During 2011, experts from EIROforum and ERF, the European Association of National Research Facilities Laboratories, have prepared a joint proposal to tackle one of the key bottlenecks for the implementation of the ESFRI Roadmap for Pan-European Research Infrastructures: the need for highly experienced senior staff during the implementation phase of infrastructure projects.
The core of the proposal is the establishment of a mechanism that will enable mobility of such staff for limited periods of time in order to fully exploit the expertise available in Europe and deploy it where the needs are. At the same time the proposal considers the needs of the ‘sending’ organisations and offers a possibility for training the next generation of engineers and research managers.
On 21st March, the proposal was formally presented to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research and Innovation on the occasion of th International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI), organised by the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.