On 3 June 2026, representatives from Europe’s research and innovation community convened in Brussels for the joint launch of three Horizon Europe initiatives under INFRADEV-05: FUND-RI, Access2Access, and COORDINA-INNOV.
The event brought together policymakers, research infrastructure leaders, industry representatives, researchers, and users to discuss how Europe can strengthen and future-proof its Research and Technology Infrastructure (RTI) ecosystem in the face of technological change, geopolitical shifts, and growing expectations for competitiveness, openness, and resilience.
A Shared Vision for Europe’s RTI Ecosystem
A central theme of the discussions was clear: Europe already possesses exceptional scientific capabilities and world-leading infrastructures. The challenge now lies in connecting these strengths more effectively—across funding, access, technology, and collaboration. This vision was echoed in the presentations of the three new projects:
- FUND-RI, led by Ricardo Migueis (INESC Brussels HUB), explores coherent and sustainable funding and investment approaches across the research infrastructure lifecycle.
- Access2Access, presented by John Eriksson (Euro-BioImaging), focuses on integrated, user-centred access and AI-enabled approaches to make navigation easier for researchers.
- COORDINA-INNOV, introduced by Helmut Dosch (DESY), aims to strengthen co-innovation between research infrastructures and industry to support Europe’s scientific and technological leadership.
AnaEE-ERIC’s Role
AnaEE-ERIC is proud to coordinate the communications work for these initiatives in collaboration with INRAE and contribute to other tasks, including the design of an access scheme that will make our members’ services easier to find and connect with the next generation of scientists and their research projects. Our team members also moderated and participated in a hackathon focused on access challenges, hosted by Barbara Schramm from HZDR, with outcomes to be shared in the coming month.
Looking Ahead: The discussions in Brussels marked the beginning of an important conversation about connecting Europe’s capabilities more effectively. As these projects unfold, AnaEE-ERIC remains committed to fostering collaboration, innovation, and accessibility within the RTI ecosystem.
