Author: Karlina Ozolina

OSCARS is a four-year EU-funded project that will foster the uptake of Open Science in Europe by consolidating the achievements of world-class European research infrastructures in the ESFRI roadmap and beyond into lasting interdisciplinary FAIR data services and working practices. The project will strengthen the role of the Science Clusters in the ERA by developing domain-based Competence Centres and by fostering the implementation of Open Science projects funded through a cascading grant mechanism.

To maintain the high-momentum achieved in these past years on FAIR data management and connecting research communities from all scientific domains to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), all Science Clusters are working together in the Horizon Europe OSCARS project, which has been granted ~25M EUR funding in the framework of the European Commission Horizon Europe call HORIZON-INFRA-2023-EOSC-01-01.

OSCARS brings together world-class European RIs in the ESFRI roadmap and beyond, and will be implemented in the next four years. Its first objective is to consolidate the achievements from the previous projects of the Science Clusters into lasting interdisciplinary FAIR data services and working practices. Moreover, the project will lead and foster the involvement of a broad range of research communities in EOSC by launching two Open Calls (in total worth at about 16 million Euro) for the development of new, innovative Open Science projects,

To increase data FAIRness, OSCARS will also further develop a FAIR-compliant certification scheme for research data, community-based science platforms embedded in the EOSC portal and providing access to FAIR data services, data sources, guidelines and training. It will, in addition, provide highly composable research-enabling services, as well as data processing and management solutions.

The implementation of the work has already started, based on a long-standing collaboration among all the science clusters, whose role in the European Research Area will be further strengthened, recognised, acknowledged and sustained for the future. It is expected that, through OSCARS, the advances in organisational models, as well as in sharing digital technologies and services for the benefit of all domains, will be further strengthened, and that there will be a widespread uptake of multidisciplinary Open Science practices in the different research communities and beyond.

Click here to read the full press release.

Registration is officially open for the EOSC Symposium, which will take place in Madrid, Spain, from 20-22 September 2023. The event is being co-organised by the EOSC Future project, the European Commission, the EOSC Association and the EOSC Steering Board, and registration is open for both in-person and online participation.

Under the heading ‘Taking EOSC into the future’, EOSC Symposium 2023 will tackle all of your questions:

• What will be the EOSC assets that will be sustained after 2027? 
• How will they be financed and governed? 
• What will be the impact of EOSC on the European Data and Infrastructure ecosystem? 

During plenary and breakout sessions:

• The results achieved so far will be presented by the EOSC tripartite collaboration, EOSC projects, the Science Clusters and many other active stakeholders. 
• EOSC Future will showcase how the work completed in the past 3 years has contributed to progress the EOSC MVE (a minimum viable EOSC).
• The EOSC Association Task Forces and the INFRAEOSC-07 projects will discuss how they are advancing some of the technical and non-technical challenges highlighted in the SRIA.
• Speakers representing other initiatives such as Data Spaces, CoARA, etc., will join the event to help us understand the role of EOSC in the broader ecosystem.

Open Science experts, researchers and research support networks, regional and EU policymakers, IT service and infrastructure providers, Research Infrastructures…be prepared to connect, take inventory of the year’s achievements and lead EOSC into the future!

Registration is open until 31 July 2023, 23.59 CEST. Click here to reserve your spot at EOSC Symposium 2023.

Early birds: Grab your seat at the main EOSC event of the year

Make sure to register as soon as possible; places are limited and will fill up quickly. For those who cannot attend in Madrid, there is an online participation option via the above link. 

Keep in mind: Event registration costs will vary depending on in-person or online attendance, among other conditions. Information on registration fees (i) Standard, ii) European Commission, EOSC Steering Board, EOSC Association Board of Directors, iii) EOSC Association Task Force co-chairs is included on the event website. You will also find accommodation and other logistical information in the ‘Practical information’ section. 

Participants who decide to stay at the venue (NH Ventas – Madrid) can benefit from a special rate of 138,61 EUR/night (VAT incl.). Here is the link to book rooms directly:   https://www.nh-hotels.com/event/eosc-symposium-2023 

 

An open call for exhibitors

Don´t miss the opportunity to show your work and network at your personalised exhibition booth in Madrid. A marvellous exhibition area is waiting for you. 

Book your #EOSCsymposium23 booth here by 7 July 2023.

More information on the programme and other opportunities coming soon. In the meantime, stay tuned for updates on the official EOSC Symposium website and keep an eye out for the #EOSCsymposium23 hashtag.

Welcome to the 6th EUFAR Airborne Science Webinar on the 28th of June, 2023.

