Ireland’s five technological universities (TUs) have launched a joint initiative aiming to advance excellence in open research, making it reproducible and accessible without additional cost to the public.

TU-NET, launched by Professor Philip Nolan, director general of Science Foundation Ireland, at TUS’s Athlone campus, goes towards meeting national targets of 100% of taxpayer funded research to be made available to the public by 2030.

Advancing excellence in open research

Much of the publicly funded research is currently inaccessible to the public without an individual or institutional paid access. TU-NET, an initiative by TU Dublin, TUS, MTU, SETU and ATU’s research offices and libraries, aims to change this while also advancing excellence in open research.

The TU-NET initiative will increase visibility and discoverability of the diverse, applied and near-to-market research typically undertaken in TUs, as well as make it easier for other researchers nationally and globally to access and engage with their research outputs.

As much as 75% of the research outputs of the TU sector are applied, like software and datasets, which are not published through traditional channels but have a significant research impact. 

A first-of-its-kind joint statement signed today by all five TU presidents demonstrates a shared commitment to meeting ambitious TU and national targets for research.

Prof Nolan, who is also CEO-designate of a new national research and innovation agency yet to be formally announced, said, “Ireland has demonstrated its commitment to Open Research and Open Science through its support of the National Open Research Forum.

“Initiatives such as TU-NET demonstrate how the technological universities are progressing their own transition to an open research environment and are identifying the skills and infrastructure to operate in this landscape”.

Welcoming the launch of TU-NET, TUS president Prof Vincent Cunnane remarked, “Today marks another significant step forward for the new technological university sector in Ireland which is now united by a common vision to embrace the opportunities of open research.

Engaging students

“The technological university sector embodies the diversity of research activities and outputs that are critical to engaging students, industry and the public in new knowledge for the benefit of all. I’m delighted that our shared statement on open research also echoes a sector-wide dedication to the transformative power of education, research and innovation.”

The TU-NET group has an ambitious agenda and is seeking funding to support Ireland’s five TUs in developing further open research capacity through shared training initiatives, resources and infrastructure.

Under new EU rules on publicly funded research, researchers must publish, not only their research output, but also the data underpinning it to make it easily reproducible, the gold standard of academic publishing.

With this in mind, in 2024, TU-NET will begin the implementation of a new data management planning solution as a national case study for the Horizon Europe OSTrails project, to house this data.

TU-NET’s chair Frances Madden, who is also assistant head of library services: research services, TU Dublin, said: “TU-NET’s ambition is for every researcher, staff and student, in Irish technological universities to conduct their research with the highest standards of research integrity and reproducibility. By creating shared expertise and surrounding infrastructure for Open Research across the sector, we plan to enable that facility.” 

Read the full TU-NET Open Research Statement.

About TU-NET

In support of the significant capacity building needed for the new technological university sector to meet the challenges and opportunities of open research, TU Dublin initiated the formation of TU-NET as a collaborative group working towards a shared ‘Centre of Open Research Excellence in the Technological University Sector’ (CORE-TU).

The distinctive feature of the TU-NET initiative is the close working together between TU Research Offices, TU Libraries and related research-facing staff across the five new Technological Universities: Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Munster Technological University (MTU), South East Technological University (SETU), Technological University of Dublin (TU Dublin) and the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).

TU-NET aims

• Stimulate the development of open research across the TU sector research ecosystems;
• Seek to recognise and reward the diverse nature of modern research outputs from TU sector for the digital age. As much as 75% of the outputs of the TU sector are more applied, like software and datasets, which are not published through traditional channels but have a significant impact;
• Leverage existing open research expertise across the TU sector to achieve ambitious national targets for open research – 100% open by 2030;
• Create an open research infrastructure for the TU sector that is comparable to those of international university sectors, bespoke to the unique landscape of the TUs;
• Build a consistent approach across the sector for reporting, promotion, training and management in relation to Open Research through building consensus.

TU-NET and its activities should be understood as complementary to the pilot projects currently underway funded by the NORF Action Plan (many of the TUs are involved in those projects).

CORE-TU is specifically about ‘enabling’ and activating the TUs to engage with the Open Research Agenda immediately in a sustainable fashion and in a way that is consistent with the unique mission of the TU sector.

About TUS

Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) is a multi-campus technological university spread across six campuses throughout Ireland’s Midwest and Midlands regions, which was established on October 1, 2021, from a merger between Athlone and Limerick Institutes of Technology.

With principal campuses in Athlone and Limerick, TUS benefits from an already strong and vibrant history of education and learning in the wider region and looks forward to playing its part in sustaining and enhancing this identity for generations to come.

By providing a healthy supply of high-quality graduates and an additional focal point for growth and innovation, TUS is helping regional development take a big step forward.

TUS’s continuous focus on partnership, innovation and staying agile demonstrates an understanding of the importance of working with key stakeholders across industry and society. And with 15,000 students enroled in hundreds of courses across six campuses and four counties, TUS’s story has only just begun.