OpenWebSearch.EU project launches new third-party calls
An invitation to researchers, innovators and computing centers to join the quest for a new Internet Search in Europe.
OpenWebSearch.EU – a consortium of 14 research partners – is once again calling for third-party project proposals to help building an open and independent Web Index (OWI) based on European values. Researchers, innovators and data centers are invited to submit their ideas until 4th April. Successful candidates can request funding between 50,000 and 150,000 EUR.
“We are delighted to have gained six excellent new partners in our first open call in 2023. Now we call for further third-party partners to contribute their ideas, expertise and infrastructure to the OpenWebSearch.EU initiative”, says Dr. Megi Sharikadze, Research Coordination and Support Team Lead, EU Research Funding Advisor at Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ), one of the consortium partners.
Thus, the OpenWebSearch.EU project consortium calls for contributions in two new open calls:
Under Call #2, researchers and innovators are invited to submit ideas for innovative “applications of the Open Web Index”. Call #2 asks for ideas on how the data provided by the Open Web Index can be used and exploited in innovative use cases or research scenarios. The project consortium will provide access to pre-processed and indexed web data with continuous daily updates until the end of the project.
“The Open Web Index and its data provide unlimited opportunities for new applications”, says Dr Hanna-Mari Puuska, the director of Digital Service Ecosystems at CSC – IT Center for Science. “We are looking for innovative ideas from various domains. Applicants can submit ideas for different use cases, such as new vertical search applications, classifying indexed data, or applications based on large language models. New approaches to, for example, geolocation search or transparent and privacy-focused search are also welcome.”
OpenWebSearch.EU Call #3 addresses computing and data centers.
Call #3 invites computing and data centers to join the OpenWebSearch.eu network of compute infrastructure providers and host parts of the Open Web Search and Analysis Infrastructure (OWSAI). Called are universities, public compute infrastructure providers, data centers, companies (e.g., cloud providers) or research teams with a well-established data infrastructure.
“I hope for many data centers to be interested in exploring the opportunity and join our proof-of-concept Open Web Search and Analysis Infrastructure”, says Dr Per Öster, director of the Advanced Computing Facility at CSC – IT Center for Science. “We aim for the highest standards not only in service delivery but also on environmentally sustainable data center operations.”
In this second and third third-party call, successful applications can request funding between 50,000 and 150,000 EUR for a period of up to 12 months. Members of the consortium as well as external experts will review the applications. Eligible are individuals as well as organizations residing in EU Member States or in Horizon Europe Associated Countries. The third-party projects will be funded under the OpenWebSearch.eu Community Programme. All awardees will be essential parts of ongoing and future R&D activities of the Open Web Search Community.
Applications are accepted via email. The calls close on 4 April 2024, 18:00 Finnish time.
Detailed information and application packages can be found at:
About OpenWebSearch.eu
OpenWebSearch.EU is the first EU-funded project, which aims to get tomorrow’s web search up and running. 14 renowned European research centers – including CSC – IT Center for Science – kicked-off the project in September 2022. Over the three years, the researchers develop the core of a European Open Web Index (OWI). They aim to set the foundation for an open and extensible European Open Web Search and Analysis Infrastructure (OWSAI), based on Europe’s values, legislation and standards. The project receives funding of 8.5 million Euros from the European Union’s Horizon research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101070014.
Contact:
Per Öster, Director of Advanced Computing Facility, CSC – IT Center for Science
Email per.oster at csc.fi
ows@opensearchfoundation.org
OpenWebSearch.EU
About Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. It aims to build a knowledge- and innovation-based society and a competitive economy while contributing to sustainable development. The programme aims at implementing the European Commission’s guidelines.