FLORENCE — Four Horizon Europe projects and the EOSC Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 14 October 2026 to strengthen collaboration and advance the EOSC Federation by aligning efforts to develop its federating capabilities and architecture.
Funded under the HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01 call, the four projects—EOSC4ALL, EOSC-CONNECT, EOSC-Marine and EOSC Mesh—collectively receive approximately €33.5 million in EU funding. Each contributes a different capability to a shared ambition: making it easier for researchers across Europe to discover and access the data, tools and services they need, regardless of where those resources are hosted.
The projects address complementary challenges, from lowering the technical barriers to joining the EOSC Federation and connecting national research infrastructures to enabling interoperability between participating Nodes and integrating marine research resources. The MoU establishes a framework for translating these ambitions into coordinated action.
The EOSC Association will coordinate the collaboration under the MoU, drawing on the complementary work of its Horizon Europe projects EOSC Gravity and EOSC United to align technical developments with the needs of research communities and support the Federation’s long-term development.
“Building the EOSC Federation is a collective endeavour,” said Bob Jones, Special Envoy for the EOSC Federation. “By aligning the project efforts, we can reduce fragmentation, avoid duplication and deliver a more coherent and impactful Federation—one that serves the needs of Europe’s research communities.”
Turning collaboration into action
For the remainder of 2026, the signatories will develop a joint work plan identifying concrete activities, shared priorities and opportunities for collaboration. Implementation is expected to begin in early 2027.
The agreement will remain in place until the end of the last participating project, currently scheduled for 31 August 2029. Throughout this period, the signatories will work to ensure that their activities reinforce one another and contribute to the Federation’s overall development.
Building a more connected and sustainable research ecosystem
The collaboration will focus on several interconnected priorities: technical interoperability, community engagement, governance and long-term sustainability.
Working through the EOSC Federation Build-up Group and its relevant Working Groups, the projects will identify opportunities to evolve the federation architecture and contribute to a shared roadmap for the Federation’s development.
A successful Federation depends not only on technology, but also on the people and organisations that use and operate it. The signatories will coordinate engagement with national initiatives and EOSC Nodes, helping ensure that opportunities to participate are clear and accessible.
The projects will exchange experience, lessons learned and good practices to support the Federation’s long-term development. By considering sustainability from the outset, they aim to ensure that the capabilities, knowledge and collaborations established through their work can continue to benefit European research beyond the lifetime of individual projects.
By bringing together four infrastructure projects under a common collaboration framework—and drawing on the coordination and community-building efforts of EOSC Gravity and EOSC United—the MoU reinforces the commitment to a coherent development of the EOSC Federation.
