ESFRI publishes Policy Brief on Assessment of Impact of RIs

During the 84th Forum meeting (Lund, 20-22 June 2023) ESFRI adopted a Policy Brief on assessing the impact of Research Infrastructures (RIs).
The report is a response to the request of the Competitiveness Council, which asked ESFRI to "look into the approaches by Member States, the Commission, international organisations and RIs to assess scientific, societal and economic impacts of investments in RIs by the end of 2023".

The ESFRI Policy Brief on Assessment of Impact of Research Infrastructures highlights the importance of understanding the differences between performance monitoring, which ESFRI started implementing last year, and impact assessment for RIs. It provides recommendations to stakeholders, policymakers, funders, governments, RIs, ESFRI, and the EC.

Key points include the following:

• Acknowledging the differences between RIs and avoiding direct comparisons in impact assessments.
• No one-size-fits-all methodology for impact assessments; a customised approach should be taken.
• Recognising the relevance of scientific impact while also considering various other socioeconomic impacts.
• Taking into account the longitudinal nature of impact assessments and the need for data collection over time.

The full report is available via Zenodo