SSH Open Cluster announces new chair

Projects involved in the Social Sciences and Humanities Open Cluster have elected a chair and vice-chair to lead the organisation in 2023.

The European Social Survey (ESS) is one of five European Research Infrastructure Consortiums (ERICs) involved in the group that emerged from the Social Sciences and Humanities Open Cloud (SSHOC) project.

The new chair is Dr Toma Tasovac, the President of the DARIAH ERIC Board of Directors, who will work together with a deputy, Dr Bonnie Wolff-Boenisch, the Director of CESSDA ERIC.

The pair are the first to lead the Social Sciences and Humanities Open Cluster after the formal ending of the SSHOC project earlier this year.

Both will serve for one year on a voluntary basis to better represent the Cluster to external bodies including the European Commission, European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), ERIC Forum and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Association on behalf of the Governing Board.

Dr Toma Tasovac said: “I am delighted by the opportunity to serve as Chair of the SSHOC Governing Board.”

“I look forward to working together with Bonnie and the rest of the Board on strengthening our communities and championing collaboration between research infrastructures in the Social Sciences and Humanities.”

Dr Bonnie Wolff-Boenisch added: “I am pleased to support the chair and the Governing Board and help to preserve the community and the knowledge sharing, which was built in the SSHOC project.”

Since the official end of the SSHOC project, the Governing Board, composed of the five ESFRI Landmarks CESSDA, CLARIN, DARIAH, ESS and SHARE has been meeting regularly to discuss and shape the post-project collaboration.

This work has resulted in SSH Open Cluster Rules of Procedure, a procedural document which sets out the future collaboration model.

In the upcoming months, the Governing Board will send invitations to ESFRI Projects from the Social & Cultural Innovation area to join the Board.

The first official meeting with the new line-up is planned for February 2023. The first post-project meeting of the Cluster should be held in April 2023, with a wider community.