Terms used to describe the European Open Science Cloud, the EOSC Federation, EOSC Nodes, research infrastructures, e-infrastructures, federating capabilities, catalogues, access modes and digital research environments.
This glossary explains how research facilities, data infrastructures, computing systems, repositories and digital services can be organised and connected to support cross-border and cross-disciplinary research.
It focuses on infrastructure concepts, digital resources and technical relationships. Organisational roles, governance responsibilities and data support functions are covered in a separate glossary topic.
Resource type: Thematic glossary
Primary audience: Researchers, data stewards, infrastructure managers, service providers and research support staff
Coverage: EOSC, EOSC Federation, EOSC Nodes, research infrastructures, digital and e-infrastructures, catalogues, computing resources, access modes and federating capabilities
Terminological basis: EOSC Federation Handbook, European Commission research infrastructure terminology and ESFRI terminology
Last reviewed: July 2026
Research infrastructures provide facilities, instruments, collections, data, computing capacity, communication networks, expertise and services that research communities need to conduct research and foster innovation.
EOSC does not replace these infrastructures or move all research resources into one central system. It connects selected digital resources and services through a federation of autonomous EOSC Nodes.
The Nodes retain responsibility for their own platforms and resources while using shared catalogues, authentication arrangements, monitoring, interoperability guidelines and other federating capabilities.
Important: EOSC is not a single central cloud or one European data centre. It is a federated environment that connects resources operated by different organisations, countries, infrastructures and scientific communities.
EOSC connects independently operated infrastructures and services instead of concentrating all resources within one central platform.
Each EOSC Node operates its own platform, resources and services while complying with common Federation requirements and interoperability arrangements.
Federating capabilities connect the Nodes through functions such as authentication, catalogues, monitoring, accounting and user support.
Nodes may provide data, software, repositories, computing services, workflows, training resources and other assets used in research.
A geographically concentrated facility, such as a laboratory, observatory, accelerator, telescope or major experimental installation.
A coordinated infrastructure whose facilities, instruments, data centres or national nodes are located in several organisations or countries.
An infrastructure primarily accessed through digital environments, catalogues, databases, software platforms or virtual research environments.
Computing, storage, networking, data-management and software components that support digital research services and data-intensive workflows.
An organisation operates and maintains a repository, dataset, software platform, computing service, workflow or another research resource.
The resource is assessed, described and integrated into an appropriate EOSC Node according to the Node's onboarding and access policies.
The Node makes the selected resource discoverable and accessible as part of the resources it contributes to the EOSC Federation.
Users can discover or access the resource through connected catalogues, federated authentication and other shared EOSC capabilities.
Select a letter to move to the corresponding glossary section.
The way in which a user accesses a research infrastructure, facility, instrument, dataset, computing environment or related service. Access may be physical, remote or virtual and may be subject to scientific, technical, legal, security or capacity-related conditions.
See also: Remote access, Transnational access, Virtual access.
A set of technologies, policies and organisational arrangements used to verify a user's identity and determine which resources or services that user is permitted to access.
In a federated environment, AAI can allow users to access services operated by different organisations through recognised institutional or community identities.
See also: Federating capability, EOSC Node.
An organisation or consortium that has been accepted to proceed through the organisational, legal and technical preparation required for participation in the EOSC Federation.
Candidate status indicates that the proposed Node is undergoing enrolment and readiness activities. It does not by itself mean that the Node is already fully integrated or operating in production as part of the Federation.
See also: EOSC Node, Onboarding.
A model for providing configurable computing resources through a network when they are needed. These resources may include virtual machines, storage, databases, software platforms and application services.
Cloud computing is one component that may support an EOSC Node or a research infrastructure. EOSC itself, however, is not one central cloud platform.
See also: Compute resource, Digital infrastructure, e-Infrastructure.
Processing capacity made available for running calculations, simulations, data analysis, machine-learning tasks or research workflows.
