Definition

The MERIL project established the following definition of research infrastructures:

A European Research Infrastructure is a facility or (virtual) platform that provides the scientific community with resources and services to conduct research in their respective fields. These research infrastructures can be single-sited or distributed or an e-infrastructure, and can be part of a national or international network of facilities, or of interconnected scientific instrument networks.

Furthermore:

•RIs offer recognised, established scientific and technological facilities or services

•RIs permit free access or regulate access through a transparent selection process based on scientific quality and project feasibility

•RIs are managed according to sustainable principles and have a long-term perspective

MERIL Checklist of criteria for inclusion (revised on 25 July 2018[1])

MERIL has established a checklist of questions that define whether an RI is eligible to be included in the MERIL database:

MERIL eligibility checklist / YES / NO
1. Does the RI have a policy of providing access to users outside of the country in which it is located or by which it is coordinated?
2. Does the RI provide clear access rules (for example application forms, open calls and contact information) and an access point for users on a publicly available web page?
3. Does the RI provide a website in English (including the access rules)?
4. Does the RI receive national, regional or European public funding?
5. Does the RI have an appointed contact or manager responsible for the RI?
Criterion only applicable to RIs that are part of anESFRI landmark /projectas a node:
6. Does the RI offer any services (including providing access to equipment) in addition to those already being offered through the ESFRI landmark/project?
To clarify, this means that different aspects of the RI can be accessed through two independent access points(e.g. webform, contact person, etc.):
  1. The access point of the ESFRI landmark/project for services linked to an ESFRI landmark/project
  2. RI’s own access point for services not offered through an ESFRI landmark/project

An RI is considered to be eligible to be included in MERIL ifyou have answered “yes” to questions 1-5 (and 6 if applicable).

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654296

[1]Prior to this date MERIL listed RIs of more than national relevance. As of 25 July 2018, MERIL has expandedits RIcoverage and also accepts nominations ofRIs which are only open to their national users.

For a detailed explanation of the criteria change click here.