Polish Roadmap for Research Infrastructure

The Polish Roadmap of Research Infrastructure is a list of undertakings of strategic importance to the development of Polish science and its competitiveness. It includes infrastructures with the highest research potential – facilities that embrace the best scientists and innovative businesses. The list presents laboratories that meet the highest standards with regard to research and education.

The Polish Map of Research Infrastructure is modelled after the European map of research infrastructure, which is being developed under the auspices of the European Commission. The first Polish edition was published by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (currently Ministry of Education and Science) in 2011. The idea was to update it every four years.

The 2020 update of the Map covers 70 undertakings grouped in six thematic domains, following the classification used by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures.

The research infrastructures included on the Polish Map of Research Infrastructure consist of 40 national undertakings and 30 facilities with an international dimension.

Description of the process of selecting the research infrastructures to be included on the Polish Map of Research Infrastructure

The call for applications from institutions that wished to be included on the Polish Map of Research Infrastructure was announced in June 2019. The Ministry received 146 applications that met the formal requirements. Each application was subject to merit-based evaluation by the Polish Map of Research Infrastructure Advisory Team as well as by two external experts – a Polish and a foreign one. In total, almost 160 reviewers took part in the process of evaluating the submitted research infrastructures.

The applications were evaluated on the basis of statutory criteria to which specific weights were assigned:

• The uniqueness of infrastructure in national and worldwide terms – 20%
• Institutional and human resources capacity of the applicant – 18%
• The extent to which infrastructure interests the national and international scientific and entrepreneurial community – 15%
• The reasonableness of the costs related to infrastructure – 15%
• Compatibility of the objectives and targets of infrastructure with national and international research, development and innovation policies – 12%
• The potential for infrastructure development within the framework of international cooperation – 12%
• The potential for infrastructure to be developed in the short and medium term – 8%

The final assessment of each application was determined by adding 60% of weighted average of Advisory Panel and 40% of weighted average of external experts.

Next, the Advisory Team presented to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education its recommendations with regard to 65 undertakings with the highest scores, which should be entered on the Polish Map of Research Infrastructure. The minister followed the recommendation of the Team and at the same time decided to enter on the Map additional five projects that are the subject of international obligations of the Polish government. These infrastructures are:

• CLARIN – Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure,
• Digital Research Infrastructures for the Arts and Humanities DARIAH-PL,
• FAIR – Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research,
• Biological and biomedical imaging infrastructure – Bio-Imaging Poland (BIPol),
• POL-OPENSCREEN – Polish Infrastructure of Open Screening Platforms for Chemical Biology.

The Roadmap includes 70 strategic research infrastructures, divided into six scientific areas: