R-Federation

Preserving the Human Link in Science.

01. The Scholar's Journey

A scientific career is a long, cumulative dedication to knowledge. It often spans decades, while our contracts with universities may last only a few years.

We believe that a researcher is a continuous entity, yet our digital presence is often fragmented. When we move between institutions, our professional contact details are deleted. The link between the author and the reader is broken. The conversation stops.

R-Federation is a simple initiative to repair this disconnect. We encourage a standard where the scholar maintains a permanent digital identity that travels with them. It is about respect for the longevity of your own work, ensuring you remain reachable to students, collaborators, and history, regardless of where your desk is currently located.

02. The Shared Standard

We adopt a shared typographic convention to signal our professional identity. The domain is yours, but the prefix signals your role in the global community.

schol@r-[your_id].[tld]

The system is flexible, respecting local preferences and personal style:

03. Harmonizing the Roles

We cherish our institutions. They provide the funding, the labs, and the students. This framework simply clarifies which tool to use for which purpose, ensuring a "Dual-Stack" workflow that protects both the university and the individual.

Layer 1: The Institution

Use:, e.g., @cnrs.fr, @tum.de, @ethz.ch, @cam.ac.uk,...

Use your institutional infrastructure for the daily administration of your role:

Layer 2: The Scholar

Use: schol@r-[your_id].[tld]

Use your permanent identity for the enduring output of your mind:

04. Strengthening the Community

This is not a critique of the system; it is an act of care for the ecosystem. By stabilizing the identity of the individual, we add value to the whole.

FOR THE MOBILE SCHOLAR (PhD to Faculty) Early-career scientists move frequently. Currently, they lose their correspondence history with every move. This framework gives them a stable home base, allowing them to nurture a professional network that grows with them from their defense to their tenure.
FOR THE SENIOR SCHOLAR Retirement is a bureaucratic status, not a mental one. Many senior scholars remain vital sources of wisdom. This standard ensures their identity remains dignified and professional, keeping them in the loop regardless of their employment status.
FOR THE INSTITUTION When a researcher leaves and their email is deactivated, the university's link to that specific research output is severed. A reachable author ensures the university’s legacy remains "alive," allowing inquiries to be answered and data to be explained years after the contract ends.
FOR THE SCIENTIFIC RECORD Science is a conversation across time. A reader discovering a paper twenty years from now should be able to thank, question, or challenge the author. We ensure the "Corresponding Author" remains a reachable human being.

05. The Philosophy of Independence

Why doesn't R-Federation provide the email service?

If we hosted your email (e.g., providing you with @r-federation.eu), we would become just another institution. If our servers went down, you would lose your connection again.

We are not a service provider; we are a standard.

True continuity requires that YOU hold the keys. By owning your own domain, you ensure that no policy change, budget cut, or acquisition can ever silence your professional voice.

By adopting the schol@r- prefix, you transform a personal address into a recognized professional signal. You join a federation held together not by servers, but by shared values.

06. How to Join

Joining the federation is a quiet act of professional self-care. It takes less than one hour to set up a system that will serve you for the rest of your career.

Open the Implementation Guide
STEP 1: CLAIM YOUR NAME Cost: Equivalent to one sandwich per year. Register your domain r-[your_id].[tld] (where [tld] can be, e.g., .eu/.com/.net/...). This is your digital home. It belongs to you legally and completely.
STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE Cost: Equivalent to three pizzas per year. Science requires integrity. Avoid ad-based, data-mining free services. We recommend connecting your domain to a respectable, privacy driven, and encrypted mail provider (such as Mailbox.org, Tuta, or Proton).
STEP 3: DEFINE YOUR IDENTITY In your mail settings, create the user alias: schol.
You have now created schol@r-[your_id].[tld]. You have established your permanent beacon.
STEP 4: ADOPT THE HABIT Begin using this identity for all external-facing scientific activities. Use it with pride on your next paper, your next conference slide, and your next business card.
THE "R-" DIVIDEND (A Touch of Creativity)

Owning the r-[your_id] domain allows for professional creativity. The "r-" stands for Research, but it also allows for domain-specific aliases using the phonetic "@r" ending:

You are no longer just a user; you are the architect of your own institute.

07. Signal Your Support

If you have adopted the standard, help others find their way here.

For Your Website

Copy this HTML snippet to add a discrete "Member" badge to your academic footer:

Member of R-Federation
<a href="https://r-federation.eu" style="border:1px solid #000; padding:4px 8px; color:#000; text-decoration:none; font-size:0.8rem; font-family:Courier, monospace; text-transform:uppercase;">Member of R-Federation</a>
For Your Email Signature

Add a line to your institutional email signature to signal your permanent reachability:

--
Prof. Jane Doe
University of Science
Permanent Identity: schol@r-doe.eu
Permanent Identity: schol@r-[your_id].[tld]
(See: r-federation.eu)
R-FEDERATION
Preserving the Human Link in Science.
Technical Guide