Co-creating EOSC Stories

EOSCsecretariat.eu delivered support to the interim EOSC Governance between 2019-2020 while working openly and inclusively with research communities to co-create an all-encompassing European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). The project was instrumental in supporting the interim EOSC Governance and its Working Groups to deliver 20 recommendations reports and the first version of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for the EOSC.

The project also played a key supporting role in the establishment of the EOSC Association which now plays a key role in the EOSC Partnership for the EOSC alongside the European Commission, the Member States and Associated Countries. The partnership will pave the way for deepening Open Science practices in the new European Research Area and for contributing to the EU digital agenda.

A key element of this success and impact was the EOSCsecretariat.eu Co-creation programme which provided €3.2 million of funding to support a series of activities to support the work of the EOSC Interim Governance and its Working Groups, as well as addressing requirements or gaps in the current activities funded by the European Commission.

Of course, in 2020 the world changed with the COVID-19 pandemic. EOSCsecretariat.eu adapted quickly to the global emergency by re-directing funds to support research into COVID-19. A Fast-track COVID-19 call was swiftly put into place which fostered key principles of the EOSC namely, Open Science, FAIR Data and multi-disciplinary research.

The Co-creation Fund was made available through a series of open calls defined by the EOSC Working Groups and open applications coming directly from the EOSC community. This enabled and empowered the community to contribute to the creation of a truly operational open science cloud serving all European stakeholders.

This booklet showcases a selection of these activities which reflect the collective community effort to achieve the adoption of a real Open Science approach that the Co-creation Programme enabled. They provide a snapshot of the challenges faced by EOSC governance and the EOSC community as well as priorities, recommendations and calls to action to address them. It also demonstrates the power of collaboration to address perhaps the most pressing of societal challenges that we face today: COVID-19.

Finally, we would like to thank all the beneficiaries of the Co-creation funding who have contributed to this document and all those others who participated in the programme and have helped to co-create the European Open Science Cloud as it moves into its implementation phase.