Advancing Open Science in Europe

EOSC Association Newsletter #37 | 02 July 2024

Inside the Association

Save the date: EOSC-A 9th General Assembly, 22 November

Four Board of Directors positions to be filled

We are pleased to announce that the 9th EOSC Association General Assembly will take place online on Friday, 22 November 2024. The virtual meeting gives you the opportunity to conveniently join us from your preferred location to vote on decision items and to contribute to critical discussions that impact the direction of EOSC-A.

Notably, we anticipate that four Board of Directors positions will be filled at GA#9 via direct election by the EOSC-A membership. This represents a significant turnover of the EOSC-A leadership at a critical time in EOSC’s development, and we encourage all qualified Members to strongly consider enrolling as candidates. A formal Call for Candidates, detailing the roles and responsibilities, requirements and process will be issued in due time.

Please mark your calendars for GA#9, and stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, you are welcome to revisit the wrap-up article of our last GA meeting held at the end of May in Leuven, Belgium. The minutes of GA#8 will be published on our General Assembly page by Friday, 12 July 2024.

RDA launches a call for nominations for the Sarah Jones Award

On 14 June, to mark what would have been Sarah’s 43rd birthday, the Research Data Alliance launched a call for nominations for The Sarah Jones Award for exceptional contribution to fostering collaboration in Open Science. Sarah Jones served as a member of the EOSC Association Board of Directors from 2021 until her passing in December 2023. The award honours Sarah's memory and her significant contributions to the Open Science community globally. The deadline to nominate individuals who have demonstrated an exceptional contribution to fostering collaboration in Open Science is Thursday, 12 September 2024. The RDA is also accepting donations to fund the award on an annual basis. Read more here.

Regular meetings of the EOSC-A Forums

As described during the 8th General Assembly in Leuven, the EOSC-A Board holds regular meetings with individual Forums that bring together EOSC-A Member representatives based on their role in the European research ecosystem. Forums for the following groupings have been established: Mandated Organisations, Funders, Research Infrastructures and e-Infrastructures, and umbrella organisations of Research-Performing Organisations. All groups have access to a dedicated online work space on the EOSC Forum and will have held their regular meeting before the summer break to update Forum members on the latest developments regarding the evolution of the EOSC Federation in the Tripartite context. For more information, please write to info@eosc.eu.

Also in this section

Deadline to report Additional Activities has been extended through 12 July 2024

Please complete your organisation’s AAP 2025 and AAR 2023 surveys as soon as possible.

Open University becomes the first UK university to be admitted to the EOSC Association

The EOSC Association’s mission is aligned with the OU’s Open Research objective to champion a collaborative open research culture.

Partnership with the European Commission

Reminder to register for the EOSC Symposium 2024 before the summer break

On-site spots for the EOSC Symposium 2024 are filling up quickly. If you are hoping to attend, please register today to ensure your on-site participation on 21-23 October in Berlin, and enjoy a stress-free summer break without worrying about available seats!

Register to participate in-person to contribute to interactive discussions, engage with other participants in real-time, and take advantage of networking opportunities.
Register to participate online to watch a live stream with limited opportunities for interaction via Slido.

Results of the EOSC Symposium call for posters

We are thrilled to reveal the titles of 20 posters selected by the Programme Committee for presentation at the EOSC Symposium. The Programme Committee would like to thank everyone who participated in the call and looks forward to showcasing the impressive achievements of the EOSC community relative to the Partnership’s SRIA objectives. We are also adding session descriptions to the online programme to help you prepare for our discussions.

Practical information to plan your trip to Berlin

Visit the EOSC Symposium webpage to find information about the event venue, how to book your accommodation at a discounted rate, and where to join the community for a festive networking dinner to experience the atmosphere and cuisine of a traditional German Brauhaus. We look forward to having you with us!

The European Commission gathers 25 EOSC-related projects to align on next steps for EOSC implementation

On 20-21 June 2024 in Brussels, the European Commission, represented by DG for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), DG for Communications Networks Content and Technology (DG CNECT), and the European Research Executive Agency (REA), organised the 2024 annual Coordination meeting of EOSC-related projects funded under Horizon Europe.

Representatives of the 25 projects were informed about the status of development of the EOSC EU Node and the EOSC Federation. It was underscored that EOSC plays a pivotal role in establishing the European Digital Single Market, in particular the creation of a European Knowledge Commons, as described in the Letta report. The seven INFRAEOSC projects launched in 2023 presented their objectives and work plans, and the concept of cross-project collaboration within the recently launched EOSC Opportunity Area Expert Groups was explained.

The final agenda of the meeting, along with slides presented during its eight sessions, are available on eosc.eu.

Contribute to the build-up phase of the EOSC Federation

The EOSC Tripartite Governance has launched a questionnaire to gauge the scale and scope of general interest and readiness for the build-up phase of the EOSC Federation. If you would like to contribute in the future to a testbed of potential EOSC Nodes, please fill in this form by Sunday, 18 August 2024 (23:59 CEST). We have compiled resources to help you prepare:

Watch a recording of the EOSC-A webinar from 19 June 2024 explaining the purpose of the questionnaire and providing guidance on how to complete it.
Download webinar slides and review key takeaways.
Read briefing papers on the requirements for EOSC Nodes and the role of EOSC Nodes.

Based on the replies to the questionnaire, several organisations will be invited by the Tripartite Governance to contribute to the refinement of the EOSC Federation concept during the build-up phase. No additional funding is associated with this activity.

Also in this section

Submit your Expression of Interest to join one of 6 EOSC Opportunity Area Expert Groups

The EOSC Opportunity Area (OA) Expert Groups are an important mechanism for collaboration on technical and related matters within the EOSC Partnership.

Check out the revamped EOSC Macro-Roadmap

The EOSC Macro-Roadmap is an interactive catalogue of the results of EU projects developing EOSC and the deliverables of the EOSC-A Task Forces.

EOSC Steering Board expert group releases two opinion papers

The two independent reports, centred on FAIR data productivity, and advanced digitalisation of research, were published by DG-RTD in May 2024.

People

Empowering the EOSC community through Switzerland’s direct democracy

Interview with Annika Glauner and Thomas Schulthess of ETH Zurich

Annika Glauner of ETH Zurich and Thomas Schulthess of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), operated by ETH Zurich, see their membership in the EOSC Association as an investment that will benefit the entire European research community. In this insightful interview, Glauner and Schulthess explain how Switzerland’s long-standing tradition of direct democracy supports the Open Science community in its grassroots efforts to deploy EOSC. The two representatives of the EOSC-A Mandated Organisation for Switzerland also describe the unique position of the country as a non-member of the European Union, and detail the most relevant Swiss national policies for Open Science. Read more.