRAI.

12:45 - 13:45

Lunch break

Time for lunch. Grab some food, have some interesting talks, a look for the posters or a short excursion to Münsters weekly market.

13:45 - 14:45

euroCRIS Strategic Partner session

Get an update by the strategic partners of euroCRIS about joined actvities.

LYRASIS + DuraSpace: what’s next after the merger

Michele Mennielli, LYRASIS → Abstract

In July 2019 LYRASIS and DuraSpace merged to leverage its expertise, reach, and capacity to work with community-led programs, services and technologies that enable durable, persistent access to data and services.

The newly merged organization has a worldwide collaborative community of more than 4,000 institutions and ten open source, community-supported technology programs across six continents. In addition, it is committed to build capacity in the scholarly ecosystem through open technologies, services, funding opportunities, expertise, training, and support.

DuraSpace has been a Strategic Partner of euroCRIS for a few years now, organizing joint events and trying to bridge the repository and the CRIS community. As LYRASIS is new to this landscape, this presentation will be an opportunity to learn more about a “new, old” strategic partner.

CRISs under scrutiny: some recent trends

Annette Dortmund, OCLC → Abstract

In a report recently published by the University of California Library, serious “concerns regarding the use of Research Information Management Systems (RIMS)” are raised that deserve broader discussion. Are commercial Research Information Management Systems evil per se? Under what conditions can they be used in a responsible way? And what is the context for this (sudden) distrust? Using the report as a starting point, the presentation highlights a number of topics that the euroCRIS community is well placed to discuss and provide guidance on, to whomever it may concern.

The Jisc Open Research Hub and its role in open research infrastructure

Hilda Muchando, Jisc → Abstract

Research systems interoperability is fundamental to UK Research and Innovation, helping to maximise the value of information researchers provide and minimise administrative burdens. Working in partnership with key stakeholders in the RIM sector to build a solution on the core principles of sustainability, efficiency, support, governance, and openness, Jisc has developed a fully-managed and interoperable research data platform that specifically meets the needs of UK higher education Institutions. The → Jisc Open Research Hub integrates repository, preservation, reporting and storage platforms and incorporates best practice from across the sector, including CERIF, DataCite, CrossRef, Dublin Core and PREMIS. The Hub’s current and future development will be directed towards facilitating open research best practice and helping institutions to meet recent recommendations such as FAIR, Plan-S, ORDTF and the COAR’s Next Generation Repositories.

14:45 - 15:45

Emerging CRIS infrastructure

Three talks about recently lanched projects to expand CRIS infrastructure in Europe and beyond.

Creating the Croatian National CRIS

Ognjen Orel, University of Zagreb Computing Centre → Abstract

The “Scientific and Technological Foresight“ project is under way in Croatia. This project, led by the Ministry of Science and Education, has several goals – definition of legal framework regarding research information management in Croatia, creation of the national CRIS and the implementation of scientific and technological mapping and foresight. The biggest one, the creation of a national CRIS system (CroRIS), is entrusted to University Computing Centre of University of Zagreb.

In this talk, we will present the current state of affairs regarding research information management in Croatia, and the idea behind this new CRIS system. We will also show project activities and work in progress regarding CroRIS, as well as our future development and implementation plans.

The Hércules Semantic University Research Data project

Reyes Hernández Mora Martínez, Universidad de Murcia → Abstract

The University of Murcia (hereinafter UM) signed on November 29, 2017, a Covenant with the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness backing the HÉRCULES Semantic University Research Data Project with a budget of FIVE MILLION FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED euros with an 80% of cofinancing from the European Regional Development Fund program (ERDF) within the 2014-2020 period.

The purpose is the improvement of public services and business innovation through the Public Procurement of Innovation.

Thus, the University has launched the HÉRCULES Semantic University Research Data project, intended to create a Research Management System (RMS) based on semantic open data, that will provide a global view of the research data contained herein the Spanish University System (SUS), in order to improve management, analysis and boost synergies between universities and the general public.

The project has been constituted encompassing high research and development, appointing on Web Semantics (WS) to blend in the data and homogenize the information and knowledge staged within the SUS. The SUS will apply the Web Semantics approach in order to ensure the representation, distribution and adoption of the research information available.

This will trigger the execution of many R&D efforts, related to inherent problems yet to be solved in Web Semantics, resulting from the previous existence of different nodes of information that should be interoperable, even when the data is not labelled nor described with the same terminologies. The developments would allow information mining related to research, which is not available within the nodes of the network, but on the Internet.

Ensuring the data quality (consistency, harmony, controlled redundancy and purpose) in this network is suggested as an indispensable and mandatory objective for its relevance, since it is a project that the CRUE university group must benefit from.

IRINS: The Indian Research Information Network System

Kannan P, Central University of Punjab, and K. Siva Shankar, INFLIBNET Centre Gandhinagar → Abstract

With 93 implementations listed in the euroCRIS → DRIS as of Nov 2019, the Indian Research Information Network System (→ IRINS) is the default research information management service in the country. Developed by the Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre in collaboration with the Central University of Punjab, IRINS is a free, web-based platform providing information on persons (researchers), organisations (departments and faculties at universities and research institutes) and research results (publications and patents) to the institutions using it. Moreover, IRINS has recently started collaborating with the Wellcome/DBT-funded → India Research Management Initiative (IRMI) to bridge the gap between research information management (RIM) and research management and administration (RMA).

15:45 - 16:00

Short coffee break

Time for recreation, having a coffee and a last look for the posters.

16:00 - 17:00

Subject-based CRISs

Two talks on discipline-oriented or subject-based CRIS systems. How do these systems get their data? How do they address interoperability issues with regard to other (e.g. institutional) CRISs or repositories?

Beyond university-focused research profiles with VIVO: perspectives of a service provider

Brian Lowe, Ontocale → Abstract

The presentation will discuss ways in which semantic Web-based open source software is being used to integrate data from diverse sources and provide features that go beyond display and discovery of researcher’s activities and outputs in the context of a single academic institution. Brian will describe developments in adapting VIVO for discovery of activity within a specific research domain across countries and institutions, and challenges involved in and approaches not only to integrating and disambiguating data across sources but also in setting appropriate boundaries to the resulting semantic graph so as to offer focused and useful results to a researcher in a given domain. The presentation will also discuss related activities in a growing area of interest around extending research networking systems for analysis of and insight into patterns of inter-organizational collaboration in the context of specific research areas.

BE OPEN - Open Science in transport: stakeholders involved and their areas of interest, main gaps and opportunities to overcome

Kristel Palts, The German Aerospace Center (DLR) → Abstract

The H2020 → BE-OPEN project started on the 1st of January 2019 with the aim to promote Open Science in transport research and assist in regulating and standardizing it. The overarching vision of BE OPEN is to create a common understanding on the practical impact of Open Science and to identify and put in place the mechanisms to make it a reality in transport research by the setting up and implementation of → TOPOS, the Transport Observatory / fOrum for Promoting Open Science.

Panel discussion: How to make interoperability happen?

17:00 - 17:15

Wrap up and closing

Ed Simons, euroCRIS president

Let's sum up the meeting and say good bye. Have a safe way back home and see you.

The registration is closed. The event is over.

euroCRIS members

For personal euroCRIS members and persons from member institutions the participation is free of charge.

  • Participate in all talks and workshops
  • Lunch included
  • Snacks and coffee break
free

Non-euroCRIS members

If you or your institution is not yet a member of euroCRIS, a small fee will be charged.

  • Covers one year membership in euroCRIS
  • Participate in all talks and workshops
  • Lunch included
  • Snacks and coffee break
60 EUR

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