Building Synergies for Open Research: Development of a national EOSC node for Ireland

Presenter: Jenny O’Neill

Research Engagement Officer at HEAnet

Abstract

The EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) can be broadly summarised as European infrastructure to enable research to be conducted according to the principles of Open Science. Ireland’s journey towards becoming a full EOSC Node is underway, and this lightning talk will provide a timely and targeted update on key milestones, recent outputs, and the next steps in Ireland’s alignment with the EOSC Federation. In this presentation, I will briefly explain the role of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) as key infrastructure in Ireland’s transition to Open Science, interconnecting national and institutional resources such as compute, storage and data repositories and how it will interconnect with other similar European initiatives to build the EOSC Federation. Ireland, with HEAnet as the EOSC Association Mandated Organisation, has been actively shaping its national position. Following a request from DFHERIS, an EOSC position paper was submitted in 2024, followed by a community webinar in early 2025 and the development of a first iteration of a national EOSC paper. Broader engagement is now underway to finalise Ireland’s contribution to the EOSC Federation.

About

Jenny O’Neill is a Research Engagement Officer at HEAnet. She is passionate about promoting Open Research practices and implementing FAIR data principles across Ireland’s research community. In her role, she supports research data management initiatives nationwide and helps deliver critical components of national research infrastructure. She is involved in key national initiatives including developing IRL DataSpace, IRL-DSSC, and EOSC Ireland. She serves on the Sonraí Committee, Ireland’s data stewardship network, and coordinates RESIN InfoShares, monthly informal sessions where research community members connect and share insights. Her work focuses on making research more open, accessible, and valuable to society through strong communication skills and collaborative partnerships.