91st ESFRI Forum Meeting

European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures

91st ESFRI Meeting – 2 April 2025

Brno, CZ

Item 1. Opening by the ESFRI Chair
The ESFRI Chair welcomed attendees and introduced to the Forum all the changes in delegations since the last ESFRI Forum meeting.

Approval of draft agenda
The draft agenda was approved (Annex 1).

Approval of the report from the previous ESFRI meeting (12-13/12/2024)
The Chair presented to the delegations the draft report of the 90th ESFRI Forum Meeting held online on the 12th and 13th of December of 2024. The report was approved including a minor comment.

Reports of last EB meetings and joint EB&WG Chairs meetings (10/12/2024; 13/12/2024; 27/01/2025; 14/02/2025; 06/03/2025)
The Chair presented the key activities covered in the last executive board (EB) and joint EB and working group (WG) Chairs meetings.

Item 2. Report by the ESFRI Chair
The Chair presented his participation as ESFRI Chair in several events from December 2024 to April 2025 and announced some upcoming events.

Item 3. Report from the European Commission & Exchange on European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructures
The EC summarised for the Forum the latest developments including the adoption of the EC proposal for ERA policy agenda 2025-2027, the adoption of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 and the beginning of the work for the preparation of the Work Programme 2026-2027. The EC also informed about the work on updating the ERIC practical guidelines and about the latest ERICs adopted (CTAO, EHRI and E-RIHS). The EC explained the work in progress on the upcoming European strategy on research and technology infrastructures. The proposed objective of the strategy would be to ensure that researchers, innovators and industry in Europe have access to the cutting-edge facilities and services that support scientific and technological excellence and industrial competitiveness. The EC presented a tentative set of actions including actions specific to RIs, to TIs and cross-cutting actions common for both RIs and TIs.

Item 4. Update from Delegations

Poland
PL presented to the Forum a quick recollection of the overall priorities during the PL presidency. The kernel of the PL presidency will be security, pervading to seven main dimensions. PL highlighted one of the key accomplishments of the PL presidency, the Informal Competitiveness Council (Warsaw, 10-11 March 2025). PL continued presenting forthcoming key events for the PL delegation and encouraged the Forum to attend these events. Regarding the upcoming 92nd ESFRI Forum and 3rd Stakeholder Forum meetup both in Krakow the PL delegation walked the Forum through some organizational details.
 

Denmark
The DK delegation presented the ongoing work in view of the upcoming DK presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second semester of 2025. There will be an event on RIs/TIs, and the 93rd ESFRI Forum meeting is expected for October.
 

Turkey
The TR delegation took the floor to inform the Forum on several project proposals for the Roadmap 2026. The TR delegation highlighted the strong momentum in the TR ministries to present these new proposals.

Other delegations
The AT informed the Forum that AT has received the approval to join DISSCO.

Item 5. Roadmap 2026
The ESFRI Chair presented the updates on the preparation of the ESFRI Roadmap 2026 and informed the Forum that the monitoring of the 2016, 2018 and 2021 projects is proceeding according to schedule. Regarding new proposals the deadline for submission of applications will close on April 8th. Soon after will start the check of eligibility by the EB and the SWG assignment.

Item 6. Reports from ESFRI Working Group Chairs
The ESFRI chair gave the floor to the Chairs of the Strategy Working Groups (SWG) and Implementation Group (IG) to present updates and news from the WGs.

a. SWG DIGIT
The ESFRI Secretariat informed the Forum on changes in the composition of the SWG, the monitoring of the 2016 projects (5 projects) 2018 projects (8 projects) and 2021 projects (11 projects).a. SWG DIGIT The ESFRI Secretariat informed the Forum on changes in the composition of the SWG, the monitoring of the 2016 projects (5 projects) 2018 projects (8 projects) and 2021 projects (11 projects).

b. SWG Energy
The SWG ENE Chair presented the latest updates regarding ENE introduced the group vice-Chair and mentioned the composition of the SWG. The group currently has the task to monitor one 2018 and one 2021 project. The SWG Chair pointed out the need to host an in-person meeting.

c. SWG Environment
The SWG ENV Vice Chair presented the latest updates of the SWG and informed the Forum on the changes in composition of the group, mentioned that the SWG is open for additional participation. The next meeting of the SWG is planned 10-11 April, in person, in Brussels.

d.SWG Health and Food
The SWG H&F Chair presented to the Forum the SWG composition. The SWG held its last meeting in Brussels on February.

e. SWG Physical Sciences and Engineering
The SWG PSE Chair informed the Forum of the composition of the SWG and pointed out a strong need to organize an in-person meeting.

f. SWG Social Sciences and Humanities
The presenter informed the Forum on the composition of the SWG. The last in person meeting took place in February in Helsinki, where the group discussed about the upcoming Framework Program 10.

g. Implementation Group
The IG Chair informed the Forum of the updates of the IG. Since the last ESFRI meeting, IG has 2 new members. The IG Chair informed the Forum that the RM2026 activities are on time and are progressing well. The next in person meeting is planned in Krakow during the 92nd ESFRI Forum meeting.

The ESFRI Chair thanked all the SWG Chairs for their work and dedication.

