European Research Infrastructure Consortiums gathered in Helsinki
The 6th European Research Infrastructure Consortium ( ) Network meeting took place in Helsinki, Finland on 9th and 10th May 2017. The meeting brought together representatives from all the ERICs, research infrastructures planning on applying for ERIC status, as well as national governments and the European Commission.
More than 80 people participated in the meeting, hosted and organised by ICOS ERIC in cooperation with CESSDA, ECCSEL, European Spallation Source ERIC, and the European Commission, in the Hotel Katajanokka in Helsinki.
The meeting discussed the Roadmap as well as the European Open Science Agenda in a relation to ERICs, IP Policy and procurement rules. ERICs also shared their best practices on internal rules, impact and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as well as annual report writing. Also, a presentation was given by Antonella Calvia-Goetz, advisor on funding innovation in Projects Directorate of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The meeting was also attended by Paul Tuinder from the European Commission Directorate-General Research and Innovation who highlighted the importance of regular ERICs networking meetings. “These ERICs are the first ones to discover what is to be an ‘ERIC’ in both national and European level and they are preparing the way for other upcoming ERICs. So it is an adventure. The ERICs are overcoming common obstacles while building a stronger community. They have also been very successful in EU Horizon 2020 projects,” said Mr. Tuinder.
ERIC Forum: Memorandum of Understanding signed
During the meeting, several ERICs signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the ERIC Forum, aimed to further intensify collaboration between ERICs. In particular, its objectives are to identify and develop collective responses to common challenges, contribute to the further development of the ERIC Regulation and ESFRI framework as well as to European and international research context, and to foster visibility, impact and sustainability of ERICs. European Research Infrastructure Consortiums (ERICs) are specific legal forms to facilitate the establishment and operation of research infrastructures with European interest. Our Executive Director, Franciska de Jong, was among the ERIC directors signing the Memorandum.
According to the MoU, the ERIC Network meetings will be succeeded by ERIC Forum meetings and it has been agreed that the next meeting will be held in Graz, Austria in November 2017.
Source: ICOS ERIC
Workshop: EOSCpilot
The European Open Science Cloud ( ) pilot project, in charge of trialing and designing a stakeholder driven governance framework for EOSC, invited research infrastructures to take part in the debate and plan of the future EOSC at a workshop on 9 May in conjunction to the 6th ERIC networking meeting. Franciska de Jong participated in a panel discussion about topics such as: the governance framework for the EOSC and the European Open Science policy. Click here for more information about the workshop and the EOSCpilot.
