The 89th meeting of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI Forum), co-organised by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office), took place in Szeged, hosted by the University of Szeged, on 16-17 September 2024.
The ESFRI Forum was established in 2002 to promote a coherent, strategic approach to European policy and decision-making on research infrastructures (RIs) and to coordinate multilateral initiatives leading to a more efficient use and development of RIs. An important objective of the ESFRI Forum is to produce a roadmap of the state of play and future goals of European RIs every 3 to 5 years, identifying the research infrastructures that are critical at pan-European level and essential for the long-term needs of European research communities. Of the 22 Projects and 41 Landmarks included in the latest ESFRI Roadmap 2021, Hungary is a full member in 4 Projects and 16 Landmarks, where the participation of Hungarian researchers is ensured by annual membership fees paid by the NRDI Office. Among them, the ELI - Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI ERIC) and within that the ELI Attosecond Light Pulse Source (ELI-ALPS) based in Szeged, are of particular importance to us.
The delegates of the meeting were greeted by Prof. Dr. Gábor Szabó, President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Szeged. About 60 political and academic representatives from EU Member States and associated countries attended the non-public meeting. During the two-day meeting, participants discussed the preparatory tasks for the ESFRI Roadmap 2026, the role of research infrastructures with particular regard to the EU’s research framework programme for the next budget cycle (FP10) and the relationship of RIs with other European initiatives such as EOSC, EDICs, TIs.
As a final event of the meeting, the delegates visited ELI-ALPS, where László Bódis, Deputy Secretary of State for Innovation, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, delivered a welcome speech. Research opportunities provided by ELI ERIC were presented by Allen Weeks, Director General of ELI ERIC, after which the delegates were invited to visit the laboratories of the research infrastructure equipped with facilities being unique even at the international level.
