Why OpenAIRE

A trusted research infrastructure with 70+ members across Europe, one of the richest open research graphs in the world, a team that takes you along, and a seat where European open science is shaped.

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A trusted research infrastructure

OpenAIRE is a non-profit research infrastructure owned by its members. When you work with us, you work with a community, not just a data provider.

70+

members

40+

European countries

National

& Institutional Infras

Global

outreach

Our members span every European country and connect us to national open access desks, institutional repositories and national infrastructures, with partners and outreach worldwide. What you build with us can be adopted, tested and scaled through this network.

The OpenAIRE Graph

One of the world's richest open research intelligence assets, and the foundation for much of what we build together.

Breadth

Everything, connected

400M+ records from 10,000+ global data sources: publications, datasets, software, clinical trials,patents, authors, organisations, funders and projects, across all disciplines.

Depth

Rich relationships

Not just records but the links between them: which funding produced which results, which data supports which publication, and who works with whom.

Quality

Curated and traceable

Records are deduplicated, enriched and validated, with provenance tracked, so you can rely on the data and explain where it comes from.

Open by design

Available via API, bulk download and custom integration, under open licences.

Graph documentation

A team that takes you along

Infrastructure is only as good as the people behind it. Our team has built and run open science services for more than a decade, and works alongside you at every step.

Data and Technology

Engineers and data scientists who build and operate the OpenAIRE Graph and services, and help you integrate them.

Research intelligence and AI

Specialists in indicators, analytics and AI who co-design new tools and validate results with you.

Policy, legal and ethics

Experts in open science policy, licensing and EU law, so your work is compliant and responsible from day one.

Community and training

A network of national desks, trainers and community managers who help you reach users, build skills and scale.

From idea to service

We take you along the whole way: shaping the idea, accessing the data, building and testing, and finding the users and the model to sustain it.

At the heart of European open science

OpenAIRE helps shape the frameworks that govern research, so innovation here feeds directly into policy.

EOSC

European Open Science Cloud

RAISE

Resource for AI Science in Europe

Barcelona Declaration

on Open Research Information

UNESCO

Open Science

RDA

Research Data Alliance

Why innovate now

Scholarly communication is at a crossroads, and the infrastructure behind it must innovate, not just maintain.

A crossroads for research

AI, open access mandates and data-driven R&D are changing how research is produced, shared and reused.

Open by design

Everything we build is open, and ready for researchers, civic and industry innovators to build on.

Connected science, connected tools

We need innovation that links data across domains and makes platforms and workflows interoperate.

Our principles

Every collaboration, whether with a university, a startup or a global company, rests on the same foundations. Some describe what we bring and believe; a few are lines we will not cross. Knowing both from the start makes partnerships faster, fairer and easier to trust.

Our starting point

What we believe and bring to every collaboration.

Openness by default

Our infrastructure, data and services are open, and collaboration outputs are open whenever possible. We recognise that partners may build proprietary services or code. Where they do, we ask for open standards, open APIs and transparency about how open data is used, so that what is open stays open.

Reciprocity and mutual benefit

Collaboration is not one-directional. We expect contributions back to the commons: shared data, open tools, joint publications, community engagement or capacity building.

Commitment to our members and the commons

OpenAIRE serves research institutions, funders and infrastructures across Europe. Every collaboration must benefit that community, not only the partner.

Interoperability and open standards

We build on and contribute to open standards. What we develop together should work with the wider open science ecosystem.

Knowledge sharing and capacity building

Joint training, documentation and knowledge transfer are integral to how we work, on both sides, not optional extras.

Where we draw the line

Non-negotiable in every collaboration, without exception.

Legal and ethical alignment

Every collaboration complies with EU law, including the AI Act, DSM Directive, Data Governance Act and GDPR, and with the highest ethical standards in data reuse, AI training and knowledge sharing.

FAIR and responsible data

Data shared in any collaboration meets the FAIR principles. Provenance, licensing and reuse rights are always explicit, and data pipelines are auditable.

Transparency and accountability

All collaborations are documented, reviewed and accountable to our community and governance bodies.

No new silos, no lock-in

Tools and services built together must interoperate with the open science ecosystem. Open data stays open: no exclusive lock-in.

Open and sustainable

How we approach business models.

Respecting existing business models

Industry partners operate within commercial realities. We look for arrangements where open science values and commercial sustainability coexist.

Exploring new business models together

We want to co-develop new models for sustainability: shared service offerings, value-added layers on open data, revenue sharing and joint ventures that benefit both parties and the ecosystem.

Governance

Transparent, accountable and values-driven. Two bodies make sure the principles are applied in practice.

Standing Committee on Technology and Services

Sets the strategic direction for innovation within OpenAIRE. It reviews new partnerships, services and collaborations, and checks that they align with our principles and with OpenAIRE's technology and service strategy.

A standing committee of OpenAIRE, accountable to its members.

Operational Team

Runs the day-to-day work: partnership intake, agreements, open calls, and support for the teams we work with. It also makes sure every collaboration meets FAIR, GDPR and licensing requirements.

Led by the OpenAIRE Innovation Officer.

Visit OpenAIRE governance

Let's build something together

Tell us what you are working on, in research, public innovation or industry.

Get involved