Following the meeting of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), which took place on March 31 - April 1, 2025, at the Masaryk University Campus Library in Brno, the EIRENE research infrastructure consortium also held a meeting. Over the two-day program, more than twenty representatives of national nodes from across Europe gathered to discuss the progress and developments achieved during the preparatory phase of EIRENE, supported by the EIRENE PPP project, as well as the preparation of subsequent and related European projects.
Thanks to the hospitality of ESFRI leadership and the fact that the meeting took place at Masaryk University, Prof. Jana Klánová, the coordinator of EIRENE, had the opportunity to present the basic outlines, development, and current activities of the EIRENE research infrastructure. She also introduced the heads of national nodes to the present ESFRI delegates and national delegations. This presentation generated significant interest and initiated subsequent bilateral and joint discussions.
The consortium meeting itself began with discussions on specific policies, documents, and materials, including the socio-economic impact analysis of the research infrastructure, the financial and economic model of EIRENE, EIRENE's policy and approach to open access to the research infrastructure, active communication with infrastructure users, and the specific services and capacities that EIRENE is currently able to offer.
A very important part of the meeting was also the discussion about the upcoming evaluation of research infrastructures by ESFRI, the presentation of the current state of the evaluation form, and its final adjustments. The second day was mainly dedicated to discussions about future developments, the preparation of a project to support the implementation phase of the infrastructure, and key activities that will lead to the submission of the EIRENE-ERIC application in the medium term.
The EIRENE IMP project was officially launched during a two-day hybrid kick-off meeting held on 25–26 June 2026 at the Technology Centre Prague. The opening event brought together project partners, representatives of national nodes of the EIRENE RI research infrastructure, and project managers from the beneficiary and the European Commission.
