CENTRAL EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM

Their core work

CERIC-ERIC is a distributed research infrastructure consortium headquartered in Trieste, Italy, that provides scientists and industry with access to a network of analytical and characterization facilities across Central Europe. Their core mission is coordinating multi-technique research instruments — such as synchrotron light sources, neutron sources, and electron microscopy — under a single-access-point model. Within H2020, they focused on strengthening the governance, sustainability, and open science practices of European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs), while also contributing to the Photon and Neutron Open Science Cloud for FAIR data access.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

CERIC-ERIC's early H2020 work (2017) centered on proving and communicating the value of research infrastructures — measuring socio-economic impact and social return through ACCELERATE, which they coordinated. By 2018-2019, the focus shifted decisively toward open science implementation and ERIC governance: PaNOSC brought them into the EOSC ecosystem with FAIR data services, while ERIC Forum addressed the operational and policy framework for all ERICs collectively. The trajectory moves from "why do research infrastructures matter?" to "how do we make them interoperable and data-open?"

CERIC-ERIC is moving toward becoming a key node in the European Open Science Cloud ecosystem, making their analytical data FAIR-compliant and remotely accessible — a valuable partner for any project needing open research data infrastructure.

How they like to work

CERIC-ERIC primarily joins consortia as a participant (3 of 4 projects) but has demonstrated coordination capability with ACCELERATE, their largest self-led project. With 73 unique partners across 22 countries, they operate as a well-connected hub — consistent with their role as a multi-country distributed infrastructure. Their CSA-heavy portfolio (3 of 4 projects) shows they are sought after for coordination and support actions rather than pure research, reflecting their organizational and policy expertise.

Extensive European network spanning 73 partners across 22 countries, reflecting CERIC-ERIC's nature as a multi-national consortium that links analytical facilities from Italy to Poland. Their partner base is dominated by other research infrastructures, national labs, and data infrastructure organizations.

What sets them apart

CERIC-ERIC occupies a unique position as both a research infrastructure and an expert on how research infrastructures should be run — they don't just provide beamtime, they shape ERIC policy and open science practices across Europe. Their combination of hands-on facility operation with governance expertise makes them a rare two-in-one partner: they understand both the science and the institutional mechanics. For consortium builders, CERIC-ERIC brings instant credibility on infrastructure access, FAIR data compliance, and multi-country coordination.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ACCELERATE
  Their only coordinated project (EUR 1.75M), focused on proving the socio-economic value of research infrastructures — a strategic investment in justifying their own existence and that of peer ERICs.
• PaNOSC
  Largest single funding (EUR 1.88M) and their entry into EOSC/FAIR data services for photon and neutron facilities — signals their future direction toward open science cloud infrastructure.