New Swedish roadmap for research infrastructures

Environments surrounding outstanding infrastructures are not only essential for the advancement of science; they also generate innovation, influence social climate, and attract talent. Also, corporations with needs for high-level expertise prefer to establish themselves near these research environments.
 
The research infrastructures included in this report should meet several general criteria: they should be of national interest, offer the potential for world-leading research, be too extensive for single groups, include long-term planning, and be openly accessible to researchers. Where demand is high, prioritisation systems based on research quality should determine who should have access to the infrastructures.
 
To strengthen Swedish research in the long term, the Swedish Research Council recommends the following:

• Sweden should participate actively in the development of common international infrastructures — primarily by contributing to the 15 projects from the ESFRI Roadmap (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) for Research Infrastructures that have been given highest priority by Swedish researchers. The Swedish Research Council is participating in the planning of seven projects judged to be of particular interest. They are: ELIXIR (European Life Sciences Infrastructure for Biological Information), ESS (European Spallation Source), PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), Infrafrontier (infrastructure for phenotyping and archiving of model mammalian genomes), LifeWatch (e-science and technology infrastructure for biodiversity data and observations), and XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser).
• Research infrastructures should be coordinated at the national level to increase the quality of research and utilise resources more efficiently. Current examples include systems for managing environmental and climate data and the coordination of biobanks.
• National nodes should be developed to collaborate with international infrastructures. Resources are also needed on the home front to develop technology, expertise, and methods.
• Sweden should offer to host one or more international infrastructures, for example, ESS (European Spallation Source). Other possibilities would be the MAX IV synchrotron radiation facility and the upgrading of EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Facility).
• Advancements in eScience are revolutionising many disciplines. eInfrastructures for large-scale computing, communication, and storage of data should be strengthened to benefit all research fields.

In planning research infrastructures it is essential to consider the full lifecycle — from concept and construction to operation and phase-out. Hence, the Swedish Research Council recognises the need for new types of grants that facilitate long-term planning and promote long-term projects and competition in operating and using infrastructures. For instance, establishment of a long-term investment fund has been proposed for large investments in research infrastructures.

Financing should aim to achieve a balance between investment and operational resources and resources to enable researchers to use the infrastructures.

This is a summary of "The Swedish Research Council's Guide to Infrastructure", the full report can be downloaded (see link) or ordered from the Research Council.