A clearer view of research infrastructures in Europe
Excellence in research requires not only outstanding researchers, but also excellent research facilities, resources and services. Such infrastructures are fundamental to research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe today. The Mapping of the European Research Infrastructure Landscape (MERIL) project is a pan-European effort to produce a comprehensive inventory of research infrastructures of ‘more-than-national’ relevance across Europe. The project was initially funded by the EU from October 2010 to December 2012 with the aim to improve on an earlier survey (2006/07) that was jointly carried out by the European Commission and the European Science Foundation. The end result of the EU-funded phase of the project is a publicly available database, containing (as of January 2013) approximately 900 research infrastructures of more-than-national relevance across all scientific domains and types of infrastructures. Given the importance of this project, the European Science Foundation member organisations are supporting the consolidation and development of the MERIL database and portal in 2013, with a view to ensuring its longer-term sustainability. The portal is designed to be updated on a regular basis by the operators of the research infrastructures and will also be continuously open to new entries that meet the eligibility criteria. The MERIL database and portal will ultimately facilitate broader and deeper analysis of the European research infrastructure landscape than has been possible to date. MERIL is consequently a unique tool for scientists, policy makers and research funders, as well as other stakeholders. In the long term, the MERIL database will make it possible to better exploit the services and facilities offered by existing research infrastructures as well as to inform planning for the development of new research infrastructures in Europe. In 2013, efforts will focus on consolidating and exploiting the database, as well as exploring needs for new features and data together with national and international stakeholders.
