ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY

Their core work

The Royal Irish Academy is Ireland's premier learned society and academy of sciences, founded in 1785, serving as a national voice for scholarship and research policy. Within H2020, RIA contributed specifically to the development of European research data infrastructure — participating in the Research Data Alliance (RDA) initiative and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Their role centers on shaping data management policies, promoting interoperability standards, and representing the Irish research community in international open science governance. They bring institutional authority and policy expertise rather than technical development capacity.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

RIA's H2020 involvement began with foundational research data alliance work (RDA Europe 3, 2015-2018) focused on establishing European participation in global data governance. By the second phase (2018-2021), their focus sharpened toward concrete open science infrastructure — data interoperability, cloud resources, and the operational build-out of the European Open Science Cloud. The trajectory shows a shift from policy coordination toward implementation-oriented open science infrastructure.

RIA is moving from data policy advocacy toward active participation in EOSC and open science implementation, making them relevant for projects requiring institutional backing for open data practices.

How they like to work

RIA has never coordinated an H2020 project — they join large consortia as a participant or third party, contributing policy expertise and institutional credibility rather than leading technical workpackages. With 107 unique partners across 27 countries from just 3 projects, they operate within very large pan-European consortia (the RDA and EOSC ecosystems). This makes them a reliable, low-friction partner for big infrastructure projects that need national academy-level representation.

Through participation in major European data infrastructure initiatives, RIA has connections to 107 unique partners across 27 countries — an exceptionally broad network for an organization with only 3 projects, reflecting the massive scale of RDA and EOSC consortia.

What sets them apart

RIA's value lies not in technical capacity but in institutional authority — as Ireland's national academy of sciences, they lend credibility and policy-level endorsement to research infrastructure initiatives. For consortium builders, RIA offers a direct channel to Ireland's scholarly community and national research policy discussions. Few partners can simultaneously provide the gravitas of a 240-year-old learned society and hands-on engagement with modern open science frameworks.

Highlights from their portfolio

• RDA Europe 4.0
  Largest single grant (€200,937) connecting European research data practices to the global Research Data Alliance, with explicit focus on interoperability and international cooperation.
• EOSC Future
  Part of the flagship European Open Science Cloud initiative — RIA's inclusion as third party signals their recognized role in Irish and European open science governance.