Applications can be submitted on a rolling basis starting October 1st 2026, with no fixed proposal deadlines. A prior consultation is required before submission.
Initially, only services that have previously submitted a proposal for the three-phase model to Base4NFDI are eligible to apply.
The service support track will eventually be opened also to other services (approx. Q2/Q3 2027). Services that are currently funded in the Base4NFDI three-phase model are not eligible to additionally receive support through the service support track.
Base4NFDI has developed a nine-level maturity framework, the so-called Service Readiness Levels (SRL), which enables you to assess the maturity of your service and identify potential areas for development. By completing the self-assessment, you can determine which maturity level your service has reached, identify any development gaps, and also the activities that you need to carry out to close those gaps.
Ideally, a complete assessment should be provided to give us a comprehensive overview of the service and its development gaps. As a minimum, please provide the completed assessment up to the level you identified gaps for your service’s maturity, or in other words, the level you aim to reach by the end of the successful completion of the SST activity/activities.
The Base4NFDI Management Committee decides whether or not the required resources are available to support the service.
You will get the support decision within 2-3 weeks after you submitted your proposal.
The requirements and timeline for Base4NFDI staff support for your service need to be discussed in a consultation prior to the proposal and depend on the service’s requirements and staff availability.
Financial support can start approx. 4 weeks after a decision is made - given a contract already exists between the TUD and the partner institution. Please note that in most cases, financial support can be transferred starting 2027 due to flex fund restrictions.
Support is intended for activities that help close a specific SRL (service readiness level) gap. This can include hands-on support from Base4NFDI staff, such as workshop organisation, survey support and consulting, as well as financial support of up to €20,000 for eligible expenses, such as workshops, catering, travel or publishing costs, or external experts.
Please note that financial support cannot be used to cover staff costs. The minimum amount of financial support is €1,000.
Yes, but all activities and requests need to be related to one or more discovered maturity gap(s) via the SRL self assessment.
As of 2026, the Base4NFDI staff has 3 years of experience in professionally supporting services - from requirement surveys, software quality and usability to training and user engagement. Base4NFDI staff can also support with workshop organisation and design.
For the contractual side €1000 is the minimum amount of financial support that can be requested.
Staff costs cannot be covered by the Service Support Track. Workshops, catering, room booking, travel and publishing costs - also external consultation is possible. If you are unsure whether a planned expenditure is eligible, please discuss it with us during the consultation. All expenses should be related to the identified SRL (Service Readiness Level) gap or gaps.
For a workshop, reasoning with the number of participants and the basis on which catering and travel are estimated is sufficient - please be aware the guidelines of your own institution apply when it comes to expenses such as external support or catering.
This is possible if an SRL gap can be closed with financial support alone. Examples might be the compensation of external expert support or travel costs to present a service to a wider audience at a conference.
Time is only limited by the Base4NFDI project end.
For reporting, the service has to provide one output that reflects goal achievement that can be reviewed by the TEC (Technical Expert Committee). This can be a piece of software, a publication or a workshop report. Please note that the output review by the TEC is a precondition for any subsequent SST application.
No (not automatically). The label for services participating in the service support track is “Supported by Base4NFDI”.
No. Once a service is “Supported by Base4NFDI”, it will remain as such on our webpage.
No (not automatically). Admission to NFDI and EOSC service portfolios is a community-led process that includes decision-making on multiple governing levels and the adherence to certain criteria. Every service participating in the Service Support Track therefore needs to be evaluated against the respective portfolio criteria currently being developed before being included in an NFDI or EOSC service portfolio.
Absolutely! After one successful completion of an SST activity, a service can apply again. Please note that the output review by the TEC at the end is a precondition for any subsequent SST application.
With a rejection you would get feedback from the Base4NFDI MC and can apply again if there are no fundamental reasons for the rejection (e.g. service is not currently eligible or formal criteria are not met, such as consortia approval). The Management Committee might reject a proposal if the requested resources are not or no longer available.
Please take caution not to double activities in your Service Support Track proposal and any other proposals - that can lead to funding being denied.
There is no fixed date yet - approximately in Q2/Q3 2027. But you can prepare! Make sure to present your idea in a section and get section support because you will need it for your proposal. You can also already start working with the resources provided - come to a consultation, start the SRL assessment and take a look at the proposal template.
The proposal does not have to be published. It will be shared with Base4NFDI staff and co-spokespersons (Base4NFDI Management Committee).