Bravo to the EU’s Competitiveness Council for Recognizing the Value of all Sizes of Research Infrastructures to the Renewed ERA!

Professor Kurt Deketelaere, LERU Secretary-General states:

‘It is encouraging to see that under the Czech Presidency, the role of small and medium-sized research infrastructures, which have so far had a much lower profile than the larger, research infrastructures, have received the recognition they deserve as vital components of the research ecosystem. EFSRI should now work with universities and research institutions to establish the practicalities of such support.’

LERU is also pleased that several more of the recommendations outlined in their two papers: Four Golden Principles for Enhancing the Quality, Access and Impact of Research Infrastructures and Developing a Strong, Politically and Societally Relevant Research Infrastructure Ecosystem in Europe have been taken up by the Council. These include our suggestions on:

• the need for a peer-reviewed monitoring framework for research infrastructures;
• the benefit by clustering/integration and cooperation of RIs;
• a focus on sustainable funding of RIs across their life cycle and combining funds;
• better supporting the staff at RIs who play a vital role in operating the RI through education and training to aid staff retention;
• the importance of Open Science in diffusing the results from a RI.

However, whilst LERU is generally positive about the draft Council Conclusions, it is unclear who will lead on specific actions, and who (EFSRI?) will establish guidelines and tools to evaluate periodically the effectiveness and efficiency of RIs.

LERU also misses a reference to how the cross-border transport samples and research materials (including live and biological) could be facilitated and the need for a framework on how data can be shared and with whom.

Dr. Thomas Trüb – Strategic Platforms Coordinator at the University of Zurich, finally added that the draft of the COMPET misses the fact that

‘(international) Research Infrastructures are one of the most powerful measures to democratize research. Research Infrastructures provide the latest technology to all research groups independent of their funding opportunities, the research infrastructure of their institution and their own technological skills and knowledge. The cross-section application of technologies forms a perfect prerequisite for substantial and innovative scientific progress.’