Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
An ARC Discovery Project recorded in a CRIS, with start 2023, end 2026, named PI, CIs, RAs, funder, host institution, and accumulated outputs.
- Is an instance
An H2020 collaborative project recorded as a single research activity across consortium-partner CRIS systems.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A single publication is an output, not a research activity.
- Not an instance
A grant proposal that was not funded is typically tracked as an application, not as a research activity.
Editorial commentary
‘Research activity’ is the term ISO 23527’s RAiD standard uses for the thing it identifies — deliberately neutral vocabulary, because the same underlying undertaking is called different things by different CRIS products and standards: a Project entity in CERIF and in Pure, an Activity in some other systems. CERIF itself has no separate ‘Activity’ base entity distinct from Project — see Research entity (CRIS) for the full base-entity list. What this term captures is the RAiD-anchored framing of that same undertaking: a container with its own start and end dates, participants (as PIs, CIs, RAs), a host organisation, funding sources, and outputs, around which CRIS data accretes over its lifetime.
Where the fuller treatment lives
Because this term describes the same real-world undertaking as two other entries rather than a fourth distinct CERIF entity type, the detailed treatment sits on those pages rather than being duplicated here: Project (CRIS) covers it as the CRIS-internal data entity, and RAiD cover it as the external, cross-institutional identifier layer. This entry exists as the disambiguation point between the two vocabularies — useful chiefly for a reader who has encountered ‘research activity’ in RAiD/ISO 23527 documentation and wants to know how that maps onto the CRIS entity model used elsewhere on this site.
References
- euroCRIS, ‘CERIF Data Model’ (eurocris.org/cerif).
- ISO 23527:2022, ‘Research activity identifier (RAiD)’.
Also known as
Project (CRIS)
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Research activity (CRIS)"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/research-activity-cris" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/research-activity-cris",
"name": "Research activity (CRIS)",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/research-activity-cris",
"description": "In CRIS terminology, an entity representing a research undertaking — typically a project, programme, or organised research effort — with its own start and end dates, participants, funding sources, outputs, and host organisation, around which CRIS data accretes over the activity's lifetime.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-info-systems#set",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/research-activity-cris",
"sameAs": [
"Project (CRIS)"
],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
},
"author": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#editorial-team"
},
"datePublished": "2026-05-21T02:14:31",
"dateModified": "2026-08-22T19:48:20",
"inLanguage": "en-GB",
"isAccessibleForFree": true
}
