Friulia Venezia Giulia–Bavaria: Memorandum of Understanding between CERIC and SHARE strengthens research
Watch the video here (in Italian only)
The Memorandum of Understanding signed today between the two European Research Infrastructure Consortia, CERIC-ERIC and SHARE-ERIC – with their seats in Trieste and Munich, respectively – strengthens scientific collaboration between Friuli Venezia Giulia and Bavaria.
The President of the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Debora Serracchiani, declared: “Today’s event represents a relevant output of the bilateral agreement signed on May 4th by myself and Minister President Seehofer to strengthen the cooperation of our Regions in the fields of Transport and Connectivity, Economy and Education, Agriculture and Research & Innovation”.
The Executive Director of CERIC, Jana Kolar, and the Vice Chair of SHARE, Guglielmo Weber, explained that the two Consortia aim at combining their skills in the management of ERICs and research infrastructures in general, as well as at promoting greater synergies among available funds.
Jana Kolar added, “The agreement is a concrete action linking research infrastructures and represents a solid basis to strengthen relations between regions in the fields of research and innovation. It is also a further step towards the improvement of ERIC-related policies by the exchange of both personnel and best practices”.
“A special day, when materials science meets social sciences”, commented the Vice Chair of SHARE and signatory of the MoU, Guglielmo Weber.
The ceremony was also attended by Alfonso Franciosi, President and CEO of Elettra, the CERIC Italian representing entity, Giorgio Rossi, Chair of ESFRI – European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, and Harry Tuinder, representative of the Directorate General for Research and Innovation at the European Commission.
After the signing, two roundtables took place. The first addressed the role of research infrastructures in tackling major societal challenges, with a focus on the case of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) and its current policy for active ageing. The second focused on Italian and European policies in the field of research infrastructures. Representatives of the hosting Region and of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, as well as delegates of national and European research entities, took part in the debate.
Participants in panel 1 of the roundtable:
Moderator: Fabio Mazzolini (Deputy Director for European and International Relations – CERIC-ERIC)
– Renata Bagatin – Member of the Regional Council of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Coordinator of the “Inter-directional table on Active Ageing” (Active Ageing policy, FVG)
– Gianluca Dominutti – Director of the Service “Programming and Strategic Planning, Management Control and Statistics”, Region Friuli Venezia Giulia
– Chiara Cristini and Paolo Molinari – researchers at the Institute for Economic and Social Research of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Istituto di Ricerche Economiche e Sociali FVG) – IRES FVG
Participants in panel 2 of the roundtable:
Moderator: Fabio Mazzolini
– Jana Kolar – Executive Director CERIC-ERIC
– Guglielmo Weber – Italian Country Team Leader of SHARE-ERIC
– Grazia Pavoncello and Salvatore La Rosa – delegates of the Italian Ministry for Education, Training, University and Research (Ministero Italiano dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca) – MIUR, appointed by the SHARE-ERIC Council and by the General Assembly of CERIC-ERIC respectively.
– Giorgio Rossi – Chairman of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI)
– Paul Tuinder – European Commission, DG-RTD