ENVRI FIP workshops: Making the ENVRIs “FIP for purpose” through FAIR Convergence

FIP Workshops

Online, 25 January – 22 February 2022.

For this series of workshops, ENVRI has invited experts in FAIR implementation to guide us through the steps needed to create our own FAIR Implementation Profiles (FIPs). The experts will provide an overview of the variety of options and technologies that are available to address each of the FAIR principles. Then, using state of the art tools, they will assist us in producing a set of machine-readable FAIR Implementation Profiles that support and inform FAIRification efforts both within, as well as between, ENVRI subdomain communities.

A link will be provided shortly before the meeting.

Registration

You have to register yourself to receive the meeting link. Please register here

Speakers

Barbara Magagna, Eric Schultes

Who should attend

Data management specialists and IT developers from all ENVRI Community members, across subdomains and RI maturity levels, who are working on FAIRifying their data management and services.

Background

The FAIR principles describe how digital objects should be like, and behave, for them to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable by computer-driven processes. But the principles do not give any detailed recommendations on how to achieve FAIRness in practice – what technologies to apply, which metadata standards to follow, etc. Instead, it is expected that every research community of practice should make their own choices. This has led to a huge variety of technical solutions for what are actually common problems.

To bring some order and convergence, and at the same time allow comparisons between and within domains, the concept of FAIR Implementation Profiles was introduced. These profiles are visualized in the FAIR Convergence Matrix, a collaborative online resource containing machine-readable descriptions of all FAIR implementation choices made by a wide range of research communities. This is the approach already taken by ENVIR-FAIR in the first two rounds of assessing the status of FAIR implementation in the involved RIs. Since then, the FIP tool has been considerably improved and this three-day training event will help to make use of it in the third run.

The FIP workshops in a nutshell:

FIP introduction

25 January 2022 – 9:00-12:00 CET

The first workshop introduces to the FIP approach: The FIP ontology and some discussion on the FAIR enabling resources (technical solutions, implementation strategies, standards and models) which address each of the FAIR Guiding principles. The FIP Wizard is explained and its use is demonstrated with the compilation of a demo example.

Based on this introduction, the data stewards in charge for each of the RIs’ are asked to engage the FIP Wizard and build the FIP representing the implementation choices of their specific repository.

FIP consultation

28 January 2022 – 9:00-12:00 CET

The second workshop provides consulting around the issues encountered by the data stewards, providing guidance around the many considerations influencing implementation choices.

FAIR convergence

22 February, 2022 – 9:00-12:00 CET

The finalised FIPs are collected in a FAIR Convergence Matrix where each column represents a Community (or a RI) and each row a FAIR enabling resource deployed for specific FAIR principles. In this way potential alignments of FIPs from different Communities can be identified in order to optimise convergence on the reuse of existing Resources and interoperation between the FAIR data and services of each Community.

2nd RDA Info Share Webinar

RDA Info Share Webinar

Online, 12 January 2022.

The EOSC Future project is organising the second RDA info share webinar. This online event will highlight two new RDA Open Calls focusing on domain ambassadors and maintenance facilities. The information session will delve into the details of both calls as well as future RDA funding plans. Register now.

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) Open Calls aim to bring data initiatives closer to EOSC and provide EOSC with expertise, tools, best practices and standards from the global research data community. Throughout the entire EOSC Future project, the RDA’s €1 million mechanism will award over 65 grantees under 9 open calls.

On 12 January, EOSC Future and RDA will hold the second RDA info share webinar to discuss the second & third RDA Open Calls:

  • Open Call for Domain Ambassadors (Deadline: 15 February 202216.00 CET) invites disciplinary experts and groups to serve as ‘EOSC communicators’ within their respective communities 
  • Open Call for Maintenance Facilities (Deadline: 15 March 202216.00 CET) is tailored to individuals/teams who can help establish an EOSC maintenance facility drawing on RDA standards, tools and outputs.

