HAdW digital

The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities digitization as one of the central cross-cutting tasks of its scientific and organizational work. It has expressed this conviction in two complementary foundational documents: the 2017 Digitization Concept, which was adopted by the Academy’s plenary session and established for the first time binding guidelines for open access, long-term archiving, digital methods, and networking, and the HAdW 2030” digitization strategy, which builds on this foundation, documents the institutional and structural developments of the subsequent years, and sets out the strategic framework through 2030. The institutional dialogue began in 2018 with a roundtable on the digitization strategy, to which the HAdW invited HAdW from the state’s universities, libraries, and data centers to jointly discuss issues related to long-term digital archiving and the reusability of research data. These discussions have contributed significantly to refining the strategy, which has been continuously developed ever since.

At its core are five fundamental themes:

Open access to knowledge. HAdW a consistent open access and open science strategy. Publicly funded research results—including publications, primary data, and digital tools—should be freely and sustainably accessible to the scientific community and the general public. The FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability) serve as the methodological framework for this approach.

Research Data Sustainability. The HAdW considers the long-term preservation and archiving of digital research results HAdW an institutional obligation. It ensures this in collaboration with strategic partners—in particular the university libraries of the state of Baden-Württemberg—and aligns its efforts with national and international standards and infrastructures, notably the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).

Digital Methods in Basic Research in the Humanities. HAdW academic projects HAdW pioneers in digital research methods in the humanities. Editions, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and cataloging projects are developed using innovative software-based methods and made available as digital data collections of high scholarly quality. The HAdW actively HAdW the development and application of such methods and integrates digital concepts into new projects as early as the proposal phase.

Strengthening digital structures and competencies. The HAdW its activities in the field of digital humanities through the Department of Research and Digital Infrastructure, which serves as the institutional point of contact for researchers, members, and research centers. The ongoing professional development of its staff and the targeted development of digital expertise are central to its strategic priorities.

Networking at all levels. The HAdW digital development as a collaborative effort. It works closely with the universities, libraries, and data centers of the state of Baden-Württemberg; is active at the national level within the Union (of the Academies) the NFDI; and maintains international partnerships in research projects and infrastructure initiatives.

HAdW brings together all the research data available online from our ongoing and completed projects. This openly accessible dataset often reflects the current status of the projects and is updated regularly.

The list below is a compilation of the native digital data from our research projects. Retrodigitized print publications from ongoing and completed projects can be found, where available, in the “Academy” section of the Heidelberg University Library website (external link).