EOSC-CONNECT officially launched in Helsinki with its kick-off meeting, held from 29 September to 1 October 2026, bringing partners together to begin a joint effort to strengthen, connect and advance EOSC National Nodes across Europe.
Strengthening 14 National Nodes
At the core of the project are 14 National Nodes from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The project will support these Nodes at different stages of development, helping them move towards stronger interoperability, sustainability and enrolment in the EOSC Federation.
The first day of the kick-off focused on the role National Nodes can play as sustainable national entry points to EOSC, as well as on the technical, legal, organisational and governance conditions needed to support that role over time.
A key part of EOSC-CONNECT's work will be to develop a common blueprint for EOSC National Nodes, encourage peer learning between countries, and support the implementation and evolution of federating capabilities. The project will also explore cross-border resource sharing and test its approach through four multi-node use cases and two demonstrators, covering areas such as data discovery, distributed computing, AI-supported research data discovery and access to shared costly resources.
Contributing to the Wider EOSC Federation
During the meeting, Bob Jones, Special Envoy for the EOSC Federation, provided an overview of the current status and evolution of the EOSC Federation, including its transition towards an operational structure and the role of National Nodes in that process.
Sara Garavelli, EOSC-CONNECT Project Coordinator, and Bob Jones, Special Envoy for the EOSC Federation, 29 September 2026, Helsinki
EOSC-CONNECT will also contribute to the wider development of the EOSC Federation by addressing gaps in federating capabilities, interoperability, supporting the onboarding of third-party resources, and exploring resilience and sustainability models for cross-node collaboration.
The project is part of a broader group of initiatives funded under the same call, alongside EOSC MESH, EOSC4ALL and EOSC-Marine, with shared work spanning Federation architecture, governance, engagement and sustainability.
With the kick-off now underway, EOSC-CONNECT begins its work to turn stronger national coordination and cross-border collaboration into practical value for researchers and Europe's research and innovation ecosystem.
From National Node Development to Federation-Wide Impact
Discussions continued on the second day of the EOSC-CONNECT kick-off meeting, with partners moving deeper into the project’s implementation at a time when the EOSC Federation is transitioning from build-up towards production.
EOSC-CONNECT Partners, 30 September 2026, Helsinki
Sessions covered several core areas of work, including Node operator training, compliance with mandatory federating capabilities, the Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) scheme, open calls, the development of National Nodes, and use cases and demonstrators involving AI Factories, storage and compute. The day also highlighted European and national engagement, with plans for 28 tailored webinars designed to bring National Nodes and national stakeholders together, support Node development, exchange experiences and demonstrate the value of multi-node and cross-country collaboration. The insights gathered through these activities will also contribute to the development of the National Node blueprint.
The final day focused on what it will take to make National Nodes sustainable and operational in practice.
A dedicated workshop brought partners together to explore potential business models for National Nodes, compare different national contexts, and discuss the legal and administrative arrangements needed to support cross-node access to data, services and costly resources. The day also included further discussion on the FSTP scheme and the two Open Calls, covering their preparation, evaluation process, eligibility, geographical balance, and how they can support the onboarding of external resources while contributing to practical use cases.
"Business Model for a Node" workshop, 1 October 2026, Helsinki
The closing sessions then gave each Work Package the opportunity to review priorities, dependencies and the next steps needed to move from planning into implementation.
What’s Ahead
The kick-off concluded with a clear focus on turning EOSC-CONNECT's objectives into tangible results: building sustainable National Nodes, preparing them for enrolment in the EOSC Federation, advancing federating capabilities, piloting valuable cross-border use cases and demonstrators, and simplifying the onboarding of resources and participation in the Federation.
In the coming months, partners will prioritise assessing Node readiness, developing the technical implementation roadmap and resource onboarding guidelines, refining use cases and demonstrators, preparing the first Open Call, and strengthening coordination across Work Packages.
A recurring message from the closing discussion was the importance of keeping activities focused on long-term value and sustainability, ensuring that the tools, models and solutions developed through EOSC-CONNECT can continue to be used beyond the project itself.
Don't miss out on future EOSC-CONNECT important updates, invitation and open calls.
