R&T Infrastructures: The European strategy "marks a real break with the past" (Robert-Jan Smits)

The European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructures, released on 15/09/2025, "reflects the European Commission's recognition of the importance of research infrastructures, where we clearly need to share more across Europe to optimise the use of these very expensive facilities," says Robert-Jan Smits, President of the Board of Eindhoven University of Technology (Germany) and a former Director-General for Research and Innovation (RTD) at the European Commission, speaking on 18/09/2025.

He is addressing the roundtable "Large-scale research: A cornerstone of Europe's R&I strategy" during the Hamburg Science Summit, organised by the Körber Foundation.

"The Commission has even stated in its documents that it would consider contributing to construction costs, something that has never happened before. That, in itself, marks a real break with the past.

Although I am very enthusiastic about the Commission's new proposal — and I encourage you to read it, because it is a short document with very specific actions and strong KPIs — there is one aspect that worries me. The needs…