Draft:ESFRI

The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) is an advisory body that coordinates policy on research infrastructure in Europe. It was established in 2002 by a decision of European Union research ministers meeting in the Competitiveness Council, and brings together senior science policy officials from the research ministries of EU member states and countries associated with the EU research framework programme, together with a representative of the European Commission.

ESFRI's mission is to support a coherent, strategy-led approach to research infrastructure policy in Europe and to facilitate multilateral initiatives for their development and use. Its principal output is the ESFRI Roadmap, a periodically updated list of research infrastructures judged to be of pan-European relevance, first published in 2006 and most recently revised in 2021. A seventh edition is due to be launched in Rome on 2 December 2026.

ESFRI is a self-regulated body that operates by consensus and has no budget of its own; delegations meet their own costs, and the secretariat is provided by the European Commission.

History

Political interest in research infrastructures at European scale emerged in the early 2000s alongside the Lisbon Strategy and the creation of the European Research Area. ESFRI was established in 2002 in that context, as a forum for strategic discussion between the Commission and national governments. Following a 2004 recommendation of the Competitiveness Council, ESFRI was tasked with preparing a roadmap setting out Europe's future research infrastructure needs on a ten- to twenty-year horizon, taking account of input from intergovernmental research organisations and industry. The first roadmap followed in 2006, and ESFRI has since developed a clearer methodology with published evaluation criteria and submission procedures.

In 2008 ESFRI identified a lack of suitable legal instruments for establishing European research infrastructures. The Commission responded with a proposal for a new legal form, adopted in 2009 as the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), which gave infrastructures a common legal framework in an area where arrangements had previously been made on an ad hoc, case-by-case basis.

Composition and governance

Each participating state nominates a delegation of two senior science policy officials representing its research minister, appointed for renewable two-year terms; the European Commission is represented in the same way. The Chair is elected from among the delegates for a two-year, non-renewable term. As of 2026 the Chair is José Luis Martínez Peña, a research professor at the Institute of Materials Science of Madrid within the Spanish National Research Council. An Executive Board, comprising the Chair, the Commission representative and delegates chosen by consensus, assists with planning and follow-up of ESFRI's activities. The Forum meets in plenary session about four times a year.

Working structures

ESFRI carries out its assessment work through Strategy Working Groups organised by research domain — covering energy, environment, health and food, physical sciences and engineering, social and cultural innovation, and, since 2017, digital research infrastructures — together with an Implementation Group that reviews the maturity of proposed infrastructures across all domains. A permanent Monitoring Committee, created in 2022, coordinates the ongoing monitoring of infrastructures that hold Landmark status.

ESFRI Roadmap

Infrastructures on the roadmap hold one of two statuses. ESFRI Projects are those with a strong scientific case and an advanced preparatory phase, expected to begin implementation within about ten years. ESFRI Landmarks are former Projects that have been implemented, or are being implemented, and are treated as successful.

The roadmap has grown substantially since its first edition in 2006, which listed 35 infrastructures. The current edition, published in 2021, comprises 41 Landmarks and 22 Projects — 63 infrastructures in total. The Council of the European Union recorded that total investment in these facilities would exceed €20 billion.

Eligibility to propose infrastructures rests with EU member states, associated countries and members of EIROforum, and requires political support from the relevant national ministry as well as a funding commitment.

2026 update

ESFRI opened the process for a seventh roadmap edition in October 2024. For the first time, the call required proposals to address environmental sustainability alongside financial sustainability. In June 2026 ESFRI announced that six new project proposals had been approved for inclusion, following evaluation by the Strategy Working Groups and the Implementation Group. The completed roadmap is scheduled for launch in Rome on 2 December 2026, immediately before the International Conference on Research Infrastructures held in the same city.

Landscape Analysis

Alongside the roadmap, ESFRI produces a Landscape Analysis surveying existing European research infrastructures that provide transnational access, together with major ongoing projects, in order to identify gaps and challenges and to set them against the global picture. Since 2024 this has been published as a standalone document, separate from the roadmap.

See also

• Research infrastructure
• European Research Infrastructure Consortium
• European Research Area
• EIROforum
• Big Science

External links

• Official website
• European Research Infrastructures at the European Commission

Category:Science policy Category:European Union and science and technology