Strengthening the international dimension of ESFRI and/or ERIC research infrastructures

Expected Outcome:

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

• New or enhanced, effective cooperation of European research infrastructures with key international partners;
• Strengthened position of European research infrastructures in the global research infrastructure landscape;
• Increased opportunities for the development of global research infrastructures, including proposals expanding the geographical coverage of ongoing collaborations;
• Increased capacity to address societal challenges with a global dimension, including collaborations in areas such as environmental monitoring or health;
• Reinforced global competitiveness and performance of the European Research Area.

Scope:

This topic aims at supporting the cooperation of pan-European research infrastructures with their international (non-European) counterparts, and/or fostering the international engagement of ESFRI and ERIC research infrastructures through their involvement in global research infrastructure initiatives^[1].

Proposals should describe shared objectives and governance of the collaboration, building on the criteria developed by the Group of Senior Officials on Global Research Infrastructures^[2].

Proposals should pay attention to the following aspects:

• The long-term sustainability of joint activities; beyond the immediate results of the project, the prospects for the collaboration to be sustained should be described. Methods and governance models should be explored. Activities leading to agreements on data sharing or co-financing reciprocal activities are welcome.
• Opportunities (access and data sharing) available to European scientists; proposals should elaborate on the data dimension of their activities, and in which way access will be ensured over time.
• Fostering global interoperability and coverage (when appropriate) of data;
• Exchanging best practices between user communities and managers of research infrastructures as regard, for instance, harmonisation of tests, standards, reference materials, interoperability and data handling.

While the main target of this topic is the cooperation between an individual pan-European infrastructure and its international counterparts in one or more third countries, proposals could also involve a set of pan-European infrastructures with their international counterparts if relevant for the chosen research field.

Proposals should describe the EU benefit of any EU contribution requested by non-associated third countries, by explaining the new services or knowledge made accessible to EU researchers via the collaboration.

Proposals should consider the Council Recommendation of 23 May 2024 on enhancing research security^[3] and take into account its principles for responsible internationalisation.

[1] ESFRI RIs PORTFOLIO https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/ and 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

[2] https://www.gsogri.org/

[3] Council Recommendation of 23 May 2024 on enhancing research security