Definition Large-Scale Research Infrastructure (LSRI)

Large-scale research infrastructures include: the associated human resources; major equipment or sets of instruments; knowledge-related facilities such as collections, archives or scientific data infrastructures; computing systems, communication networks; and any other infrastructure of a unique nature and open to external users, essential to achieve excellence in research and innovation. Research infrastructures may be single sited, multiple sited, virtual or distributed (in the Netherlands or further afield).

A large-scale research infrastructure has to promote a policy of open access for research. That is to say, the research infrastructure has to provide access to researchers from outside the hosting organisation(s) based on scientific excellence. ‘Research’ refers to the whole spectrum of scientific research, from fundamental to applied.

Distributed large-scale research infrastructures

• provide one central access point for researchers from external organisations, even though the infrastructure is distributed across multiple locations;
• have one management board responsible for the entire infrastructure;
• have a legal structure.

The size of a large-scale research infrastructure, in terms of total capital investment costs and operating costs over five years, amounts to at least 10 million euros. These costs do not include accommodation costs for the infrastructure.

The operating costs pertain exclusively to the costs needed to make the research infrastructure accessible. They do not include the costs for the research programme.
Capital investment costs are the costs for the development, purchase/construction of the infrastructure or the costs for a comprehensive modification of an existing infrastructure to enable new cutting-edge research.