Projects, Pledging and Cooperation
The University Library of Bern is involved in a various national and international projects that aim to enhance the range of Open Access and Open Science services and offers. The University Library of Bern supports open infrastructure and publications through financial contributions (pledging).
Projects and Cooperations
Current Projects and Cooperation
SRDSN
SRDSN
The Open Science Team at the University of Bern is co-initiator of the Swiss Research Data Support Network (SRDSN), which was established 2024 via a successfully aquired swissuniversities Open Science funding call, with the University of Bern having had the lead of implementing this project.
Today, the SRSDN exists independently of swissuniversities funding, with the goal of fostering collaboration, sharing knowledge, and developing best practices among Swiss-based professionals in libraries, IT services, core facilities, and research management offices. Members of the Open Science Team at the University of Bern occupy key positions within the Operational Committee, the Steering Committee and the Focus Nodes of the network.
Diamond Open Access CH
DOACH
Diamond Open Access CH (DOACH), created with the support of swissuniversities, is Switzerland’s central point of contact for Diamond Open Access publications. It is run by a well-established working group/Community of Practice, in which all Swiss higher education institutions with an Institutional Publishing Service Provider (IPSP) are represented, namely the Universities of Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva and Zurich.
DOACH was launched in August 2026. The website www.diamondopenaccess.ch provides access to frameworks, tools and services that facilitate and improve publishing in Diamond Open Access, in accordance with established criteria and international standards.
DOACH is also Switzerland’s National Capacity Centre and is therefore part of the European Capacity Hub (EDCH). Within both networks, Bern Open Publishing will be committed to strengthening scholar-led book publishing, i.e. Diamond OA books.
European Diamond Capacity Hub
EDCH
The European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) is a collective that provides services to Diamond Open Access publishers, service providers and suppliers of tools and technologies, such as the Diamond Discovery Hub (DDH), the Diamond Open Access Standards (DOAS) and the EDCH Training Platform.
The EDCH coordinates and supports the National Capacity Centres (NCCs). The NCC for Switzerland is DOACH – Diamond Open Access CH. The University Library of Bern is also involved in this project.
Open Knowledge Maps
OKM
Open Knowledge Maps is an innovative discovery tool that presents the results of scientific research as knowledge maps. The open source tool is suitable for catalogs, collections or representations on websites. The UB Bern supports the Open Knowledge Maps initiative with a "Visionary Membership".
OPERAS
OPERAS
We are a full member of Operas. Operas is a European project that develops standards and infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences and establishes them as part of Open Science. Particular attention is paid to the greater linguistic diversity compared with the natural sciences, and to the different publication cultures and formats within these academic disciplines.
Data Ambassadors
Data Ambassadors
Data Ambassadors
The Data Ambassadors are a network of UniBE researchers who identify strongly with the values of Open Research and FAIR data. They co-operate and interact direcly with the Data Stewards.
Completed projects
EQUAP²
The project Evaluating the Quality Assurance Process in Scholarly Publishing (EQUAP²) brings together research institutions and libraries from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The project examines quality assurance processes from the perspective of scientists in their roles as authors, reviewers, and editors in the publication process.
The project will then develop criteria for acquisition decisions and funding of scientific journals.
CRAFT-OA
As part of the EU’s CRAFT Open Access project, the University Library of Bern is contributing to the development of better tools and services for the publication of academic journals.
Through the CRAFT-OA (Creating a Robust Accessible Federated Technology for Open Access) project, the European Commission is strengthening what is known as ‘Diamond Open Access’, under which neither readers nor publishers are required to pay fees. Together with contributions from the UK and Switzerland, CRAFT-OA has a budget of over 5.5 million euros. Twenty-three institutions from 14 countries are involved in the project, including the University of Bern as the sole institution in Switzerland.
The project focuses on four key areas: the technical improvement of journal platforms and software; the establishment of active open access communities; the promotion of the visibility, discoverability and recognition of Diamond Open Access publications; and their integration into major data aggregators.
OACCT
The Open Access Compliance Check Tool (OACCT) is being developed by EPFL Lausanne and the Universities of Bern, Geneva and Lausanne. It provides a comprehensive overview of the possible publication conditions for a large number of specialist journals, specifically tailored to the Swiss higher education landscape, and thus supports the decision-making process for open access publications.
PLATO
We are one of six Swiss universities involved in the Plato project, which aims to develop a sustainable funding model for high-quality open-access publishing (Diamond/Platinum) in Switzerland.