Framework Programme 7 earmarked €1.85 billion for research facilities, and the Framework Programme for 2014 – 2020 (Horizon 2020) will support them with about €2.4 billion.
Research often needs specialised infrastructure, including equipment and buildings, or less tangible infrastructure such as databases, archives, collections and computing systems.
The EU has supported 3,539 UK based researchers to access 1,055 European research facilities between 2007 and 2013.
These can be of great scientific value but are sometimes expensive, and as a result are often shared and used by scientists from many different countries. Access to and networking between different pieces of research infrastructure represent an important part of the European and international research landscape. Different countries, including the UK, play host to the headquarters of international research facilities.
Most of the cost of shared research facilities is borne by participating countries, but the EU often provides funding for activities such as planning, strategic coordination, networking and transnational access. The Framework Programme for 2007 – 2013 (FP7) earmarked €1.85 billion for research facilities, and the Framework Programme for 2014 – 2020 (Horizon 2020) will support them with about €2.4 billion.
National research facilities
Most research facilities are built, funded and managed at the national level. Although national research facilities will serve mostly their own national research community, their research value can be greatly increased by creating international networks and granting reciprocal access to researchers based elsewhere.
The EU supports transnational and virtual access, networking, and joint research activities. These create opportunities for new and existing groups of researchers and scientists to collaborate across disciplines and countries, as well as platforms where science and industry can come together. Users can be researchers from academia, business, industry and the public sector from countries participating in the programmes. The EU has supported 3,539 UK based researchers to access 1,055 European research facilities between 2007 and 2013.
In addition, 107 UK national research facilities received support from the EU to grant access to international researchers, fostering collaborations and exchange of ideas.
EU funding is also available to create and coordinate Europe-wide networks of research facilities in the same research area.
Pan-European research facilities
A number of pan-European research facilities exist. They are often distributed across multiple sites within the EU and beyond, with headquarters in one of the participating countries. They are funded by participating countries.
The EU does not directly fund the construction of these research facilities but can support the associated planning and coordination. It does this through the European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).
The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI)
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The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) is a multi-disciplinary forum to support coherent and strategic decisions regarding the planning and implementation of new or improved research infrastructures in Europe, and to facilitate multilateral initiatives to best support this approach.
The ESFRI membership consist of two delegates from all EU Member States as well as a number of additional Associate Nations and a representative of the European Commission. The current ESFRI Chair is Prof John Womersley, the Chief Executive of the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council. The Forum is a self-regulated body, operating in an open method of coordination, mainly on the basis of consensus.
It does not allocate funding nor does it give “direct recommendations” for funding. However the ESFRI plays a major role in the decision-making processes regarding the strategy and implementation of new research infrastructure development and improvements.
Under the Framework Programme for 2007 – 2013 (FP7), the EU granted such projects about €300 million and further support is planned under the research programme Horizon 2020. Support is also provided for conceptual design studies for new research facilities that demonstrate a clear European dimension and interest. Sixteen design study projects are funded by the EU under the Framework Programme for 2007 – 2013. Structural funds can sometimes be used to fund the construction phase.
Pan-European research facilities in the UK
The UK hosts the headquarters of 6 pan-European research facilities, with facilities distributed across multiple participating countries. These are:
- High Power Laser Energy research Facility (HiPER) – Harwell, Oxfordshire (Central Laser Facility)
- ELIXIR (European Life-science Infrastructure for Biological Information) – Hinxton
- Integrated Structural Biology Infrastructure (INSTRUCT) – Oxford
- Infrastructure for Systems Biology-Europe (ISBE) – London (Imperial College)
- Square Kilometre Array (SKA) – Manchester (Jodrell Bank)
- European Social Survey (ESS ERIC) – London (City University)
The UK also hosts 10 facilities that are part of pan-European research facilities headquartered in other European countries and is a member of pan-European research facilities entirely based beyond its borders, such as the European Hard X-Ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL) based in Germany.
The EU’s role in the UK’s engagement with intergovernmental research efforts
Intergovernmental organisations are part of the European research landscape providing valuable facilities and infrastructures. Each of these organisations has its own institutional arrangements and membership rules, and the EU plays a different role in each. Some, such as the ITER fusion experiment, are directly managed by the EU. Others predate the EU itself and receive only a marginal part of their budget from the EU, such as CERN.
The six boxes below outline some of the most prominent European intergovernmental research organisations, providing details about their function, location, membership and funding, and the role of the EU in their operation.
