

The vision for EOSC, recognised as the Common European Data Space for Research and Innovation, is to put in place a ‘system of systems’ to find and access data and services for research and innovation in Europe. This is to help researchers store, share, process, analyse and reuse FAIR research outputs within and across disciplines and borders.
The deployment of a network between data repositories and services is instrumental for Open Science to progress in Europe. For this, the EOSC Federation of Nodes has been created and will continue to grow.
In March 2025 the build-up phase of the EOSC Federation kicked off in Brussels. The Federation was launched in November 2025 and entered operations with 14 production-grade nodes on 08 October 2026.
The Tripartite Group
As the decision-making body for EOSC, the EOSC Tripartite Governance should oversee the structure, governance and operations of the EOSC Federation.
The EOSC Tripartite Governance has emphasised that a coordinated effort by the three parties is necessary to build the EOSC Federation, and this is why the “Tripartite Group” to advance the creation of EOSC was established in April 2024.
The main scope of the Tripartite Group is to prepare commonly agreed positions and support the strategic steering of the EOSC Tripartite Governance in what concerns the establishment and operation of EOSC, including the EOSC Federation.

The Tripartite Group supports the coordination and steering of the processes to establish the requirements for the EOSC Federation and the minimum set of rules and policies applicable throughout the Federation. All other relevant processes for the creation of EOSC as an operational infrastructure are to be discussed and prepared for decision making by the Tripartite Group as well.
To fulfill its role, the Tripartite Group meets monthly and may also seek expert advice and set up inclusive community consultations as needed for the execution of its tasks. The Tripartite Group will ensure that all the views of the different stakeholders are considered, and that the processes to build EOSC are inclusive, open, and transparent.
The Tripartite Group is chaired by Michael Arentoft, Head of Unit for Open Science and Research Infrastructures at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD).
The Tripartite Group’s main responsibilities include:
- To refine the minimum requirements of an EOSC Node.
- To identify and enroll EOSC Nodes into the EOSC Federation.
- To discuss and endorse the EOSC-A-led developments on the EOSC Federation Handbook.
Enrollment of EOSC Nodes
The Tripartite Group works to identify and enroll candidate EOSC Nodes into the EOSC Federation. The Tripartite Governance agrees that this effort needs to be steered to ensure the coherent, sustainable and steady growth of the EOSC Federation.
Second wave (2025-2027)
The Federation entered a new stage of strategic growth with the EOSC Tripartite Governance’s call for second-wave EOSC Nodes, opened on 03 November 2025.
In April 2026, 14 second-wave candidate EOSC Nodes were invited by the Tripartite Governance to enrol in the Federation, enhancing its geographical reach and thematic diversity to further advance the development of a trusted, interoperable, and federated European ecosystem for research data and services. These will establish:
- National EOSC Nodes in Czechia, Croatia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Türkiye;
- pan-European e-Infrastructure EOSC Nodes through GÉANT, EGI, and Scholarly Commons;
- and thematic EOSC Nodes by METROFOOD-RI, EBRAINS RI, and ENVRI.
First wave (2024-2025)
Following a two-stage dialogue process in winter 2024-2025 to establish a sequence for enrolling the first-wave candidate EOSC Nodes, a group of organisations was invited by the Tripartite Governance to join the EOSC EU Node for the kick-off workshop for the EOSC Federation in March 2025. At this meeting, the EOSC Federation Build-up Group was constituted to implement the technical and structural aspects of the Federation.
The EOSC Federation was launched in November 2025.
EOSC Nodes, with the exception of the EOSC EU Node, are developed in-kind by their coordinating and contributing organisations.
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the Tripartite Group includes representatives from
- The European Commission’s Directorate-General Research and Innovation (DG RTD)
- Directorate-General Communications Network, Content and Technology (DG CNECT)
- The EOSC Steering Board
- The EOSC-A Board of Directors
- Technical experts mobilised by request and community consultations







































