Result description
This result contributes to the implementation of the EOSC Interoperability Framework (EOSC IF) by enabling Research Objects managed in ROHub to be exposed and integrated into the EOSC knowledge ecosystem. A core element of the EOSC IF is the use of RO-Crates as a standard format for representing FAIR Digital Objects, allowing complex research outputs—including datasets, workflows, software, and contextual metadata—to be described in a machine-actionable and interoperable way.
ROHub supports this vision by implementing the OSTrails Scientific Knowledge Graph Interoperability Framework (SKG-IF), which provides mechanisms to expose Research Objects as Scientific Knowledge Graphs (SKGs). Through this approach, the structured metadata contained in RO-Crates is transformed into knowledge graph representations that capture entities such as research artefacts, organisations, researchers, methods, and their relationships.
By exposing RO-Crate metadata through the SKG-IF interfaces, ROHub enables these Research Objects to become discoverable, searchable, and interoperable within EOSC knowledge graph infrastructures. This allows research outputs to be linked with other datasets, publications, and knowledge sources across EOSC, supporting advanced discovery, semantic querying, and knowledge integration.
As a result, research artefacts published through ROHub can participate in a broader EOSC knowledge graph ecosystem, facilitating cross-disciplinary knowledge discovery, improving interoperability between infrastructures, and enabling new forms of AI-assisted knowledge exploration and reuse across the European research landscape.
Problem addressed
A key problem addressed by this result is the limited interoperability and discoverability of complex research outputs across research infrastructures and the EOSC ecosystem. Although many research artefacts—such as datasets, workflows, software, and publications—are increasingly published in repositories, they are often described using heterogeneous metadata schemas and remain isolated within specific platforms. This fragmentation makes it difficult to link related research outputs, perform cross-disciplinary searches, or integrate knowledge from multiple sources.
In particular, current discovery systems typically focus on individual resources (e.g., datasets or publications) rather than the full context of scientific investigations, including the relationships between methods, data, researchers, and outcomes. As a result, valuable scientific knowledge remains difficult to query and reuse in a structured and machine-interpretable way.
The EOSC Interoperability Framework promotes the use of FAIR Digital Objects and knowledge graph technologies to address these challenges, but practical mechanisms to expose research outputs as interoperable knowledge graph resources are still emerging.
By enabling ROHub to expose RO-Crates as Scientific Knowledge Graphs through the OSTRails SKG-IF, this result addresses this gap. It allows Research Objects to be represented as interconnected knowledge entities that can be indexed, queried, and linked within EOSC knowledge graph infrastructures, improving interoperability, discovery, and integration of research knowledge across domains and platforms.
Who can use the result
EOSC, aggregators, resource providersTimeline
The project will exploit this result by implementing and validating the OSTrails SKG-IF interfaces in ROHub, enabling Research Objects described as RO-Crates to be exposed as Scientific Knowledge Graphs and integrated with EOSC knowledge graph services. Pilot activities within the project will demonstrate how Research Objects can be indexed, queried, and discovered through EOSC knowledge graph infrastructures, improving semantic search and cross-resource linking across research outputs. For sustainability, these capabilities will be maintained as part of the operational ROHub service deployed within EOSC Nodes, initially through the EOSC-PL Node. By aligning with the EOSC Interoperability Framework and publishing open interfaces and documentation, the solution will enable other infrastructures and projects to reuse the approach, ensuring long-term integration of Research Objects into the EOSC knowledge graph ecosystem.How to use the result
Type of result
