Imagine you need to know what happens to a harbour, a river delta, or a flood wall when sea levels rise or storms get fiercer — but you can't just wait and see. HYDRALAB+ gave researchers and engineers access to 29 of Europe's biggest wave tanks, river flumes, and ice labs so they could run those "what if" experiments at scale. They also built shared data tools so the results don't sit on one lab's hard drive but are findable and reusable by anyone. The network specifically pushed to get industry involved, setting up an Industrial Advisory Board and workshops that brought engineers and scientists into the same room.
Companies designing, building, or maintaining infrastructure near rivers and coasts need to know how climate change — rising seas, stronger storms, shifting sediment — will affect their structures over the next decades. Physical testing in hydraulic labs is the gold standard, but finding the right facility across Europe, accessing it, and comparing data across labs has been fragmented and difficult.
The project built a coordinated network of 29 European hydraulic testing facilities with themed access calls focused on climate adaptation. Concrete outputs include a Data Flux demonstrator for querying experimental data across labs, a data repository with DOI-based referencing, a virtual community platform targeting contractors, and an Industrial Advisory Board connecting researchers with industry needs.
If you are a coastal engineering firm struggling to predict how your designs will hold up under rising sea levels and more intense storms — this network gave open access to Europe's largest wave tanks and flumes, plus a shared data repository with DOIs so you can benchmark your models against real physical experiments run across 29 partner labs in 12 countries.
If you are a water authority responsible for flood defences along rivers that face increasing peak flows — HYDRALAB+ developed hydraulic data interrogation tools (the Data Flux demonstrator) that let you query experimental datasets from multiple European labs, helping you validate your flood models without commissioning expensive new tests.
If you are an instrument maker looking to get your sensors tested and validated in world-class hydraulic facilities — HYDRALAB+ explicitly aimed to bring instrument development to market through industry workshops and an Industrial Advisory Board, offering a direct route from lab prototype to commercial product.
HYDRALAB+ provided transnational access to facilities funded through the EU programme, meaning eligible researchers and engineers could use the labs at no direct cost during the project period (2015–2019). Since the project has closed, access now depends on each facility's own commercial terms. Contact the coordinator at Deltares for current pricing.
Yes. The network includes major and unique environmental hydraulic facilities — full-scale wave flumes, large river models, and ice tanks — across 12 European countries. These are not bench-top setups; they are designed for experiments that simulate real-world conditions at meaningful scale.
The project established formal data repository rules including DOIs for experimental datasets. IP from your own experiments would typically remain with you as the user, but shared datasets are governed by the repository's open-access rules. Specific terms should be confirmed with the facility operator.
Yes. A key deliverable was a data repository with DOI-based referencing and the Data Flux demonstrator for querying hydraulic datasets. Based on available project data, these tools were designed for long-term accessibility beyond the project's end.
The project produced 49 deliverables including a working demonstrator (Data Flux) for hydraulic data interrogation and knowledge transfer. An Industrial Advisory Board was established to guide industry relevance. However, the primary output is research infrastructure and data, not a turnkey commercial product.
While HYDRALAB+ does not directly produce regulatory tools, its experimental data and facility access support the evidence base that regulators and engineers need when designing climate-adapted infrastructure. The themed research calls focused specifically on adaptation to climate change impact on rivers and coasts.
The HYDRALAB network has run across multiple EU funding cycles and the facilities themselves remain operational. Deltares in the Netherlands coordinates the network. The project website (hydralab.eu) and the virtual community platform built during the project are entry points for engagement.
This is a heavily research-oriented consortium: 15 universities and 9 research organisations make up the bulk of 29 partners, with only 1 classified industry partner and 3 SMEs (3% industry ratio). The coordinator, Stichting Deltares in the Netherlands, is a well-known applied research institute specialising in water and subsurface issues — a credible bridge between academic hydraulics and real-world engineering. The 12-country spread (DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, IT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, UK) means the testing facilities cover a wide range of European climate and coastal conditions. For a business buyer, the low industry ratio means you would be engaging primarily with research labs, not commercial vendors — but the establishment of an Industrial Advisory Board signals intent to make the network more industry-friendly.
Stichting Deltares, Netherlands — a leading European applied research institute for water and subsurface engineering
Want to connect with the HYDRALAB+ network for facility access or climate adaptation data? SciTransfer can make a warm introduction to the right lab for your specific testing needs.
