TU-NET Launches National Pilot under the Horizon-funded OSTrails project

September 01, 2025

Collaborative initiative to enhance research management and FAIR data practices across the Irish Technological Universities

Ireland’s five technological universities – Atlantic Technological University, Munster Technological University, South East Technological University, Technological University Dublin, Technological University of the Shannon Midlands Midwest- have formed a strategic alliance, TU-NET, that aspires to be at the forefront of the open research movement, creating a more transparent, collaborative, and impactful research environment. Initiated in the summer of 2022, TU-NET is unique in the Irish landscape as a grassroots initiative from library and research-associated staff to share expertise, develop common infrastructure and to ensure that future investments in Open Research in the sector can have the widest possible impact.

In September 2025, TU-NET will officially launch a national pilot as part of the Horizon Europe-funded Open Science Trails (OSTrails) project, which is modernising how scientific knowledge is planned, tracked, and assessed across Europe. While the project will be led by Technological University Dublin, the initiative brings together all of Ireland’s Technological Universities in a coordinated effort to embed cutting-edge, FAIR-aligned (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) research data management (RDM) practices into institutional workflows.

The Irish National Case Study will focus on deploying ARGOS, a Data Management Planning (DMP) software platform across the Technological University (TU) sector. This will be supported by the development of machine-actionable DMP templates, fully compliant with the OSTrails schema, and integrated with key infrastructures such as the TU-NET Zenodo Community to streamline the publication and sharing of data management plans. While DMPs have become an increasingly standard part of research funding applications and practice in recent years, machine actionable DMPs ensure that the information in the DMP is structured and can be understood programmatically and feed into research information at an institutional, national and international levels.

Key deliverables of the pilot include:

Development of machine-actionable DMP templates
Delivery of five researcher webinars and five hands-on training workshops—one at each participating TU
Engagement of a minimum of two research groups per institution to trial and co-develop local ARGOS instances, templates, and test FAIR assessment tools

The pilot will also investigate interoperability between institutional Current Research Information Systems (PURE) and ARGOS, as well as assess the feasibility of implementing FAIR assessment tools at repository levels.

Expected outcomes of the pilot include:

Establishment of sustainable infrastructures that underpin robust research data management workflows
Semi-automation and strengthening of FAIR principle application across institutions
Enhanced interoperability and oversight of research outputs, improving Ireland’s readiness for alignment with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)
Deployment of standardised schemas to enable automated FAIR assessment of digital research objects

Dr. Brendan Jennings, Chief Officer Research, Innovation & Engagement, ATU, formerly Vice President for Research and Innovation at TU Dublin said “Universities are increasing appreciating that research data is a key institutional asset that, when curated appropriately, can be leveraged by researchers to provide ongoing insights and innovations that have real impact. This OSTrails pilot will play a key role in supporting Irish Technological Universities in their mission to deliver excellent research that is relevant for their regions and Ireland as a whole.”

Ireland’s involvement in OSTrails reinforces its commitment to advancing open science and ensuring that the nation’s research landscape remains at the forefront of European and global best practices.

For further information on OSTrails and Ireland’s national pilot, please visit: OSTrails.eu.

If you are a researcher or research group interested in getting involved in the project, please contact:

Shirley Wrynn (shirley.wrynn@atu.ie)

Research Integration Project Manager

and

Kathryn Briggs (kathryn.briggs@atu.ie)

Data Management and Stewardship Officer