mail info@eric-forum.eu

Posted bySalma Baghdadi 1 Comment on
Posted bySalma Baghdadi 1 Comment on

Amsterdam, February 1st, 2019.

On Thursday 31 January, 23* European Research Infrastructures, based in 11 different countries with national nodes in all European Member States, met in Amsterdam to launch the ERIC Forum project, co-funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme (Grant Agreement No 823798). The project will run until December 2022.

About the ERIC Forum Implementation

The community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) is a specific legal form to facilitate the establishment and operation of research infrastructures with European interest. Among others, it provides a legal capacity recognised in all EU Member States, a faster process than creating an international organisation, and exemptions from VAT and excise duty.

During the past years, the European Commission (EC) and the ERICs met twice a year to address and discuss issues in the implementation of the ERIC regulation. ERICs exchanged during these meetings commonly shared challenges in fields ranging from human resources management, procurement, VAT and excises exemption implementation, in-kind contributions, as well as the socio-economic impact of ERICs, performance monitoring and more. Aware of the constant enlargement of the community, the existing ERICs formed in 2017 the ERIC Forum in order to further strengthen the coordination among ERICs and interact effectively with the EC to achieve the full implementation of the ERIC regulation.

The aim of the ERIC Forum Implementation project is to strengthen the coordination within the ERIC Forum, to have a common voice and enhance collaborations between the partners. The strategic approach of the ERIC Forum will contribute to address critical challenges and develop best practices.

One of the major outcomes of the project is to frame the necessary knowledge to support Research Infrastructures (RIs) interested to explore the ERIC legal framework and ERICs in preparation with various aspects. This includes the development of guidelines and best practices related to various fields, the creation of a repository for legal documents such as internal regulations and rules of procedures, etc., which will be publicly available through an online toolbox.

Work Packages:

Each of the 6 thematic work packages within the project will focus on a specific area. This includes: the overall coordination of processes within the project (WP 1), the analysis and development of ERIC Forum’s governance model (WP 2), the development of guidelines and best practices related to ERICs’ operations, administration, HR and Finance (WP 3), the establishment of ERICs’ impact assessment methodologies for long-term sustainability (WP 4), strengthening the ERIC identity through targeted communication and dissemination activities (WP 5), and the definition of the role of ERICs within the European research ecosystem and science policy (WP 6).

ERIC Forum Project Partners: