Research infrastructures are one of the key pillars of the national research and innovation ecosystems of the individual EU Member States, but also of the European Research Area as a whole. With the aim of reflecting their utmost importance for future development of the European Research Area research infrastructures are included as a part of the EU Framework Programmes for Research, Development and Innovation. The support for European research infrastructures is an integral part of the “Excellent Science” pillar of the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme as well, with the budget allocation reaching the level of 2.5 billion EUR. Within the Horizon 2020 calls the European Commission usually supports preparatory and implementation phases of European research infrastructures´ projects, international- integration activities thereof, and activities aimed at optimizing the use of research infrastructures at the international level and development of the European e-infrastructure.
The Horizon 2020 Work Programme for Research Infrastructures for the years 2018-2020 focuses, in particular, on supporting the European Cloud Initiative to integrate and consolidate e-infrastructures platforms, linking the European research infrastructures more closely to the European Open Science Cloud and implementing the European Data Infrastructure concept. The Work Programme 2018-2020 was published in October 2017 on the Horizon 2020 Participant Portal.
The consultancy for participation in the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme projects is provided by the Technology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences. As the National Contact Point of the Czech Republic for the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, the Technology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences provides not only information on already announced or newly planned Horizon 2020 calls, but also expert advice on the financial, legal and other specific issues related to the implementation of the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme projects. The consultancy services of the Czech Liaison Office for Research, Development and Innovation in Brussels (CZELO) and RICH project are available for the above-mentioned purposes too.
Horizon 2020 – EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020)