ESFRI Vision

Equipping Europe with infrastructures for ground-breaking research

ESFRI Mission

ESFRI is a strategy forum of funders and policy makers with expertise in the field of Research Infrastructures. Its mandate is defined by the Council of the European Union (EU) and it acts as an informal body advising the Competitiveness Council. It consists of representatives of national authorities responsible for political decision-making and funding of Research Infrastructures. Its main role is to provide a shared, long-term strategic vision for an effective, efficient and sustainable RI ecosystem in Europe, maximising the impact of national and European investments. In doing so, it facilitates multilateral initiatives and agreements on common investments leading to the better use, development and impact of RIs across their lifecycle, at EU and international level.

ESFRI also implements ad hoc Council mandates by providing evidencebased input to the implementation of the strategic vision for research and innovation in Europe. ESFRI’s goal is to strengthen European research, providing the tools needed to address the scientific and societal challenges of the future. ESFRI contributes to enhancing well-being, economic growth and sustainability in Europe, thus increasing Europe’s long-term capacity to meet Societal Challenges and tackle the Sustainable Development Goals.

To implement this mandate, ESFRI analyses the European landscape of Research Infrastructures, and develops and updates a Roadmap for the implementation and monitoring of a strong infrastructure base, so contributing to the implementation of the ERA Roadmap⁴ 4. Conclusions of the Council of the European Union on The review of the European Research Area advisory structure, 1 December 2015
http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-14458-2015-INIT/en/pdf.

ESFRI and its infrastructure Roadmap has worked on the basis of cross-border cooperation and dialogue. This, in alignment with the new ERA paradigm, should be reinforced in the next period through joint coordinated actions at regional, national and European levels. This collaboration model has already resulted in the establishment of good practices and exchange of experiences in the implementation and management of Research Infrastructures across Europe. Further strengthening of these synergies will be needed to meet the new levels of ambition for European research and innovation.

ESFRI implements its mission through a comprehensive set of activities⁵ 5. ESFRI Procedural Guidelines
https://www.esfri.eu/sites/default/files/ESFRI_Procedural_Guidelines_Revision_2019_Adopted.pdf fostering the development, operational capacity, and sustainability of the entire Research Infrastructure ecosystem as a strategic goal. Through a coherent and strategy-led approach to policy-making for European Research Infrastructure⁶ 6. ESFRI: research infrastructures for Europe
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_12_772, ESFRI:

• Integrates and strengthens the European Research Area, empowering researchers to develop coordinated and strategic responses to rapidly evolving scientific frontiers enabling development of solutions to the pressing societal challenges and advancing and extending the use of knowledge and knowledge-based technologies.
• Facilitates the best possible conditions for advanced research in Europe through infrastructures on the ESFRI Roadmap.
• Through its Landscape Analysis and Roadmaps, facilitates multilateral initiatives for a more efficient development of European RIs and the development of globally competitive centres of excellence.
• Develops and facilitates the implementation of RIs into hubs of competence in Europe, where science, education and innovation meet to advance new collaborative models and provide solution-oriented advances based on Open Science principles.
• Facilitates international research cooperation and strengthens European research in a global perspective.
• Contributes to a more competitive, cohesive and sustainable Europe through joint efforts of European Member States and Associated Countries.

ESFRI Values

In implementing its mission, ESFRI is conscious of the need to respect its core values. Given that ESFRI’s primary function is to maximise the impact of Europe’s scientific investments, it bases its decisions on the priorities associated with the creation and development of Europe’s Research Infrastructures on both scientific need and excellence in research. ESFRI, through integrating the views of all Member States and Associated Countries, respects the cultural and geographical diversity of Europe allowing for solutions based on variable geometry⁷ 7. Variable geometry is a principle in regional integration whereby some community members can move faster than others on some matters. ESFRI has developed it to a key principle in its mandate and procedural guidelines since its creation in 2002 to allow groups of EU Member States and Associated Countries to independently pursue common RI initiatives of their interest. while meeting pan-European needs. ESFRI engages in active dialogue with the scientific community, without whom the design and implementation of ESFRI’s decisions would not be possible, and is committed to maximising the impact of Europe’s Research Infrastructures in addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges facing Europe and the world. This allows ESFRI to move forward based on a strong and shared consensus among all partners.

ESFRI is committed to the transparency of its processes and procedures. Official documents of the Forum, its Membership, Procedural Guidelines and Terms of References of its bodies, as well as outputs of ESFRI work and activity reports are available in the public domain. ESFRI Roadmap evaluation and monitoring processes rest on rigorous scientific and technical peer review based on independent expertise with strict conflict of interest rules following international best practices. ESFRI respects the values of equality, diversity and inclusiveness in all aspects of its business.