Transnational access (TA) is where user groups from eligible countries apply to have access to conduct experimental research on topics of their choosing related to the ERIES project’s broader goals. This access is provided free of charge, where user groups can expect to have the costs of using a research infrastructure’s facilities, the costs of tests specimens in addition to the user group’s travel and board costs to come and visit the facility covered by the ERIES project funds. Details of what exactly is covered can be obtained by contacting the specific research infrastructures directly. The access is denoted “transnational” since it requires that the user group leader be located in a country other than where the research infrastructure is located. For example, a user group from Italy cannot apply to a research infrastructure also located in Italy. A user group member counts as being from the country where they are employed, not what their actual nationality or citizenship(s) may be.

The countries eligible for transnational access are listed below. These comprise the EU member states and Associated Countries.

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czechia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Georgia
• Iceland
• Israel
• Moldova
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Serbia
• Turkey
• Albania
• Armenia
• Faroe Islands
• Kosovo
• Morocco
• Tunisia
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• Canada (new as of February 2024)

Legal entities established in Switzerland are currently not covered and Liechtenstein does not intend to associate to Horizon Europe

Until further notice, no user groups with members from Russia are allowed to participate.

Yes, researchers from all countries are permitted to be involved in ERIES but only those from eligible countries can submit a proposal as user group leader. Researchers from countries outside of Europe (e.g., USA, Japan) may also be involved in a user group where the user group leader is from an eligible country and satisfies the transnational access requirements. However, the proportion of user groups members from eligible countries must be >60%. For example, a user group with its leader from Germany may wish to apply to a research infrastructure in Portugal. The group may be comprised of 4 German-based, 2 Italian-based, 1 Canadian-based and 2 Indian-based researchers, since 67% (6/9) of the user group members are from eligible countries and 33% (3/9) are from non-eligible countries. What is not permitted is a group with 2 German-based, 4 USA-based and 2 Japanese-based researchers since 75% (6/8) are from non-eligible countries and just 25% (2/8) are from eligible countries.

A user group (UG) is a team of researchers from one or more institutes who apply for transnational access (TA) to an ERIES research infrastructure installation. Hence, a UG may comprise professors and researchers from multiple universities and institutes. Each UG has a nominated UG leader. Simply put for what concerns the ERIES project, a research infrastructure (RI) is an institution providing TA to a specific set of installations. In installation is a particular apparatus that UGs apply to utilise as part of their user project. For example, 10 people from 3 universities (i.e. user group) may apply to receive TA to the 9DLab (i.e. installation) at the Eucentre Foundation (i.e. research infrastructure).

More precisely, the Horizon Europe Work Programme defines a “Research Infrastructures” as:

• Research infrastructures (RIs) are facilities that provide resources and services for the research communities to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields. This definition includes the associated human resources, and it covers major equipment or sets of instruments; knowledge-related facilities such as collections, archives or scientific data infrastructures; computing systems, communication networks, and any other infrastructure, of a unique nature and open to external users, essential to achieve excellence in research and innovation. Where relevant, they may be used beyond research, for example for education or public services and they may be ‘single sited’, ‘virtual’ or ‘distributed’.

and an “Installation” as:

• “Installation” means a part or a service of a research infrastructure that can be used independently from the rest. A research infrastructure consists of one or more installations.

Yes. However, only user groups that disseminate the experimental results generated are eligible for access.

Within a single call, users are allowed to be part of a maximum of two different user groups but cannot be the user group leader of both proposals.

Users groups with members who have been part of successful proposals in past calls can be part of future user group proposals. However, priority will be given to new user groups.

This depends on each specific project, but the duration of stay at a research infrastructure is limited to three months, unless otherwise provided for in the proposal and well-supported reasons are given.

A PhD or Postdoctoral student cannot be the UG leader of a TA proposal. This is expected to be an established or early-stage academic or researcher. However, within the user groups, PhD and/or Postdoctoral students are anticipated to be an active part of the project.

The services that will be generally provided to the user groups, which slightly differ according to the peculiarities of each research infrastructure and user project, are:

• First-class technical and scientific support and collaboration from the staff of the infrastructure
• Support for analytical and numerical modelling
• Technical assistance in the definition and design of the test model and of the experimental setup, in order to adapt the testing programme to the characteristics of the installation
• Preliminary destructive or non destructive tests for material properties identification of the test model or of the soil used in the centrifuges
• Support for the fabrication of the test specimen(s), either in reduced or full scale
• Assistance in the design and implementation of the instrumentation, providing, within the availability constraints of the sensors stock of the research infrastructure, state-of-the-art sensors, materials and components and the workmanship for their installation
• Support in the definition of the instrumentation layout focused on the key objectives of the research
• Data acquisition systems
• Assistance in the choice of the input signals
• Specimen transportation and demolition after test
• Photographic and video records of the test model before, during and after the testing campaign (including video tracking technique for the wireless displacement monitoring and structural damage analyses, where available)
• Support to data-processing, analysis and results interpretation
• Support to logistic, user hosting and meeting organisation
• Travel, accommodation and subsistence for user groups

As per the FAIR principles outlined by the Horizon Europe Research Programme, each beneficiary must ensure open access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications relating to its results. Furthermore, TA User Agreements will specify requirements relating to experimental data publication and other obligations of the UGs.

Open access means providing online access to peer-reviewed scientific publications that are free of charge for a reader. Open access does not mean that projects must publish all their research results as soon as they are obtained, it only sets certain requirements when the consortium wants to publish them.