Text+ Research Data Infrastructure for Text- and Language-Based Research Enters Next Phase
Text+ is delighted about the decision of the Joint Science Conference (GWK) to fund the research data infrastructure for two more years, totalling around six million euros. Here is the press release from the University of Göttingen:
“On 10 July 2026, the Joint Science Conference (GWK) approved funding for the research data infrastructure “Text+” for two more years, totalling around six million euros. The Göttingen State and University Library (SUB Göttingen), a co-applicant institution already involved in the first funding phase, now takes on the role of lead applicant for the University of Göttingen, assuming responsibility for the financial, organisational, and strategic development of the project.
At Göttingen Campus, this further strengthens the NFDI location, which now hosts 17 subject-specific and methodological NFDI consortia. In the second funding phase, the research data infrastructure for text- and language-based research data built up over the past years is to be further developed, made sustainable, and integrated even more firmly into scientific practice.
“The continued funding of Text+ is a strong signal for research data infrastructures in Germany and for Göttingen as a research location. Text- and language-related data are an essential part of our cultural memory and, at the same time, a key foundation for the quality of language models and artificial intelligence. Together with the three other NFDI consortia of the ‘Humanities@NFDI’ group, we can use the second funding phase to consolidate the structures we have jointly built, anchor our services sustainably, and advance the idea of a shared ‘One NFDI’,” explains Text+ spokesperson Prof. Dr. Philipp Wieder of the University of Göttingen.
The second funding phase, starting in October 2026, will focus on operating a stable and high-performing infrastructure, consolidating and further developing central services for research data management, and ensuring the long-term preservation and provision of data. At the same time, Text+ will align its services even more closely with the needs of the scientific communities and further deepen cooperation with partners inside and outside the NFDI. The FAIR data principles, promoting open reusability of research data, remain central to the offering.
The decision on continued funding comes at a time when the NFDI as a whole is also being strategically developed further. In July 2026, the federal and state governments laid the groundwork for a long-term continuation of the NFDI beyond 2028, aiming for a more coordinated, sustainable, and high-performing research data infrastructure in Germany. Text+ will continue to make an important contribution to research in the humanities and cultural studies in this context.”