19 Oct 2026
First 13 EOSC Nodes become operational
The first 13 Open Science Cloud hubs have begund operations, the European Commission's DG Research and Innovation has announced. According to the EC, researchers across Europe can now more easily find, access and use research data and digital services through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Federation's research hubs, known as EOSC Nodes.
The EOSC Nodes connect resources from different research organisations, helping researchers work across countries and scientific disciplines. Their entry into operation marks the first expansion of the Federation beyond the existing EOSC EU Node. They are among 27 Nodes joining through two waves in 2025 and 2026, with further hubs set to become operational as the network grows.
The launch of the EOSC Federation’s operational phase was a central focus of the EOSC Symposium 2026, which closed on 16 October 2026 in Florence. Bringing together researchers, service providers, policymakers, funders and other stakeholders from across Europe, the event showed how the Federation can make it easier for researchers to find, access and use data and services.
The Symposium also underlined how the Federation is linking with Europe’s wider infrastructure landscape, including other European Data Spaces, the EuroHPC Federation Platform and major research infrastructures. These links can help researchers combine data and digital services from different sources and collaborate more easily across borders and disciplines.
The Federation also supports Europe’s ambitions in AI for science by making high-quality, machine-actionable research data and computing resources more accessible. At the same time, trust, security, data protection and sustainability remain essential as the Federation grows.
The next phase will bring more EOSC Nodes, resources and federating capabilities into the Federation, further demonstrating its value for Europe’s research community and making cross-border and cross-disciplinary collaboration easier.
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