INSTITUT ROYAL METEOROLOGIQUE DE BELGIQUE

Their core work

The Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (IRM/KMI) is Belgium's national weather and climate research institution, responsible for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and atmospheric research. In H2020, they contribute specialized expertise in climate system dynamics, weather prediction algorithms, and ionospheric/space weather monitoring. Their work spans from developing exascale computing methods for weather models to studying critical tipping points in Earth's climate system, feeding directly into both operational forecasting and long-term climate policy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015-2019), IRM/KMI focused on computational infrastructure — building exascale weather prediction algorithms, contributing to marine science coordination, and developing aviation hazard systems. From 2019 onward, their work shifted decisively toward fundamental climate science: studying tipping points, abrupt climate transitions, weather extremes, and non-linear dynamics. This evolution reflects a move from operational tool-building toward deeper scientific understanding of climate system behavior under stress.

IRM/KMI is increasingly investing in understanding abrupt climate transitions and extreme weather dynamics — making them a strong partner for projects studying climate risk, resilience, and non-linear Earth system behavior.

How they like to work

IRM/KMI consistently participates as a partner rather than leading consortia — zero coordinator roles across 10 projects. They operate in large international consortia (141 unique partners across 30 countries), which is typical for a national meteorological institute contributing domain-specific data and expertise. Their role is that of a reliable specialist contributor who brings meteorological and climate science capabilities to multi-disciplinary teams.

Extensive European network spanning 141 unique partners across 30 countries, reflecting the inherently international nature of climate and weather research. Their partnerships cover weather services, climate research institutes, and space agencies across nearly all EU member states.

What sets them apart

As Belgium's national meteorological institute, IRM/KMI brings long-term observational datasets, operational forecasting infrastructure, and deep atmospheric physics expertise that few academic partners can match. Their combination of exascale computing for weather models and fundamental climate dynamics research positions them at the intersection of operational meteorology and climate science. For consortium builders, they offer institutional stability, access to national weather data, and credibility with both scientific and policy audiences.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ESCAPE-2
  Their largest single grant (EUR 387K), continuing pioneering work on energy-efficient exascale weather prediction algorithms — a direct successor to the original ESCAPE project.
• CriticalEarth
  MSCA Innovative Training Network studying climate tipping points and abrupt climate change, signaling IRM/KMI's strategic pivot toward fundamental climate dynamics research.
• ERA4CS
  Major ERA-NET cofund (EUR 346K) for coordinating European climate services — demonstrates IRM/KMI's role in shaping the institutional landscape of climate research across Europe.