Applying for Science Mesh membership
Joining the Science Mesh: how to apply for membership
Science Mesh Governance and Operations
This section explains governance structure and principles of operation of the Science Mesh as an infrastructure.
Disclaimer (January 2023)
Kindly note that the documents presented here have not been formally confirmed by representatives of the Sites yet, those are just drafts discussed extensively within the community expected to form the infrastructure. The infrastructure is in pilot operation, neverheless formally it has not been established yet.
In addition, you may note that the establishing documents work with the idea that membership will be available completely free of charge. As approach to financing for infrastructures like the Science Mesh in EOSC is under discussions and developments, it must be stated that it may not be the case and it may be necessary to form a consortium as a legal entity and also requiring a membership fee. Central part of the infrastructure is nevertheless intentionally designed to be minimal, so that costs of its operations are kept as low as possible. And of course, if another financing source is found, membership fees could go even lower.
Governance Structure of the Science Mesh
Governance structure of the Science Mesh is based on following bodies:
- Science Mesh Executive Board ratifying important decisions,
- Science Mesh Steering Group consisting of representatives of sites (each site should nominate a representative), discussing and voting on rules and significant technical decisions,
- Operations Team operating central components of the Science Mesh, processing adding sites and services, and providing assistence to the sites. The Operations Team is also the point of contact to apply for Science Mesh membership.
Establishing Documents
Sites apply for membership by signing a Site Declaration. The Declaration is purposefully kept as brief as possible and limited just to basic principles of the infrastructure. It refers to the Science Mesh Policy Framework Constitution, where governance structure is defined as well as general outlines of standard operational procedures and requirements for the sites.
While those documents will surely be examined by law departments of joining sites, we should point out that section 3.1 of the Science Mesh Policy Constitution summarises requirements for membership, among others listing several Terms and Conditions and policies the sites are required to have in place.
Documents:
Procedures
The Science Mesh defines Procedures to various situations in Site’s life cycle.
Applying for Science Mesh Membership
Contact us as described in how to apply for membership. It is a part of the overall setup and application procedure, so refer to the overall checklist for all the steps.