On 12 March 2025, OSTrails hosted a series of high-impact hackathons in Athens, held just prior to itsGeneral Assembly. These full-day events convened developers and domain experts from across scientific clusters and research infrastructure communities to collaboratively advance Data Management Planning (DMP) Platforms, Scientific Knowledge Graphs (SKG), and FAIR Assessment Tools, that are vital for effective research data management and sharing.

The hackathon brought together experts and service providers from well-established research data management platforms, bothwithin the consortium and beyond, to build on the Plan-Track-Assess (PTA) Framework (theReferenceArchitecture andPathwayspresented in projectdeliverableD1.4 andD1.1), and test key components in practice.

DMP-IF Hackathon: Laying the Groundwork for a CommonmaDMP API 

The DMP Hackathongathereddevelopers and service providers, including  platform providers from the consortium and severalfrom outsideEurope. The event focused on advancing machine-actionable Data Management Plans (maDMPs) by fostering collaborationaround two keyobjectives: 1) Maintaining the Research Data AllianceDMPCommon Standard (RDA DMP CS), 2)Initiating work on a CommonmaDMPAPI specification. 

As outlined in theOSTrailsArchitecture,theDMP-IFaimsto meet funder and community needsbyextending theRDA DMP CS data model, whileenabling real-time communication between systems through the introduction of anewApplication Profile Interfaces (APIs).Thediscussionscentredaround improving date handling, identifier usage, and specification governance—resulting in concrete proposals to besubmitted to theRDA Working Group for inclusion in the standard.In parallel, participants reviewed existing APIs and user requirements, drafted a shared API designformaDMPs, and agreed to continue development through close collaboration within thenewly establishedRDA group.

Developers exchanging ideas at the DMP IF Hackathon

SKG-IF Hackathon: Advancing Interoperability for Scientific Knowledge Graphs 

The SKG-IF Hackathon brought together providers of SKG services and infrastructure onboarded in OSTrails to advance interoperability through hands-on experimentation with the SKG-IF OpenAPI specification and metadata model. The session focused on mapping institutional data to the SKG-IF model and exploring its capacity to accommodate diverse research outputs.

Building on the RDA SKG-IF core data model, OSTrails aims to enhance the framework with a flexible extension mechanism to support domain-specific entities—such as instruments and provenance information, while supporting seamless discovery and integration of graph data with the introduction of a new API. The hackathon focused on validating the SKG-IF model through real-world data mapping and collected detailed feedback via the GitHub issue tracker. Major discussion topics were:  1) Gaps in the SKG-IF data model, such as missing fields, insufficient documentation, and the need for greater extensibility; 2) Issues in the OpenAPI specification, including unclear documentation and undefined field requirements.

The model’s scope was also extended to support a broader range of research products by introducing new product types aligned with community needs: literature, research data, and research software. Hackathon contributions were fed directly into the roadmap of the RDA SKG-IF Working Group, supporting the finalisation of the specification. 

 Hands-on collaboration during the SKG-IF Hackathon

FAIR-IF Hackathon: Making FAIR Assessments More Interoperable 

Running in parallel, the FAIR-IF Hackathon brought together developers from various FAIR-related tools, including thoseonboarded in the project as well as several external platforms. The focus was on aligning assessment services and harmonising API formats to improve interoperability across FAIR tools.

In the first part of the hackathon, participants discussed howkey components of the FAIR-IF, such as benchmarks, could help ensure consistent outcomes with minimal or no manual curation. They also emphasised the need to harmonise APIs through standards such as OpenAPI and highlighted transparency and record provenance as essential for trust and reproducibility.

The second part of the hackathon was hands-on, building on the earlier discussions. It focused on API functionality and tool alignment, showing that the proposed common API structure provided a solid foundation for implementation, integration, and mapping across existing tools—advancing interoperability within the FAIR-IF ecosystem.

Insights from the FAIR-IF Hackathon

Looking Ahead 

These hackathons not only advanced technical developments but also reaffirmed OSTrails' commitment to open collaboration across diverse research domains and settings. By bringing together experts from across Europe and beyond, OSTrails is setting the stage for truly interoperable research infrastructures.

Learn more about the OSTrails Architecture and Interoperability Frameworks by exploring ourblog, reading thedocumentation, and watching theInteroperability Webinar Series

Stay tuned for upcoming events and learn more about future OSTrails hackathons by visiting our page:OSTrails Hackathons.

-Written by Tassos Stavropoulos (OpenAIRE)

On 15 April 2024, OSTrails hosted its first public webinar, bringing together over 100 participants from across the research community. The session introduced the project’s goals, early results, and ways to get involved in shaping how research planning, tracking, and assessment can be improved.

"This firstwebinar was an important milestone for us. After months of work, we were finally able to share early results and open the door for others to get involved."
— Elli Papadopoulou, Athena Research Center / OSTrails Deputy Coordinator

Plan-Track-Assess (PTA) Framework: Addressing the Silos in Research Data Management

Research today relies on many separate systems. The same information is often re-entered in different tools, and outputs are difficult to follow or assess. OSTrails addresses these issues by connecting workflows, reducing duplication, and supporting reuse and visibility of research outputs.

The project builds a unified framework that:

• Assists researchers in reducing repetitive tasks and improving data management.
• Supports institutions in ensuring compliance and facilitating data reuse.
• Enables funders and policymakers to obtain consistent and reliable metrics on FAIR and Open Science practices.

Elli Papadopoulou presenting the OSTrails toolkit.

Two Pilots, One Message: This Works!

Two pilot initiatives were featured during the webinar to show what the PTA Framework looks like when in action for different organisations:

• In the Dutch National Pilot, led by CWTS and SURF, institutions are working with dynamic Data Management Plans (DMPs) embedded in their systems, cutting repetition and improving coordination across teams. The pilot highlights the Netherlands’ diverse and decentralised research data management (RDM) landscape, and the need for machine-actionable (ma)DMP tooling that meets both broad Open Science goals and basic local administrative needs. The pilot focuses on aligning stakeholder interests at national and institutional levels—supporting researchers with domain-specific templates and administrators with integrated workflows that include RDM, privacy, and ethics reviews. It also explores different technical pathways to publish and connect maDMPs with other research outputs, including the use of Research Activity Identifiers (RAiDs) and links to local repositories or Zenodo.

Andrew Hoffman (CWTS) showcasing the Dutch National Pilot.

• In Photon and Neutron Science, researchers at ESRF are combining DMPs, metadata services, and FAIR assessment tools to better describe and evaluate their datasets.

Assessing and sharing datasets from ESFRIs using the PTA Framework, as presented by Renaud Duyme.

Those are only two examples of the twenty-four use cases through which OSTrails is testing and adapting the PTA Framework to streamline and automate processes.

From Design to Adoption: Supporting the People Who Make It Happen

The webinar also launched the OSTrails Mentorship Programme, which provides support for those already working on improving research workflows by helping them apply OSTrails tools in practice: IT staff, research support professionals, and policy officers.

Insights into the OSTrails training roadmap by Pedro Principe (UMinho).

Community Discussions

The discussion during the webinar showed strong interest in the work OSTrails is doing. Participants highlighted shared challenges like scattered tools, manual processes, and inconsistent planning, and welcomed the focus on making systems work better together. The event opened space for future collaboration and real-world application.

There were also many questions about how to get involved, especially through the OSTrails Mentorship Programme. The team shared resources on training opportunities, the mentorship call for mentees, and other upcoming events. As one participant put it:

“This is a great initiative—thank you for this mentoring programme.”

Check out the full webinar here.