A compute resource may include processors, accelerators, virtual machines, cloud instances, clusters, high-performance computing systems or high-throughput computing environments.
See also: High-performance computing, High-throughput computing, Storage resource.
The coordinated technical and organisational environment used to collect, store, describe, preserve, process, publish, discover and provide access to data.
A data infrastructure may combine repositories, catalogues, metadata services, persistent identifiers, storage systems, access controls, preservation services, standards, policies and specialist support.
Do not confuse with: a dataset. A dataset is a research object, whereas a data infrastructure provides the systems and services used to manage datasets.
A broad term for the computing, storage, networking, software, identity, data-management and information systems that enable digital activities.
In research, digital infrastructure can support data-intensive science, collaboration, remote access, reproducible workflows and the publication and reuse of digital research objects.
See also: Data infrastructure, e-Infrastructure.
A research infrastructure whose facilities, instruments, collections, data centres or national components are located at multiple sites but operate within a coordinated organisational and service framework.
A distributed infrastructure normally has common governance, coordinated access arrangements and a shared scientific or technical programme, even though its components remain hosted by different organisations or countries.
See also: Research infrastructure, Single-site research infrastructure .
A digital research infrastructure that provides network, computing, storage, data-management, software or authentication services to researchers and research organisations.
e-Infrastructures commonly support distributed computing, cloud services, high-performance computing, data transfer, identity federation and access to digital research resources.
See also: Digital infrastructure, Infrastructure service.
A European initiative to provide researchers and innovators with an open, trusted and multidisciplinary environment in which they can publish, find, access, combine and reuse research data, software, tools and services.
EOSC aims to support a Web of FAIR Data and Services and is being implemented as a federated system of systems rather than as one centralised cloud or data centre.
See also: EOSC Federation, EOSC Node.
The first operational European-level Node of the EOSC Federation, established under the responsibility of the European Commission.
It provides researchers with access to research outputs and managed digital services and serves as a technical and administrative reference for the development and interconnection of additional EOSC Nodes.
See also: EOSC Node, EOSC Node Architecture.
The collective set of services, datasets and other research products that autonomous EOSC Nodes make accessible through the EOSC Federation.
The EOSC Exchange is formed from the contributions of individual Nodes. It should therefore be understood as a federated collection rather than as the resources of one central service provider.
See also: Node Exchange, EOSC Federation resource .
A network of autonomous EOSC Nodes that connect selected resources and services through common policies, interfaces and Federation-wide capabilities.
Each Node retains responsibility for its own governance, platform and resources while cooperating with other Nodes to provide consistent, interoperable and trustworthy access across organisational, disciplinary and national boundaries.
See also: Federation, Federating capability, EOSC Node.
A research resource that a provider makes available to the EOSC Federation through one or more EOSC Nodes.
Once integrated into a Node and included in its Node Exchange, the resource can contribute to the collective EOSC Exchange, subject to its access conditions and the policies of the participating Node.
See also: Research resource, Resource provider, Onboarding.
An extensible framework of principles and guidelines used to support the interoperability and composability of resources and services across the EOSC Federation.
It provides a common reference for technical interfaces, metadata, standards and practices while allowing Nodes and providers to use different local implementations that comply with the applicable interoperability guidelines.
See also: Interoperability guideline , EOSC Node Architecture.
An autonomous organisational and technical component of the EOSC Federation, operated by a legally represented organisation or consortium.
A Node operates a platform, provides or integrates research resources, implements the required Node capabilities and connects selected services to Federation-wide capabilities in accordance with EOSC policies and interoperability requirements.
An EOSC Node may represent a country, region, scientific domain, research infrastructure, e-infrastructure or another recognised research community.
See also: Node capability, Node Exchange, Thematic EOSC Node.
A reference architecture describing the functions, service groups and interfaces that may be implemented by an EOSC Node.
It distinguishes Node Core Capabilities, Node Generic Capabilities, research resources, the Node Exchange and services that enable or participate in Federating Capabilities.
