Sweden
Sweden’s open neuroscience ecosystem is anchored by two nationally funded infrastructures — SciLifeLab and SND — and by the Human Protein Atlas, a globally used open brain expression atlas. Sweden has been an early adopter of open access and open data policies among European funders, and the IMY (Swedish Data Protection Authority) oversees GDPR compliance for Swedish biobank and neuroscience data processing.
Open Science Policy
| Who | What is required | For whom | In force since |
|---|---|---|---|
| VR (Swedish Research Council) | Data management plan, FAIR-aligned data sharing, open access to publications | All VR-funded projects | 2019 (data), 2010 (OA publications) |
| EC Open Science Policy | DMP, FAIR deposit, open access | Swedish Horizon Europe-funded institutions | 2021 |
| EHDS | FAIR health data, HL7 FHIR EHR exchange | Swedish healthcare providers and health data processors | 2025 |
The Swedish Research Council joined cOAlition S and operates an open access policy fully compliant with Plan S. Sweden is an EU member state subject to EHDS as one of the most advanced national health data environments in Europe, with linkable population registries covering the full Swedish population.
National Life Science Infrastructure
SciLifeLab (Science for Life Laboratory) is Sweden’s national infrastructure for large-scale life science research, co-founded in 2010 by Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, and Uppsala University, with research sites across seven Swedish cities. SciLifeLab hosts three major platform programmes: the National Genomics Infrastructure (NGI), the National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS, Sweden’s ELIXIR node), and a Data Centre providing FAIR data management services. Its Data Centre produced the Swedish COVID-19 data portal, an ELIXIR-recognised model for national research data transparency. SciLifeLab is the institutional home of the Human Protein Atlas and operates ELIXIR-SE as Sweden’s designated ELIXIR national node.
National Data Repository
SND (Swedish National Data Service) is the national research data repository and infrastructure funded by the Swedish Research Council and nine Swedish universities. SND provides data discovery, DOI assignment, deposit, and long-term preservation services across all research disciplines. A dedicated Life Sciences Data Station serves the life sciences community including neuroscience. SND is Sweden’s primary national data repository and a direct counterpart to DANS (Netherlands) and Recherche Data Gouv (France) in the broader European research data infrastructure landscape.
Open Brain and Proteome Atlas
Human Protein Atlas (HPA) maps genome-wide protein expression in human tissues including an extensive Brain Atlas section, covering protein localisation in 74 human brain regions with expression data for 17,832 genes in 56 annotated cluster groups. Version 25.1 (May 2026) added Deep Visual Proteomics data. All data are open access under CC BY. HPA is a designated ELIXIR Core Data Resource and is cross-referenced with the Allen Institute for Brain Science brain atlas and single-cell portals including CELLxGENE.
Population Genetics
FinnGen’s Finnish population genomics is the direct Nordic parallel to Sweden’s own population genetics programme. Swedish population genetics is coordinated through the Swedish Biobank Programme, which federates the major Swedish biobanks under the Swedish Biobank Registry. Swedish genomic data are deposited to EGA for controlled access and to ENA for open-access sequence data through SciLifeLab’s NGI platform.
Data Protection
The IMY (Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten) is Sweden’s data protection authority and EDPB representative, overseeing all Swedish biobank and neuroscience data processing under GDPR and the Swedish Data Protection Act. For researchers working with linked Swedish registry data, the E-hälsomyndigheten (eHealth Agency) and Socialstyrelsen (National Board of Health and Welfare) are the primary access point bodies for national health register data.
International Engagement
SciLifeLab is Sweden’s national ELIXIR node (ELIXIR-SE) and participates in EOSC services. The Human Protein Atlas is integrated into multiple European and international data ecosystems. Sweden participates in BBMRI-ERIC through the Swedish Biobank Programme as a founding member. Swedish institutions contribute to ENIGMA Consortium working groups and to EBRAINS as an associated partner.