Estonian universities and research institutions implement Open Science primarily in response to the requirements set by project partners and funding programmes. At present, no university or research institution in Estonia has an active policy that directly regulates Open Science. However, many are at least partially involved in various consortia, organisations, and projects that promote and apply Open Science principles.
Among Estonian research institutions, the Institute of Chemical and Biological Physics (Keemilise ja Bioloogilise Füüsika Instituut, KBFI) has developed a Data Management Policy, which outlines the principles for handling research data within the institute.
University of Tartu is a member of the ENLIGHT network, whose members agreed on common Open Science principles in 2023.
In 2015, Estonia’s four major universities (University of Tartu, Tallinn University, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences) established the Consortium DataCite Estonia. The consortium ensures the findability and usability of research data produced by their researchers. DataCite is a global network of data centers, universities, and other research institutions that provides services and support to researchers, data repositories, publishers, and research funders. In cooperation with data centers, DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) are assigned to datasets and other research outputs, creating a robust infrastructure that supports data discovery, citation, and long-term accessibility. This ensures that research data can be easily found, accessed, and reused.
All major universities in Estonia also offer training on various Open Science topics, delivered through both university libraries and academic departments.
