The Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures was developed by the Commission in close cooperation with the ESFRI, the e-IRG and the ERA Stakeholder Organisations. The Charter sets out non-regulatory principles and guidelines to be used, on a voluntary basis, as a reference when defining or re-defining rules and conditions for Access to Research Infrastructures.

Why a Charter for Access?

The Charter follows the July 2012 ERA Communication on "a Reinforced European Research Area Partnership for Excellence and Growth" and has the purpose of setting out non-regulatory principles and guidelines to be used, on a voluntary basis, as a reference when defining or re-defining rules and conditions for Access to Research Infrastructures.
In such respect, the Charter promotes the harmonisation of Access procedures as well as the enhanced transparency of Access policies adopted by Research Infrastructures with the final purpose of enabling Users to Access the best Research Infrastructure to perform their work, wherever it might be located.

Whom is this Charter for?

The Charter is primarily targeted at those responsible for the definition of Access rules and conditions to any given Research Infrastructure and, therefore, at the Research Infrastructures themselves, at the institutions to which they belong and at their respective research funding organisations.

The Charter is applicable to any type of Research Infrastructure, including the e-infrastructure dimension.

Reference Documentation

The Charter builds on a number of related documents and best practices that complement its content and, consequently, may also support any decision related to the definition of an Access policy for any Research Infrastructure. See dedicated page with the links to such material.

Feedback mechanism

The Charter reflects the state of the art of thinking and practice concerning Access to Research Infrastructures in Europe. The relevance and applicability of the document will be periodically reviewed and, whenever appropriate, the Charter will be updated accordingly.
Research Infrastructures as well as Users can, at any time, provide comments on this Charter and suggest possible improvement. Any input should be sent to RTD-CHARTER-FOR-ACCESS@ec.europa.eu specifying the details of the person/organisation submitting the feedback.

You can find the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures HERE.