News

The Africa Multiple Interactive Research Atlas (AMIRA) is now online. Bringing together almost 4,000 research items, publications, projects, people and organisations from across the Africa Multiple network, the platform offers a new way to explore and visualise the Cluster's research data through interactive maps, timelines and network graphs.

The s a new platform for exploring and visualising research data from the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence. Developed and maintained by the Cluster’s Digital Solutions team, AMIRA brings together metadata from research collections held by the Africa Multiple Research Centres (AMRCs) and partner institutions. The team works with each centre to assess the scope, nature, quality and scale of these holdings and to determine what can be linked to the platform. High-quality metadata increases the discoverability of research outputs and enhances their visibility within the wider scholarly community.

AMIRA is built on a distributed model. Research data remains in its local repository, while the platform provides a shared metadata layer that makes collections searchable from a single point of access. Rather than centralising research data in one location, AMIRA connects collections across the Africa Multiple network while allowing each AMRC to retain ownership and stewardship of its own data. In this way, the platform supports a shared digital research environment that spans institutions, disciplines and geographic boundaries.

AMIRA currently brings together almost 4,000 research items and more than 90 projects, linked to over 1,600 people and 600 organisations across 42 countries and 28 languages. Using a single search interface, users can explore research items, publications, podcasts and videos, projects, people, organisations, places, languages and subjects. Autocomplete and filters support more focused searches, while every record is connected to related people, projects, themes and locations. Each entity has its own page, allowing users to follow connections across the data and discover related research. Interactive maps, timelines, charts and network graphs help users explore the data from different perspectives, showing where projects are located, who collaborates with whom, and which themes connect research activities across the Cluster.

Although AMIRA is being launched during the second phase of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence (AM 2.0), which began in January 2026, work on the platform started during the Cluster's first phase (AM 1.0). The approximately 4,000 research items and more than 90 projects currently represented in AMIRA stem primarily from the Cluster's first funding phase. As new projects from AM 2.0 are added, the platform will continue to expand.

AMIRA is also part of a broader development in the work of the Cluster’s Digital Solutions team. Alongside its role in metadata management, the team is developing new ways of increasing the visibility and accessibility of research through visualisations, dashboards and dedicated digital platforms for individual projects.

AMIRA is open to all, and no account is required to explore its collections. The platform focuses specifically on the Cluster's research data. News, events and general information about the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence remain available through the main Cluster website.

You can find AMIRA by visiting this link or clicking on the image