Evaluation of pertinence and impact of the EU research infrastructure activity in FP7 – EPIRIA

Executive Summary

This study analyses the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the Research Infrastructures (RI) component of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), assesses its European Added Value and suggests options for future Community RI actions.

A key part of our approach has been to categorise the FP7 RI activities into ‘Thematic Areas’, classifying the projects by the scientific field in which the users of the RIs funded are active, irrespective of the support scheme under which they received funding. Five of the resulting categories cover specific disciplines: life sciences (LS), energy, earth & environmental sciences (EEES), material sciences & analytical facilities (MS&AF), physics & astronomy (P&A), and social sciences & humanities (SSH). Projects that cut across individual disciplines are classified into one of two ‘horizontal’ areas: horizontal e-Infrastructure services; and policy development & coordination support.

The study was launched in January 2013 and covers in its quantitative analyses the contracts signed under the FP7 RI programme before the end of 2012. A total of 313 projects are in scope, with total EC funding of €1,357m, and 4649 participations. Close to 1,600 organisations were involved. About half of the projects had finished at the time of this study.

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