From Data Collection to FAIR Use in CRIS. The Case of University of Vienna

Abstract

Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) have been implemented at Austrian Universities, as in many other European countries, with the incentive to account for scientific conduct of Universities. The CRIS at the University of Vienna – u:cris – has been implemented starting with 2012-2013, as a follow-up project of the previously deployed CRIS. It was the main aim of the project to reflect the critique the former system encountered – poor maintenance of profiles, missing options for the presentation of academic profiles.

In addition to the more advanced options for maintenance and presenting of academic profiles, u:cris is used since 2016 as tool for the administrative accompaniment of applications for external funding and the documentation of research projects and related research outcomes. The introduction of a module tracking the activity of applications for external funding and documenting successful applications for research projects at University of Vienna, needs to be considered as a major shift in University of Vienna’s governing of academic activities. With the introduction of the module individual researchers can take full responsibility for the representation of the life cycle of their academic research projects, from the application to published research outcomes and media coverage.

In this paper we will briefly introduce the organizational structure of University of Vienna and the position u:cris as a system for the organization and documentation of academic activities takes herein. This will help us elucidate how individual researchers take action in u:cris and how data in u:cris is validated and made available for reporting and presentational purposes at intra- as well as inter-institutional level.