Both calls are looking for applicants who can support EOSC – integrating services and expertise – but from distinct angles. Successful applicants will:

  • contribute know-how to EOSC, while also benefitting from its services
  • ensure EOSC has the necessary resources to provide its core services
  • provide long-term maintenance solutions supporting the broader EOSC community
  • leverage EOSC services in support of community-driven disciplinary development
  • raise awareness and wider engagement in the EOSC community.

Info Share Agenda

11.00 – 11.05          Welcome & EOSC Future – RDA Open Call Context

11.05 – 11.15          Open Call Presentations: ‘RDA Open Call for Domain Ambassadors’ & ‘RDA Open Call for Maintenance Facilities’

11.15 – 11.20          Next RDA Open Calls (planned until mid-2022)

11.20 – 11.45          Questions and Answers

Registration

This meeting is open to anyone interested in RDA and EOSC-related topics, whether RDA open call applicants, EOSC Future consortium members, or other interested parties. 

Interested? You can register here

You can also consult the EOSC Future Funding Platform for more information on both calls, the number of grantees and scope. 

EOSC Future is just one of the many ongoing high-level projects that LifeWatch ERIC is involved in.

Stakeholder meeting of AFRIMED EU project – Restoring macroalgal forests in the Mediterranean Sea: are we ready for scaling up?

AFRIMED

Hybrid: Naples, Italy + Online, 17 January 2022.

In the framework of AFRIMED project, the Business Club fosters interactions among stakeholders, to share information and solicit input regarding the recent advances on marine forests restoration. The final aim of the meeting is to share experiences, create a network of stakeholders and produce a shared vision of the needs and challenges of their conservation and restoration in the Mediterranean Sea.

New findings of the AFRIMED project and the current state of knowledge will be presented (see the 1st Stakeholder meeting here), along with more applied contributions from different stakeholders (contact us before 31 December if you want to contribute with a short presentation).

An active discussion and common work will allow the updating of the perceptions, interests and priorities of the participants, focussing on knowledge gaps, management needs, Blue Economy opportunities and particular challenges linked to scaling up the actions of macroalgal forests restoration in the Mediterranean Sea.

The meeting will follow a hybrid format, being held in presence at the Stazione Zoologica Anton DohrnNaples, Italy, and online.

Attendance is free, but registration is required.

Draft agenda
17 January afternoon (14:00-18:00)
– Introduction to the meeting
– Results achieved in AFRIMED
– Presentations of stakeholders (experiences, ideas, needs and challenges) – Discussion
– Conclusions of the meeting
– Social dinner

Website: afrimed-project.eu
Contact: afrimedbusinessclub@gmail.com

Algal Forest Restoration In the MEDiterranean Sea (AFRIMED)

Grant agreement n. EASME/EMFF/2017/1.2.1.12/S4/01/SI2.789059

EGERIC Report and Recommendations

EGERIC
Presentation and discussion with the ERIC Forum community

Online, 17 January 2021. EGERIC (the Commission expert group to assess the implementation of the ERIC Regulation and identify best practices and potential recommendations) will present its Report and Recommendations to the ERIC Forum community on 17 January 2022.
The online session will aim to discuss and collect the ERIC Forum community’s feedback on the report, in preparation for the ERIC Forum Meeting on 26–27 January 2022, where the key conclusions will be presented.

More information about the event’s registration will be available soon.

About the mission of the EGERIC:

The expert group’s mission was to provide a report on the implementation of the ERIC Regulation, including independent advice and recommendations on specific issues highlighted by the Council. The group addressed the specific technical issues highlighted by the Council, which affect the implementation of the ERIC Regulation, notably concerning “an acceptable solution for the VAT exemption for in-kind contributions, to stimulate investments in ERICs and other ESFRI Roadmap Infrastructures, to increase transnational and open access to European Research Infrastructures and to enhance their financial sustainability”.

Training event: I-ADOPT Framework for FAIR variables and metadata description

I-ADOPT

Online, 17 & 31 March 2022.

