Developing research infrastructures is Europe’s response to the challenge of placing science at the heart of societal and economic development, promoting innovation, and enabling technology-driven transformation within a complex landscape.
Research infrastructures are organisations that provide research communities with specific facilities, resources, and services in order to accelerate scientific achievement. Fostering collaboration between research infrastructures across countries, economic sectors, research fields, and institutions avoids duplication of effort and renders scientific endeavour both sustainable and more effective.
European research infrastructures span the biological and medical sciences, materials science, energy and astronomy, the environmental sciences, humanities, and the social sciences. They are strongly supported by the European Commission, which has set up the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), a strategic instrument to steer policy-making and facilitate their development and optimal use.
All research infrastructures in SSHOC (CESSDA, ESS Survey, DARIAH, CLARIN, SHARE and E-RIHS) are on the ESFRI roadmap.