The projects seek to to strengthen access, AI readiness and FAIR integration in EOSC.

CESSDA ERIC is pleased to announce its participation in three new Horizon Europe projects that will shape the future of access to research infrastructures, advance AI readiness in the social sciences and humanities, and strengthen FAIR integration within the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

Through its involvement in newly awarded projects ACCESS2ACCESS, AI4SOCIAL+, and CDIF4EOSC, CESSDA continues to reinforce its commitment to open science, cross-domain collaboration, and the development of sustainable, interoperable research infrastructures across Europe.

“We want to be part of the conversation about how European research infrastructures are accessed and used, and to help build the frameworks that make data discoverable and meaningful across disciplines,” says Martina Draščić Capar, Head of Projects at the CESSDA Main Office. “After nearly fifty years of building trusted, community‑driven infrastructure and working closely among national service providers on interoperability and metadata standards, CESSDA is well-positioned to bring advice on approaching new developments. Our expertise in fields such as AI, the social sciences and humanities will help to ensure that SSH data connects seamlessly into the wider EOSC ecosystem”

Martina Draščić Capar, Head of Projects at the CESSDA Main Office.

ACCESS2ACCESS: Towards a European “one-stop” access framework

The ACCESS2ACCESS project lays the foundations for a future European access framework that enables world-class research through open, integrated, and sustainable use of Research Infrastructures (RIs), led by Euro-BioImaging ERIC.

Across Europe, researchers often struggle to identify and utilise RI capabilities in a fragmented landscape. ACCESS2ACCESS directly addresses this challenge by working towards an access blueprint that is discoverable, inclusive, fair, efficient, scalable, and adaptable.

Building on lessons from previous initiatives, the project will:

• Build a robust evidence base by analysing national and European access schemes

• Capture stakeholder and user needs through consultations and policy dialogues

• Co-design governance, funding and policy models aligned with the RI Access Charter

• Develop a conceptual AI-assisted single-entry discovery model to harmonise the user journey

• Ensure GDPR- and AI-ethics-aligned oversight

CESSDA participates by contributing its expertise in cross-national data access as part of the stakeholders' forum. The project represents a major step toward a coherent European “one-stop” access model for research infrastructures.

The project has a budget of €1,392,255.50, and CESSDA will participate as an Associated partner. 

AI4SOCIAL+: Preparing the social sciences and humanities for AI adoption

AI is transforming science, but adoption across disciplines remains uneven. While life and physical sciences have already seen significant benefits, social sciences and humanities are only beginning to unlock AI’s potential.

AI4SOCIAL+ (AI Ready for Social Impact), led by Barcelona Supercomputing Centre aims to change this by advancing AI readiness and machine actionability within the EOSC ecosystem. The project ensures that AI adoption in research is aligned with open science values, trustworthy AI principles, and best practices in data stewardship.

AI4SOCIAL+ will:

• Develop the first common AI Readiness Framework for the open scientific research lifecycle

• Enhance machine actionability in federated data repositories

• Implement a user-friendly, federated and portable AI-ready infrastructure platform compatible with EOSC core services

• Establish a sustainable competence centre to drive long-term skills development and cultural change.

Through co-design and interdisciplinary collaboration, AI4SOCIAL+ will utilise real-world AI-assisted research use cases in various sciences to refine the framework and tools developed, and ensure that the transformative potential of AI reaches the social sciences and humanities.

CESSDA teams will participate in preparing tools for machine-actionability into AI-ready data repositories, as well as coordinating the design and development of the competence centre, leveraging on the already ongoing build-up of the Social Sciences and Humanities Competence Centre.

CESSDA Main Office participates as a Partner, with our Service Providers UKDS, GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, FORS, and Sikt. The project has a budget of €7,486,799.08. 

CDIF4EOSC: The next level of data interoperability 

The CDIF4EOSC project, led by CODATA, builds on the Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF) to develop a comprehensive and actionable playbook for FAIR integration within EOSC and beyond.

Moving beyond the original FAIR principles, CDIF4EOSC introduces a FAIR-by-design approach to the creation of FAIR digital objects. It integrates key concepts such as data quality, sensitive data management, trust, and data governance to ensure that FAIR integration works systemically across infrastructures.

The project will:

• Extend CDIF recommendations with profiles, guidelines and use-case-based examples

• Develop a CDIF4EOSC Playbook to support FAIR integration across EOSC Federation Nodes

• Create AI-assisted FAIRification tools and services

• Demonstrate integration with EOSC Nodes and the Common European Data Spaces

• Work closely with dedicated use cases to validate and implement project outputs

CDIF4EOSC will accelerate FAIRification at scale and strengthen interoperability across the European Research Area. The CESSDA team will make a significant contribution to engagement and dissemination, as well as provide use cases from its actual implementation of CDIF. 

The project has a budget of €7,999,941.25, and CESSDA Main Office will participate as a Partner, joined by UKDS and SIKT, as well as PROGEDO (CNRS) 

Strengthening CESSDA’s role in EOSC and the European Research Area

Together, these three projects reinforce CESSDA’s strategic role in improving discoverability and access to research infrastructures, supporting responsible and effective AI adoption, and advancing FAIR integration and interoperability across EOSC and SSHOC. By joining these projects, CESSDA continues to help shape a more integrated, accessible and future-ready European research ecosystem.

More information about each project, including consortium details and upcoming activities, will follow as the projects officially kick off.