Being an established European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) since 2011, SHARE is part of the ERIC Forum. The ERIC Forum has been originally initiated by the European Commission as the ERIC network and was implemented as the ERIC Forum with a Memorandum of Understanding in 2017. It was set up to speak with a common voice in Europe’s political and scientific framework. In January 2019, the ERIC Forum Implementation Project officially started. As of June 2020, the ERIC community counts 21 established ERICs, as well as 11 organizations in the pipeline to becoming an ERIC. The strategic approach of the ERIC Forum will contribute to address critical challenges, develop best practices and share relevant know-how for the effective operation of ERICs and ERICs-to-be.
To achieve its goals, six thematic work packages have been assigned to different members of the ERIC Forum. SHARE-ERIC has taken over the responsibility to lead work package 2, Analysis and development of the ERIC Forum’s governance model. Andrea Oepen, Head of European Relations and International Management, is leading this work package. Until January 2020, she was supported by Philipp Beck. In February 2020, Julia Knoblechner took over his tasks as European Relations Officer. The goal of work package 2 is to further solidify the Forum’s governance through the addition of Rules of Procedure (RoP). These RoPs were signed in a meeting of all ERICs and ERICs-to-be together with EU and ESFRI representatives in February 2020. In the course of 2020, the RoPs have been tested in practice. Within this reviewing process, the existing Rules will be evaluated and adapted to the Forum’s needs.