What is inside your RI’s data? And how easy is it for your end users to find out? 

To make good scientific use of data, it is necessary to be absolutely clear on what has been measured or calculated. Just labelling table columns with “SWC_1_1” or “P_sal” is in many cases not precise enough, even for people familiar with your subdomain. 

The RDA I-ADOPT framework responds to this requirement offering a way to compile clear and unambiguous definitions of variables in a standardised way. It helps you to describe concepts at different levels, ranging from overarching classes (“soil composition”) down to the very detailed (“soil water content, measured in a mineral soil matrix below root depth”).  You can create and register your own definitions, or reuse those of others, and once in place use them to tag your RI’s datasets. 

The formalised descriptions empower the FAIR principles in many ways, for example by facilitating searches across data portals (F+A) and enabling machine-driven interpretation and use of data and metadata (I+R). 

ENVRI-FAIR WP6 is organising two training events that will help you to learn more about the I-ADOPT framework and the benefit this can generate for your RI.

The training series has the potential to be extended with more in-depth sessions to be organised at a later stage.

When?

The training events will take place on the following dates:

  • Thursday 17 March 14-17:30 CET
  • Thursday 31 March 14-17:30 CEST

Why?

The training introduces the concept of I-Adopt, offers opportunities to experiment with real live examples from daily practice and to discuss issues related to these experiments and receive advice on your approach. After the training, participants will be able to discuss the main elements of the I-Adopt framework, evaluate its usefulness in their RI and, if interested, participate actively in the I-ADOPT discussions under github or in the I-ADOPT Task Group under the auspices of the RDA VSSIG (Vocabulary Services Interest Group); the follow-up group to gain further knowledge and contribute to the maturing of the concept. 

Who?

This training could benefit all data managers in RIs that work on vocabularies/semantics or want to have a more in-depth knowledge of this topic. It is also suitable for researchers working with observation data to better define their data analysis needs towards RIs, for instance.

How?

The training is structured around three components:

  1. Introductory session – explanation of the concept and demonstration through examples. During the session, participants will practice to try out the concept and discuss first outcomes. A mix of plenary lectures, breakout sessions with exercises, and plenary feedback for a duration of 3 hours;
  2. In between the first and the second session, participants will be allowed ample time to experiment themselves with the I-ADOPT framework to test it on their own variables. Guidelines and Google sheets will be provided to guide these experiments;
  3. Discussion session – a second 3-hour virtual event to discuss issues related to the variable modelling, solve problems and give advice in the first 2 hours. The last hour will be used to discuss I-ADOPT in a bigger context. How should this be embedded in daily practice of research and Research Infrastructures, how can it build bridges between disciplines, what services are needed to facilitate the I-ADOPT approach, how does it relate to other areas like sensor measurements, provenance, how it can enrich the catalogues of description patterns. 

The main trainer is Barbara Magagna (Umweltbundesambt, eLTER), supported by Gwen Moncoiffé (British Oceanographic Data Centre) and Lucia Vaira (LifeWatch ERIC).

On the I-ADOPT Initiative…

The aim of the I-ADOPT initiative is to produce an Interoperability Framework, co-developed by a wide community of terminology experts, for representing observable properties. This effort will have a strong focus on observable properties in environmental research because it leverages existing efforts to accurately encode what was measured, observed, derived, or computed in relation to the earth systems[1].

The framework has been developed by an RDA working group, dedicated to this topic. 

The aim is to create FAIRer observable property terminologies, the global effectiveness of tools operating upon them will be improved and their impact increased. This will thus strengthen existing collaborations and build new connections between terminology developers and providers, disciplinary experts from across the various domains of Earth and Environmental Science, and representatives of scientific data user groups[2].

How to register

Please register your online attendance using this form.


[1] RDA I-Adopt WG case statement

[2] RDA I-Adopt WG description

Green transition for competitive and sustainable research infrastructures

Green Transition

Virtual, 1 December 2021. Join the Green transition for competitive and sustainable research infrastructures event held virtually on the 1 December 2021, 11:30 -13.00 CET / 12:30 – 14:00 EET.  

