About the project
Client
Industry
Implemented solution
Implementation duration
Key statistics on system usage
About the University
University of ZurichThe University of Zurich, founded in the year 1833, was Europe’s first university to be established by a democratic political system. The University offers a wide variety of Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs, and belongs to Europe’s most prestigious research institutions. Being Switzerland’s largest, most diverse university, UZH attracts the world’s best researchers and most promising students. The academic excellence of the University of Zurich brings benefits to both the public and the private sectors.
The university's goals
Replacing the outdated EPrints system with a modern repository.
Providing a stable and future-proof repository for more than 220,000 objects.
Integration with international databases and citation indices.
Development of statistical and bibliographic tools supporting researchers.
Strengthening UZH’s position as a leading research center through open access.
Challenges
Migration of a huge database (over 220,000 records, including 60% full-text) from the EPrints system.
Maintaining the continuity of the repository’s operation during implementation.
Ensuring full compliance with open science requirements and data harvesters.
Aligning the user interface with the UZH visual identity.
Support for multiple languages and ensuring a high level of ergonomics for global audiences.
Advanced server management standards, architecture with redundancy and fail over mechanisms.
How a client recalls our collaboration
Migrating the ZORA repository to DSpace-CRIS was a strategic decision for us. Thanks to the new system, we have gained a stable, international solution that supports open science and allows for better management of our vast publication database.
The repository meets the highest standards, and our cooperation with the PCG team was professional and based on partnership.
Scope of implementation
Data Migration
01from EPrints to DSpace-CRIS,
Ensuring compliance
02with the UZH open science policy,
Support
03for multilingualism and localization,
Interoperability
04within the Swiss academic landscape,
Integration
05with metadata databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Altmetric, PlumX, Dimensions), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), JISC Open Policy Finder and swisscovery library catalog,
Analytics
06advanced search, extensive statistics presenting rich open access resources.
How did we go about achieving our goals?
Installation and configuration
of DSpace-CRIS on UZH servers, preparation of a test environment.
Data migration
from EPrints, metadata mapping, and quality control.
Adaptation of the interface
to the UZH brand book and the university’s corporate design.
Integration with databases,
bibliometric systems, and analytical services.
Training
for employees and system administrators.
Publication
of the final version of the repository in fall 2025.
Further long-term
maintenance and development of the repository.
Results
stable, scalable, and compliant with open science policy repository,
integration with global scientific systems (Scopus,
Web of Science, PubMed, Altmetric, PlumX, Dimensions, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), JISC Open Policy Finder and swisscovery library catalog),
extensive search, data export, statistics, and bibliography management capabilities,
a forward-looking repository that supports the internationalization strategy and image of UZH as a modern, global, and innovative university.
How we look back on our collaboration
The implementation of DSpace-CRIS for the University of Zurich is one of the most complex projects we have ever completed at PCG Academia. We worked under considerable time pressure with a very demanding client, accustomed to their own system, which had been developed over 17 years.
Today, I know that we are ready to work with the world’s leading universities.
Summary
Over the course of several months, the University of Zurich, in collaboration with PCG, carried out a digital transformation of its repository, replacing the EPrints system with the DSpace-CRIS solution.
The end result of the project is a full-scale CRIS-class system, compliant with COAR guidelines, supporting internationalization, open science, and building the global position of UZH.
