ESFRI Roadmap 2010

The ESFRI Roadmap identifies new Research Infrastructures (RI) of pan-European interest corresponding to the long-term needs of the European research communities, covering all scientific areas, regardless of possible location.
 
Potential new RI (or major upgrade) identified are likely to be realised in the next 10 to 20 years. Therefore they may have different degrees of maturity, but it should be noted that they are supported by a relevant European partnership or intergovernmental research organisation. A growing number of countries have prepared national roadmaps that establish the prioritisation of national and pan-European RIs, using the ESFRI Roadmap as a reference. This helps to define national budgets, facilitates political support and allows long-term financial commitment.
 
Project descriptions highlight the manner in which they would impact on science and technology development at international level, how they would support new ways of doing science in Europe, and how they would contribute to the enhancement of the European Research Area.
 
The ESFRI roadmap is an ongoing process. First published in 2006, with 35 projects, it was updated in 2008, bringing the number of RIs of pan-European relevance to 44. The latest update focusing on projects dealing with energy, food and biology was published in December 2010. Having identified 48 projects of new research infrastructures (or major upgrade on existing ones) so far, ESFRI will focus more on their implementation for the next few years. The next update of the roadmap is carried out in 2015.