Research infrastructures are key enablers in all areas of research and technology development and, as such, are crucial to advancing the frontiers of knowledge. RIs are increasingly used by researchers from numerous countries and are often operated by international consortia. The necessary expenditures for research infrastructures take up a significant portion of overall research budgets and they are constantly under pressure to adapt due to the advancements in science, research and technology. All these aspects underline the importance of research infrastructures. They also demonstrate the complexity that occur with construction, implementation, governance, operation, funding and international cooperation. Previous conferences have shown that countries around the world benefit from exchange and discussion on an international level regarding topics such as governance, best practices, evaluation of impacts and a wide variety of policy concerns related to research infrastructures. The overall objective of this proposal is to organize and further establish this dynamic international forum on research infrastructures. ICRI 2020 will bring together policy experts, facility managers, leading researchers and a wide variety of interested stakeholders to discuss challenges and emerging trends for research infrastructures around the world. The specific objectives of the proposed action are: 1. To provide an international forum for the discussion on the development of internationally important research infrastructures as well as on issues of common interest such as the internationalization of research infrastructures and assessing their impact on society and the economy; 2. To facilitate and promote international cooperation between European research infrastructures and their counterparts in all other regions of the world; and 3. To identify best practices and effective approaches to determine how research infrastructures can best enable research excellence.

J-AGEII, the Coordination Action for implementation and alignment activities of the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) 'More Years Better Lives – the Challenges and Opportunities of Demographic Change', will support and foster the overall management of the JPI, update the Strategic Research Agenda and support implementation through joint activities between Member States. Furthermore, the work plan will include dissemination and information exchange with scientific and societal stakeholders, policy makers and research funders as well as an evaluation and monitoring exercise. Ultimately, the project and the JPI seek to stimulate the alignment of relevant national programmes and EU initiatives, strengthen the base of multi-disciplinary and holistic ageing research in Europe and to provide scientific evidence for policy responses to demographic change.

Despite efforts to reduce fragmentation across the European Research Area, the European scientific system is still facing challenges in achieving gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research and innovation. In this context, and in line with ERA policy goals and national contexts, the GENDER-NET Plus ERA-NET Cofund aims to strengthen transnational collaborations between research programme owners and managers, provide support to the promotion of gender equality through institutional change and instigate the integration of sex and gender analysis into research and funding programmes. To do so, project partners – a consortium of 16 committed organisations – will join forces to 1) Implement a joint co-funded call for proposals, 2) Design and implement transnational actions on the promotion of gender equality through institutional change and the integration of sex and gender analysis into research, 3) Update and enlarge the mappings and analyses carried out in GENDER-NET on the promotion of gender equality in research and innovation, 4) Carry out a joint assessment of gender differences and bias in access to research grants and define and develop appropriate conditions for promoting equal opportunities in research funding, 5) Promote and disseminate key findings. GENDER-NET will address these goals through 7 work packages and relies on a strong transnational cooperation between partner EU Member States, Associated Countries, and Third Countries, to contribute to the advancement of gender equality in the ERA.

EXEDRA, an EXpansion of the European Joint Programming Initiative on Drug Resistance to Antimicrobials, will build on, and further support the structure and activities of JPIAMR to address the two major objectives of HCO-04-2016 topic: extending JPIAMR globally and creating a long-term sustainable structure for future expansion and governance which will coordinate national funding and collaborative actions supporting the implementation of the JPIAMR Strategic Research Agenda (SRA). JPIAMR EXEDRA will be the second Coordinated Support Action (CSA) for this Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) and essentially build on the work of the first CSA (JPIAMR), which ended February 2016. It will provide a strong support structure for the JPIAMR during the forthcoming implementation and expansion phaseby maintaining a continuity between the objectives, tasks and Work Packages of EXEDRA and JPIAMR. Support facilitated by the CSA EXEDRA will ensure that the ethos of joint programming in the area antimicrobial drug resistance becoming embedded within JPIAMR member’s research and innovation policies and programmes. EXEDRA will have the following work packages: WP1 Management and coordination; WP2 Strategy, governance, and long term sustainability; WP3 Internationalisation and capacity extension; WP4 Alignment with policy and industry; WP5 Research alignment; WP6 Communication, dissemination, and advocacy. EXEDRA will significantly contribute to the delivery of the JPIAMR SRA combined with the JPI-EC-AMR effort and the experience of the JPIAMR members. EXEDRA (and the JPIAMR) will support transnational cooperation to to pool substantial and long-term research funding and serve to complement other initiatives in the AMR area. It will create momentum with the potential to move the frontiers forward and offer new opportunities for industry, new tools for society, and new evidence-based data for policy makers, which will inspire other necessary initiatives.