August 6th marked the tenth anniversary of the Digital Research Infrastructure for Arts and Humanities (DARIAH) becoming a European Research Infrastructure.
“DARIAH’s journey over the past decade has been one of continuous growth and collaboration – across borders, disciplines and methods,” said Toma Tasovac, President of the Board of Directors. “As we celebrate our first decade as an ERIC, we remain committed to fostering digital innovation and strengthening the community of arts and humanities scholars in Europe and beyond.”
A European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) is a specific legal form that facilitates the establishment and operation of Research Infrastructures with European interest.
DARIAH started its journey to become an ERIC in January 2006 when representatives from four European institutions involved in digital humanities decided to join forces to provide services to their research communities. This would require setting up a consortium of institutions to ensure long-term sustainability of the infrastructure and a strong voice on a European level.
In 2006, DARIAH was listed on the first publication of the ESFRI Roadmap (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure). DARIAH then became a European project, thanks to funding secured under the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7), for its preparatory phase called Preparing DARIAH (2008-2011).
Following this, DARIAH moved in February 2011 into a transition phase which would further build on the groundwork for its establishment as an infrastructure.
In August 2014, the European Commission established DARIAH as an ERIC with 15 Founding Members (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Slovenia and Serbia).
Following the move to ERIC status, DARIAH was awarded Landmark Status in the 2016 ESFRI Roadmap as a Research Infrastructure that reached its implementation phase and was considered a pan-European hub of scientific excellence.
Since then, DARIAH continued to develop and expand, counting currently 22 Member Countries and many Cooperating Partners in Europe, the UK, the US and Egypt.
DARIAH has also played an active role in several European Commission funded projects that have relied on the knowledge and influence of established ERICs. The infrastructure has been the voice of arts and humanities researchers across consortiums and funding bodies.
