EURAXESS Australia & New Zealand at the International Conference on Research Infrastructures 2024

EURAXESS Australia and New Zealand was invited by the European Commission and the Australian Department of Education to the International Conference on Research Infrastructures 2024 (ICRI 2024) where the hub participated in the networking event to discuss Horizon Europe and the opportunities thereof. The event was very timely as it gave a good linkage to the European Research Days - Oceania, scheduled from 9-13 December.

Hosted biennially and co-funded by the EU, ICRI is the major professional forum for the global research infrastructure community. ICRI 2024 brought together policymakers, research institution leaders, facility operators, users and researchers, to discuss pressing topics of interest, trends and challenges facing research infrastructures around the world.

Around 420 people from 50 nations travelled to Brisbane for the conference. The event was also streamed online. More than 500 further people joined online from 39 nations.  It was the first time ICRI had been hosted in the Asia Pacific. Doing so introduced fresh voices and viewpoints previously absent from conversations within the global research infrastructure community, and increased engagement with the region. 11 Southeast Asian and Pacific nations attended this year’s event.  ICRI 2024 was a joint effort between Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, the European Commission, and the Australian Department of Education.