Research infrastructures are one of the key pillars to achieve the new European Research Area and are an on-going priority for the upcoming Swedish Presidency.
On 14 December 2022, the incoming Swedish EU Council Presidency presented their priorities. In the area of research and innovation, a key priority is to focus on measures that increase access to research infrastructures (RIs), their data and services for scientists, businesses and society. In this endeavour, the Swedish Presidency plans a conference on ‘research infrastructures of tomorrow’ in Lund (Sweden) on 19-20 June 2023.
The Swedish Presidency can build on the work done by the Czech Presidency that launched the Brno ‘Declaration on fostering a Global Ecosystem of Research Infrastructures‘ during the International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI) that took place from 19 to 21 October 2022. Research infrastructures were a main priority of the Czech Presidency (see SwissCore article), and the conference was one of the Presidency’s main events with the aim to give research infrastructures more visibility and show how they can contribute to socio-economic benefits and impacts.
The Brno Declaration is addressing RIs stakeholders worldwide with the aim to develop a fully integrated and interoperable global ecosystem of research infrastructures to address significant societal challenges. It has the objectives to acknowledge the key attributes of RIs constructed and operated in all research disciplines and across all scientific and technological domains and the Declaration invites RIs policy-makers, funders, operators, and users to foster a global RIs ecosystem (including large-scale installations, mid and small-sized RIs but also single-sited, distributed, and virtual RIs). The Brno Declaration is supported by the Member States, the European Commission and European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).
The document is complementary to the Council Conclusions on ‘Research Infrastructures’, recently adopted during the Competitiveness Council (COMPET) that took place on 2 December 2022, aligned with the ERA Action 8. This dedicated action on RIs received the needed support from the Member States during the summer. It aims to pursue the following key activities: i. Strategic analysis of the European research infrastructures landscape, ii. Broader and more sustainable access for all countries to European research infrastructures and their services and revision of the European Charter of Access to Research Infrastructures, iii. Update on the ESRFI roadmaps and implementation of the research infrastructures performance monitoring framework; iv. Report on the European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) Framework; and iv. Increased cooperation between research infrastructures, e-infrastructures and stakeholders, including through the co-programmed European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Partnership.
The Council Conclusions on ‘Research Infrastructures’ are policy orientations encouraging the consolidation, integration, and further advancement of the European research infrastructures ecosystem. The Council Conclusions emphasise that research infrastructures are a priority to establish the ERA Policy Agenda and implement ERA Actions. They also refer to the need for long-term sustainable investments in the European RIs ecosystem, on the national but also European levels. They refer to the Council Conclusions adopted in May 2021 on `Deepening the European Research Area: Providing Researchers with Attractive and Sustainable Careers and Working Conditions and Making Brain Circulation a Reality’, highlighting the essential role that highly skilled talents have in the operations of research infrastructures and e-infrastructures, but also the Council Conclusions of September 2021 on the `Global Approach to Research and Innovation – Europe’s Strategy for International Cooperation in a Changing World’, underlining the importance of openness and international cooperation in research infrastructures to address global challenges and advance in science. The Council Conclusions on RIs invite the Commission to present an initiative on a revised ‘European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures‘ by 2023 and ESFRI to develop the next edition of the ESFRI Roadmap by the end of 2025. Besides, they call to get prepared for possible crises, including energy supply difficulties. Currently, the RIs, especially the energy-intensive ones, are facing overwhelming bills, which has led that some are already operating with reduced capacity while others plan temporary shutdowns. Therefore, the Commission is working on an evaluation of the impact of rising prices on research that should be published soon. Moreover, the recently adopted Council Conclusions on ‘Research Infrastructures’ indicate that the Council of the European Union welcomes ESFRI’s considerations on how to best involve associated countries, stakeholders and relevant third countries on a case-by-case approach.
Finally, in December 2022, the Swiss parliament accepted a proposal from the Federal Council to join six ERICS (e.g. BBMRI-ERIC, CESSDA-ERIC, DARIAH-ERIC, ECRIN, EPOS, ICOS) as a full member.