![Lit-up spheres connected by thin wires](/sites/default/files/Centres_wide.png)
CLARIN's distributed network is made up of centres. There are several types of centres: B-centres, C-centres and K-centres, each offering different kinds of expertise and services. For a comprehensive list of all established CLARIN centres, see the Overview of CLARIN centres.
B-Centres: Technical Centres
![](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/B-centres.png?itok=slkBuqyi)
The backbone of CLARIN is provided by technical centres, known as Service Providing Centres or CLARIN B-centres. These units, often a university or an academic institute, offer the scientific community access to resources, services and knowledge on a sustainable basis. There are strict criteria to become a CLARIN B-centre. All centre candidates follow the assessment procedure before receiving their certification.
The list of certified B-centres is constantly growing as new members join CLARIN (see the full list of all certified B-centres). Information on all B-centres and their services can be found in the Centre Registry.
K-Centres: Knowledge Centres
![](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/K-centres.png?itok=meQsCT_f)
K-centres share their knowledge and expertise on one or more aspects of the domain covered by the CLARIN infrastructure.
The focus of CLARIN is on language resources (in all modalities, from all regions and with any topical orientation) and K-centres serve researchers and educators from any discipline where language plays one of its many roles, ranging from object of study, a means of communication or expression, a means to store and extract information, object of learning or teaching activities, to training source for data-driven analytics, and many others.
Learn More
-
Regular updates about the B-centre and C-centre network can be found in the Centre News blogs.
-
Subscribe to the all-centres mailing list if you would like to receive these updates by email.
-
For portraits of individual B- and K-centres, see our Tour de CLARIN series.