From 25th to 29th September the Ministry of Science and Innovation, in the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in collaboration with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), is organizing and participating in a number of events related to research, development and innovation in national and European infrastructures, which are taking place in Tenerife. The aim is to bring together the main protagonists in the sector of research infrastructures (the politicians responsible, organizations, user instituttions etc.) to facilitate cooperation and mutual learning.

During a full week, and in the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Tenerife will host a series of high level meetings related to European and international research infratructures, with the objective of fomenting contact, collaboration, and the creation of synergies among the protagonists and the disciplines involved. The IAC, as well as participaging in the organization of the event, will celebrated some of the programmed activities within its installations.

On 25th and 26th September the IACTEC building in the Tenerife Science and Technology Park (La Laguna), with host the Conference on Research Infrastructures “Global Dimension and Sustainability of Research Infrastructures”. This event, organized by the Ministry of Science and Innovation in collaboration with the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), will focus on the analysis of the sustainability of research infrastructures, their impact on high level technoligcal development, and their correlations with the strategies of intelligent specialization of the regions, with the aim of developing a coherent and sutainable funding model.

The meeting, which will be focused particularly on Latin America, will be structured along two basic lines: one will cover the challenges of sustainability of research infrastructures, including their resilience, funding models, and national programmes; the other will centre on the global dimensión of these scientific infrastructures, especially related to current environmental and energy challenges, and programmes of international cooperation.

Prior to this conference, those attending will visit the Teide Observatory, where they will get to know at first hand some of its installations, such as the Carlos Sanchez Telescope (TCS), the Optical Ground Station (OGS), the Solar Laboratory, and the QUIJOTE experiment, among others.

Parallel meetings

As well as this international conference during the week there will be four parallel national and international events connected with science infrastructures. The first of these, the 2nd Forum of the Interest Groups of the European Stratetic Forum for infrastructures (ESFRI) will take place on September 27th in the Tenerife Auditorium, centred on three main areas: funding, access, and the interaction between industry and the technological infrastructures (ITs). The meeting will be organized in round table sessionas and parallel debating sessions, in which the way to include each of the key themes in the coming Work Programme of the European Commission 2025-2027 and the new Framework Programme, will be explored.

Also in the Tenerife Auditorium on September 28th and 29th the 85th meeting of the Strategic European Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) will be held. This forum is a stratetic instrument, made up by the member states of the EU and the European Commission, with the aim of coordinating a common strategy for scientific installations and research infrastructures, and reinforcing their international projection.

The participants in the Forum, as well as pondering the European policies and initiatives in this field, will see the Teide Observatory at first hand, and will also visit two of the project, with notable participation by the IAC, which are part of the ESFRI Route Map: The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), and the European Solar Telescope (EST).

On September 28th the IACTEC building will host a day dedicated to Bringing Industry closer to the universe of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, whose aim is to show the industrial sector the current and future technological opportunities of the Canary Observatories. This meeting is organized by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), the Spanish Association for Science Industry INEUSTAR, the Technological Platform for Science Industry INDUCIENCIA, and the IAC, with the collaboration of the Cabildo of Tenerife.

During the meeting those present will learn at first hand of the technological developments related to the new scientific installations which are taking shape in the Canaries, such as large telescopes (CTA North, EST, NRT, and Small ELF) and other projects in the field of astrophysics (ATLAS, CMP Quijote, FSOC, DALI, TOT4). They will also be told about the updates and the new investments in the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC) as well as the area for strategic collaboration with industry IACTEC.

Finallh on Fridayh 29th IACTEC will host those attending the Meeting of Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS) which will bring together representatives of the most important national installations for the development of front rank research, and for the transmission, interchange, and preservation of knowledge, the transfer of technology and the promotion of innovation in Spain. The GTC and the Canary Observatories (OCAN) are part of this network of infrastructures. During the meeting the debate will centre on the socio-economic impact, the sustainability, and the digital transformation of the ICTS.

More information:

Follow the live stream of the Research Infrastructures Conference "Global Dimension and Sustainability of Research Infrastructures" at:
https://infrasevent.presidencyeu.es