Read the National Pilot Interview from Greece and explore all the progress of OSTrails pilot studies. Check the latest on their national activities and learn how they’re progressing with the integration of open science and research assessment. This month we had the pleasure of speaking with Zisis Simaioforidis, Technical Coordinator, Theodora Karaiskou,Librarian and RDM Support Officer at HEAL-Link and Maria Kontopidi, associate at the Athena Research Center. Enjoy!

"The Greek pilot leverages the collaboration between OpenAIRE NOADs, Athena Research Center, and HEAL-Link—two organisations actively involved in shaping policies and enhancing infrastructure to support Open Science implementation in Greece. We are excited to contribute to standardising practices across the three phases of research, which will help us align more closely with the EOSC and create streamlined pathways between services, making it easier for researchers to manage and share all types of scientific information and research outputs."

 Elli Papadopoulou, Athena ResearchCenter. 

-Can you briefly introduce your organisations? How do they contribute to EOSC?

The Greek pilot for OSTrails builds on the successful collaboration of OpenAIRE NOADs: Hellenic Academic Libraries (HEAL-Link) and Athena Research Center (ARC). The two organisations have been instrumental in advancing the Research Data Management (RDM) landscape in Greece towards more transparent and FAIR practices. Through their involvement in the Hellenic Open Science Initiative (HOSI), which published the National Open Science Plan in 2020, these organisations are actively implementing Open Science policies within their institutions and contribute to the Plan’s wider adoption by Greek research funders and institutions. OSTrails provides us with the opportunity to invest in FAIRifyng data and in management the planning of data activities and outputs, the latter supported by CITE SA.

HEAL-Link manages significant infrastructure projects such as HARDMIN, a federated data repository infrastructure that supports 15 Greek universities and serves as the academic backbone of HELIX, the Hellenic Data Service managed by ARC. These initiatives are designed to enhance the interoperability of Greek data repositories with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) by integrating services such as Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) and machine-actionable DMPs (maDMPs). Furthermore, ARC is a member of the EOSC Association, a founding member of OpenAIRE that serves as a pillar infrastructure for EOSC, and recently has been coordinating the project that is building and deploying the EOSC EU Node.

Our work complements each other to ensure that Greece is well-integrated into the EOSC ecosystem, facilitating open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data practices across its regions and public sectors.

-What are you most excited about in OSTrails? What are you looking forward to?

As part of the Greek pilot, at HEAL-Link we are particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to significantly enhance the adoption of FAIR principles within the national research ecosystem. The pilot is working on developing customised DMP templates that align with the specific needs of Greek institutions and national policies. These templates will be machine-actionable, allowing for greater automation in data management processes and improving the interoperability of Greek data services with the broader European infrastructure.

This project represents a critical step towards breaking down silos within the Greek research community, fostering better communication between researchers and data stewards, and aligning national practices with European standards. With ARC and CITE we share the prospect of culminating these efforts to shift the Greek research landscape into a FAIR-enabling and open research ecosystem.

-How is planning, tracking and assessing research being realised in your country?

In Greece, research planning, tracking, and assessment are guided by a combination of national policies and institutional frameworks. The National Open Science Plan, published by HOSI in 2020, serves as the foundation for Open Science practices across Greek institutions. Both of us, HEAL-Link and ARC, lead the developments of HOSI, guiding and supporting others in implementing these policies. This year, the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation included open access requirements in national calls of EREVNO KAINOTOMO, while similar provisions had been introduced in the past by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (ELIDEK).

At the university level of HEAL-Link, we perform research assessment by manually collecting and analysing data, primarily focusing on bibliometrics. At ARC we are developing tools for tracking and assessing research outputs, including a demo monitor for projects funded by the GSRI. ARC’s involvement in the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) and its participation in projects like GRASPOS further highlight its commitment to reforming the research assessment landscape in Greece.

The Greek pilot also plans to test and evaluate new methods and tools for research assessment, with a focus on aligning these practices with both national and European standards. This work will help ensure that Greece’s research ecosystem is not only compliant with Open Science principles but also competitive on the global stage.

-Can you provide some details on your pilot's main actors, services and priorities? How will your pilot adopt the results of OSTrails? 

The Greek pilot is spearheaded by HEAL-Link and ARCand supported byCITE SA, a key service provider in the Greek public sector. Our primary focus is to enhance the interoperability of Greek data repositories and enrich their metadata and semantics by utilising the OpenAIRE Graph as well as configure and connect them with tools to support FAIR data management planning and sharing. The services that will be employed for the pilot’s implementation are HARDMIN data repository infrastructure, ARGOS-GR DMP platform, and PID infrastructure.