The architecture specifies what functions and interfaces are needed without requiring every Node to use the same software products or internal technical implementation.
See also: Node Core Capability, Node Generic Capability .
A legal form established under European Union law to facilitate the creation and operation of research infrastructures of European interest.
ERIC is an organisational and legal status. It is not a type of scientific instrument, digital platform or EOSC Node, although an ERIC may operate a distributed research infrastructure and may contribute resources to EOSC.
Do not confuse with: ESFRI. ESFRI is a strategic policy forum, whereas ERIC is a legal form.
A European strategic forum that supports coherent policy-making, priority setting and long-term planning for research infrastructures of pan-European importance.
ESFRI develops and updates the ESFRI Roadmap and monitors the development of recognised ESFRI Projects and ESFRI Landmarks.
See also: ESFRI Roadmap, ESFRI Project, ESFRI Landmark.
A research infrastructure included in the ESFRI Roadmap that has reached implementation or an advanced stage of implementation and is recognised as a major element of the European Research Area infrastructure landscape.
Landmark status indicates strategic maturity and European relevance, but does not mean that the infrastructure is owned or directly operated by ESFRI.
See also: ESFRI Project, ESFRI Roadmap.
A proposed or developing research infrastructure selected for its scientific excellence, strategic relevance and implementation maturity and included in the ESFRI Roadmap to support its timely development.
An ESFRI Project may later progress towards operation and possible recognition as an ESFRI Landmark.
See also: ESFRI Landmark, ESFRI Roadmap.
A strategic planning instrument that identifies major new research infrastructures and significant upgrades considered important for European research over a long-term horizon.
The Roadmap includes ESFRI Projects and ESFRI Landmarks. Inclusion is a strategic recognition and does not automatically establish a legal entity or provide all funding required for implementation.
A catalogue that brings together or connects resource descriptions maintained by multiple autonomous organisations, infrastructures or Nodes.
The contributing organisations retain responsibility for their local resources and metadata, while common interfaces, metadata mappings or harvesting mechanisms enable users to search across the distributed collections.
See also: Resource catalogue, Service catalogue.
A system-level function delivered collaboratively by more than one EOSC Node for the benefit of the EOSC Federation as a whole.
Examples may include federated authentication, resource discovery, service monitoring, accounting, helpdesk coordination or other shared functions that enable resources and services to work across Node boundaries.
A Federating Capability may be enabled by one or several Nodes, while other Nodes participate by connecting compatible local services.
See also: Federating service, Node capability.
A service that enables or participates in a Federating Capability by exposing the interfaces required for interaction with services operated by other EOSC Nodes.
Federating Services implement practical technical functions, whereas a Federating Capability describes the broader Federation-wide function achieved through one or more such services.
See also: Federating capability, Interoperability guideline .
An arrangement in which autonomous organisations or systems cooperate through agreed rules, responsibilities, interfaces and trust mechanisms while retaining control over their own internal operations and resources.
In EOSC, federation makes it possible to connect independently operated infrastructures without merging them into one central organisation or technical platform.
See also: EOSC Federation.
The use of powerful computing systems to perform complex or data-intensive calculations that require substantial processing capacity, memory, high-speed interconnection or specialised accelerators.
HPC commonly supports large simulations, numerical modelling, artificial intelligence, materials research, climate modelling and other computationally demanding research.
See also: Compute resource, High-throughput computing.
A computing approach designed to complete a large number of independent or loosely coupled tasks over a sustained period.
HTC emphasises the total volume of completed work, whereas HPC often emphasises the speed and scale of one tightly coupled computation.
See also: High-performance computing, Compute resource.
A service that provides or manages foundational technical capacity such as computing, storage, networking, virtual machines, data transfer, platform hosting, authentication or system monitoring.
Infrastructure services may support research applications and workflows without themselves being specific to one scientific discipline.
See also: Research infrastructure service , Node Generic Capability .
