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May 2026
21 May 2026, 9:55
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Čeština
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Dear readers,
In the Czech environment, new repositories, services, metadata standards, and research data management tools are rapidly emerging, while an increasing number of disciplines are beginning to address how FAIR principles can be integrated into everyday research practice. At the same time, however, the same question repeatedly arises throughout the interviews and articles featured in this issue: how can we ensure that researchers actually use these new infrastructures and services and perceive them as a meaningful part of their work?
Alongside technology and infrastructure development, this edition of the newsletter, therefore, also explores broader issues such as trust, motivation, institutional support, and changes to established research practices. To a large extent, the future shape of Open Science in the Czech environment will depend on how successfully these new services are connected to researchers’ everyday reality.
Explore the topics currently shaping the future of Open Science and research data management in the Czech Republic.
The EOSC CZ Team
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Next week marks the launch conference of the Open Science II project, taking place on 25–26 May 2026 at Charles University. The event will open discussions on research data, repositories, Open Science, and the development of the National Data Infrastructure in the Czech Republic. The programme will feature presentations, the sharing of practical experience, and discussions on how to create trustworthy and sustainable services for the research community. Speakers will include Jana Klánová, Jan Hajič, Jiří Vondrášek, Věra Franková, and others.
Although the in-person capacity of the conference has already been reached, online registration remains open. Join the discussion on the future direction of Open Science in the Czech environment and follow the key topics that will shape research data management in the years to come.
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The Czech Republic has taken another step towards the European forefront of Open Science and research data management. In April, the EOSC CZ Node, the Czech national node, was approved as part of the second wave of building the EOSC Federation – a European network connecting scientific services, data, and digital infrastructures across Europe. For Czech researchers, this will mean easier access to tools, computing capacities, and secure data sharing. The Czech node builds on the services of e-INFRA CZ and is gradually integrating additional national repositories, platforms, and expert teams into a shared European environment.
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The spring EOSC CZ Networking events in Prague and Pilsen continued the regular gatherings of professionals involved in research data management in the Czech Republic. The programme of both events combined a focus on practical data management, the sharing of experience, and the establishment of individual collaborations across institutions. Once again, the meetings demonstrated that, alongside services, tools, and infrastructure, a vibrant community of experts from across the research landscape is also essential for the Open Science development.
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Building infrastructure is only part of the story. The real challenge is adoption
Although an extensive infrastructure for storing, sharing, and managing research data is being developed in the Czech Republic, most researchers still keep their data primarily on personal computers or external drives, and more than half of researchers are not familiar with EOSC at all. A new article in ERCIM News describes how EOSC CZ is building a national infrastructure connecting repositories, services, and support for researchers across disciplines. At the same time, it shows that the future of Open Science will depend not only on technology but also on trust in available services and willingness to change established research practices.
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In an interview for Vědavýzkum.cz, Martin Svoboda discusses the role of the CARDS project in building a shared infrastructure for Open Science in the Czech Republic. The interview also opens a broader discussion on why technical infrastructure alone is not enough and highlights the crucial role that researchers’ trust, motivation to share data, and research assessment systems will play in the future of Open Science.
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The second part of the series dedicated to the Data Steward Ship (DSW) tool takes a closer look at the knowledge models, questionnaires, and output templates that together determine how users’ responses are transformed into a structured Data Management Plan. The article also presents different deployment options for DSW – from the national instance within the National Repository Platform, through the ELIXIR infrastructure, to custom or commercial solutions such as FAIR Wizard.
This episode is intended primarily for data stewards, service managers, and other users who wish to gain a better understanding of the DSW architecture and its use in research data management at both project and institutional levels.
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How can artificial intelligence help make better use of valuable synchrotron measurement time? And why are high-quality metadata and FAIR principles important even in materials physics? In an interview with Ridha Eddhib from the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, we explore topics ranging from machine learning and photoemission spectroscopy to the broader issue of research data management. Following the EOSC CZ Networking event in Pilsen, the interview highlights that modern science depends not only on new technologies and infrastructure but also on how researchers work with data, share it, and prepare it for further reuse.
