Europe
European open neuroscience is shaped by a dense layer of interoperable research infrastructures, EU-level policy mandates, and a set of coordinated European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs) covering genomics, imaging, clinical trials, and biobanking. Open science requirements are embedded directly into Horizon Europe funding conditions, and shared governance connects national nodes to pan-European bodies through formally structured pathways.
Open science policy
The principal open science mandates applicable to Horizon Europe-funded and European researchers are summarised below.
| Who | What is required | For whom | In force since |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC Open Science Policy | Data management plan from month 6, FAIR data deposit in trusted repository, immediate open access to publications | All Horizon Europe grantees | 2021 |
| Plan S | Immediate open access under CC BY, no embargo | Researchers funded by any cOAlition S member funder | 2021 |
| EHDS | FAIR health data with national secondary access points, HL7 FHIR for EHR exchange | EU healthcare providers and health data processors | 2025 |
| ECoC | Research integrity and data management per the European Code of Conduct | All Horizon Europe-funded researchers | 2018 (2023 revision) |
The EC Open Science Policy sets open access to publications and FAIR research data as mandatory requirements for all Horizon Europe-funded research since 2021. The EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) provides the federated technical infrastructure for data sharing and discovery across all European disciplines, with the FAIR Principles as the explicit normative foundation for its interoperability requirements. cOAlition S coordinates open access mandates across European funders through the Plan S framework, requiring immediate open access. Science Europe, the Brussels-based association of major European research funding and performing organisations, co-founded cOAlition S and publishes the Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management, widely adopted by European funders as a model DMP framework. The EHDS (European Health Data Space Regulation), in force since March 2025, is the EU regulatory framework for primary and secondary use of health data, designating HL7 FHIR for EHR exchange and recommending OMOP CDM for secondary analytical use.
Research norms and principles
Alongside binding mandates, several voluntary frameworks set norms for research conduct, integrity, and assessment across European institutions. The ECoC (ALLEA European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity) is the EC-recognised primary standard for research integrity across all Horizon-funded projects and is increasingly adopted as the basis for national and institutional codes of conduct. DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) calls on funders, institutions, and publishers to end reliance on journal-level metrics in research evaluation, with over 25,000 individual and institutional signatories worldwide as of May 2024. CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment) operationalises DORA principles across European institutions through a formal commitment mechanism, with over 700 signatory organisations as of 2024. The UNESCO Open Science Recommendation provides the global normative framework to which European policy explicitly aligns.
Research infrastructures
The core of European life sciences infrastructure is organised through the ESFRI Health and Food Research Infrastructure cluster, which developed the ERIC legal framework enabling pan-European research infrastructures with shared governance and funding. Five ERICs are directly relevant to open neuroscience. ELIXIR federates national bioinformatics nodes across 23 member countries as of 2024, with EMBL-EBI as the hub; the French node is IFB, providing compute, training, and FAIR data services. Euro-BioImaging federates advanced microscopy and bioimage analysis facilities, with France BioImaging as the French national node. BBMRI-ERIC federates European biobanks and provides the Negotiator platform for cross-biobank data access, with Dutch BBMRI-NL member cohorts including Lifelines and Rotterdam Study. EATRIS federates translational research infrastructure for biomarker development and early clinical research, with NeurATRIS as the French neuroscience node. ECRIN supports the conduct of multinational academic clinical trials through its network of national partners, with F-CRIN as the French partner. The GDI project (European Genomic Data Infrastructure, 2022–2026) is deploying the technical infrastructure for federated cross-border access to genomic data across 21 EU countries, implementing the 1+MG Framework and aligning with the EHDS secondary use framework.
Data platforms
EMBL-EBI operates several core European data archives: EGA for controlled-access human genomics and phenotype data, ENA for open-access nucleotide sequences, EVA for open-access genomic variant data, IDR for reference bioimaging datasets, BioImage Archive for general biological image data, and EMPIAR for raw electron microscopy image data. OpenAIRE aggregates open access publications and datasets from across the continent and operates Zenodo, the general-purpose open research repository recommended for EU-funded projects. EBRAINS is the open neuroscience platform created by the Human Brain Project, hosting brain atlases, computational models, and neuroimaging and neurophysiology datasets. Public-nEUro is a GDPR-compliant European repository for human brain imaging data in BIDS format, funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and hosted at the University of Copenhagen. ANC (Austrian NeuroCloud), hosted at the University of Salzburg, is a FAIR-enabling repository for neurocognitive research data integrating BIDS, HED, and Neurobagel federated search, and is the first official European Neurobagel node.
Clinical research
CTIS (Clinical Trials Information System) is the mandatory EU registration and results-reporting platform for all clinical trials under the Clinical Trials Regulation (EU 536/2014), replacing the EudraCT system. Clinical trial data generated under this regulation intersects with the EHDS secondary-use framework, creating a governance pathway from trial registration through to controlled analytical access for researchers.
Pan-European alliances
CURE-ND links Paris Brain Institute, DZNE, Mission Lucidity, and UK DRI for joint neurodegenerative disease research. JPND coordinates EU Member States for transnational neurodegenerative disease research funding. EEG101 (COST Action CA24148) is a COST-funded European network launched in 2025 to standardise EEG methodology and build open-science infrastructure for EEG research across Europe and beyond.
For country-specific open science policy, infrastructure, and neuroscience actors, see the dedicated perspective pages: France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, and Scandinavia.
For the interoperability standards connecting national health data platforms and clinical data warehouses across the EU, see Health.