The First EOSC EU Node “Ask Me Anything” Session Unpacked

On 26 March 2025, the EOSC EU Node team hosted an informative "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) session that attracted 116 researchers, data scientists, and computational professionals working in Open Science, data-driven research, and collaborative projects from across the EU and associated countries.

The event wasn’t just another webinar, it was a real-time deep dive into the tools, challenges, and future provided by the EOSC EU Node to foster Open Science collaboration. Experts from the EU Node, including Peter Szegedi, Policy Officer at the European Commission DG CNECT and Spiros Athanasiou EOSC EU Node Contractors’ representative at the Athena Research Center provided valuable insights into the services and capabilities of the EOSC EU Node.

Key takeaways

The EOSC EU Node AMA session sparked a vibrant and productive dialogue between researchers and platform experts, offering valuable insights into both current functionalities and future developments. The open forum format allowed participants to address their most pressing concerns directly with the panel, resulting in a comprehensive discussion that touched on several critical aspects of the research infrastructure.

1. User access and credit management formed a central part of the conversation, with researchers seeking clarification on various operational details. The panel explained the automated credit renewal system that refreshes allocations every 90 days, ensuring continuous access to services. For more complex institutional access scenarios, the team emphasised the availability of dedicated helpdesk support to resolve any technical difficulties researchers might encounter.
2. Service discovery and usability emerged as another major focus area, reflecting the community's need for more intuitive navigation in the available services. Participants learned about recent improvements to the service catalogue interface. The team demonstrated how to efficiently locate and access essential tools like Jupyter Notebooks, while acknowledging the challenges posed by outdated or unmaintained EOSC-related services. In response to these concerns, the imminent release of detailed user guides was announced, which will help new users better understand how to utilise the platform.
3. The strong demand for training resources prompted a discussion about educational support. The experts outlined the comprehensive training initiative currently underway, to be released in the OpenPlato Learning Portal. This will offer structured learning paths combining video tutorials, interactive exercises to help researchers maximise their use of EOSC EU Node services.
4. Security protocols and data management questions were raised, prompting the panel to highlight that the EOSC EU Node is not yet certified for processing personal or sensitive data in its user space and assuring users that updates would be provided as the Node expands. The upcoming documentation will clarify the information on security levels and data usage.
5. Collaboration and Group Management features attracted significant attention, with many participants eager to understand how the platform supports team science. The panel explained that senior researchers are the primary users allowed to create groups, with the groups receiving credits that can be used collectively. This feature ensures that access to EOSC services can be shared within research teams.
6. General Platform Functionality and Future Roadmap. Attendees inquired about the platform’s evolution, including potential updates to the EOSC EU Node, the development of authentication options (like eduGAIN and other AAI logins), and the possibility of additional features like multi-language tutorials for citizen scientists. The panel assured that further developments were in the pipeline.

FAQs and key resources

Several important points raised during the session will be added to our FAQ section to provide further clarity and support to all users. We encourage everyone to stay tuned for updated resources, including step-by-step guides on using the EOSC EU Node services.

Our AMA session was a hit – Thanks to you!

The "Ask Me Anything" session demonstrated the research community's vibrant engagement with the EOSC EU Node's evolution. With the participants contributing thoughtful questions and perspectives, the discussion generated actionable insights that will directly inform upcoming platform improvements.

The session yielded three critical takeaways that will shape the EOSC EU Node roadmap:

• Strong demand for enhanced training resources
  Action: New video tutorials and guides launching in April!
• Valuable interface feedback from users
  Action: Smarter platform upgrades in development, directly incorporating insights.
• Robust discussions on security and collaboration
  Action: Another AMA session is already in the works. The conversation is just getting started.

A huge shoutout to the 116 participants who joined! Stay tuned for exciting developments ahead. The EOSC EU Node team is looking forward to continuing this journey of growth and innovation with the community.