PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE-INSTITUTE OF EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING SEISMOLOGY SS CYRIL AND METHODIUS UNIVERSITY SKOPJE IZIIS

Their core work

IZIIS is a specialized research institute dedicated to earthquake engineering and engineering seismology, operating within Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia — a country located in one of Europe's most seismically active regions. Their scientific work centers on seismic hazard assessment, structural behavior under seismic loading, and the translation of research findings into building codes and safety standards. In the European context, their H2020 participation placed them inside SERA, the continent-wide seismology research infrastructure alliance, where they contributed to revising the European Seismic Hazard Reference Model feeding into Eurocode 8 — the structural design standard used across Europe. They also serve an institutional role as a national gateway to EU research programs, helping Western Balkans researchers navigate and access the European Research Area.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IZIIS entered H2020 through an administrative and networking route: their first project, NCP_WIDE.NET, was about building the infrastructure for other organizations to access EU research funding, with keywords centered on capacity building, quality standards, and lowering entry barriers for newcomers. By 2017 they had secured a role in SERA, a technically demanding seismology infrastructure project, where the work shifted entirely to revising seismic hazard models underpinning Eurocode 8. This trajectory — from EU research navigation to core scientific contribution — suggests IZIIS used the NCP network to build European connections before transitioning into technical consortia aligned with their actual scientific mandate.

IZIIS is moving toward technical seismology infrastructure roles at the European level, positioning themselves as a regional specialist node for seismic hazard and building code development rather than a general EU research networking actor.

How they like to work

IZIIS has participated exclusively as a consortium member across both H2020 projects, with no coordinator roles — consistent with a specialist institute that contributes domain expertise rather than managing projects. Their involvement in SERA, a large pan-European alliance, shows they can operate comfortably inside complex multi-partner structures. Working with them likely means engaging a focused technical contributor with strong regional knowledge of Western Balkans seismicity, rather than a consortium manager.

Despite only two H2020 projects, IZIIS has connected with 58 unique partners across 26 countries, reflecting SERA's exceptionally broad pan-European consortium structure. Their network is wide in geographic reach but shallow in depth — built through large infrastructure alliances rather than repeated bilateral partnerships.

What sets them apart

IZIIS is one of very few research institutes specializing in earthquake engineering from the Western Balkans with documented H2020 participation, making them a natural entry point for seismic expertise from a region that sits atop some of Europe's most active fault systems — giving their hazard assessments direct real-world grounding that institutes from low-seismicity countries cannot replicate. For consortia building Horizon Europe proposals around natural hazard resilience, structural safety, or Eurocode revision, IZIIS simultaneously delivers scientific depth and widening-participation eligibility, a combination that strengthens both the science and the funding case.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SERA
  IZIIS's highest-funded project (EUR 200,000) and their only purely technical engagement, placing them inside the European alliance responsible for revising the seismic hazard reference model behind Eurocode 8.
• NCP_WIDE.NET
  A long-running six-year project (2015-2021) that established IZIIS as an institutional bridge between North Macedonia's research community and the European Research Area, building the administrative capacity that enabled their later technical participation.