A documented set of technical or semantic instructions that explains how resources, services or Nodes should exchange information and interact consistently.
An interoperability guideline may define required interfaces, protocols, metadata elements, identifiers, controlled vocabularies, mappings, security arrangements or testing procedures.
Within EOSC, such guidelines operationalise parts of the EOSC Interoperability Framework.
See also: EOSC Interoperability Framework .
A function or task implemented by one or more services within a particular EOSC Node.
A Node Capability primarily serves the operation or users of that Node. When a capability is extended and delivered collaboratively for the whole Federation, it becomes a Federating Capability.
See also: Federating capability, Node Core Capability.
A capability required to support the basic operation, management and connection of an EOSC Node.
Core capabilities may cover functions such as authentication and authorisation, resource cataloguing, helpdesk, monitoring, accounting, service management, security and operational coordination.
They may be implemented by the Node itself, obtained as a service or provided by deploying a compatible common solution.
See also: Node Generic Capability , EOSC Node Architecture.
The subset of services and other research resources that an EOSC Node makes available to the EOSC Federation.
A Node may operate additional local services that are not included in its Node Exchange. Only the selected resources contributed to the Federation form part of the collective EOSC Exchange.
See also: EOSC Exchange, Node resource.
A broadly applicable digital capability that can be used across multiple scientific disciplines rather than being designed for only one specialised research domain.
Examples may include notebook environments, workflow services, virtual research environments, data-transfer tools, computing and storage services.
Generic capabilities support research activity, while Node Core Capabilities primarily support operation and management of the Node.
See also: Node Core Capability, Virtual research environment .
A service, dataset, software object, data source, training resource, computing facility or other asset operated by or integrated into an EOSC Node.
Not every Node resource must be exposed to the EOSC Federation. Resources selected for Federation-level access become part of the Node Exchange.
See also: Node Exchange, Research resource.
The process through which a research resource is assessed, described and technically or organisationally integrated into an EOSC Node.
The resource provider selects an appropriate Node according to the resource's scientific domain, technical characteristics, users and access conditions. A resource may be onboarded to more than one Node where this is appropriate.
Do not confuse with: enrolment of an EOSC Node. Onboarding concerns a resource joining a Node; Node enrolment concerns a Node joining the EOSC Federation.
See also: Resource provider, EOSC Federation resource .
Access to a research facility, instrument or service from another location through digital communication and control systems.
Remote access may allow a user to operate equipment, supervise an experiment, submit samples or interact with infrastructure staff without travelling to the physical site.
See also: Access mode, Virtual access.
A facility, resource or service used by research communities to conduct research and foster innovation.
Research infrastructures may include major scientific equipment, instruments, laboratories, collections, archives, scientific data, computing systems, communication networks and other resources of a distinctive nature that are made accessible to external users.
They may be single-site, distributed or virtual and may combine physical facilities with digital services, expertise and user support.
See also: Distributed research infrastructure , Single-site research infrastructure .
An identifiable service offered by a research infrastructure to external or internal users.
It may provide access to an instrument, laboratory, collection, dataset, computing environment, sample-processing facility, analytical method, software platform, expertise, training or specialist support.
The service should normally have documented conditions of access, eligibility, capacity, responsibilities and expected outputs.
See also: Infrastructure service, Access mode.
A broad term for an asset that supports the planning, execution, communication, validation or reuse of research.
Within the EOSC context, research resources may include publications, data sources, datasets, software, services, tools, catalogues, computing and storage infrastructure, workflows, training resources and competence support.
See also: EOSC Federation resource , Node resource.
A structured collection of metadata records describing resources that users may discover, evaluate or access.
A resource catalogue may contain descriptions of datasets, data sources, software, services, tools, training materials, computing resources or other research assets.
The catalogue describes and points to resources; it does not necessarily store or operate the resources themselves.
See also: Federated catalogue, Service catalogue.
An organisation that owns, operates, maintains or has authority to make a research resource available to users.