 Key activities to be performed include the development of maDMP templates, the assessment of FAIRness in university repositories, and the implementation of policies that align with the National Open Science Plan.

The Greek pilot will co-develop and adopt the results of OSTrails by integrating them into the national research ecosystem. This involves our existing national and thematic data services to follow the interoperability frameworks for SKGs, DMPs and FAIR assessment delivered by the project so that their outputs are exchanged seamlessly and in an automated way. Moreover, we will configure maDMP templates to meet the specific needs of Greek institutions and funding bodies.

-Ongoing activities and Next Steps? 

Currently, the Greek pilot is in the preparatory phase of establishing the necessary technical infrastructure to support its objectives. This includes the development of suitable metrics for Research Data Management (RDM) and the assessment of data deposit policies within Greek universities. The pilot is also working on aligning its activities with the upcoming national policies that GSRI intends to implement, particularly concerning Open Access and DMPs in national project calls.

Next steps for the pilot include:

• Community Engagement to establish a community of stakeholders, including researchers, librarians, and data stewards, who will be involved in testing and refining the tools and services developed by the pilot.
• Cross-Pilot Collaboration within the OSTrails project to share best practices, align methodologies, and contribute to the overall success of the project.

To learn more about our Open Science efforts, visit also:

• OpenAIRE country page
• HEAL-Link
• HEAL-Link Scholarly Communication Unit

Read the National Pilot Interview from Serbia and explore all the progress of OSTrails pilot studies. Check the latest on their national activities and learn how they’re progressing with the integration of open science and research assessment. This month we had the pleasure of speaking with ObradVučkovac from the University of Belgrade, “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences - Library department. Enjoy!

 - ObradVučkovac

"The Serbian research ecosystem, particularly its funding bodies and policymakers, stands to benefit significantly from theOSTrails national pilot. One of the biggest challenges in advancing Open Science practices lies in the effective planning and assessment of research. The introduction of tailored, machine-actionable DMP templates, integrated with the national CRIS system and institutional repositories, alongside automated FAIR assessment tools, will enhance the quality and compliance of research outputs. These efforts are expected to strengthen Serbia's position within the EOSC and foster a more robust Open Science culture nationwide."

-Can you briefly introduce your organisation(s)? How does it/do they contribute to EOSC?

Established in 1808, theUniversity of Belgrade is the oldest and largest higher education institution in Serbia and one of the leading academic institutions in South-East Europe and the Mediterranean region. Dedicated to promoting Open Science practices, the University of Belgrade embraced Serbia’s national Open Science policy in 2019 and is an active member of the EOSC Association. The University is actively participating in the OSTrails national pilot through itsComputer Centre RCUB (in Serbian: Računarski centar Univerziteta u Beogradu) and theLibrary of the“Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences. This initiative will involve collaboration with three additional RPOs to assess their institutional repositories and train their researchers. RCUB is the leading service provider of institutional repositories in Serbia, operating more than forty repositories. All RCUB’s repositories are designed in compliance with theOpenAIRE’s Guidelines and integrated with theOpenAIRE Research Graph. Several repositories were onboarded at the EOSC Marketplace. It serves as the OpenAIRE National Open Access Desk (NOAD) and has been involved in numerous Open Science projects and initiatives, including GEANT, BE-OPEN, OpenAIRE Advance, and NI4OS-Europe. The “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences’ Library represents the growing community of research librarians in Serbia, who have been active in managing institutional repositories and promoting Open Science practices, particularly in areas such as Research Data Management, FAIR and Open Data, and Open Access. Research librarians in Serbia are positioning themselves as leaders and advocates for Open Science by offering educational activities and providing research support to facilitate the publication of FAIR and open research results. Some of these initiatives have even been awarded through Horizon Europe-funded projects.

-What are you most excited about in OSTrails? What are you looking forward to?

The Serbian national pilot aims to address some of the current challenges researchers in Serbia face when practicing Open Science activities, particularly those mandated by the National Policy on Open Science and by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, the national research funder. One pressing issue is the absence of a proper DMP template in the Science Fund’s research calls. The OSTrails national pilot aims to address this by developing a machine-actionable DMP template aligned with FAIR principles, enabling the Science Fund to better integrate and utilize DMPs in their workflows. Additionally, the pilot will address the need for a FAIR assessment tool, which is crucial for evaluating research outputs in line with the mandated FAIR principles. This tool is essential for fostering Open Science practices and ensuring that data, software, and research outputs align with the broader goal of integrating into EOSC. Projects and activities like this are expected to significantly influence researchers in adopting Open Science practices. This national pilot will address all current issues and fill the gaps necessary to fully embrace the culture of Open Science in Serbia.