European Organisation of Nuclear Research (CERN)
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What is CERN? The European Organisation of Nuclear Research (CERN) is an intergovernmental research organisation, operating the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. It provides particle physicists with state of the art equipment like particle accelerators and detectors, such as The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to carry out ground breaking research. CERN organises and sponsors international research collaborations, promoting contacts between scientists and interchange with other laboratories and institutes. The experiments conducted at CERN are the result of large-scale international collaborations. For example, the ALICE project, investigating the basic constituents of matter, is a collaboration between more than 1,000 scientists from 30 countries.
Where is it located? CERN is situated astride the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva.
Which countries are involved in it? The UK is one of 22 member nations of CERN, which includes 19 EU Member States as well as Switzerland, Norway and Israel. Many nations from outside of Europe have nonmember status to CERN, meaning they do not participate in organisational decision making but have co-operation agreements to participate in specific projects.
Who funds it? In 2014 CERN received €1.2bn in funding, 90% of which came from its member nations. The UK contribution to CERN funding in 2014 was roughly €126m (the third highest contributing member nation behind Germany and France)12. In 2014, the EU provided 1.6% of CERN’s funding.
What’s the role of the EU in it? The EU is not directly involved in the organisation of CERN activities and policy but has held ‘Observer Status’ at CERN since 1985. While the direct investment from the EU at CERN is relatively low, EU-funded research projects conduct work at CERN and collaborate with researchers who conduct work at CERN. During the seven years of EU Research Framework Programme 7 (2007 – 2013), CERN participated in successful proposals for 87 new EU projects, of which are coordinated by CERN.
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)
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What is the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility? The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) operates one of the most powerful X-ray sources in the world, producing X-rays 100 billion times brighter than the X-rays used in hospitals. This allows research scientists visiting the facility to investigate the inner molecular structure of materials and living matter, carrying out innovative research in a very wide variety of scientific fields including: chemistry, material physics, archaeology and cultural heritage, structural biology and medical applications, environmental sciences, polymer science, information science and nanotechnologies. It is estimated that around 6,500 academics visit the ESRF each year.
Where is it located? The facility is located in Grenoble, France.
Which countries are involved in it? The ESRF has 21 partner nations, including mostly EU Member States as well as a number of non-EU countries from Europe and abroad, such as Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Israel and South Africa.
Who funds it? Since it was formed in 1994, it is estimated that the ESRF has received around €2bn of total investment, the majority of which comes from its individual member nations. The UK provides funding to the ESRF through the Science and Technology Facilities Council. The investment from the UK in 2014 was €6.3m, the fourth highest individual member contribution behind Germany, France and Italy.
What’s the role of the EU in it? While the ESRF does not receive direct funding from the EU, much of the research conducted at the ESRF forms part of EU-funded projects or as part of collaborations involving EU-funded researchers.
European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
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What are the EMBO and EMBL? EMBO is an organisation of more than 1700 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences. Its major goals are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and help build a European research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) was created in 1974 following plans elaborated by EMBO. Now an independent organisation, the EMBL conducts basic research in molecular biology, engages in technology development and provides infrastructure, facilities, training and services for researchers.
Where are they located? EMBO and EMBL’s headquarters are located in Heidelberg, Germany. In addition, EMBL operates outstations in 4 European countries, including the European Bioinformatics Institute in Hinxton, UK.
Which countries are involved in their funding and governance? Funding and support for EMBO programmes of activities is provided by the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC), an inter-governmental organisation with 27 member nations, including mostly EU Member States as well as Norway, Switzerland, Israel and Turkey. In 2014, the UK provided 14.6% of total member nation contributions to the EMBC.
EMBL is funded by 21 European member nations, including most EU Member States, and by Australia and Argentina as associate member states. EMBL funding comes predominantly from its individual member nations, of which the UK was the third highest individual contributor in 2014 after Germany and France. Roughly one third of EMBL’s budget of €210 million in 2014 was contributed by third party funding.
What’s the role of the EU? EMBO and EMBL both act independently from the EU, but work closely together and synergise their activities with the European Commission. EMBL’s collaboration with the EC began with a cooperation agreement first signed in 1995. Today cooperation is based on a Memorandum of Understanding implemented through biannual work plans. The agreement grants the EC ‘observer status’ in EMBL. While EMBL does not receive direct funding from the EU, the EU funding programmes for research remain the biggest external funding source of EMBL and with €13.5 million accounted for 30% of external funding awarded to EMBL in 2014. 30% of EMBL’s research faculty hold ERC grants and in the years 2012-2014 EMBL coordinated 20 and participated in 88 collaborative projects funded by the European Commission Framework Programmes.
