06 March 2019, Ljubljana – Slovenia
In the framework of the EC co-funded ACCELERATE project, CERIC and the Rathenau Institute have developed a methodology for the societal impact assessment of Research Infrastructures, which is an important element of the long-term sustainability of the Research infrastructures (RIs). The methodology is shaped in a way that effectively fits the scale, scope and field of the RI. Moreover, it is jointly defined and decided-upon with the RI’s stakeholders since the impact relates to all parties.
Feedback from CERIC’s Member Countries is very crucial for assessing its impact, and for this reason, a first meeting was scheduled with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport in Slovenia on 06 March 2019.
The meeting was attended by representatives from CERIC and the Slovenian Partner Facility, the Rathenau Institute and representatives from the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the various impacts of CERIC on EU and Slovenia to discuss the future expectations.
To shape the discussion about the expectations’ assessment, the main added values and impact of CERIC on Europe in general and Slovenia in particular were presented.
The major outcomes of the meeting were:
- Throughout the 5 years of operations, CERIC fostered and increased the international integration and visibility of Slovenia into the European Research Area (ERA)
- CERIC contributes to reduction of the gap between EU 13 and the Western part of the EU by presenting an attractive model for the use of existing national resources to create an excellent international RI.
- The membership in CERIC helped setting up procedures within Slovenia that are the basis for the participation in other ERICs and other international RIs.
- The Slovenian research community gets access to the large-scale facilities within CERIC.
- The continuous efforts of CERIC to shape the legal and administrative basis of the ERIC legal entity helps in solving present issues concerning the Slovenian participation in ERICs in general.
From left to right:
- Karolina Schlegel – Member of CERIC GA (General Assembly)
- Albin Kralj – Member of CERIC GA
- Meta Dobnikar – Secretary Science Division, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport
- Tomaz Boh – Director General for Science, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport
- Jana Kolar – CERIC-ERIC Executive Director
- Carlo Rizzuto – Chair of CERIC GA
- Ornela De Giacomo – CERIC-ERIC Deputy Director
- Janez Plavec – Chair of CERIC’s Board of Directors
- Matthias Girod – Project Officer, CERIC