Uptake of FAIR data management practices and of EOSC by research communities and research infrastructures (EOSC Partnership)

Overview

Supports research communities and research infrastructures in adopting FAIR data management practices and integrating into the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Federation. Targets entities driving open science, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and long-term sustainability of EOSC resources.

Who Can Apply

Consortia of legal entities, including research infrastructures, universities, research organizations, and industry partners. Third-party funding via cascading grants is available for open science projects led by academic or industrial research communities.

Funding Details

• Total budget: EUR 40,000,000
• Cascading grants for third parties: EUR 100,000–250,000 per project (12–24 months duration)
• Minimum allocation for third-party grants: EUR 29,000,000 (including administrative costs)
• Exceptional third-party grant cap: EUR 750,000 (for cross-RI/domain projects)

What Is Funded

1. Open science projects (via cascading grants): - Development, annotation, and curation of FAIR datasets. - Integration of large-scale experimental data into EOSC-federated repositories. - Operationalizing data access for AI applications. - Reuse of existing datasets, vocabularies, metadata standards, and crosswalks. - Software, tools, and services aligned with EOSC policies. - Community-building for open science. 2. EOSC integration activities: - Coordination of community-based competence centers on FAIR/open science. - Development of training programs tailored to thematic research communities. - Frameworks for high-impact service/repositories onboarded to EOSC. - Mechanisms for long-term sustainability and feedback loops. - Engagement of underrepresented research communities and infrastructures.

Technology / Maturity Requirements

• TRL 7–9: Projects must demonstrate advanced maturity, with outcomes deployable in the EOSC Federation.

Key Dates

• Open date: 2026-03-09
• Deadline: 2026-06-15T22:00:00Z

Application Process (High-Level)

• Single-stage submission via the Funding & Tenders Portal.
• Proposals must include plans for cascading grants, third-party selection (via independent peer review), and conflict-of-interest mitigation.

Post-Award Obligations

• Access rights: Beneficiaries must grant royalty-free access to results to the EOSC Association for policy development.
• Data deposition: Digital results must be deposited in EOSC-federated trusted repositories.
• Reporting: Information sharing with the EOSC Association for monitoring and strategy development.

Geographic Scope & Language

• Eligible countries: EU Member States, Horizon Europe Associated Countries (Norway, Iceland, UK, Switzerland), and select non-associated countries with specific provisions.
• Language: English.

Notes

• Conflict of interest: Measures required to prevent beneficiaries/affiliated entities from influencing third-party selection.
• Coordination: Proposals must align with EOSC Partnership activities and relevant Horizon Europe projects (e.g., HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-EOSC-01).
• Gender dimension: Not mandatory for this topic.