Australia

Australia’s open neuroscience ecosystem is built around national research data infrastructure funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), a federal programme providing long-term investment in shared research facilities and data services. Open neuroscience in Australia is driven by institute-level commitments, participation in international open science frameworks, and engagement with global open data standards.

National Research Data Infrastructure

ARDC (Australian Research Data Commons) is Australia’s national FAIR data infrastructure, funded through NCRIS and serving a coordination role analogous to EOSC in Europe. ARDC provides services, training, and infrastructure for FAIR data sharing across all Australian research disciplines, and actively aligns with international data commons initiatives. The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), a separate federal fund, finances major health and medical research infrastructure including large-scale neuroscience data platforms.

Key Institutes

The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health (Melbourne) is a dedicated neuroscience institute affiliated with the University of Melbourne and Austin Health. It participates in the ENIGMA Consortium and leads the Australian Epilepsy Project, a national FAIR-aligned multimodal neuroimaging platform funded by the MRFF. Other notable Australian neuroscience institutes not yet in the vault include the Queensland Brain Institute (University of Queensland) and the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health (Monash University).

International Engagement

Australia participates in INCF and contributes to international open neuroscience standard development. ARDC engages with RDA plenaries and aligns its infrastructure policies with international FAIR standards. Australian researchers are active contributors to ENIGMA Consortium working groups and to international neuroimaging cohort studies.