Harmonizing Access to Research Infrastructures: Insights from ACTRIS and ECORD within the ITINERIS Project

The Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System (ITINERIS) project is building the Italian Hub of Research Infrastructures (RI) and aims to facilitate the coordinated provision of wide, streamlined access to data and services from the national nodes of 22 RIs across the atmosphere, marine domain, terrestrial biosphere, and geosphere domains.

A significant effort is being made to harmonize the access practices across the participating RIs to ensure that all users can experience uniform, simplified and efficient access to the wider and integrated set of advanced RIs’ services.

An analysis of current access policies and practices confirmed that RIs in ITINERIS share many aspects, largely because they follow the EU Charter of Access to Research Infrastructures and are mostly funded by the EU. However, some noticeable differences were identified, for instance, in the cases of ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure) and ECORD (European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling), where harmonization poses both an opportunity and a challenge.

Access in ACTRIS is centrally managed by the Service and Access Management Unit (SAMU) of the Head Office and is provided following user request in response to a standard or rolling call. User requests undergo a selection process, which consists of 3 steps of review based on eligibility (by the SAMU), feasibility (by the provider), and scientific merit (by external experts). Special procedures streamline the process in particular cases, depending on the type of user (private sector users, public authorities, international networks) or the contingent situation (exceptional situations and extreme events requiring researchers to conduct essential experiments, measurements, or analyses).

ECORD, a distributed RI in the geosphere domain, operates as an independent consortium of 15 members with a centralized management structure and as a member of the International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP3). Its access model reflects this dual nature: drilling and legacy assets proposal submission is not subject to membership; access to expeditions is merit-based and weighted against the annual quota of the national member; access to training services is excellence-driven and subject to the membership fee; access to research grants and scholarships is an excellence-driven initiative for ECORD-based early-career scientists; upon request, access to samples/data after the expiration of the moratorium period is wide, unrelated to membership, and free of charge.

Given this heterogeneous context, the development of a shared Access Management Plan, which provides for harmonized access practices and a national framework for access for the ITINERIS RIs, is based on enhancing common principles and elements in the processes. The plan is meant to integrate the persisting differences, which stem from the unique characteristics of the various infrastructures, access methods, and services provided, into a common and non-conflicting scheme. The harmonized process is articulated in: user application, eligibility and feasibility confirmation, and expert evaluation.

Acknowledgement: the research has been funded by EU - Next Generation EU Mission 4, Component 2 - CUP B53C22002150006 - Project IR0000032 – ITINERIS - Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System