CLARIAH-CAT digital humanities network awarded almost one million euros in funding
The UAB has been a key player in securing 993,205 euros from the Government of Catalonia for the strategic digital humanities network which it is spearheading, the CLARIAH-CAT.
The Catalan Multidisciplinary Network for Digital Humanities (CLARIAH-CAT), of which the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is one of the founding institutions, has received a strategic funding grant of 993,205 euros from the Government of Catalonia. The funding is awarded by the Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) and will go towards carrying out its ambitious programme for valorisation and transfer of results from research in the humanities and digital heritage.
The award of this grant underscores the importance of the CLARIAH-CAT node as a pioneering and strategic initiative in Catalonia, with the potential to position itself as a national and international reference.
The UAB's driving force within the Network
The UAB has played a fundamental role in the creation and definition of the CLARIAH-CAT strategy. The University participates through its CORE in Cultural Heritage and worked closely with the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS) in organising the network's founding day, in which the objectives and roadmap were established.
In addition, UAB is one of the signatory entities of the consortium agreement, which includes 16 established research groups and more than 80 UAB researchers specialising in various thematic areas, ranging from art to linguistics, philosophy, archaeology, translation, history, and many others.
Unprecedented transfer ecosystem
CLARIAH-CAT, established as the Catalan node of the European infrastructures CLARIN and DARIAH, brings together virtually all Catalan teams that apply digital technologies to the humanities, arts, history, and cultural fields. The network includes all public universities in Catalonia (UB, UAB, UPF, UdG, UdL, URV, UPC, UOC), centers of research excellence (BSC-CNS, CVC, IIIA-CSIC, IPHES, ICAC), state-run cultural institutions (National Library of Catalonia, History Museum of Catalonia, Archaeology Museum of Catalonia, MNAC), and companies and civil society entities (such as Softcatalà, La Tempesta and Avenir).
In total, the network brings together more than 60 university research groups from 17 institutions.
Valorisation programme goals and key actions
The funding received will enable CLARIAH-CAT to boost the valorisation of cultural and humanities assets by applying technologies such as artificial intelligence, supercomputing, and virtual reality to the digitisation of heritage. The goal is to overcome the isolation of research groups and foster systematic collaboration that has social and economic impact.
The main planned actions for implementation between January 2026 and December 2028 include:
1. Open platform for research and innovation: creation of an open, collaborative digital platform for the dissemination, visualisation, and reuse of digital humanities research in Catalonia.
2. Open and participatory innovation actions (brokerage events): organising events to connect researchers, cultural institutions, and companies, facilitating knowledge transfer and the co-creation of projects that combine research, culture, and technology.
3. Call for valorisation and transfer activities: mobilising research groups to develop prototypes and pilot tests with cultural institutions, publish open educational resources (OER), and explore patent feasibility.
4. Digital Humanities Training Plan: enhancement and harmonisation of the training offerings, with specialised workshops in digital text editing (TEI) and machine translation.
On behalf of the UAB, the funding agreement was signed by the UAB Vice-Rector for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship Rosa María Sebastián, for whom "the active participation of the UAB, especially through our specialised teams in cultural heritage and expertise in AI and digital humanities, are crucial to ensuring that CLARIAH -CAT not only drives cutting-edge research, but also translates this knowledge into practical and innovative solutions for the Catalan cultural and business sectors, thereby consolidating the UAB as a leader in humanistic technological transfer".
This initiative, which reinforces the UAB's commitment to integrating into the European Research Area, is a strategic imperative to maximise research impact and create sustainable pathways for knowledge transfer in the fields of digital humanities and cultural heritage.
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