EOSC-Beyond Factsheet - NI4OS-Europe Pilot Node

Pilot Node Profile NI4OS-Europe is a research community in Southeastern Europe that provides regional resources essential for researchers in Climate Science, Life Science, Digital Cultural Heritage, and Computational Physics. In EOSC Beyond, its main goal is to improve and redeploy existing Node Core services to stay aligned with the latest developments in EOSC. Pilot Exchange Services • AAI {production} • Helpdesk {production} • Service Catalogue {beta} • Front Office {beta} NI4OS-Europe Pilot Node Connecting research resources from South Eastern Europe to the EOSC FACTSHEET FOR: Pilot Core Services In this project phase, our goal was to integrate a selection of services for our demo use case. We added the following services to the catalogue: • PARADOX cluster (compute) • FINKI Cloud (compute) • IPB Code repository service (repository) • Gaussian API service (thematic) • Schrödinger API service (thematic) • NI4OS-Europe repository service (repository) These services are accessible via the catalogue, allowing researchers to test them according to the procedures and policies outlined during onboarding. User story at-a-glance A complete research workflow that integrates multiple services into a seamless process, from development to analysis. Researchers start by setting up a development environment to create and manage simulations, using resources like the PARADOX HPC cluster for low-level programming or FINKI Cloud for high-level languages, along with a code repository for version control. Next, they prepare input datasets, either by generating them via specialized APIs like Gaussian or Schrödinger, or retrieving them from the NI4OS-Europe repository service. They then configure the simulation parameters through a configuration file that defines how the experiment will run. After that, the workflow includes testing and benchmarking in a production-like environment using Cloud resources, followed by full production runs on HPC systems to generate the final datasets. In the final stage, researchers analyze the results using cloud-based tools. EOSC Beyond Core Innovation Sandbox A pre-production environment where a large range of users, from researchers to node operators, can test the latest developments of the EOSC core. It acts as a Federator Node offering Core Federating Capabilities for the Pilot Nodes. Researchers; Research communities; Service providers; Content providers; National research infrastructures; National EOSC nodes; National Research and Education Networks; Policy makers and funding bodies; EOSC governance and coordination bodies; SMEs and innovation actors Useful Links Integrated Core Federating Capabilities from the Core Innovation Sandbox • Node Registry • AAI Integrated services from other Pilot Nodes • CESSDA Resource Catalogue NI4OS Pilot Node: https://www.eosc-beyond.eu/pilot/ni4os NI4OS-Europe Web page: https://ni4os.e NI4OS-Europe Front Office: https://catalogue.ni4os.eu NI4OS-Europe Catalogue: https://cat.ni4os.eu NI4OS-Europe Helpdesk: https://helpdesk.ni4os.eu About EOSC Beyond www.eosc-beyond.eu The ambition of EOSC Beyond is to support the growth of the EOSC in terms of integrated providers and active users by providing new Core technical solutions that allow developers of scientific application environments to easily compose a diverse portfolio of EOSC Resources, offering them as integrated capabilities to researchers. CC BY 4.0 EOSC Beyond is funded by the European Union Grant Agreement Number 101131875 Value of the Node piloting activities The value of the NI4OS-Europe pilot node lies in its demonstration of how national and regional infrastructures can be effectively federated and integrated into the EOSC through a common technical and governance framework. It provided a fully operational prototype of an EOSC-compatible node that combined key core services - AAI, Helpdesk, Service Catalogue, and Front Office - enabling seamless access, support, and discovery of services across the region. This proved the feasibility of deploying EOSC-compliant services within diverse national contexts and offered installation guides, interoperability models, and best practices for other countries to replicate. By deploying core services such as AAI, Helpdesk, Service Catalogue, and Front Office and connecting them with sandbox components, NI4OS-Europe provided service access to all Pilot nodes’ users. Users from other pilot nodes can utilize their institutional credentials to access the NI4OS-Europe Front Office, Catalogue, and Helpdesk. Additional integration with the CESSDA node was made possible through the Node Registry sandbox component, permitting not only service access but also the exchange of information about services. This enabled nodes to present more services within their own catalogs. Beyond technology, the pilot created cross-border collaboration and capacity building, connecting researchers, service providers, and policymakers across Southeastern Europe. It helped national stakeholders understand how to structure their EOSC nodes, implement FAIR and open-science principles, and align with European policies. Next steps The workflow should be expanded to include registering created datasets in one of the repositories already linked to the NI4OS-Europe catalog, and to develop a visualization service using existing cloud resources. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17485913 NI4OS-Europe Node integrations with the Core Innovation Sandox and other Pilot Nodes The catalog's resources need to be broadened by adding new services and involving more user communities. This will be taken care of in the future.