Germany Allocates EUR30 Million to Safeguard Independent Research Data Amid US Policy Shifts

The German federal government has announced a significant financial initiative to secure independent access to vital medical research data, responding to increasing uncertainty in US science policy. Approximately EUR30 million will be distributed through a structured, science-led process by the German Research Foundation (DFG) to protect at-risk research data resources critical to the scientific community.

This move follows growing concerns about potential instability in US funding priorities, particularly regarding the maintenance of essential infrastructures such as PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov. Recent developments in US budgetary policy, especially the possibility of severe funding reductions for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have highlighted the vulnerability of global access to key biomedical databases. PubMed, managed by the National Library of Medicine under the NIH, is regarded as the world's leading repository for biomedical literature, containing over 30 million citations. Any disruptions to such platforms would significantly impact research activities worldwide.

The German government's proactive stance was further reinforced when, in early March 2025, PubMed experienced a temporary outage, underscoring the potential risks associated with reliance on foreign data infrastructures. Although full service resumed shortly afterward and no long-term restrictions have been reported, the incident served as a catalyst for Germany's efforts to strengthen data sovereignty within the European research landscape.

One of the key projects to emerge from this initiative is the Open Life Science Publication Database (OLSPub), spearheaded by the German Central Library for Medicine (ZB MED). OLSPub is designed to offer a transparent, open, and sustainable European alternative to PubMed, aiming to ensure continued, reliable access to biomedical research data. The project is currently under evaluation for funding within the DFG's support framework.

In addition to direct funding measures, Germany is emphasizing long-term European cooperation to enhance data sovereignty. A national working group has been established to facilitate dialogue between the scientific community and European partners, with a particular focus on the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). The EOSC initiative is central to strategies for securing threatened data collections and coordinating research infrastructure development at a continental level.

Despite these efforts, formal communication between German and US authorities regarding future funding decisions remains limited. There is currently no systematic monitoring of US budgetary decisions at the government level. Instead, Germany relies on established research networks and financial participation in major European projects, such as the European Molecular Biology Laboratory-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), which provides mirrored copies of PubMed content and plays a pivotal role in preserving data accessibility.

The allocation of EUR30 million thus represents a foundational measure to shield the German scientific sector from disruptions in access to critical research databases. By reinforcing national and European data infrastructure, the government aims to maintain the reliability and independence of scientific research, lessening dependence on external providers and safeguarding the integrity of research data in an evolving geopolitical landscape.