Climate change and environmental degradation are affecting all of us, and therefore increased focus is being placed on public policies and investments fostering sustainable growth and building on technological developments especially in the area of green ICT and energy efficiency.

Research infrastructures play a key role in this context, as drivers through scientific discoveries and scientific advances that address societal challenges, such as climate change, and as pioneers of the green transition through the innovative technologies, green ICT and other sustainable solutions they adopt for their own operations. 

With this event we aim to raise awareness, and encourage an exchange on the challenges and the success stories of green transition especially for research infrastructures. 

Through a series of talks and panel debate, speakers and participants will reflect on and canvass the issues, opportunities and best practices facilitating green transition, how to adopt a more coordinated approach across research infrastructures landscape and what should be key priorities in terms of investments and scientific agendas for RIs in order to be competitive and sustainable on the longer term.

Speakers: 

Jean-Eric Paquet – Director-General, European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)

Jana Kolar – Executive Director, CERIC – ERIC and newly elected ESFRI chair 

with Opening remarks by Kimmo Koski, CEO,  CSC – IT Center for Science  

Joining for the panel discussion:
Christos Arvanitidis – Lifewatch ERIC CEO
Lilli Freda – EPOS ERIC Executive director / INGV
Markku Kulmala – INAR Executive Committee Chair / University of Helsinki
Sverre Quale – ECCSEL ERIC Director

Registration for the event is open at https://cscfi.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_n3aFs6ahR5uePsy1B62v7Q

ESOF 2022

ESOF 2022

Leiden, The Netherlands, 13–16 July 2022. The city of Leiden will be hosting the 10th edition of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) and the European City of Science. The Leiden University, the Municipality of Leiden, Leiden University of Applied Sciences, and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) collaborate to organise the conference and the events all over the year in Leiden.

The main objective of ESOF2022 is to strengthen the trust in the various ways society is influenced by science and, on the other hand, how science is influenced by choices, dilemmas and responsibilities that arise in society. 

ESOF 2022 will be about the creation of a sense of urgency in scientists, policy makers, media, and the general public to deliberate more actively on science. ESOF2022 in Leiden will reinforce the societal dimension of European research-recognizing that citizen engagement is intrinsic to the support of science and to appreciate the benefits of science for the economy and quality of life.

ESOF2022 conference with the theme “Crossing the borders, engaged science, resilient society” is embedded in a 365-day programme of Leiden European City of Science where we will celebrate arts, science, and technology, targeted to reach out to the general public and truly connect science with society.

Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference

Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference

Utrecht, The Netherlands, 18–20 May 2022. The Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference (IBSBC) showcases the latest in integrative structural biology from leading scientists across the world.

The 5th Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference will be held at Utrecht in the Netherlands, from 19–20 May 2022. The theme of the 2022 conference is: Changes in Structural Biology: Challenges in Studying Dynamics.

The conference will explore new cutting-edge developments in structural biology, including the emerging methods and technologies that are helping scientists to decipher complex biomolecular dynamics.

Abstract Submission

All conference registrants are eligible to present a poster on integrative structural biology at IBSBC2022.

Additionally, the Scientific Organising Committee will invite a small number of the submitted abstracts for an oral presentation.

To guarantee your poster presentation, simply submit an abstract during registration.

Abstract specification: maximum one A4 page, including the title, author(s) and author affiliation(s), and up to one image.

Poster specification: A0 size, portrait orientation.

The deadline for abstract submission is 1 March 2022.

Submit your abstract here

Registration

Registration for the Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference 2022 is open.

€100 for participants from Instruct Member Countries and Organisations

€450 for participants from non-Instruct Member Countries or Organisations 

The registration fee covers conference attendance, refreshments including lunch and gala dinner.

The deadline for registration is 1 April 2022.

Register here