The NASA Airborne Science Program supports the Science Mission Directorate Earth Science Division with modified aircraft capable of flying a variety of different kinds of instruments for observing our planet. Inlets, upward and downward ports and windows, onboard computing and satcom onboard these aircraft enable testing of new instruments, underflights of satellites instruments with well calibrated instruments, and collection of unique data to improve earth system models. The Program currently supports flight operations of the NASA ER-2, NASA DC-8, NASA G-III, GV, NASA P-3, NASA WB-57. In 2021 the National Academies of Sciences released a report recommending a replacement be acquired for the aging DC-8 flying laboratory. This past year NASA purchased a 777 that will provide a next generation flying laboratory with global reach to replace the DC-8.

This talk will provide an overview of this new NASA aircraft as well as providing an overview of other Program developments and an overview of science currently being conducted on NASA science aircraft in support of earth observations.

To register for this webinar please follow this link.

This post was first published on the EUFAR website.

by Soulaine Theocharides – Software developer (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

In the realm of biodiversity and geoscience research, the digitization of natural history collections has revolutionized the way we study and understand our planet’s rich biological and geological heritage. However, as the volume of digitization and other valuable data resources continues to grow, ensuring their long-term accessibility and interoperability becomes increasingly challenging. This is where Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) come into play, providing a robust and reliable solution for managing and referencing these digital assets. FAIR Digital Object Profiles (FDO Profiles) further standardize and structure PID records, facilitating interoperability between FDOs and sophisticated machine actionability.

In this blog post, we will explore the significance of PIDs in biodiversity research, highlight the role of FDO Profiles in shaping the PID architecture of DiSSCo, and outline the design process of our first FDO Profile, now available for public feedback.

Go to DiSSCo Tech for more on PIDs

The Importance of Persistent Identifiers

PIDs assign globally unique identifiers to objects, providing a stable reference even if the objects are relocated or undergo changes. By ensuring persistence, PIDs eliminate broken links and guarantee the accessibility of digital resources, regardless of any future changes in storage infrastructure or hosting platforms.

When a specimen record is ingested into DiSSCo, it is assigned a PID. Through robust PID infrastructure, researchers, machines, and the wider community will be able to easily locate and cite specific Digital Specimens or related resources, enhancing transparency and reproducibility in research.

What is an FDO Profile?

In addition to the location of the referenced object, FDO Records contain structured metadata that describes the attributes and characteristics of the resource associated with the PID. The FDO Record is similar to the PID record idea proposed by RDA [1], but the term FDO Record is used to “highlight that there could be possible [implementations] of FDO without explicitly relying on the attributes stored in a PID record” [2]. This metadata may include information such as title, creator, date, identifiers for related objects, access rights, and more. This information allows machines to make decisions regarding the Digital Object without needing to resolve the PID.

Different Types of Digital Objects have different FDO Record metadata requirements, and thus the actions a machine can take on a PID record is defined by the object Type. FDO Profiles standardize which FDO record attributes should be associated with each Type of object. Within DiSSCo alone, we expect to assign PIDs to a diverse array of object Types, including media objects, annotations, and of course, Digital Specimens. Each of these object types will have their own FDO Profile; currently, the FDO profile for Digital Specimens is available for public feedback.

FDO Profiles and DiSSCo

Recognizing the need for consistency and harmonization, our FDO profiles incorporate elements that can be reused for various Digital Object types within DiSSCo. Attributes like issue date or PID status are applicable not only to Digital Specimens but also to media objects, annotations, and other resource types. This consistency promotes interoperability and simplifies metadata management efforts.

Subsequently, we added additional attributes specific to Digital Specimens, such as specimen host and material sample type. This approach strikes a balance between standardized metadata representation across biodiversity research resources while accommodating the unique characteristics of Digital Specimens.

Next Steps

We are actively working on designing additional FDO profiles for different Digital Object Types within DiSSCo. These profiles will further enhance the interoperability and standardization of biodiversity research resources, ensuring that the benefits of PIDs and FDO profiles extend beyond Digital Specimens to encompass various data types and formats.

We are actively seeking feedback from the community on the current FDO Profile for Digital Specimens via an RFC Document, available here. The RFC (Request for Comments) process facilitates conversation between DiSSCo and community members, provides an opportunity to receive feedback on the DiSSCo development process, and defines how decision making works. More information on the RFC process itself can be found here.

Conclusion

Persistent Identifiers and FDO profiles are crucial components of the DiSSCo infrastructure. By providing stable and globally unique identifiers, PIDs ensure the accessibility, citation, and long-term preservation of Digital Objects. Meanwhile, FDO profiles offer a means to describe the attributes of these PID records in a standardized and interoperable manner. As digitization efforts expand, leveraging PIDs and FDO Profiles will continue to play a pivotal role in unlocking the vast potential of biodiversity research, enabling collaboration, discovery, and machine actionability.

 

[1] RDA PID KI. 2019. RDA Recommendation on PID Kernel Information. Research Data Alliance. [Online]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15497/RDA00031

[2] S. Islam, “FAIR digital objects, persistent identifiers and machine actionability,” FAIR Connect. [Online]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/FC-230001

 

This article was first published on the DiSSCo research infrastructure website.