The Science Cluster (ENVRI-FAIR, EOSC-Life, ESCAPE, PANOSC and SSHOC) delivered a new position paper with a formal explanation of the urgent need of European Commission to support a longer-term role of the five Science Clusters to provide content to the EOSC, to enhance researchers’ involvement in Open Science and to suggest potential cooperative pathways in the Horizon-Europe framework and along with the EOSC Association roadmap.

This is a second position statement document (first position statement here - December 2019), written keeping in mind the various exchanges the Science Clusters had with the European Commission, the EOSC Association, the Directorates of the ESFFRI Research Infrastructures partners, and based on the constant cooperative work between the management boards of the fice Science Clusters in the last two years. This paper is aimed at highlighting:

  • Expectations of the clusters and the concerned research communities, pointing out a common structured vision and a series of suggestions for the future.
  • A more detailed analysis from each cluster, that is provided for completeness.

 

The Science Clusters are a powerful enabler of European research excellence and competitiveness, and is one of the European Commission's most effective and innovative network tools. It underlines the international dimension of disciplinary and interdisciplinary dynamics and progress. The ESFRI and pan-European Research Infrastructures partners in the Science Clusters share the positive experience of their effective cooperative approach and are willing to pursue this successful experience in the long term. The five clusters will refine the EOSC services into services serving several disciplinary sciences, by enriching them with additional information, tailored for scientific use. The Science Clusters are refining and transforming the EOSC Core services towards specific services and platforms for Research Infrastructures, scientists and (potentially) EU member state institutions.

 

Read the POSITION STATEMENT

 

About the Science Clusters

The five Science Clusters are European Union collaborative projects that were launched in 2019 to link ESFRI and other world-class Research Infrastructures (RIs) to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

The main impacts of the Science Clusters’ work programme concern:

  • The improved access of researchers to data, tools and resources, leading to new insights and innovation for data-driven science both within and beyond the context of the domains in which the clusters are rooted;
  • The creation of a cross-border open innovation environment for FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data management for economies of scale, to develop synergies and increase the efficiency and productivity of researchers through open-science standards and thematic services;
  • The enhanced co-developments to foster the cross-domain interoperability central to the EOSC goal.

The Science Clusters are an integral part of EOSC. Their services and outcomes are now forming the core of the emerging EOSC fabric. As important partners of EOSC, Science Clusters contribute to its development and its implementation process. Importantly, the Science Clusters form a natural collaboration between the ESFRI RIs’ management boards partners in the clusters.

As EOSC matures and begins delivering data and services for European research, a discussion is needed to stimulate the Open Science practices, cross-domain interoperability and long-term coordination of the scientific communities covered by the five Science Clusters.

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