The application deadline for Call #2 and Call #3 is closed.
The 8.5 Mio Euro EU project on Open Web Search had launched new third-party calls, inviting researchers, innovators and computing centres to join the quest for a new Internet Search in Europe. More information on the calls: Call #2 and Call #3.
9 February 2024 | 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 centres are invited to submit their ideas until 4th April . Successful candidates can request funding between 50,000 and 150,000 EUR.
After Call #1 in March 2023 and the resulting successful onboarding of six third-party partners in November 2023, the OpenWebSearch.EU will call for proposals again in February: Calls #2 and #3 will invite researchers, innovators and data centres to submit their applications to participate in the Open Web Search mission and receive funding for their project ideas. The calls will launch in February, applications will be accepted until April 2024.
Call #2 will particularly ask for proposals for applications of the Open Web Index. The Open WebSearch.eu project will provide access to pre-processed and indexed data in the terabyte range. Also it will deliver continuous, daily updates until the end of the project. Successful applicants should use and exploit the data provided in innovative applications scenarios or research topics.
Under this call, applicants will be able to apply for funding of between EUR 50,000.00 and EUR 100,000.00 for a funding period of up to 12 months.
Call #3 will address computing and data centers to join the OpenWebSearch.eu network of infrastructure organisations and hosting parts of the OWSAI infrastructure. The ows.eu consortium aims to on-board data centers as a proof-of-concept for the developed technology and engage in discussions on creating a sustainable future infrastructure. Called will be universities, public infrastructure providers, data centres, companies (e.g., cloud providers) or research teams with a well established infrastructure. Applicants should be capable of providing a significant extension to the current OpenWebSearch.eu data and compute infrastructure, and engaging in relevant infrastructure-oriented R&D activities.
Under call#3, applicants can request funding between 100.000,00 and 150.000,00 EUR for a funding period of up to 12 months. Major cost categories can include infrastructure costs, other costs and human resources.
More information on the calls and the call application packages will be launched in February 2024 on the third-party call landingpage.
The open calls are part of the OpenWebSearch.eu community programme, aiming to integrating new third-party project teams into the OpenWebSearch.eu landscape and future activities for sustainable Research and Development. Therefore, the candidate third-party projects should probe the closely related topics addressed in the project and should aim at widening and enriching the existing R&D activities as well as suggesting new ones which are complementary to the project goals and aims. Ideally, the project results should be integrated with the OpenWebSearch.eu infrastructure.
Six third-party partners have joined the EU funded project OpenWebSearch.EU, introducing new technical, legal and economic research topics in support of a European Open Web Index.
On October 27th 2023, OpenWebSearch.eu successfully onboarded six Third Parties who were selected subsequent to its first Open Call (announced in March 2023) for the OpenWebSearch.eu Community Programme in 2023. The selected partners were picked from 21 submissions with the goal to extend and enrich existing R&D activities that are relevant to the project in reaching key targets.
The call demanded contributions in form of research studies on legal or economic aspects of Open Search (Track 1) as well as on concepts for legally compliant data acquisition, processing, considering also societal constraints (Track 2).
Third-party projects should explore closely related topics of the project. They should aim to extend and enrich the existing R&D activities and propose new ones that complement the project objectives. The calls especially targeted smaller companies (i.e., SMEs, start-ups), individual innovators, individual researchers or research teams (e.g., doctoral or post-doctoral researchers).
The selected third-party projects are funded under the OpenWebSearch.eu Community Program. They receive partial fundings for their project contributions ranging between 25.000 and 120.000 Euros each.
MRC
„Market Potential Assessment for OpenWebSearch.eu: Quantifying benefits and costs of scaling EU web search“.
Provided by Mücke Roth & Company GmbH (Germany)
Click here for the partner profile.
LISA
„A Legal Framework for the development and Operation of an Open Web Search Index (Legal, Intellectual Property and Cyber-Security Aspects)“.
Provided by Prof. Dr. Matthias Wendland from Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (Germany)
Click here for the partner profile.
OPEN CONSOLE
„Open Console Implementation“.
Provided by Mark Overmeer and Thao Phuong Nguyen from MARKOV Solutions (The Netherlands)
Click here for the partner profile.
LOREN
„Legal Open European Web Index“.
Provided by Paul C. Johannes and Dr. Maxi Nebel (Germany)
Click here for the partner profile.
ALMASTIC
„Assessing Legal Risks and Mitigating Challenges in Open Web Indexes“.
Provided by Prof. Dr. Kai Erenli from BFI Vienna (Austria)
Click here for the partner profile.
LAW4OSAI
„License-Aware Web Crawling for Open Search AI“.
