The Estonian Research Infrastructure Roadmap project Natural Science Archives and Unified Data Space (NATARC) has been awarded €1.95 million in national funding for the period 2025–2029, complemented by co-funding from partner institutions. The NATARC consortium brings together leading national competence in natural sciences, uniting the University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology, the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tallinn University, the Estonian Museum of Natural History, the Environmental Board, and the Environmental Agency.

NATARC’s mission is to ensure the long-term preservation of biodiversity and geoscience specimens and samples, including extracted DNA, to make these materials accessible through collections, and to provide advanced data management and analysis services. The infrastructure offers two main service lines:

• Preservation and access to research material in collections

• Digital services supporting data integration, management, and analysis

NATARC is an integral part of DiSSCo (Distributed System of Scientific Collections), a pan-European research infrastructure initiative that connects and harmonises natural science collections across Europe. Moreover, NATARC serves as a founding member in the establishment of DiSSCo ERIC, helping to shape the future of open, data-driven natural science research.