From 22 to 24 September 2026, OSTrails hosted the second edition of its Train-the-Trainer Bootcamp, bringing together 33 participants from 16 countries for an intensive online programme dedicated to strengthening capacities around machine-actionable Data Management Plans, FAIR assessment, and Scientific Knowledge Graphs.
While the first in-person edition was exclusively organised for members of the OSTrails consortium, this edition was open to the wider research community.
Designed for trainers, facilitators, and community multipliers, the bootcamp aimed to equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to deliver training on OSTrails specifications and services within their own institutions and communities. The programme focused on enabling participants to explain the project's core concepts and interoperability frameworks, understand their mplementation requirements, and effectively demonstrate OSTrails tools and services in practice.
The training centred around the three pillars of the OSTrails project:
- DMP-IF (Data Management Plan Interoperability Framework), supporting machine-actionable Data Management Plans (maDMPs);
- FAIR-IF (FAIR Assessment Interoperability Framework), enabling interoperability and transparency across FAIR assessment services and methodologies;
- SKG-IF (Scientific Knowledge Graph Interoperability Framework), promoting interoperability among Scientific Knowledge Graphs and related research information services.
Over the three days, participants explored the OSTrails Interoperability Frameworks, the project's reference architecture, and the tools and services implementing the specifications. Demonstrations highlighted practical implementations through solutions such as ARGOS/OpenCDMP, the Data Stewardship Wizard and DAMAP for machine-actionable DMPs, FAIR assessment services and components, and SKG- based services, including the OpenAIRE Graph.
A distinctive feature of the bootcamp was its highly interactive format. During the Use Cases Café sessions, participants could join parallel discussions focused on machine-actionable DMPs, FAIR assessment, and Scientific Knowledge Graphs. These small-group exchanges enabled direct interaction with OSTrails experts, providing opportunities to discuss implementation challenges, explore adoption scenarios, and share experiences from different organisational and national contexts.
The programme also featured dedicated Training Stations, allowing participants to rotate between specialised discussion tables hosted by framework experts, tool developers, and service providers. Topics ranged from FAIR metrics, benchmarks, and assessment tools to maDMP solutions and Scientific Knowledge Graph services. This format created a unique opportunity for participants to engage directly with both the experts responsible for developing the OSTrails interoperability frameworks and the managers of tools and services that have already been implementing them.
Additional sessions focused on real-world use cases and pilot implementations. Participants explored topics such as the development and evaluation of machine-actionable DMP templates, repository integration for maDMP archiving, interoperability with the OpenAIRE Graph and other Scientific Knowledge Graphs, and the co-definition of FAIR assessment metrics and evaluation criteria. These discussions demonstrated how the OSTrails frameworks can support practical research data management workflows and foster interoperability across diverse research environments.
The final day of the bootcamp was dedicated to translating knowledge into action. Working collaboratively in groups, participants developed training action plans tailored to their national, institutional, and disciplinary contexts. The resulting plans were presented during a dynamic closing session, showcasing concrete strategies for promoting the adoption and uptake of OSTrails frameworks, services, and best practices beyond the project consortium.
By combining expert-led presentations, practical demonstrations, peer learning, and collaborative exercises, the OSTrails Train-the-Trainer Bootcamp strengthened a growing international network of trainers and multipliers capable of supporting the adoption of interoperable approaches to Data Management Plans, FAIR assessment, and Scientific Knowledge Graphs.
The participation of 33 professionals from 16 countries further reinforced the project's commitment to building a diverse and engaged community ready to advance open and interoperable research practices across Europe.