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Kristýna Zychová coordinates Open Science at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and is also involved in national initiatives at the Technology Centre Prague. In March this year, she co-organised Prague EOSC CZ Networking – an event that deliberately focused on hands-on workshops and attracted researchers who do not usually attend such events. In the interview, she discusses why implementing Open Science is primarily about people, how a support network is being built across faculties at the university, and why Czech science is facing a crucial systemic decision.
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The EOSC Symposium Programme Committee has launched an open call to contribute to the development of the 2026 programme. Until 1 June 2026, individuals, teams, organisations, projects, and initiatives can propose topics, discussion points, and potential speakers for the event’s main programme. The call offers an opportunity to influence the shape of one of Europe’s leading events dedicated to EOSC and Open Science.
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The ERA Act and the debate on the future of European research
The proposed ERA Act could significantly influence the conditions for research and innovation in Europe. Its aim is to remove barriers preventing the free movement of knowledge, researchers, and research outcomes across European countries. Universities, research organisations, and research infrastructures are actively contributing to discussions on its future shape, emphasising the need for stable funding, better coordination of national policies, protection of academic freedom, support for researcher mobility, and Open Science. The discussion also touches upon issues related to Open Science, interoperability, and the sharing of research data – topics closely linked to the development of EOSC and the wider European ecosystem of research infrastructures.
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We invite you to the online training session called DMP – Why me??? (for researchers), taking place on 22 May at 9 am. The session will introduce the Data Management Plan (DMP) – what it looks like, why it is useful, and how to complete it.
The Cybersecurity and resilience against foreign influence operations in EOSC CZ webinar, taking place on 28 May at 11 am, will focus on currently relevant and widely discussed topics. You may also submit your questions to the lecturer in advance via the registration form.
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Below, we also bring you additional recommendations for international training events.
All our training courses are available on the EOSC CZ Training Centre website. If you've missed any sessions, you can access the recordings of completed training events on our YouTube EOSC Czech Republic channel.
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Data Steward School 2026
Take part in the international Data Steward School 2026 (DSS 2026), organised by colleagues from the University of Silesia in Katowice, and expand your practical knowledge of research data management. This five-day course will focus on research data management, Open Science, data security, and the use of digital tools and AI in research. It combines in-person teaching, online specialisation, and individual mentoring delivered by experts. The course is primarily intended for data stewards, librarians, staff of research institutions, PhD candidates, and researchers. Registration for in-person participation (6–10 July 2026) is open until 5 June 2026.
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The aim of the EOSC Academy is to support the EOSC Federation development and the enrolment of Nodes through training activities and capacity building. The platform provides access to educational materials covering topics ranging from an initial understanding of the federation´s purpose to onboarding services and Nodes operating.
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Tips on further training
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Fri 29 May
Participants in the EOSC Track webinar will discuss the opportunities, risks, and principles associated with the use of Open Science indicators in policymaking and in practice.
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Mon 1 Jun
The EOSC Academy webinar will provide guidance on how to use the EOSC Federation Handbook to build nodes and join the EOSC Federation. The follow-up online session 2 will take place on 15 June, and online session 3 on 22 June.
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Wed 17 Jun
As part of the EGI Federation webinar, Zdeněk Šustr from CESNET will present updates to the EGI Notebook service – an environment for accessing data, performing analyses, and sharing results.
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Research data, data policies, and the transformation of research assessment will be the main themes of the one-day Open Science conference Re:vision of Science, which will take place on 11 June 2026 at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. The programme will combine practical experience from Czech research institutes with international perspectives provided by experts from the European Open Science Cloud and Helmholtz Association. The morning session will be held in Czech and will focus on data management and data infrastructures, while the afternoon programme, conducted in English, will address the future of research assessment.
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