The application to establish DANUBIUS-ERIC consortium has been submitted to the European Commission
On 29th March 2024, Romania, as the designated host country of the statutory seat of the future DANUBIUS-ERIC (International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems), submitted to the European Commission the so-called step 2 application on the establishment of the DANUBIUS-ERIC. Following the submission, the European Commission will examine the application and the draft statutes. A decision on the formation of the DANUBIUS-ERIC consortium can then be expected within 6 calendar months. DANUBIUS-ERIC shall allow its Members for operating the national components of the European research infrastructure DANUBIUS. Czech Republic is one of the founding members, jointly with Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Greece, United Kingdom, Spain, and Ukraine.
DANUBIUS-RI: A view of the site of the future central HUB in Murighiol, Romania (Media Gallery – DANUBIUS-PP)
European Research Infrastructure DANUBIUS
The mission of DANUBIUS-ERIC is to enable excellent research within the river-sea systems, to offer the most modern research infrastructure and to provide the integrated knowledge needed for the sustainable development and protection of aquatic ecosystems. The formal essence of the DANUBIUS European Research Infrastructure is a coordinated network of scientific sites spread across Europe. The control function will be fulfilled by a HUB located in Murighiol, Romania, near the Danube Delta. Other important parts of the research infrastructure are the Technology Transfer Office, which is operated by University College in Cork, Ireland, and a data centre based in Bucharest, Romania. The function of expert centers providing equipment and services, data storage and their availability, access to experimental equipment and measurement equipment will be fulfilled by a set of nodes. For example an analytical node that will be functional within the central HUB in Murighiol, or an observation node operated by the Marine Laboratory (PML) in Plymouth, southern England. Last but not least, the DANUBIUS-ERIC structure will consist of so-called Supersites. Under this designation are defined sites with significant scientific potential, serving as a key areas for observation, complex research and modeling of river-sea systems. One of the Supersites, named Hydrological Nexus of Central Europe, will also be located on the territory of the Czech Republic.
DANUBIUS-ERIC activities aim to achieve healthy state of river and marine systems and promote their sustainable use so that human society can live within the sustainable ecological limits of planet Earth by 2050.
DANUBIUS-RI: Estuary of the Nestos River within the Greek Nestos Supersite (Media Gallery – DANUBIUS-PP)
Involvement of the Czech Republic in the DANUBIUS-ERIC
The Czech Republic became one of the first countries where the DANUBIUS European research infrastructure project received official support. The Czech partners involved in the creation and operation of the future European research infrastructure DANUBIUS are the large research infrastructure CzeCOS, coordinated by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice through the large research infrastructure CENAKVA. Both CzeCOS and CENAKVA offer capacities for excellent research on European river basins, usable within the Czech Supersite Hydrological Nexus of Central Europe. The unique role of the Czech Supersite is due to the Czech Republic’s location as the source area of several major European rivers. As part of DANUBIUS-ERIC, the Czech side will participate in activities with the aim of supporting world-class interdisciplinary research and innovation in the field of freshwater research.