Collaborative Initiatives

COARA

The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) is a global collective of over 700 member organisations, including research institutions, funders, assessment authorities, and professional societies, united to reform how research, researchers, and research organisations are evaluated. Guided by a common set of principles and commitments, CoARA fosters collaboration, knowledge exchange, and mutual learning to promote more inclusive and effective research evaluation practices. Traditional assessment methods rely heavily on publication-based metrics, such as citation counts and journal impact factor, which can overlook the diverse contributions of researchers. CoARA seeks to address this by promoting principles and guidelines outlined in the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, published in July 2022, which offers a foundation for the reformation of current research assessment practices, to recognise all aspects of research contributions.

Learn more about CoARA.

CoARA Action Plan for SciLifeLab: A Path Towards Recognising Diverse Contributions to Research Through Open Science and the FAIR Principles

On 23 February 2024, SciLifeLab announced its collaboration with CoARA, reaffirming our commitment to advancing research assessment and open science practices within our work. In partnership with the CoARA Swedish National Chapter, SciLifeLab established a new CoARA-SciLifeLab Working Group to develop actionable steps which align with CoARA’s objectives.

By joining CoARA, SciLifeLab aims to drive scientific breakthroughs through open science initiatives, such as enhanced data and software sharing, while recognising diverse contributions across the research lifecycle. We are actively working to implement CoARA’s principles at both national and international levels. By implementing this collaborative approach, we hope to move beyond traditional, publication-based metrics and promote more inclusive evaluation practices that recognise the full range of research contributions.

You can review SciLifeLab’s CoARA Action Plan here.

Why SciLifeLab Joined CoARA:

Alignment with EU and EC Initiatives: Participation with CoARA aligns with broader European Union and European Commission collaborations on research evaluation reform.
Open Science Implementation in Our Practices at SciLifeLab: Commitment to incorporating Open Science principles into reporting, recruitment and awards at SciLifeLab.
Commitment to Reform Research Assessment: Support for CoARA’s principles of reforming traditional research assessment methods, moving beyond publication-based metrics to recognise diverse research contributions.
Alignment with Swedish Institutions: Over 30 Swedish universities, including KI, SU, KTH, and UU, have joined CoARA, providing an opportunity for national collaboration and consistency.

Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH)

SciLifeLab is collaborating with GA4GH to advance responsible sharing of genomic and health data through standards, policy frameworks, and harmonised approaches. Discover more about GA4GH and the work they are doing to promote the responsible sharing of genomic data here.

GA4GH 13th Plenary Meeting

As a part of this partnership, SciLifeLab will host the GA4GH 13th Plenary Meeting in October 2025 in Uppsala, Sweden. This event will bring together the global genomics community to address shared challenges, develop innovative solutions, and drive progress in genomic data sharing to advance human health. Over the course of the week, attendees will participate in collaborative workshops, presentations, and keynote talks, as well as have the opportunity to explore GA4GH technical standards and policies, exchange insights, and create scalable solutions for genomic and health data sharing. Guided by an international Programme Committee and shaped by input from the broader GA4GH community, this plenary aims to foster global collaboration in genomic science to improve health outcomes worldwide. You can learn more and register for the GA4GH 13th Plenary Meeting here

ADORE.software

SciLifeLab is proud to be a signatory of the Amsterdam Declaration on Funding Research Software Sustainability (ADORE.software), demonstrating our commitment to advancing sustainable and impactful research software practices.

ADORE.software emphasises the importance of skilled individuals, supportive infrastructures, and funding policies to promote the reusability and long-term impact of research software. The Declaration outlines global principles and recommendations for ensuring software sustainability by recognising research software as essential for reproducibility, efficient resource use, and scientific progress. It builds on prior initiatives by the Research Software Alliance, the Research Software Funders Forum, among others to formalise global principles and recommendations for funding research software sustainability.

Discover more about ADORE.software here and Become a Signatory for the declaration here.

Importance of ADORE.software for SciLifeLab

Collaborating with Global Stakeholders: With over 45 funding organisations participating in the first Amsterdam meeting, including Wellcome, Sloan Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), and NWO (The Dutch Research Council), SciLifeLab has the opportunity to engage with leading funders, agencies, and infrastructure providers to shape the future of research software sustainability.
Building Connections: SciLifeLab is connecting with key research software communities, including Research Software Engineers and Open Source Program Offices, to contribute to programs that reward, recognise, and sustain software development, such as those led by CZI.
Advancing Data Science and Scholarly Workflows: By participating in discussions and initiatives, SciLifeLab aims to learn and adopt best practices for advancing data science and enhancing scholarly workflows through sustainable software.
Leading in Sweden and Beyond: SciLifeLab is uniquely positioned to guide the operationalisation and implementation of ADORE.software in Sweden.

LIFES/GO FAIR Sweden

SciLifeLab participates in The Leiden Institute for FAIR and Equitable Science (LIFES), a public-private partnership where FAIR data and services are the norm. LIFES aims to develop and maintain the required expertise and ecosystem for the equitable and privacy preserving reuse of data and services. SciLifeLab hosts GO FAIR Sweden in the interim, through a transatlantic collaboration with GO FAIR US and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, where we collaborate on FAIR assessment projects (e.g., with NIH NIAID). These initiatives share a common goal of improving FAIR assessment and certification, and joining the network allows us to look at how we can improve the FAIRness of SciLifeLab systems through our community programs. You can view our community initiatives here.

Through these initiatives, SciLifeLab aims to strengthen Sweden’s position as a global leader in open science, sustainable research practices, and data-driven innovation.

Open Science Monitoring Initiative

SciLifeLab is proud to partner with the Open Science Monitoring Initiative (OSMI) to support the adoption and advancement of Open Science monitoring practices. OSMI brings together individuals and institutions worldwide to collaboratively develop frameworks for monitoring Open Science. The initiative was inspired by the May 2023 G7 Science and Technology Ministers’ meeting in Sendai, where the ministers reaffirmed their strong support for Open Science and emphasised the need to “use research on research to inspire a framework for open science monitoring”.

This set the foundation for OSMI’s mission to:

Promote the global adoption of Open Science principles
Provide recommendations for technical specifications for implementation
Support stakeholders at all levels in monitoring Open Science practices

To operationalise these goals, OSMI has established four dedicated Working Groups, of which SciLifeLab is involved in W1 and W2:

WG1: Scoping the needs of open science monitoring
WG2: Understanding the open science monitoring landscape
WG3: Open Science monitoring with scholarly content providers
WG4: Shared resources and infrastructure to analyse scholarly outputs

Through this collaboration, SciLifeLab joins a growing international network committed to improving transparency, accessibility, and accountability in research. This partnership reinforces our commitment to cultivating open research environments and shaping robust, evidence-informed monitoring frameworks at institutional, national, and global levels.

European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)

The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is a European Commission initiative aimed at developing a federated, open, and multidisciplinary digital environment for European researchers, academics, innovators, and citizen scientists. Its primary goal is to facilitate the sharing, discovery, and reuse of research data, tools, and services, fostering collaboration and accelerating scientific progress. EOSC builds upon existing infrastructures and services supported by the European Commission, Member States, and research communities, integrating them into a cohesive ‘system of systems’ to add value by aggregating content and enabling services to be used together. You can read more about EOSC here.

SciLifeLab actively collaborates with EOSC by providing feedback to the EOSC EU Node and participating in several task forces. It works closely with university partners such as Uppsala University, as well as through broader European collaborations with organisations like CERN and initiatives such as the ELIXIR BY-COVID project. Through these efforts, SciLifeLab supports the development of a robust, interoperable, and researcher-driven European Open Science infrastructure.

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