Press Release: Research: OpenAIRE opens access to EU scientific results

EU researchers, businesses and citizens can have free and open access to EU-funded research papers thanks to OpenAIRE (Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe), which the European Commission launched on 2 December 2010 at the University of Ghent in Belgium. OpenAIRE will provide a network of open repositories providing free online access to knowledge produced by scientists receiving grants from the Seventh Framework programme (FP7) and European Research Council (ERC), especially in the fields of health, energy, environment, parts of Information & Communication Technology and research infrastructures, social sciences, humanities and science in society. This is an important step towards full and open access to scientific papers that could, for example, allow patients with rare illnesses to have access to the latest medical research results, or provide scientists with real-time updates about developments in their field. Developing research infrastructures and e-Infrastructures, including those for scientific research results, with a view to boosting Europe's competitiveness, is a priority of both the Digital Agenda for Europe.