EOSC Node Germany connects Germany’s diverse research data infrastructure and German researchers with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). As a central gateway, it brings together high-quality research data, repositories and services from NFDI (German National Research Data Infrastructure) and makes them accessible across Europe.
This strengthens collaboration across scientific disciplines, improves the visibility and sustainability of research resources, and unlocks the full potential of open and secure research data.
EOSC Node Germany at a glance
Access
Researchers discover, access, combine and reuse research data and digital services across countries and disciplines.
Visibility
NFDI services and repositories become visible across Europe through standardised onboarding to the EOSC Federation.
Resilience
EOSC Node Germany contributes to a trusted, interconnected and resilient European research infrastructure, in line with the goals of the European Research Area.
Building up EOSC Node Germany: Project BENG
Project BENG, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with approximately €2.8 million, develops and deploys an initial version of EOSC Node Germany. Until December 2027, 11 partners work together in 10 work packages and 4 use cases, supported by the NFDI EOSC Working Group.
Partners
Work packages
Use cases
Together, they build the technical platform, standardised onboarding processes and governance structures for the Node. This creates an interface between the research data held in NFDI repositories and the European research infrastructure network, enabling reciprocal access to research data and services across Europe. In this way, BENG strengthens the resilience of research data infrastructures and lays the foundation for integrating German services and repositories into EOSC.
Aims
1 Plan
Implement a high-level plan for 2026 and 2027 towards a reliable and trusted German infrastructure within the EOSC Federation, supporting data and metadata management, storage and preservation for multiple disciplines.
2 Build
Establish the capabilities and components required for a node in the EOSC Federation and develop a technical node prototype.
3 Govern
Set up node governance and the prerequisites for a legal structure.
4 Onboard
Bring NFDI services onto EOSC Node Germany.
5 Engage
Work closely with the relevant groups within the NFDI consortia.
Project BENG will deliver
a technically functional national Node with a legal framework and processes for the onboarding, operation and offboarding of services by the end of 2027
Use Cases
Galaxy
Federated access, compute and workflows for data analysis across the EOSC Federation.
Cross-Repository Interoperability
A shared technical framework for connecting German research repositories to EOSC Node Germany.
Storage Federation
A federated, FAIR-compliant storage layer for EOSC Node Germany.
NOMAD
Harmonizing and analyzing materials science data with Zenodo, Galaxy and NOMAD.
Partners and funding
Project BENG is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the funding initiative to secure endangered data repositories and promote data resilience, financed by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).
Applicant
- NFDI (German National Research Data Infrastructure)
Co-applicants
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
- GWDG (Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen)
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- RWTH Aachen University
- Technische Universität Berlin
- TU Dresden
- University of Freiburg
- University of Mannheim
- ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
Contact
eosc-support[at]nfdi.de
EOSC Node Working Group
What the use case delivers
About the NFDI EOSC Working Group
The NFDI EOSC Working Group brings together the NFDI community around EOSC Node Germany. Its goal is to establish an NFDI-operated national node, supported by project BENG, and to connect suitable NFDI services to the EOSC Federation. At the same time, the group actively helps to shape the agenda of the EOSC Federation in its early phase and works to increase the visibility, international recognition and funding opportunities of NFDI consortia and members.
The working group advises the BENG project and provides feedback on its work. It promotes the activities of the Node within the NFDI consortia and communities, coordinates engagement with stakeholders and supports providers through the service onboarding process. As an expert group, it also represents the perspective of end users, making sure the Node is built around the needs of the research community.
Interested in contributing? Join the mailing list via the link below to stay informed and get involved.
NFDI’s role in EOSC
NFDI plays a dual role in EOSC. As the mandated organisation for Germany in the EOSC Association, it represents the German research community. At the same time, NFDI was selected as one of the candidate nodes that are building up the EOSC Federation together.
EOSC aims to create a trusted environment for research data, software, computing resources and scientific tools across Europe. Learn more at eosc.eu.
