RI-VIS D3.3 Third outreach and partnering event

In 2021, RI-VIS organised three international symposia focussing on research infrastructures (RI), with partner initiatives from Africa, Latin America and Australia. The Australia-Europe Symposium on Research Infrastructures was the third edition of this series and was held as a virtual event on October 5-7, 2021.

Delegates from Australia and European research infrastructures (RIs), science policy organisations and research institutions joined this symposium to learn about the RI landscapes and funding schemes in Australia and Europe, synergies between Australia and Europe RI, the importance of RIs in the life sciences and their contribution in addressing environment challenges and the climate change, as well as case studies of global RI initiatives.

Due to the current Covid-19 situation and pandemic-related travel restrictions, the symposium was organised as a virtual event. Despite the lack of opportunities for in person discussions, the organisers structured the symposium in such a way that the symposium participants had ample opportunities to exchange ideas, to network and discuss potentially new collaborations. Various formats – keynote lectures, panel discussions, virtual networking, virtual exhibitions - were chosen to facilitate the interaction between the speakers and participants.

Representatives from European RIs across scientific disciplines joined efforts to collaborate more efficiently and to raise awareness among the scientific user community, global RIs and science policy organisations, as part of the Horizon 2020-funded RI-VIS project (https://ri-vis.eu).