EOSC-hub and FAIRsFAIR sign Memorandum of Understanding

EOSC-hub and FAIRsFAIR have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their collaboration and contribution to the European Open Science Cloud.

EOSC-hub is a project set up to create the Hub - an integration and management system of the future EOSC. It offers researchers a virtual environment with open and seamless services for storage, management, analysis and re-use of research data, across borders and scientific disciplines by federating existing scientific data infrastructures, currently dispersed across disciplines and the EU Member States. 

As part of its contribution to the EOSC, EOSC-hub offers a discovery and access channel to FAIR-accredited datasets via the EOSC-hub Marketplace. Given the responsibility of FAIRsFAIR to ensure uptake by the EOSC user base of project outputs - tools, methodologies and guidelines - the collaboration with EOSC-Hub is of strategic importance. This is also true in terms of the necessity to ensure that FAIRsFAIR activities dovetail with the work of other projects and stakeholders in the research data and FAIR space. 

Ingrid Dillo, Project Coordinator FAIRsFAIR, says: “We are delighted with this MoU. It provides a firm basis to dovetail our activities aimed at fostering FAIR data practices in Europe and maximise their impact.”

The projects have agreed to work together on the following areas: 

• Sharing of templates and policies for FAIR data repositories. FAIRsFAIR will share examples of FAIR data and FAIR-enabling repository policies to improve production and use of FAIR data. This work may inform eligibility of datasets and data repositories to be enlisted in the EOSC portal. EOSC-hub will promote and facilitate the adoption of FAIR-aligned repository certification and FAIR data assessment into EOSC. 
• FAIR Certification of trustworthy data repositories. FAIRsFAIR will provide guidance, and together with EOSC-hub  support to data repository service providers, including for the EOSC-hub long-term preservation service providers, looking to  achieve CoreTrustSeal certification.
• Training activities. EOSC-hub and FAIRsFAIR projects will promote the uptake of the Open Science and FAIR data principles in their training programmes. Both projects will coordinate their planned events to promote project results and reach a wider user base. For this joint activity, FAIRsFAIR will leverage on the FAIRsFAIR Competence Centres to share knowledge and best practices for helping scientific communities requiring support on adopting FAIR data principles. EOSC-hub will rely on the distributed network of expertise to address the training needs of the research communities.

FAIRsFAIR and EOSC-Hub will keep each other informed on all their respective activities and on their progress and will consult regularly on areas offering potential cooperation, ensuring coherent and coordinated dissemination of their results.