Research Infrastructures 2026

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to several of the following expected outcomes:

• better structured and strengthened European research infrastructure landscape;
• new services available to a wider user community, including participants in other parts of Horizon Europe, allowing to better tackle scientific and societal challenges;
• increased capacity to address EU policy priorities and/or socio-economic challenges;
• reinforced global competitiveness of the European Research Area;
• reduction of environmental (including climate-related) impacts as well as optimisation of resource and energy consumption integrated through the full life cycle of research infrastructures;
• increased long-term sustainability of European research infrastructures.

Scope:

This topic targets the consolidation of the EU research infrastructures landscape through the support, together with the countries that are members of the research infrastructures, to the strengthening, long-term sustainability, reorientation or evolution of ESFRI Landmarks^[1] or European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs)^[2].

The proposed action should justify the specific objectives and focus on activities that are critical for the sustainability and optimised use of the ESFRI Landmarks or ERICs, such as activities aiming at several of the following objectives:

• enlargement of the membership or broadening of the base of participating countries, notably widening countries and candidate countries;
• addressing critical aspects raised following an assessment or monitoring exercise, e.g. in the context of ESFRI activities;
• reinforcing international cooperation;
• revision of business/funding plan;
• development of managerial and technical skills for research infrastructure staff;
• structuring and strengthening of national/thematic nodes;
• extension of remote and/or virtual access;
• management of research data according to the FAIR principles;
• reorientation or evolution of the research infrastructure scope;
• development, update and or implementation of impact assessment of the research infrastructure.

In case of reorientation or evolution of the research infrastructure scope, activities should fill gaps in the research infrastructures landscape^[3], enabling the research infrastructure to address new research or societal challenges and/or serve new user communities, increasing and improving service capacity and/or integrating new resources/facilities.

Due attention should be given to related EU initiatives, strategies and priorities and, where relevant, to complementarity and relevance to activities in other parts of Horizon Europe, such as better addressing SRIAs of Horizon Europe partnerships. Proposals should explain concrete complementarities and any synergies with previous or current EU grants, notably under the research infrastructures part of the Horizon Europe work programme, e.g. INFRADEV and INFRATECH grants.

Given the funding rate, proposals should ensure a minimum adequate backing by the beneficiaries, who should provide the remaining share for the activities covered by the Grant Agreement and foster the sustainability of the ESFRI Landmark or ERIC.

Specific attention should be given, where relevant, to the greening of technologies and methodologies used by the research infrastructure, to the interaction with industry/SMEs, to the fostering of the innovation potential of the infrastructures, and to their integration into local, regional and global innovation ecosystems.

[1] See list of ESFRI Landmarks in the ESFRI RIs PORTFOLIO https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/

[2] See ERIC Landscape – Active European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs) https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/strategy-research-and-innovation/our-digital-future/european-research-infrastructures/eric/eric-landscape_en

[3] Although the action aims at individual support to a pan-European research infrastructure, applicants should consider the ESFRI Landscape Analysis and liaise during the action with other relevant ESFRI/ERICs to ensure complementarity https://landscape2024.esfri.eu/ .