The Fourth National Tripartite EOSC Meeting, titled “All Faces of Open Science”, was held as part of the SRCE DEI 2026 conference. The event gathered more than 70 participants and focused on strengthening the implementation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) in Croatia and promoting open science practices.
The two-part thematic block “All Faces of Open Science” featured presentations by:
- Ana Teresa Maia Mota (European Commission)
- Prof. Dr. Klaus Tochtermann (EOSC Association)
- Dr. sc. Hrvoje Meštrić (Ministry of Science, Education and Youth)
- Draženko Celjak (SRCE)
Ana Teresa Maia Mota explained the role of the EOSC Association and EOSC Nodes, highlighting benefits such as greater visibility, FAIR principles, and connectivity. She presented future funding plans for the EOSC Association under the upcoming FP10 framework programme and congratulated SRCE and the Croatian community on the successful application for the establishment of a national EOSC Node.
Prof. Dr. Klaus Tochtermann, President of the EOSC Association, joined online and gave an overview of the Association’s activities, with emphasis on newly approved national and thematic nodes. He also outlined the strategic priorities for 2026, focusing on building a sustainable operational structure, supporting the transition to production, and enabling continuous growth.
Dr. sc. Hrvoje Meštrić presented the Croatian Open Science Plan, adopted by the Ministry in May 2025, and highlighted the recommendations and activities it includes. He emphasized that funding for the Plan’s implementation has been secured through programme contracts signed with all Croatian universities, and that open science is now one of the national criteria for universities, science, and arts.
Draženko Celjak from SRCE presented an overview of open science activities in the past year based on data collected from members of the HR OOZ Initiative. He underlined the importance of evaluating the implementation of open science and open education within the new national criteria. He also presented Croatia’s successful application for a national EOSC Node and two use cases through which the Croatian node will contribute to strengthening the EOSC Federation in research data and software management.
The second part of the thematic block featured presentations on various practical aspects of open science:
- Lovorka Čaja (Clinical Hospital Dubrava) and Jelena Viličić (Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb) presented an analysis of the quality of 60 Data Management Plans (DMPs) published in the DABAR repository between 2023 and 2025.
- Iva Grabarić Andonovski (Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb) spoke about the quality and sustainability of diamond open access journals according to the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS), including a self-assessment of the journal Food Technology and Biotechnology.
- Mr. sc. Alisa Martek (National and University Library in Zagreb) presented citizen science projects carried out by the NSK, involving pupils, students, and the general public.
The National Tripartite EOSC Meeting held at the SRCE DEI 2026 conference once again confirmed Croatia’s and SRCE’s strong commitment to the development of EOSC and open science, with visible progress in national policies and their implementation.