Item 7. Workshop on ESFRI in the new ERA
The ESFRI Chair presented to the Forum a recap on the “Future of ESFRI in a new ERA” workshop. The ESFRI Chair stated that the workshop was the beginning of a process leading to a new dynamic that will allow ESFRI continue performing its mission. The ESFRI Chair highlighted that there was not a huge disparity of ideas among the delegations and that some ideas have already a wide consensus. The ESFRI Chair also mentioned that many RIs have a global perspective and therefore international collaboration is very important for them. The ESFRI Chair informed the Forum that a report of the workshop will be prepared.

Item 8. Non-Session (restricted participation)
No reporting

Item 9. Support to ESFRI
The ESFRI Chair presented to the Forum the work planned to formulate the ESFRI needs towards the future ESFRI support, for which a topic is included in the RI Work Programme 2025 that will open in May 2025. ESFRI will publish a document stating its needs such that anyone interested in preparing a proposal has access to the same information. The ESFRI Chair presented an initial list of foreseen activities for the period 2026-2029 and encouraged the Forum to send their input.

Item 10. Sustainability of Research Infrastructures
The ESFRI Vice Chair presented the main ideas from the discussions on the sustainability of RIs at the previous ESFRI forum meetings. Mainly that a precise definition of sustainability, while not easy to find, may facilitate common understanding when approaching different stakeholders and that the term "sustainability" should extend beyond RIs to also include sustainability of research communities. Regarding next steps Ms. Hoffert pointed out that ESFRI will continue the reflection on this topic because it is a crucial issue.

Item 11. 3rd ESFRI Stakeholder Forum Meetup
The ESFRI Secretariat presented to the Forum an update on the preparations for the 3rd ESFRI Stakeholder Forum (SHF) Meetup. The general objective of the ESFRI Stakeholders Forum is to better engage stakeholders in the design and implementation of policies and actions affecting RIs in Europe and to examine ESFRI's strengths and opportunities. The meetup will take place on 10-11 June 2025 at the Auditorium Maximum of the Jagiellonian University Kraków, in Kraków, Poland.

Item 12. Extension of ESFRI Chair’s, EB’s, and WG mandates
The ESFRI Secretariat presented to the Forum the text of the ESFRI decision to extend the mandate of the ESFRI Chair, the Executive Board Members and the permanent Working Group Chairs by 12 months, until 31 December 2026. The Forum approved the proposed extension.

Item 13. Monitoring of Landmarks
A member of the Monitoring Committee presented to the Forum an update on the workshop on “lessons learnt” from the first monitoring exercise and next steps of the activities of the Monitoring Committee. The main conclusion is that the monitoring exercise fulfilled its objectives but some minor adaptions are recommended.

Item 14. ESFRI-EOSC Task Force
An ESFRI representative at the ESFRI-EOSC Task Force (TF) presented to the Forum an overview of the TF activities and the conclusions of the two Milan Workshops on EOSC (March and November 2024). The speaker praised the vivid conversations in both workshops and pointed the Forum to a paper recently published: “RIs advantages and challenges of joining EOSC”. The speaker gave an overview of a workshop organized by OSCARS to recapitulate the results of the OSCARS Open Calls.

• Update from Reflection Group on EOSC

An ESFRI member of the ESFRI Reflection Group (RG) on EOSC informed the Forum on the BRIDGE conference “Bridging Disciplines: Advancing Research Data Management for Collaborative Innovation” (Romania, 20-21 March 2025). The presenter also informed the Forum on the recent developments of EOSC and the EOSC Federation. The presenter emphasized the need for a sustainable model for EOSC post 2027.

Item 15. Reports from other Reflection Groups

• Report on expert group on Technology Infrastructures: update on progress

The ESFRI representative in the commission TI Expert Group informed the Forum that the Expert group had finished its task in early February. The presenter directed the Forum to the two reports published by the Expert Group in February and briefly discussed the reports.

• ERICs

The ESFRI Chair presented to the Forum the draft document that will be sent to the EC to give ESFRI´s view on the ERIC practical guidelines. The ESFRI Chair encouraged the Forum to send written comments until April 15th for subsequent approval at the June Forum Meeting.

• EDICs

The leader of the ESFRI Reflection Group on EDICs presented an overview of EDICs and the work of the Reflection Group. Issues that merit particular attention are the need for coordination among ministries in MS/AC and how the situation will evolve after 2030.

Item 16. Report from Drafting Group on Impact Assessment of ESFRI
The ESFRI Chair presented to the Forum the work of the drafting group (DG) on impact assessment of ESFRI to be published in 2027 (25th year anniversary). Briefly, this DG is preparing a background document stating the rationale, the motivation and the goal of the impact assessment. The ESFRI Chair presented the structure of the background paper.

Item 17. Report from Drafting Group on Resilience and Greening of RIs
The ESFRI Secretariat informed the Forum on the Drafting Group composition and latest updates and strongly encouraged additional delegates to join the DG. The first meeting of the DG discussed mostly organization and methodologies to gather information from RIs.

Item 18. Mandate for EB to respond to ERAC opinion
The ESFRI Secretariat presented for approval by the Forum a mandate for the EB to react to the European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC) opinion paper on the Research and Technology Infrastructure Strategy. The Forum asked the EB to share the document with the Forum before sending it to the ERAC.

Item 19. Any other Business and Close
The ESFRI Secretariat announced the next ESFRI Forum Meetings: 92nd ESFRI Forum meeting (June 11-12, Krakow, PL) back-to-back with the 3rd Stakeholder Forum Meetup.

The ESFRI Chair concluded the 91st ESFRI Forum Meeting thanking all the delegates and the EC for their presence and the support personnel for their work.

End of the 91st ESFRI Forum meeting