The results of the Research Infrastructures HORIZON-INFRA-2023 call, which is part of the Horizon Europe Programme's component for Excellence in Science, have been announced. Five projects, involving five partners from Turkey, have been deemed worthy of support and have been awarded a total grant of 678,163 Euros.
AQUARIUS - "Aqua Research Infrastructure Services for the health and protection of our unique oceans, seas, and freshwater ecosystems"
This project, led by TÜBİTAK MAM, Climate Change and Sustainability Grand Management / Marine Research and Technology Research Group, has been allocated a budget of 121,875 Euros. AQUARIUS aims to address significant challenges for the long-term sustainability of our unique oceans, seas, and freshwater ecosystems by bringing together various research infrastructures. It will provide 57 different research infrastructure services for researchers and stakeholders interested in marine and freshwater systems. These infrastructures include research vessels, mobile marine observation platforms, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, satellites, sensors, fixed freshwater and marine observatories and test sites, experimental facilities, and sophisticated data infrastructures. AQUARIUS will support the mission to restore our oceans and waters by 2030 and contribute to the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, the European Green Deal, and international climate initiatives.
AQUASERV -Research Infrastructure Services for Sustainable Aquaculture, Fisheries, and the Blue Economy"
This project, led by TÜBİTAK MAM, Life Sciences Grand Management / Food Safety and Quality Research Group, has been allocated a budget of 234,078 Euros. AQUASERV aims to enhance, integrate, and customize the capacities of research infrastructures in Europe to provide remote and on-site transnational access for scientists from academia and industry in the fields of marine and freshwater biological resources, food, and biotechnology research and management. Access to research infrastructures such as the European Marine Biological Resource Centre ERIC (EMBRC), Ecosystem Analysis and Experimentation ERIC, Aquaculture for Excellence for Aquaculture in Fish (Aquaexcel), and Metrology in Food and Nutrition (METROFOOD) will be facilitated within this project.
METROFOOD-RIEarly Phase Implementation"
This project, led by TÜBİTAK MAM, Life Sciences / Food Safety and Quality Research Group, has been allocated a budget of 76,125 Euros. METROFOOD-RI is a research infrastructure that promotes scientific excellence in the field of food quality and safety. The project focuses on interdisciplinary collaborations in areas such as agricultural food, sustainable development, food safety, quality, traceability and authenticity, environmental safety, and human health by providing metrology services in the field of food and nutrition. The aim of METROFOOD-EPI is to fully implement and operationalize the METROFOOD-RI infrastructure and address critical issues.
RISEnergy - Research Infrastructure Services for Renewable Energy
This project, led by TÜBİTAK MAM, Materials Technologies Grand Management / Clean Energy Technologies Research Group, will be executed. The project has been allocated a budget of 166,273 Euros. RISEnergy aims to create a European ecosystem among industry, research organizations, and funding agencies to achieve more efficient, competitive, and cost-effective energy systems and devices in terms of energy technologies. RISEnergy brings together a consortium of 69 beneficiaries from 23 countries. Its main objectives include increasing energy efficiency and reducing costs of energy technologies, providing effective transnational access to facilities for supporting renewable energy technologies and systems, and providing consultation on LCA, ICT development, and networking for research infrastructure providers, all access users, and policymakers.
NEPHEWS - Neutrons and Photons Elevating Worldwide Science
This project, led by TARLA (Turkish Accelerator and Radiation Laboratory), has been allocated a budget of 79,812.5 Euros. NEPHEWS is a program that brings together Europe's leading open advanced neutron (N), synchrotron radiation (SR), and free-electron laser (FEL) research infrastructures. NEPHEWS aims to provide an access program for new and non-expert communities, particularly focusing on expanding countries such as Ukraine and Africa, by bringing together RI institutes with over 40,000 users. NEPHEWS collaborates with LEAPS and LENS consortia and European scientific user communities to ensure integration among European RIs. NEPHEWS will provide 451 user experiments and 135 joint experiments at European RI facilities and offer comprehensive training to new and non-expert users in collaboration with experienced users.
These five projects are the ones that have been awarded grants from the European Research Infrastructure HORIZON-INFRA-2023 call, aiming to support Turkey's excellence in science and contribute to Europe's strategic goals in sustainability, the blue economy, energy transition, and food security. These supports will strengthen Turkey's international research and collaboration network and enhance scientific knowledge accumulation.