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Pilot project Open Ricgraph demo server
Starting around mid-September, we will launch the Open Ricgraph demo server. You can find its URL on this page.
Aim of the pilot project
The aim of the pilot project is to demonstrate how Ricgraph can provide insights into research relations and collaborations, and how it can optimize the quality of research information.
The approach we take is to collect research information from participating organizations and from multiple source systems, and to combine it in a single graph. By organizing research information in a network of connected items and relations, users can infer new relations, relations that are not present in any of the source systems. The result is openly available to anyone, in accordance with the open science principles.
Contents of the pilot
In this pilot project, we are starting with a few Dutch universities. Utrecht University will facilitate these organizations to construct a graph containing their research information. It will include information on researchers, teams, their results, (sub-)organizations, collaborations, (optional) skills, (optional) projects, and the relations between these items.
This graph is constructed based on the contents of the Research Information System Pure of each participating organization, supplemented with research information from sources such as the publication and data set aggregator OpenAlex, the data repository Yoda, and the Research Software Directory.
The participating organizations will explore the potential and will investigate what can be learned from research information in a single graph. This project consists of three parts:
- Utrecht University will make available an Open Ricgraph demo server containing research information from the participating organizations.
- Pilot A: Participating organizations can enrich Pure data using Ricgraph and BackToPure. BackToPure can insert (enrich) items from an organization that are absent from the Pure of that organization but are present in another source, back into the Pure of that organization.
- Pilot B: Participating organizations can explore collaborations between sub-organizations (faculties, departments, chairs) using Ricgraph.
Read more about the pilot project
To learn more about the pilot project, please read Discovering insights from cross-organizational research information and collaborations: A pilot project using Ricgraph, Rik D.T. Janssen (2025), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15637647.
Participate in the pilot project
In September 2025, the Open Ricgraph demo server will start with research information from the Delft University of Technology.
If your organization would like to participate, there are three things that require your attention:
- Preparation for the pilot.
- Your organization and Utrecht University need to sign two agreements: an Agreement to host a pilot Open Ricgraph demo server, and a Data Processing Agreement. The effort required for this depends on how closely your organization’s insights on legal and privacy policies align with those of Delft University of Technology. You can find more information (including the agreements with Delft University of Technology) in section 1.6 and chapter 5 of the document above.
- Your organization needs a privacy statement related to this pilot project. Possibly the general privacy statement of your organization suffices. Your organization might also need additional privacy measures (beyond those required by Delft University of Technology), and you may wish to conduct a data classification. These topics are also described in chapter 5 of the document above.
- Execution of the pilot.
- Someone of your organization needs to participate in the project group, needs time for experimentation, and needs time for sharing findings. In practice, this will take as much time as you are able and willing to allocate, as described in section 1.7 of the document above.
For more information, please contact Rik D.T. Janssen.