ESF signs Memorandum of Understanding with NFEC in Korea to formalize collaboration agreement in the field of Research Infrastructures

On 23 August 2018 the European Science Foundation (ESF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Research Facilities and Equipment Center (NFEC), based at the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), at the ESF headquarters in Strasbourg (France).With this signature both organisations seal their partnership and strengthen their collaboration in the area of Research Infrastructures.

The signing ceremony kicks off the second phase of a collaboration initiated in December 2017 with a workshop hosted by the ESF in Strasbourg. The MERIL portal and the World of Large Facilities (WOLF) platform developed by NFEC were presented at this meeting, and interoperability between the two databases was explored. This meeting laid the foundation stone for the cooperation agreement that has now been formalized between the two organisations.

“Research Infrastructures are vital for the scientific community and therefore need to be adequately supported and catalogued. The signature of this Memorandum of Understanding is a unique opportunity to reinforce the link between the ESF and the KBSI and work together to contribute to RI inventory and coordination world-wide”, said Dr Jean-Claude Worms, Chief Executive of the ESF

Cooperation projects and activities between the ESF and KSBI

Some of the cooperation projects and activities related to areas of interest identified by the ESF and KBSI are:

• Transferring mutual know-how of RI management methods (national or European)
• Exchanging information on RI web systems and interoperability between systems
• Forming international standards related to RI

The organisations will continue to actively work together to advance collaborative projects on RIs, and hope to identify funding opportunities that may open further collaboration channels on the mutual fields of interests.

Next steps

In October 2018 a delegation from the ESF will travel to Korea to attend a counter-signing ceremony and visit the KSBI facilities. During this meeting, the partners will continue to explore concrete cooperation opportunities in the framework of their agreement.