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.