Imperial hosts research infrastructure event

Imperial College last week hosted the Realising and Managing International Research Infrastructures (RAMIRI) symposium, bringing together policymakers, scientists and funders to push forward the development of the next generation of large-scale research facilities in Europe.

Major research facilities require years of financial, legal and political planning.  Delegates explored ways in which this process can be streamlined and improved, so new research facilities can be constructed more efficiently, and enabling European researchers to remain competitive with countries such as the USA and emerging giants such as China and India.

At the symposium, experts from around the world talked candidly about their experiences, good and bad, in setting up and managing a variety of European research facilities, both physical and virtual, from across the spectrum of the natural and social sciences.

Two more conferences will be held later this year in Grenoble, France, and Hamburg, Germany, to get further input from European researchers. At the end of the process, RAMIRI will publish a policy outlining the best possible approach to future projects in Europe. This will be submitted to the European Commission for use in future decisions on joint research facilities.

The RAMIRI initiative is led by Imperial in collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institut Laue-Langevin, Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Stiftung Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.