Decentralized Virtual Research Environment: Empowering Peer-to-Peer Trustworthy Data Sharing and Collaboration

Scientific research, increasingly reliant on data and computational analysis, confronts the challenge of integrating collaboration and data sharing across disciplines. Collaborative frameworks that support decentralized decision-making and knowledge-sharing are essential, yet integrating them into computational environments presents technical challenges, such as decentralized identity, user-centered policy-making, flexible asset management, automated provenance, and distributed collaborative workflow management. In this work, we propose a novel framework called Decentralized Virtual Research Environment (D-VRE) that addresses barriers to scientific research collaboration and data sharing, offering a scalable and adaptable decentralized model. It enhances seamless, trusted data sharing and collaboration within research lifecycles. It incorporates custom sharing policies, secure asset management, collaborative workflows, and research activity tracking, all without centralized oversight. Demonstrated through a real-world case study in the CLARIFY project, D-VRE proved effective in enabling advanced data sharing and collaborative scenarios, showcasing its adaptability in scientific research. Integrated into JupyterLab, D-VRE supports custom collaboration agreements and smart contract-based automated execution on the Ethereum blockchain. This ensures secure, verifiable transactions and promotes trust and reliability in shared research findings.