ESFRI Report: Funding of Research Infrastructures

European Research Infrastructures (RIs), crucial for the European Research Area, have seenstrategic planning by ESFRI and national roadmaps development across EU Member States.The ESFRI 2021 roadmap highlights the diversity and expansion of RIs, with 63 identifiedentities.

Following the insights from the 2022 ESFRI questionnaire, which aimed to deepen theunderstanding of RI financing, this report compiles responses from 54 RIs across 19 MemberStates, to the follow up questionnaire issued by ESFRI in 2023, addressing the call for moredetailed, country-specific information. It uncovers significant funding mechanism disparitiesbetween distributed and single-sited RIs, highlighting a broader challenge: a pervasive lackof detailed knowledge concerning funding sources and the calculation of access costs,despite the evident necessity for greater funding transparency and effectiveness. This executive summary, therefore, not only recounts the survey's findings but also connects theseinsights with putative actionable recommendations (for discussion with the RI forum) andemphasizes the necessity for collaborative effort and follow-up work to foster sustainable,efficient funding models for European RIs.

Crucially important is the role of both national roadmaps and the ESFRI roadmap fordeveloping both a national and European RI strategy, underpinned by evaluation, coherenceand corresponding funding allocations.