Open Scientific Collections Austria
The OSCA Consortium is a network of natural science museums and university collections
with the aim of developing the expertise and infrastructure needed to digitise Austria’s natural science collections.
Objectives
Creation of a complete catalog of Austria’s natural science collections — including 100% inventory of all biological (botanical, zoological), geoscientific (palaeontological, geological, mineralogical, extraterrestrial), and anthropological objects.
Digitally unlocking and making Austria’s scientific collections available as a sustainable research infrastructure.
Enhancing the visibility of Austria’s scientific collections for diverse stakeholders from research, industry, policy, and the public — nationally, across Europe, and internationally.
Natural Science Collections
Natural science collections document the development and current state of life and the Earth. They represent valuable scientific infrastructures essential for addressing today’s global challenges, such as:
- Climate change
- Biodiversity loss
- Resource depletion
- Emergence of new diseases
Numbers
The Austrian natural history collections
include:
Anthropologie
Paläontologie
Prähistorie
Botanik
Mineralogie
Entomologie
Invertebrata
Astrogeologie
Geologie
Vertebrata
Mikroorganismen
andere Geo-Bio
57.624.098 million objects
Collections
Spatial distribution of natural science collection objects in Austria
Digitisation Status
1% of these digitised objects also include images.
Digitisation Status
1% of these digitised objects also include images.
Natural Science Collections
document the development and current state
of life and the Earth.
NEWS
OSCA publication
Open Scientific Collections Austria (OSCA)—from concept to workflows Neue OSCA Publikation Korth F, Rainer H, Bara C-D, Begic...
press conference 11.09.2025
Wien (OTS) - Bei der Pressekonferenz zum Thema „Österreichs Naturwissenschaften 2.0: Digital- Innovativ – Europäisch“ im...
GeoSphere Austria joins OSCA
Aus der paläontologischen Sammlung der GeoSphere Austria: Bivalvia (Muscheln) von Eggenburg in Niederösterreich aus dem Miozän,...