The Swiss EOSC Node Prototype Project
SENPro: Building Switzerland’s Gateway to the European Open Science Cloud
The Swiss EOSC Node Prototype (SENPro) is a national initiative to design and test a federated framework that connects Swiss research infrastructures with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Launched in September 2025, SENPro brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of leading institutions.
SENPro is funded by swissuniversities’ external page Open Science Programme II.
SENPro’s mission is to:
- Unify Swiss research data services under a FAIR and interoperable model.
- Prototype a Swiss EOSC Node aligned with European standards.
- Engage the research community in shaping sustainable, inclusive, and strategic data infrastructures.
SENPro is structured around three core pillars, each supported by dedicated work packages:
- Community & Needs Assessment
- Technical Development & Integration
- Validation, Governance & Sustainability
SENPro is Switzerland’s strategic step toward becoming a key contributor to the EOSC Federation — enabling better data discoverability, innovation, and policy-making across disciplines and borders.
Who’s Behind SENPro?
SENPro is powered by a strong, interdisciplinary consortium of Swiss institutions and research infrastructure providers:
- ETH Zurich (external page CSCS, Library, Scientific IT Services, RII)
- external page FORS (Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences)
- external page SIB (Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics)
- external page SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation)
- external page Switch
- external page University of Basel (external page DaSCH, external page DARIAH)
- external page University of Lausanne - Unil (external page CHUV)
- external page University of Zurich (external page Library, external page CLARIN)
These partners bring together expertise from life sciences, health, social sciences, humanities, and linguistics — building on both national and European infrastructure experience, including ERICs.
The external page European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is building a Federation of Nodes — a distributed network of national and thematic infrastructures that work togetherto provide seamless, FAIR access to research data and services across Europe.
Swiss partners, through SENPro, are preparing their own EOSC Node to connect Swiss infrastructures and research communities to this growing ecosystem. This federated approach ensures interoperability, trust, and sustainability while respecting national priorities.
Learn more about the external page EOSC Federation
On 9 October 2025, the Swiss research and innovation community came together for the official launch of the Swiss EOSC Node Prototype (SENPro) Project. Hosted virtually by the SNSF, the event brought together key voices from swissuniversities, SERI, and the EOSC Federation, highlighting Switzerland’s commitment to FAIR data, interoperability, and sustainable research ecosystems and putting it in the context of the Eouropean Open Science Clour (EOSC) and the building of the EOSC Federation.
You find a summary and the presentations here.
Latest developments from SENPro Update #02 (18 Dec 2025)
SENPro is moving from design to delivery. Here’s what’s new:
- Swiss role in EOSC clarified. SERI confirmed Switzerland’s active participation in the EOSC Steering Board, with current priorities on the EOSC Federation and financing/governance options beyond 2027. A White Paper is planned for spring 2026 to capture the tripartite direction and implications for Switzerland.SPADRI is coming. swissuniversities and UZH are working on the
- Swiss Portal for Academic Data and Research Infrastructure (SPADRI) — a national inventory to make Swiss infrastructures and data services findable and comparable. Public information will start January 2026; UZH leads implementation with the VPs Research as the steering committee.
- Community needs are clear. From our workshop & surveys (64 participants; 10+ providers; 34 resources identified), the top asks are: interoperability, practical usefulness for everyday research, legal/ethical guidance, incentives, and human support (data stewards). Hosting in Switzerland is seen as important by a large majority.
- Tools already helping researchers:
- external page Galaxy SWISS+ showcased reproducible, cross?disciplinary workflows.
- The ETH Domain’s external page RDS Explorer (live since Oct 2025) demonstrated how a unified catalog reduces fragmentation and speeds up discovery and access to services.
What’s next (early 2026):
- Prioritise onboarding of Swiss resources compatible with the EOSC Federation Handbook.
- Launch iterative testing with researchers and infrastructures.
- Consolidate governance and sustainability options in the SENPro White Paper.
Check out the Download programme (PDF, 105 KB) and Download presentations (PDF, 25 MB).
SENPro Community Workshop #01
On 2 December 2025, SENPro invited researchers and stakeholders to an online workshop on Switzerland’s integration into the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Participants were able to discover EOSC’s vision, to share their priorities, and helped evolving the the Swiss EOSC Node Prototype.
funded by swissuniversities’ external page Open Science Programme II