The information portal for scientific research infrastructures lists institutions and offerings that provide researchers with subject-oriented resources and services for research projects. 

In this context, “research infrastructure” refers to dedicated subject-specific scientific facilities and analytical services as well as information infrastructures such as specialised libraries, data repositories, open access repositories and virtual research environments.

A research infrastructure may be a single location or a group of distributed institutions and form part of a national or international network.

The portal includes research infrastructures which

• provide recognised scientific and/or technological facilities or services with a focus on specific subject areas;
• permit access for use through a transparent procedure such as a selection process (usually documented in terms of use and fee regulations that are publicly available); and
• are organised in a professional way, deploy sustainable management practices and are economically viable from a long-term perspective.

These general conditions can also be found in the guidelines for research infrastructures published by the DFG.

The aim is to make more efficient use of the existing scientific resources, provide external users with access to as broad a spectrum as possible of modern and state-of-the-art technologies or up-to-date sources of information while offering professional support from the institutions. This may include such things as data analysis or learning new techniques. The portal also provides a general overview of research infrastructures at mainly Germany-based academic institutions.

Research infrastructures wanting to be included in the portal can register with the DFG. The DFG will check their details against the above criteria and then decide whether they can be included or not. The institutions themselves are at all times responsible for keeping the entries up to date.

Further information

• Portal for research infrastructures: RIsources
• Go to registration form (available only in german)
• DFG guidelines on requirements of research infrastructures
• Guidelines for Instrumentation Usage Costs and Core Facilities