Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GraspOS (GraspOS: next Generation Research Assessment to Promote Open Science)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-12-31
GraspOS was a 3-year Horizon Europe research project that set out the ambitious goal to enhance the support for Open-Science-aware, responsible research assessment and enable relevant policy reforms.
The project set the following overall objectives:
- Deliver an Open Science Assessment Framework (now known as the SCOPE+i Framework) as a toolkit to assist tailoring and applying in practice new generation, OS-aware Responsible Research Assessment (RRA) approaches
- Develop and deliver EOSC-integrated tools and services to support the implementation of new generation, OS-aware RRA approaches
- Develop an EOSC-integrated, Federated Open Research Assessment Infrastructure to offer data, tools, and services.
- Empower and bring together different stakeholder communities to co-design, showcase, validate, and evaluate OS-aware RRA indicators, tools, services and infrastructure in real-world pilots.
The progress towards these objectives during the first reporting period is elaborated in the Technical Report (Part B) document.
GraspOS key results include:
- The GraspOS infrastructure, an open infrastructure to integrate and provide easy access to a range of valuable resources, including data, tools, services, templates, and guidance materials, that can support OS-aware RRA.
- The SCOPE+i Framework, which works together with the existing SCOPE framework, tailored for assessment processes that align with Open Science practices and ensure that Open Science activities are considered.
- A suite of (a) advanced enrichment tools and services to enhance scholarly metadata resources and (b) monitoring tools and services that inform OS-aware RRA processes and related analyses.
- A Community of Practice of RRA practitioners, experts, and other stakeholders from relevant networks to discuss current developments related to OS-aware RRA data, tools, and services.
- A set of carefully designed Training material relevant to the subjects of research assessment and Open Science.
More details about these key results are included in the Technical Report (Part B) document.
Finally, the project has completed nine pilots encompassing a diverse array of use cases spanning various levels, scopes, and values. These pilots served as platforms to co-design, showcase, and practically test the assessment framework, infrastructure, tools, and services developed within the project.
The project set the following overall objectives:
- Deliver an Open Science Assessment Framework (now known as the SCOPE+i Framework) as a toolkit to assist tailoring and applying in practice new generation, OS-aware Responsible Research Assessment (RRA) approaches
- Develop and deliver EOSC-integrated tools and services to support the implementation of new generation, OS-aware RRA approaches
- Develop an EOSC-integrated, Federated Open Research Assessment Infrastructure to offer data, tools, and services.
- Empower and bring together different stakeholder communities to co-design, showcase, validate, and evaluate OS-aware RRA indicators, tools, services and infrastructure in real-world pilots.
The progress towards these objectives during the first reporting period is elaborated in the Technical Report (Part B) document.
GraspOS key results include:
- The GraspOS infrastructure, an open infrastructure to integrate and provide easy access to a range of valuable resources, including data, tools, services, templates, and guidance materials, that can support OS-aware RRA.
- The SCOPE+i Framework, which works together with the existing SCOPE framework, tailored for assessment processes that align with Open Science practices and ensure that Open Science activities are considered.
- A suite of (a) advanced enrichment tools and services to enhance scholarly metadata resources and (b) monitoring tools and services that inform OS-aware RRA processes and related analyses.
- A Community of Practice of RRA practitioners, experts, and other stakeholders from relevant networks to discuss current developments related to OS-aware RRA data, tools, and services.
- A set of carefully designed Training material relevant to the subjects of research assessment and Open Science.
More details about these key results are included in the Technical Report (Part B) document.
Finally, the project has completed nine pilots encompassing a diverse array of use cases spanning various levels, scopes, and values. These pilots served as platforms to co-design, showcase, and practically test the assessment framework, infrastructure, tools, and services developed within the project.
During RP2, GraspOS made substantial progress towards delivering the SCOPE+i Framework, which provides a practical and adaptable framework for implementing next-generation OS-aware RRA approaches. Co-developed in collaboration with the nine project pilots, SCOPE+i combines eighteen actionable assessment process resources with two digital services embedded within the broader GraspOS infrastructure. Pilot workshops, mock-up testing, and structured feedback loops ensured that the framework was grounded in real-world evaluation settings, while formal specifications and reporting (D2.3 and D2.4) consolidated its methodological and operational foundations. In parallel, RRA and OS experts worked closely with technological partners to ensure that the conceptual foundations of SCOPE+i were translated into interoperable, EOSC-aligned technical solutions.
Building on this conceptual backbone, the project advanced the development and EOSC integration of its tools, services, and infrastructure. Nine tools and sixteen services were refined and released in beta and production versions, aligned with SCOPE+i guidance and pilot requirements. Particular emphasis was placed on interoperability (e.g. RA-SKG data model, GraspOS API specification, Resource Metadata Schema) to ensure seamless exchange of research assessment metadata and enhanced discoverability through the GraspOS meta-catalogue and within the EOSC ecosystem. The GraspOS infrastructure itself progressed from architectural design to a fully operational environment, comprising core catalogues, a Data Interoperability & Access Layer, and a web-based front-end enabling advanced discovery of research assessment resources. Throughout this process, regular cross-work-package collaboration between RRA experts, technical developers, and pilots ensured continuous alignment between conceptual, technical, and user-driven dimensions.
Equally important was the active engagement of diverse stakeholder communities through real-world pilots and a Community of Practice. The pilots played a decisive role in validating and refining the framework, tools, and infrastructure. Their work, documented in D5.2 and D5.3 highlighted the importance of contextualised, non–one-size-fits-all approaches to assessment reform and confirmed that community involvement is essential for ensuring relevance, usability, and shared understanding among evaluators and evaluated entities. Beyond the consortium, the project expanded its outreach through a Community of Practice, a series of webinars and training activities, and a final hybrid dissemination conference on “Opening Research Assessment”.
Building on this conceptual backbone, the project advanced the development and EOSC integration of its tools, services, and infrastructure. Nine tools and sixteen services were refined and released in beta and production versions, aligned with SCOPE+i guidance and pilot requirements. Particular emphasis was placed on interoperability (e.g. RA-SKG data model, GraspOS API specification, Resource Metadata Schema) to ensure seamless exchange of research assessment metadata and enhanced discoverability through the GraspOS meta-catalogue and within the EOSC ecosystem. The GraspOS infrastructure itself progressed from architectural design to a fully operational environment, comprising core catalogues, a Data Interoperability & Access Layer, and a web-based front-end enabling advanced discovery of research assessment resources. Throughout this process, regular cross-work-package collaboration between RRA experts, technical developers, and pilots ensured continuous alignment between conceptual, technical, and user-driven dimensions.
Equally important was the active engagement of diverse stakeholder communities through real-world pilots and a Community of Practice. The pilots played a decisive role in validating and refining the framework, tools, and infrastructure. Their work, documented in D5.2 and D5.3 highlighted the importance of contextualised, non–one-size-fits-all approaches to assessment reform and confirmed that community involvement is essential for ensuring relevance, usability, and shared understanding among evaluators and evaluated entities. Beyond the consortium, the project expanded its outreach through a Community of Practice, a series of webinars and training activities, and a final hybrid dissemination conference on “Opening Research Assessment”.
The project is centered on innovation, with its endeavors aimed at pushing the boundaries of the current state of the art in the respective fields. However, the most important contributions of the project are related to technological & theoretical advances that can help stakeholders in the research assessment domain to reform the landscape fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment for researchers and research organisations which also properly recognises Open Science. To this end, the SCOPE+i assessment framework, the GraspOS infrastructure, and the related datasets, tools, and services are expected to have a significant impact.