About us
The section International Engagement addresses internationalization as a key cross-cutting issue in science and as a strategic priority for NFDI since the association was founded. It coordinates NFDI’s interaction with European and international communities and contributes to a coordinated approach to international activities. The section creates structures and working relationships to systematically involve relevant external actors and support cooperation within the NFDI. In addition, it acts as an interface for contextualizing European and international initiatives and promotes exchange between NFDI consortia, sections, and external partners in the international environment.
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Goals
The International Engagement section is committed to creating sustainable conditions for the effective European and international integration of the NFDI. To this end, structured overviews and decision-making bases are being developed to enable the consortia to strategically prioritize international activities and implement them in a targeted manner.
A key focus is on the successful establishment of a German national EOSC node (EOSC Node Germany) supported by the NFDI as a visible contribution by the NFDI to the European Open Science Cloud. In this context, the section supports the coordination of overarching framework conditions and promotes the active involvement of the NFDI consortia in the further development of the EOSC federation.
In addition, it is a key concern of the section to systematically leverage experience gained from participation in European and international infrastructures. On this basis, transferable models and working approaches are to be developed that support the sustainable design of further international cooperation by the NFDI.
Working Groups
The working groups within the International Engagement Section will be derived from the tasks defined in the section concept.
Schalter (ausgeblendet)
Schalter, damit darauffolgendes Element ausklappbar ist.
Task 1: Surveying the European and International Landscape
Task 1.1
Develop and deploy a survey to send to each NFDI consortium that will inquire about relevant external entities (e.g., projects, organizations) and collect relevant context. Align with pre-existing vocabulary used in the Collaborative Work in NFDI document. In collaboration with Task 2, use EOSC and RDA as motivating examples.
Task 1.2
Send the survey to all NFDI consortia and partners. The estimated runtime is two months, during which, advertize across various communication channels to promote participation.
Task 1.3
Develop a semi-automated workflow for standardizing the survey results (e.g., to make them FAIR) and enriching them (e.g., to connect to both internal and external knowledge graphs)
Task 1.4
Develop reusable analytical workflows and produce reporting materials appropriate for NFDI stakeholders and new NFDI consortium members answering key questions. Present these reports at the NFDI Consortia Assembly meeting in October 2026 and the NFDI Scientific Senate meeting in November 2026.
Task 1.5
Repeat the activities in Tasks 1.2-1.4 on a yearly basis and include additional year-over-year reporting.
Requirements
We envision this task requires the people with experience in/aptitude for setting up a survey (specifically nocoDB), analyses and visualization, project management, and taking responsibility for the task “internationalization” in the specific consortia.
Task 2: Supporting the Development of EOSC Node Germany
Task 2.1
Subsume the EOSC Node Working Group into Section Int, which will include reorganization and summarization of previous activities, roles, identification and incorporation of new members, provisioning of new working groups, coordination with the NFDI Directorate, the emerging services of Base4NFDI, the outputs of the pilot national node activities in EOSC Beyond, and fostering an open forum for exchange with other EOSC nodes.
Task 2.2
Design an EOSC roadmap aligned to NFDI goals and EOSC requirements (e.g., from the EOSC
Federation Handbook), building on previous efforts and establishing new working groups, where ap-
propriate.
Task 2.3
Support the development of the prototype EOSC Node Germany with the structure and functionality of a national node.
Task 2.4
Develop a workflow for onboarding new services provided by NFDI consortia into the EOSC
Node Germany. Define selection criteria, define a submission process, and write guidelines/documen-
tation to support the NFDI consortia throughout.
Task 2.5
Support the transition of EOSC Node Germany from prototype into production. Support the
design of the organizational and contractual framework for EOSC-compliant operation and demonstrating key NFDI-defined capabilities and services.
Requirements
We envision this task requires the people with experience in/aptitude for legal expertise,
project management/leadership, people who are responsible for EOSC-related topics, and project
members of relevant EOSC projects.
Task 3: Continuation of Internationalization and Outreach
Task 3.1
Publish an NFDI handbook including guidelines and other materials to support NFDI consortia
in prioritizing, establishing, and reporting on new external interactions. Formulate these materials with input from Task 2 to reflect lessons learned.
Task 3.2
Identify, support, and report on other emerging key external interactions. Support the NFDI
consortia, sections, and other initiatives in making a second major demonstration of internationalization following EOSC.