A solution for easier Collaboration within Research Communities

The context (or how researchers really collaborate)

Research has increasingly become specialised, although many phenomena can only be understood via a multidisciplinary approach. Recently, many communities have set research infrastructures (RIs) bringing together teams and assets for easing collaboration.

(see also "Virtual Research Environments: How Researchers Really Collaborate" in ERCIM News 109, April 2017)

The problem

This collaboration comes with complications. Each community has developed its own methods, data formats and tools, leading to a great heterogeneity in scope, features, protocols and technologies.

The solution

One way to assist and encourage multidisciplinary research is to bring together the communities and assets of RIs. The goal of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) system is to decouple science from IT complexity, by providing research communities with a facility that takes care of IT, allowing them to focus on their work. e-VRE has taken into account a considerable amount of requirements and characteristics of many RIs in the goal of assisting researchers.

Read more about e-VRE