Significant collection of fossils, minerals and rocks becomes publicly accessible via digital platform

GeoSphere Austria joins the OSCA (Open Scientific Collections Austria) platform coordinated by the Natural History Museum Vienna. The digital platform makes scientific collections in Austria openly accessible. GeoSphere Austria manages one of the most important palaeontological collections in the country with around 160,000 data sets and several million individual fossils as well as a collection of 7,500 mineral samples, 25,000 rock samples and more than 400 drill cores. The collections are of great historical and current importance and document long-term environmental changes, among other things.

GeoSphere Austria is now part of OSCA (Open Scientific Collections Austria), a consortium led by the Natural History Museum Vienna. The aim of OSCA is to establish a digital infrastructure that makes all scientific collections in Austria openly and sustainably accessible. This will make millions of scientific objects visible and usable for research, business, politics and the public, both nationally and internationally.

OSCA is funded by the Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research and currently comprises 14 institutions with over 57 million collection objects.

‘With GeoSphere Austria, we are delighted to have another organisation in the OSCA consortium that allows digital access to important collections and appreciates the great value of open and networked data and information,’ says Katrin Vohland, Director General of the Natural History Museum Vienna.

GeoSphere Austria is Austria's Federal Institute for Geology, Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology and contributes its extensive holdings of fossils, minerals and rocks to the OSCA platform. This is one of the most important palaeontological collections in the country with around 160,000 data sets and several million individual fossils. GeoSphere Austria also manages an impressive collection of geological and mineralogical objects: 7,500 mineral samples, 25,000 rock samples and more than 400 drill cores with a total length of over 16 kilometres.

The collections of GeoSphere Austria have been amassed over centuries. Their origins date back to the 1800s, when the Imperial Geological Institute (later the Federal Geological Institute and today GeoSphere Austria) was founded in 1849.

Many of the objects are not only of scientific but also of historical and educational importance: they serve as the basis for species descriptions, are central to taxonomy (classification of living organisms) and biodiversity research and contribute to the understanding of palaeoenvironments and long-term environmental changes.

Daniela Festi, curator of the palaeobotanical collection at GeoSphere Austria, emphasises the importance of making the collections openly accessible and globally networked: ‘Many of these specimens date back to the 19th century and are crucial for reconstructing past climate conditions and understanding long-term environmental changes. They offer unique insights into primeval ecosystems and the development of the plant world - knowledge that is essential for overcoming today's climate challenges.’

Davide Di Franco, Curator of the Palaeozoological Collection, and Holger Gebhardt, Head of the Palaeontology and Collections Competence Unit, also see many benefits for research and the public in joining OSCA: ‘We are delighted that our collection will become part of a large digital infrastructure of national and international importance. The open accessibility of our objects preserves a scientific cultural heritage, supports global research and promotes new collaborations. This is an important step towards connecting Austria's rich geological history with the international scientific community and providing the public with access to our natural history. This promotes a better understanding of the geological past that has shaped our present.’

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)