In the EOSC Federation, a Resource Provider can make a resource available by onboarding it to an EOSC Node. The provider remains responsible for the resource, its description, access conditions, quality and operational commitments according to the applicable agreements.
Do not confuse with: EOSC Node. A Resource Provider contributes one or more resources; a Node operates a broader platform and performs organisational and federating functions.
A structured catalogue describing services available to users, including their purpose, provider, target users, access conditions, service level, support arrangements and technical requirements.
A Service Catalogue is narrower than a Resource Catalogue, which may also describe datasets, software, publications, training resources and other non-service research objects.
See also: Resource catalogue.
A research infrastructure whose principal facilities and equipment are geographically concentrated at one location or at a small number of closely connected sites.
Its users may still come from multiple countries, and the infrastructure may provide remote or virtual access in addition to physical on-site access.
See also: Distributed research infrastructure , Research infrastructure .
Digital capacity used to hold research data, software, metadata, workflow outputs, backups or preserved research objects.
Storage resources may provide temporary working storage, shared project storage, object storage, archival storage or repository storage. The existence of storage alone does not guarantee preservation, metadata quality or FAIR compliance.
See also: Compute resource, Data infrastructure.
An EOSC Node organised around a particular scientific domain, interdisciplinary research area, research infrastructure community or specialised scientific technique.
A thematic Node connects domain-specific data, software, workflows, services, standards and expertise while complying with the common requirements of the EOSC Federation.
A technique-oriented Node may support several disciplines when the same method or instrument is used across different areas of research.
See also: EOSC Node, Research infrastructure .
Access provided to users working in a country other than the country in which the research infrastructure or accessed facility is located.
Transnational access programmes may support physical visits, remote experiments or virtual use of data and digital services. Eligibility, selection, costs and support are defined by the relevant access programme or infrastructure policy.
See also: Access mode, Remote access, Virtual access.
Online access to digital resources or services provided by a research infrastructure without requiring the user to be physically present at a facility.
Examples include access to databases, digital collections, repositories, software services, computational platforms and other electronically delivered resources.
Virtual access differs from remote access to an instrument: remote access commonly involves interacting with or controlling a physical facility from another location, while virtual access primarily concerns digitally delivered resources and services.
See also: Remote access, Virtual research environment .
A digital working environment that brings together data, software, computing resources, workflows, collaboration functions and user support for a defined research activity or community.
A VRE can allow researchers to analyse data, execute workflows, share intermediate results and collaborate without installing every component locally.
A VRE is a research environment built from integrated services; it is not synonymous with a virtual machine or with the EOSC Federation as a whole.
See also: Node Generic Capability , Cloud computing.
These EOSC and infrastructure concepts are related but should not be used as synonyms.
EOSC is the broader European environment. The EOSC EU Node is one operational Node and European-level platform within it.
A data centre provides technical capacity. A Node also requires governance, services, policies, support and Federation integration.
Enrolment concerns entry of a Node into the Federation. Onboarding concerns adding a specific service or resource.
A catalogue describes and indexes resources. A repository also manages deposited digital objects and their files.
These terms describe the principal community or coverage of a Node rather than different levels of Federation participation.
Coordinates resources and communities primarily within one national research environment.
Serves a discipline, scientific domain or specialised community across institutional or national boundaries.
Connects organisations and resources in a defined geographic or cross-border region.
A Node may combine national, thematic, institutional and infrastructure-based responsibilities.
Distinguish the Node mandate, coordinating organisation, providers, services and federating capabilities.
Define the provider, users, access, maturity, documentation, support and onboarding route.
Identify required AAI, catalogue, monitoring, helpdesk and interoperability connections.
Avoid describing EOSC as one central server, repository or commercial cloud platform.
These definitions provide practical explanations for research data support, infrastructure planning and EOSC participation. The current EOSC Federation Handbook, enrolment documents, technical specifications, memoranda, policies and official service documentation take precedence for formal implementation.