-How is planning, tracking and assessing research being realised in your country/scientific domain?

TheScience Fund of the Republic of Serbia mandates Data Management Plans (DMPs) but lacks a suitable template, leaving researchers without effective guidance. Whileprevious initiatives, including those by the EOSC Secretariat, have promoted DMP culture and developed a template in Argos DMP platform, itremains vague and insufficiently tailored for specific disciplines, particularly in managing sensitive data. This national pilot will address these gaps by creating two machine-actionable DMP templates in Argos—one for Science Fund applicants and another for University of Belgrade PhD students—aligned with Science Europe’s guidelines and FAIR principles. Additionally, guidelines for manual DMP evaluation and a FAIR assessment tool will be integrated. By2023, all research outputs in Serbia are tracked via the national CRIS, eNauka, which automatically aggregates outputs from institutional repositories, library OPAC catalogues, andCrossRef and researchers' ORCID. The planned deposition of DMP into institutional repositories through Argos and integration with other digital entities is expected to enhance overall data management practices by promoting greater transparency and usability of research outputs. Although both the national Open Science policy and the national research funder require adherence to FAIR principles for research data and outputs, there is currently no recommended or customized service for FAIR assessment. DMPs are evaluated manually, without clear guidelines on quality assessment or FAIR compliance. The existing national regulation for the assessment of research outputs primarily focuses on research articles, monographs, and similar publications, and does not adequately address the assessment of research data, software, or Open Science activities. The integration of automated FAIR assessment metrics, resulting from the OSTrails project, is expected to significantly improve the evaluation process, particularly in the project planning phase, by providing early insight into the compliance of research outputs with FAIR principles.

-Can you provide some details on your pilot's main actors, services and priorities? How will your pilot adopt the results of OSTrails? 

The implementation of Serbia's national Open Science policy in 2018 mandates that research funded by the Ministry be publicly accessible and deposited in trusted repositories. This policy led to the rapid establishment of institutional repositories across research institutions in Serbia, with the RCUB playing a crucial role in developing the infrastructure. RCUB-developed repositories feature clear policies, long-term preservation, and integration with the OpenAIRE Research Graph. Notably, theDAIS repository of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts received the Core Trust Seal certificate in 2022. RCUB's expertise in infrastructure design and standards has been crucial to building the national CRIS, eNauka, launched in 2023. The librarian community is familiar with the Argos platform for writing and publishing DMPs, thanks to an EOSC Secretariat-funded initiative in 2020 aimed at creating a model for local capacity building in research data management, tailored to the needs of non-EU Western Balkans countries. This project produced an initial DMP template for the Science Fund, complete with guidelines. As the main priority in the OSTrails national pilot, we will continue developing Argos by designing customized, machine-actionable DMP templates. Institutional repositories and the eNauka CRIS will be enhanced with new digital object types to accommodate machine-actionable DMPs and to integrate current repositories and machine-actionable DMP tools with the OpenAIRE Graph and other SKGs. The Serbian national pilot will also support the implementation of RDM policies, promote FAIR principles, and evaluate their application in digital objects.

-Ongoing activities and Next Steps? 

Though the national pilot officially begins in the 18th month of the OSTrails project, preparatory work is already underway. One of our key tasks is designing a machine-actionable DMP template for the national funder. We held an initial meeting with the Science Fund to present our ideas for the template and the evaluation guidelines, which received a positive response. 

Before the pilot’s official start, the following steps are planned:

a) Identifying research groups for assessing the DMP templates. 

b) Promoting the OSTrails project and our involvement in the national pilot at the “Open Science Days” conference, organized by the University of Belgrade in November 2024. 

c) Discussing the design of the DMP template for PhD students with the University representatives. 

We expect this national pilot to build on our previous efforts and significantly improve the adoption of FAIR principles and research practices in Serbia. A new national Open Science policy is forthcoming, which will cover more aspects of Open Science, such as Research Data Management, Open Data, Open Software and Hardware, and Open Infrastructures. The OSTrails project results are expected to significantly impact on the implementation of these new policies. By thoughtfully implementing machine-actionable and integrated DMPs in research processes, tracking and connecting research results with SKGs, and assessing digital objects for FAIRness, Serbian science could see substantial improvements in research support.