CORDIS on the web: looking back on 30 years of online access to EU-funded research results
As the largest multilateral funder of research in the world, the European Union has helped fund a broad range of groundbreaking research and innovation projects in different domains. The European Commission strives to make the outcomes of these projects accessible to a wide audience, so that everyone can benefit from them. This principle has guided the evolution of EU-funded research, and it will continue to do so in the future. Launched in 1990 as part of the European Commission’s dissemination strategy, CORDIS began as a series of offline databases where experts could access information about EU-funded research and innovation projects. In November 1994, the CORDIS domain was registered on the world wide web, making it the European Union’s first permanent website. Since then, CORDIS has come a long way, playing an important part in making research interactive, impactful and available to the wider public. From its early beginnings, it has now evolved into a vibrant platform combining research data with editorial content, including articles, news, videos and podcasts.
CORDIS in numbers
Today, CORDIS has more than 500 000 visits each month and over 15 million pages are consulted on the website every year. In total, the website contains information about just over 150 000 projects, going back to the very first framework programme for research in 1984. Nearly 14 000 of these projects have been launched under the current 2021-2027 Horizon Europe programme. As time goes by, the number of projects showcased will continue to grow.
CORDIS today
On the CORDIS website, visitors can stay up to date with the latest breakthroughs in research through a range of multilingual articles on EU-funded projects. A dedicated Projects & Results section provides information on all EU-funded research projects since the 1980s, including participants, results, reports, deliverables and links to open-access publications. Users can also learn about the latest developments in European scientific innovation through videos and podcasts available on the site. The short, animated videos explain research concepts and applications in simple terms. The podcasts feature discussions between leading experts on how research can help address the major challenges society faces today. Articles in the News section feature the latest on European scientific advances and inspiring success stories making the headlines. They also offer a glimpse into the afterlife of research projects and explore science questions with answers from EU-funded researchers. CORDIS data is commonly accessed through its Search, but the site also offers other resources and apps for this purpose available in the Datalab section. These include inquiring about CORDIS Linked Open Data through a tool called the SPARQL endpoint, retrieving and reusing project information through a data extraction tool, interactive maps and customisable visualisation widgets.
Keywords
CORDIS, 30, website, data, research, innovation, European research, research and innovation