Research Data

In the Horizon Europe program application form, the European Commission states that open science is an approach based on open cooperative work and systematic sharing of knowledge and tools as early and as widely as possible in the process.

Open science practices include early and open sharing of research (for example through preregistration, registered reports, preprints, or crowd-sourcing), research output management, measures to ensure reproducibility of research outputs, providing open access to research outputs (such as publications, data, software, models, algorithms, and workflows), participation in open peer-review, and involving all relevant knowledge actors including citizens, civil society and end users.

For further information on open science practices at the University of Turku, please contact development specialist Laura Niemi (laura.niemi@utu.fi).

Horizon Europe Reference Documents (European Commission Funding & Tenders)

Open science related aspects will be taken into account in various places in the application form, but especially in Part B, section 1.2 “Methodology” of your application, you should address open science specifically in your response:

1) Describe how appropriate open science practices are implemented as an integral part of the proposed methodology. Show how the choice of practices and their implementation are adapted to the nature of your work, in a way that will increase the changes of the project delivering on its objectives [e.g. 1 page, varying between calls]. If you believe that none of these practices are appropriate for your project, please provide a justification here.

2) Applicants generating/collecting data and/or other research outputs (except for publications) during the project must provide maximum 1 page on how the data/ research outputs will be managed in line with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), addressing the following (the description should be specific to your project) [1 page]:

I. Types of data/research outputs and their estimated size.
II. Findability of data/research outputs: Types of identifiers and trusted repositories that will be used.

• It should be possible for others to discover your data. Rich metadata or data should be available online in a searchable resource, and the data should be assigned with a persistent identifier.

III. Accessibility of data/research outputs: IPR considerations, timeline for open access, or access to restricted data for verification purposes.

• It should be possible for humans and machines to gain access to your data, under specific conditions or restrictions where appropriate. FAIR does not mean that data needs to be open! There should be metadata, even if the data are not accessible.

IV. Interoperability of data/research outputs: Standards, formats and vocabularies for data and metadata.

• Data and metadata should conform to recognised (open) formats and standards to allow them to be combined and exchanged.

V. Reusability of data/research outputs: Licenses for data sharing and re-use: availability of tools/software/models for data generation and re-use.

• Lots of documentation is needed to support data interpretation and reuse. The data should conform to community norms and be clearly licensed so others know what kinds of reuse are permitted.

VI. Curation and storage/preservation costs; person/team responsible for data management and quality assurance.

To write about research data management and management of other research outputs, you can use a template in DMPTuuli:  https://www.dmptuuli.fi/ -> Create Plan -> Funder -> Select European Commission -> Select Horizon Europe template -> Questions for the application stage can be found in the initial DMP sheet.

Horizon Europe Open Science requirements in practice - OpenAIRE webinar (Zenodo)

Peer-reviewed scientific publications in Horizon Europe:

How to comply with Horizon Europe mandate for publications - OpenAIRE guidance

• Immediate open access (no later than publication date) for scientific publications will be required through trusted repositories. This applies also long texts, e.g. books. Also Open Access for non-peer-reviewed publications is recommended.

  • There are two ways to ensure immediate open access:

    1. Deposit your publication in a repository for scientific publications and ensure open access.
    2. Publish your research in an open access journal.

    In both cases you have to deposit your publications in a repository, even when publishing in an open access journal.

    You can check the journal's eligibility in the Journal Checker Tool

• Publications (including final drafts) must be licenced under CC BY. License CC BY-NC/ND is allowed for long-text formats.
• Beneficiaries/authors must retain sufficient IPR to comply with their OA requirements, e.g. self-archiving a final draft in an institutional repository (UTUCRIS) without an embargo.
• Only publication fees in full open access venues for peer-reviewed scientific publications are reimbursable.
  • Please read MGA and AGA. Costs for hybrid venues are not reimbursable.
• Note that any results produced with funds of the project, should be reported, regardless of whether APCs have been paid through the project or not.

Research Data Management in Horizon Europe:

How to comply with Horizon Europe mandate for Research Data Management (OpenAire)

• Proper Research Data Management (RDM) is mandatory for any Horizon Europe project generating or reusing research data.
• Projects generating research data must manage their data responsibly and in line with FAIR principles (OpenAire).
• Establish and regularly update your Data Management Plan (6 months after the project has started, mid-project and at the end of the project if relevant).
• Deposit your data in a trusted repository (OpenAire) and provide open access through it.
  • Open access to research data should follow the statement "as open as possible, as closed as necessary", i.e. there can be exceptions to open access to research data.
  • CC BY or CC 0 licence required to open data.
  • Horizon Europe requires that, when you deposit data in a trusted repository, this should be described with rich metadata in line with the FAIR principles.    
• Provide information (via the same repository) about any other research output or any other tools and instruments needed to re-use or validate the data.
• It is recommended to publish the project's DMP with a CC BY licence in an open repository, if possible. Beneficiaries are encouraged to encode their DMP deliverables as non-restricted, public deliverables, unless there are reasons (legitimate interests or other constraints) not to do so.
• Metadata
  • should at least include the following fields: author(s), dataset description or abstract, date of dataset deposit or publication date, dataset deposit venue, dataset license (CC 0 or CC BY by default), dataset embargo period (if any) and include information about Horizon Europe or Euratom funding (grant project name, acronym and number).
  • should be open access under a CC 0 license or equivalent. This is also recommended in cases where data must be closed or restricted but there are no compelling reasons for metadata not to be findable and accessible.
• Costs for RDM (for example data storage, processing, and preservation) are eligible during the duration of the projec.

Proposals selected for funding under Horizon Europe will need to develop a detailed data management plan (DMP) for making their data/research outputs findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) as a deliverable by month 6 of the project and revised towards the end of the project’s lifetime.

The DMP will evolve during the lifetime of the project in order to present the status of the project's reflections on data management.

You can use a template in DMPTuuli:  www.dmptuuli.fi -> Create Plan -> Funder -> Select European Commission -> Select Horizon Europe template  -> Questions for DMP can be found from the Data management plan sheet.

The rules and guidelines for what is valid and other additional Open Science practices in Horizon Europe can be found in the Model Grant Agreement (MGA), in the Annotated Grant model Agreement (AMGA), or in the programme guidelines. We recommend anyone who wants to understand what is required to read them first.

MGA

1. Horizon Europe Grant Agreement (pdf) (article 17, Annex 5)

 
Guidance on open science in Horizon Europe

1. AMGA: Horizon Europe Annotated Model Grant Agreement (pdf) (p.154 ff.)
2. Horizon Europe Data Management Plan Template  (word) (under document library).
3. Horizon Europe Programme Guide (pdf) (p. 38 ff. with extensive analysis of open science practices and the evaluation process; good for POs and for evaluators)

 
Presentations on YouTube for proposers

1. Webinar and slides: How to prepare a successful proposal in Horizon Europe (June 2021). Open Science at 00:53:00 and Q&A (including on Open Science) from 1:09:00
2. Webinar: A successful proposal for Horizon Europe: Scientific-technical excellence is key, but don’t forget the other aspects (21 April 2021)

Presentation slides

1. Open Science in Horizon Europe: a proposer's primer (European Commission, 2021, pdf) 

Links updated 20.3.2023