Leiden University joins the iRODS Consortium
Leiden University has become the newest member of the iRODS Consortium, the membership-based organization that leads development and support of the integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS).
Leiden University has joined the iRODS Consortium to further strengthen its approach to research data management and digital research infrastructure. As an internationally oriented research university, Leiden places increasing importance on the sustainable, secure and transparent handling of research data, particularly in a context where data sovereignty and institutional autonomy are key.
iRODS is an open-source software that is used by research, commercial, and government organizations around the world. The iRODS software allows you to store, manage, and share large amounts of data, including their metadata, between different organizations and platforms and provides a mechanism for defining rules for their storage, processing, and distribution. iRODS is designed to support collaboration, interoperability, and scalability of data infrastructures. The iRODS software has been deployed at thousands of locations worldwide for long-term management of data in various industries such as the oil and gas industry, biosciences, physical sciences, archives, and media and entertainment.
iRODS enables the management and sharing of large and complex datasets across systems and organizational boundaries, while maintaining control through policy‑driven data governance. This aligns with the university's ambition to support open science and to facilitate collaboration between researchers, both within Leiden and with external partners.
By joining the Consortium, Leiden University aims to actively contribute to the development of future‑proof data infrastructure and benefit from a global community of expertise. At the same time, Leiden contributes actively to the strengthening of national research infrastructure in the Netherlands, while continuing to develop tailored solutions for specific use cases and connecting these to national facilities where relevant.
"We are excited by Leiden's decision to join," said Terrell Russell, Executive Director of the iRODS Consortium. "They have been a long-time member of the community and our ongoing work with Leiden researchers and administrators will benefit from this formality. We look forward to what's next."
About the iRODS Consortium
The iRODS Consortium is a membership organization that supports the development of the integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS), free open source software for data virtualization, data discovery, workflow automation, and secure collaboration. The iRODS Consortium provides a production-ready iRODS distribution and iRODS training, professional integration services, and support. The world's top researchers in life sciences, geosciences, and information management use iRODS to control their data.
The development team of the iRODS Consortium is based at the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), which is affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. To learn more about iRODS and the iRODS Consortium, please visit irods.org.
About Leiden University
Leiden University was founded in 1575 and is one of the leading international research universities in Europe. The University has seven faculties and campuses in both Leiden and The Hague. The university's research and teaching centers around humans in the world; a resilient and learning society; technology and society; peace, justice, democracy and governance; and health and life sciences. To learn more, please visit www.universiteitleiden.nl.
Jayasree Jaganatha