Provided by Dr. Daniel Braun – University of Twente (The Netherlands), Dr. Bernhard Waltl – Liquid Legal Institute (Germany) and Balthasar Cevc – Fingolex (Germany)
Click here for the partner profile.
The next call for proposals will follow in the first quarter of 2024. To stay up to date regarding proceedings as well as to stay on top of the next Open Call, interested parties from research and business can follow OpenWebSearch.eu on the Socials (LinkedIn, Mastodon, Twitter/X), join the community Channel on MatterMost and regularly check our website: https://openwebsearch.eu/community
OpenWebSearch.eu is funded by the EC under GA 101070014.
A trustworthy search that protects the personal data of its users and integrates European laws: That is the goal of OpenWebSearch.EU. The plan also includes bringing external research groups and companies on board. To this end, a total of three so-called third-party calls are planned. The first public call ends on 28 April.
What is the strategy behind openwebsearch.eu’s third-party calls? Who applies? And how will the entries be evaluated? Susanne Vieser interviewed the two project coordinators, Prof. Michael Granitzer from the University of Passau and Dr. Megi Sharikadze from the LRZ.
Read the full interview on the website of LRZ
OpenWebSearch.EU – a consortium of 14 research partners – is open for third-party proposals to help building an Open and independent Web-Index based on European values (OWI). The first call addresses business and research partners to submit their applications in two tracks from March 1st until April 28th, 2023.
The OpenWebSearch.eu project consortium is eager to identify new project teams to be funded under the OpenWebSearch.eu Community Programme, on-board and integrate them into ongoing and future activities for sustainable Research and Development on Open Web Search.
Third-party activities are driving forces in the OpenWebSearch.eu Community Programme, with funding provided by the OpenWebSearch.eu project (funded by the EC under the GA 101070014). In spring 2023 the OpenWebSearch.eu Community Programme is coming to life. The Community Programme is comprised of activities in support of third-party project initiation, execution and successful completion.
The first call consists of two tracks:
Building an Open Web Index (OWI) does not only include technical challenges, but also legal and societal ones, especially when considering recent EU legislation like the Digital Service Act or the Digital Market Act. Furthermore, challenges for new business models or significant changes in the search engine market arise.
The consortium seeks for two possible kinds of studies:
Web crawling is the predominant method for web search engines to gather content for their index. However, webmaster and content owners have only limited control over the crawling process via mostly proprietary services. OpenWebSearch.eu is looking for concepts and approaches for opening the proprietary components and provide webmasters and content owners with more control over the crawling process and the usage of their content. Envisioned solutions should be technical in nature, including new metadata schemata/ontologies, algorithms / services for collecting website metadata, services and tools for webmaster and content owners to define legal constraints for crawling as well as open datasets and machine learning models for analysing and filtering web pages during the crawling process.
The OpenWebSearch.EU project consortium is eager to onboard new third-party project teams in OpenWebSearch.eu landscape and integrate them in the future activities for sustainable Research and Development. Therefore, the candidate third-party project should probe the closely related topics addressed in the project and should aim at widening and enriching the existing R&D activities as well as suggesting new ones which are complementary to the project goals and aims.
Successful applications can request funding between 25,000 and 120,000 EUR in this first call for a funding period of up to 12 months.
In particular, we are targeting smaller companies (e.g. SMEs, start-ups), individual innovators, individual researchers or research teams (e.g. doctoral or post-doctoral researchers) from renowned universities. Eligible applicants are individuals residing in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, or organisations registered in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Find more info and the full call application package at:
openwebsearch.eu/call1
OpenWebSearch.EU will call for proposal to help us building an open and independent Web-index. The call will open on 1st of March 2023 and invites researchers and innovators to submit their applications to join our mission. Applications will be accepted until 30th of April 2023.
The first call consists of two tracks:
The OpenWebSearch.EU project consortium is eager to onboard new third-party project teams in OpenWebSearch.eu landscape and integrate them for future activities for sustainable Research and Development. Therefore, the candidate 3rd-party project should probe the closely related to the topics addressed in the project and should aim at widening and enriching the existing R&D activities as well as suggesting new ones which are complementary to the project goals and aims.
Successful applications can request funding between 25,000 and 120,000 EUR in this first call for a funding period of up to 12 months.
In particular, we are targeting smaller companies (e.g. SMEs, start-ups), individual innovators, individual researchers or research teams (e.g. doctoral or post-doctoral researchers) from renowned universities. Eligible applicants are individuals residing in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries or organisations registered in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Get in touch with the OpenWebSearch.eu community
Funded by the
European Union
The project OpenWebSearch.EU has received funding from the European Union's Horizon research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101070014.
