Towards the ESFRI Roadmap 2021 - a new ambition for European science
Towards the ESFRI Roadmap 2021 - a new ambition for European science
Launching the call for proposals for the ESFRI Roadmap 2021, Jan Hrušák, Chair of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, called for a new ambition for European science to go beyond the existing frontiers of knowledge and find sustainable solutions to growing global challenges. Speaking at the Roadmap 2021 Info Day on 25 September 2019 in Brussels, organized as part of the European Research and Innovation Days, he underlined that “World-class Research Infrastructures, such as those identified in the ESFRI Roadmap, are essential to help us to reach these goals.’
The Info Day marked the official invitation to the research community to propose new Research Infrastructures that will be included on the ESFRI Roadmap to be published in 2021. The deadline to submit proposals is May 5th, 2020.
Since 2006, the ESFRI Roadmap for Research Infrastructures in Europe has set out the future of European research by describing the scientific needs for Research Infrastructures for the next 10-20 years. Through its five editions, including the recently published ESFRI Roadmap 2018, 55 European facilities have mobilised nearly €20 billion worth of investments.
In order to open yet new horizons for the European Research Area, ESFRI has now started working on the next edition - the Roadmap 2021, which will identify vital new European Research Infrastructures in six thematic fields (Energy, Health & Food, Environment, Physical Sciences & Engineering, Social and Cultural Innovation, and Digital RIs), stimulating the implementation of these facilities. With a vision to maximise the impact of Pan-European investments in Research Infrastructures in terms of science, European and international collaboration and innovation, the Roadmap 2021 will also include a comprehensive analysis of the current infrastructure landscape, review progress of ESFRI Projects currently being implemented and provide strategic guidance on issues of general interest to national governments and Research Infrastructures themselves.
During the Roadmap 2021 Info Day, attended by over 180 representatives of existing and prospective RIs, research policy makers, funders, scientists and media representatives, ESFRI members presented the scope of the planned update, requirements from new initiatives and a complete description of the methodology for the selection of new Research Infrastructure projects.
Ms. Gelsomina Pappalardo and Ms. Laurence Lenoir – members of the ESFRI Executive Board coordinating the Roadmap process – underlined that the Roadmap 2021 methodology is based on the lessons learned, streamlining the procedure and evaluation criteria as well as simplifying the application process.
