On 27th and 28th May, the 8th General Assembly of the EOSC Association took place in Leuven, Belgium. The EOSC Association’s board members and secretariat welcomed nearly 180 delegates and guests. The primary focus of this annual meeting was the discussion on the establishment of the EOSC federation and the so-called EOSC "Nodes" and the future governance structure post-2027.
Programme
The first day of the meeting was opened by the President of the EOSC Association, Karel Luyben, who, along with Ute Gunsenheimer, presented the achievements of the EOSC secretariat to date and the planned activities, including the EOSC Symposium in October 2024 in Berlin and the projects “EOSC Gravity” and “EOSC United.”
Other activities discussed included the EOSC Macro-Roadmap, outcomes from the EOSC Winter School in Thessaloniki, a significant reconfiguration of the EOSC A Task Force, and the introduction of new internal working groups, termed Opportunity Areas and Expert Groups. The second day focused on the concept of "EOSC Nodes," with intense discussions on various aspects of this topic, which currently resonates strongly within the EOSC ecosystem.
New Members and Observers
The assembly unanimously approved five new members and five observers to the EOSC Association. Among the new members and observers are two organisations from the United Kingdom, the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), a national grant organisation, three universities, research organisations, and a national e-infrastructure consortium.
The Czech Republic was represented at the assembly by delegates from the EOSC CZ initiative, whose active participation in the discussions provides new insights for the further functioning and development of the national initiative.
On 21-23 October, the EOSC Symposium 2024 took place in Berlin, attracting over 450 in-person participants and more than 900 online from over 60 countries. The event provided an opportunity to discuss the future of EOSC. It kicked off with the launch of the first EOSC EU Node, the key to connecting European data services and infrastructure.
On 21-23 October 2024, Open Science Week under the auspices of the Open Science Working Group of the Association of University Libraries (AKVŠ), took place in an online meeting format. The three-day programme featured a series of lectures and discussions on the development of open science, data stewardship and practical tools to help researchers in their daily practice.