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
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What is the European Southern Observatory? The European Southern Observatory (ESO) (more formally known as the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere) is an intergovernmental organisation, focussed on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observation facilities for astronomy. This enables European researchers to conduct ground-breaking astronomical research that would not be possible in their home nations. ESO work has paved the way to pioneering observations and discoveries such as identifying extrasolar planets and black holes in the Milky Way. ESO is the most productive astronomical observatory in the world. In 2013, over 840 refereed papers were published based on data from ESO-based studies. The ESO also promotes the mobility and co-operation of European scientists, for example by hosting externally-funded (e.g. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) researchers and maintaining a programme of international conferences.
Where is it located? Based in Garching, near Munich, Germany, the ESO operates three observing sites in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile.
Which countries are involved in it? There are 16 ESO member nations, along with the host state of Chile, including EU Member States, non-EU countries (Switzerland) and non-European countries (Brazil is in the process of ratifying its membership).
Who funds it? In 2014, ESO received €140.6 million in funding from its member nations, of which the UK provides 15.7% (third highest contributor after Germany and France).
What’s the role of the EU in it? The ESO operates independently from the EU and is controlled by its own directorates and governing council. The ESO plays a central role in a number of EU-funded research networks. For example, the OPTICON (The Optical Infrared Coordination Network) project has received €10 million in EU funding and involves several UK universities. The project aims to bring together members of national and international agencies and organisations to help improve the quality of facilities and the standard of training and development for astronomy research.
The ITER Organisation
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What is ITER? ITER is an international-scale research and engineering project intended to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of nuclear fusion as an energy source and pave the way for a functioning fusion power plant.
Where is it located? In 2010, construction began of the world’s largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at a location adjacent to CEA-Cadarache nuclear research centre in the south of France.
Which countries are involved in it? The parties developing ITER are China, the EU, India, Japan, the Russian Federation, South Korea and the USA, with the partners signing the ITER Agreement in 2007.74 This scale of global scientific collaboration is comparable only with the International Space Station.
Who funds it? What’s the role of the EU in it? The EU's commitments to the ITER Agreement were agreed through the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) Treaty. The EU is contributing 45% of the construction phase (buildings, machine components and assembly) cost and 34% of the cost of operation, deactivation and decommissioning of the facility for the ITER project, with the other six parties contributing approximately 9% each. The current cost estimates for the European contribution to ITER construction phase (2007-2020) amount to €6.6 billion. UK industry has so far been awarded over €170million worth of contracts as part of the ITER project (ranked third behind France and Italy).
European Space Agency (ESA)
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What is the European Space Agency? The European Space Agency (ESA) is an independent intergovernmental organisation devoted to conducting aero-space research and exploration. ESA’s activities have included human spaceflight missions (such as experiments conducted on the International Space Station) and unmanned space exploration (such as the Rosetta spacecraft for studying comets), as well as the design, testing and operation of satellites for commercial and scientific purposes such as earth observation and telecommunication projects.
Where is it located? ESA headquarters are based in Paris but it also has research facilities in a number of locations around Europe including the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) at Harwell in Oxfordshire, UK.
Which countries are involved in it? ESA comprises 22 member nations, mostly EU Member States as well as Norway and Switzerland. Canada is an Associate Member of ESA.
Who funds it? In 2015 ESA received total funding of €4.4 billion, 73% of which was contributed by individual member nations. The UK provided €322 million towards this current ESA budget, the fourth highest individual contributor behind Germany, France and Italy
What’s the role of the EU in it? ESA is not an agency or body of the EU. However, ESA maintains close ties with the EU and the two organisations have jointly developed a European Space Policy. Roughly 23% of ESA’s funding in 2015 was provided by the EU, which is more than any individual member nation.
ESA’s relationship with the International Space Station (ISS) The ISS is an international collaborative project involving the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and 10 of the 21 ESA member nations (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). These ESA members contribute approximately 8% of the total estimated costs for the development, construction and maintenance of the ISS. The UK is not involved in the construction of the ISS but takes part in some of the research projects carried out on board, such as the ESA Programme for Life and Physical Sciences in Space (ELIPS).
Other intergovernmental research facilities
The UK takes part in other intergovernmental organisations. These provide research infrastructures to European researchers and include:
- European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT)
- Copernicus (formerly Global Monitoring for Environment and Security or GMES)
- Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL)
- European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
- European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMESAT)