The General Secretariat for Research and Innovation (GSRI), in its capacity as Greece’s competent authority for Research, Technological Development and Innovation policy, completed, in the course of the 2014-2020 Programming Period, the development of a National Strategy for Research Infrastructures and a Multiannual Financial Plan for Research Infrastructures, highlighting the country’s priorities for long-term investments in large-sale research infrastructures. This initiative was based on internationally accepted practices relied upon by the majority of EU Member States. It must be noted that developing a National Strategy and a Multiannual Financial Plan for Research Infrastructures was an ex-ante conditionality for receiving Structural Fund financing under the 2014-2020 Programming Period. The Financial Plan covers 28 national-scale, mostly distributed, research infrastructures.
In developing the Strategy for Research Infrastructures under the 2021-27 Programming Period, the GSRI is supported by the Policy Support Facility of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. An international expert group has been tasked with evaluating the performance of the 28 Research Infrastructures comprised in the Multiannual Financial Plan, as well as their contribution to the economy and society at large, their relevance to the Smart Specialization Strategy, their international visibility and development prospects.
It is important to point out that the notion of research infrastructures is not confined to buildings and equipment, encompassing also human resources, know-how, information, networking and all intangible assets required for their operation and optimal use. The GSRI designs and implements a transparent and robust procedure, based on European standards, to document the infrastructure needs of the Greek research community and productive sectors, to promote necessary synergies and collaborations, to assess and, eventually, identify integrated, national-scale, open-access infrastructures with outward-looking, sustainable and innovation-supporting features, implemented and put into operation by priority during the 2014-2020 Programming Period and beyond.
