ERIES provides selected user groups (UGs) with access to the available research infrastructures and their installations for the design and implementation of an experimental testing campaign that will advance frontier knowledge related to seismic, wind and geotechnical hazards. These experimental testing campaigns have a specific quantity of access to be provided free of charge to the external UGs in addition to the costs of constructing test specimens. Travel and accommodation costs for UGs to visit the ERIES research infrastructures are also covered. 

These experimental campaigns, or user projects, shall advance frontier knowledge related to seismic, wind and geotechnical hazards in one or more of the ERIES Research Areas and shall address one or more of the ERIES Research Goals. UGs shall prepare a user project application (see How to Apply) that clearly demonstrates how their proposal addresses each of these dimensions set forth in the ERIES project.

A UG is defined as a team of one or more researchers from the same or different institutions/companies, jointly applying for TA and led by a UG leader. A UG is eligible for TA support when the UG leader and the majority (i.e. >60%) of the UG work in an eligible country (see FAQ) different from where the selected installation is located. For what concerns UG composition, the researchers (i.e. PhD students, Postdoctoral Researchers, Researchers and Professors) listed on the application will be utilised by the TA-SEP in this evaluation. Access for UGs with the majority of users not working in an eligible country is limited to 20% of the available TA budget for the project.

Upon successful application for TA, UGs are integrated into the scheduling of the research infrastructure during the execution programme of each user project and receive the support needed to carry out their project from the research infrastructure staff. The services that will be provided to the UGs include technical assistance in the definition of the experimental test specimen, the testing setup and protocol to be utilised, assistance in the proper instrumentation choice and positioning, data-processing, interpretation of results and advanced numerical modelling. The installations provided as part of ERIES are well-equipped to host external researchers. During their stay, UGs are integrated with the permanent staff, from whom they receive technical and scientific assistance. Following the necessary training, UGs are able to fully participate in the test preparation, execution, data acquisition and result interpretation. They will be provided with adequate working space with internet access.