EOSC Austria

On April 8th a webinar on the importance of scientific collections and open science – competences for politics, culture, science and art in Austria was held. The event was co-hosted by the EOSC Support Office Austria, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF), and the European project Skills4EOSC, which aims to build an inclusive and sustainable ecosystem for Open Science training across the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

The paper provides an accessible narrative on EOSC in the context of current European political and policy developments. It outlines how EOSC can contribute to addressing the strategic challenges highlighted in the recent reports by Letta, Draghi, and Heitor, as well as the broader priorities of the Competitiveness Compass for the EU. This document is intended to support policymakers and stakeholders in understanding and contextualizing the role of EOSC within the European and national agendas.

Today marks the public release of the first edition of the EOSC Federation Handbook. The Handbook provides an overview of the organisational and operational structure, and technical characteristics, of the EOSC Federation. It aims to serve as a practical guide for organisations that are interested in making their resources available within and across the EOSC Federation of nodes.

We are pleased to announce that registrations for the upcoming Train-the-Trainers courses are officially open!

The opening of the 2nd OSCARS Open Call has been delayed due to pending legal advice from the European Commission regarding eligibility criteria. A new opening date will be announced as soon as it is confirmed.

The EOSC Tripartite Governance has agreed on the organisations that have been invited to the kick-off workshop of the EOSC Federation, signalling the opening act in EOSC’s build-up phase.

The opening of the 2nd OSCARS Open Call has been delayed due to pending legal advice from the European Commission regarding eligibility criteria. A new opening date will be announced as soon as it is confirmed.

The Day of Good Data Graz (Grazer Tag der guten Daten) took place at the University of Graz on 11 February 2025, as part of the Love Data Week 2025. The theme of the international action week was ‘Whose Data Is It, Anyway?’, which also set the theme for this day. The keynote by Dr. Katja Mayer (University of Vienna) explored the ownership and use of open research data in AI development, addressing challenges like transparency and ethical standards. Alexander Muhr (TU Graz) provided a legal overview of data ownership, copyright, and challenges like the AI Act. Walter Scholger (Uni Graz) presented best practices for managing research data in the digital humanities, highlighting initiatives by DARIAH-EU and CLARIAH-AT. Emily Kate Genatowski (Uni Vienna) discussed a project developing citation standards for digital resources in the humanities. Finally, Michael Freidl (Uni Graz) introduced the university’s new data governance policy, setting standards for data ownership and responsibilities to promote innovation and integrity.

From 21-23 January 2025, 150 participants from across the EOSC landscape flocked to Seville (Spain) to attend the second EOSC Winter School, an event organized by the EOSC Association and the EOSC Focus project. Participants, including representatives from EOSC-related projects, the European Commission, and the EOSC-A Board and Secretariat, convened under the banner “Convergence towards the EOSC Federation: Encouraging collaborative efforts among stakeholders”. The event confirmed the community’s strong interest in a bottom-up support for the emerging EOSC Federation as it advances toward operational readiness in 2025.

The Research Data Cluster Expo took place at TU Wien with over 200 guests. With presentations, a panel discussion, product demonstrations, time for exchange and specific community meetings on the following day it was colorful event. A total of 14 exhibitors were on site with their products and services, while a further 20 infrastructures, tools and services were represented with posters.