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This report proposes recommendations on business planning for RIs, and evaluation of business plans in view of RI roadmapping and funding. Targeted at RI managers and policy-makers, such as funding organisations, the recommendations aim at ensuring the long-term sustainability of RIs by promoting business plans widely as a valuable management tool to ensure RI growth, and as an indispensable criterion in roadmap and funding processes. These recommendations are illustrated by good practices based on real cases, and supported by the findings from desk research, a consultation and field work (case studies and regional technical workshops), findings which are presented in more details in deliverables D5.2 – D5.3. Furthermore, the recommendations have been discussed and refined with the Reflection Group and other stakeholder’s representatives during InRoad’s Validation workshop. The recommendations from this report, as well as the analyses from the case studies and consultation, are presented in the InRoad final report.

The present Annex reports the development process and the general findings from the case studies on funding of Research Infrastructures (RIs) in Europe, which have been conducted within the scope of the activities of InRoad. The information from the case studies described in this document was obtained through a series of interviews conducted between months 14 and 18 of the project, respectively between 28 February and 29 June 2018 – with representatives of 17 European RIs from different scientific areas and typologies. Following a structured methodology, the interviews were organised to gather insights on the use and combination of funding sources throughout different stages of their lifecycles. The pool took into account (to the extent possible) the heterogeneous European RI landscape, selecting facilities from different scientific domains, different typologies (distributed or single-sited), in different lifecycle stages and with different funding models. This process was also supported by the organisation of five Regional Technical Workshops (RTWs), where stakeholders could discuss issues related to RI funding. Overall, this document lays out and analyses the information collected during the interviews. Where appropriate, inputs from the RTW were inserted. The cumulative process herewith described allowed the definition of four main recommendation areas, to be further developed in Deliverable 4.5 of the project: Lifecycle approach; Closer synergies among funding frameworks; Exchange of knowledge for funding solutions; Demonstration and communication of RI’s scientific and strategic relevance and their broader societal impact.

The aim of the present report is to bring together in a concise but comprehensive way the findings of the consultation and case studies carried out by InRoad on business planning practices in European research infrastructures (RIs) and on business plan assessments in national roadmap processes. The results are based on the case studies of business planning practices in different RIs, as well as a country-specific case study. Trends, good practices and existing bottlenecks are analysed to produce recommendations on business planning for RIs, and evaluation of business plans in view of RI roadmapping and funding. The findings and analyses from this report, as well as final recommendations on RI business planning, are presented in the InRoad final report.

Large, complex and expensive Research Infrastructures (RI) are considered vital to support the solving Europe's economic and societal challenges. They move forward excellent science and top-notch technology attract the best researchers from around the world and connect research communities. RI are becoming an intrinsic part of the economic cycle and are viewed as strategic investments and as innovation drivers, largely influencing not only the local economies, but contributing to national and global competitiveness. Furthermore RIs, being the natural meetingpoint of research, innovation and education, are pretty much in the center of the knowledge triangle. They are hubs of knowledge generation and-sharing with a wide outreach also in the domain of technological progress. Though, industry and the private sector have also a big interest in Research Infrastructures (RI), by acting both as suppliers and as users, and invest large amounts in the construction and use-, usually these RIs are not open for public use. The vast majority of RI, however, is funded by state budgets and those RI are in the focus of the present literature report, while privately funded RI are not explicitly considered. In line with the strategy Europe2020 and the thematic objectives of the European common strategic framework (CSF), RI are considered as poles of increased competitiveness and regional growth. Thus, structural funds are steadily rising in importance as a funding alternative for RI-investments. Though the role of ESIF and in particular ERDF in funding of the construction phases of RIs is steadily rising, it is known that the contribution of these financial instruments to the subsequent RI operational costs is yet rather marginal. About 90% of running costs of RI, needed to ensure long-term sustainability, are covered by state budgets.

Large, complex and expensive Research Infrastructures (RI) are considered vital to support the solving Europe's economic and societal challenges. They move forward excellent science and top-notch technology attract the best researchers from around the world and connect research communities. RI are becoming an intrinsic part of the economic cycle and are viewed as strategic investments and as innovation drivers, largely influencing not only the local economies, but contributing to national and global competitiveness. Furthermore RIs, being the natural meetingpoint of research, innovation and education, are pretty much in the center of the knowledge triangle. They are hubs of knowledge generation and-sharing with a wide outreach also in the domain of technological progress. Though, industry and the private sector have also a big interest in Research Infrastructures (RI), by acting both as suppliers and as users, and invest large amounts in the construction and use-, usually these RIs are not open for public use. The vast majority of RI, however, is funded by state budgets and those RI are in the focus of the present literature report, while privately funded RI are not explicitly considered. In line with the strategy Europe2020 and the thematic objectives of the European common strategic framework (CSF), RI are considered as poles of increased competitiveness and regional growth. Thus, structural funds are steadily rising in importance as a funding alternative for RI-investments. Though the role of ESIF and in particular ERDF in funding of the construction phases of RIs is steadily rising, it is known that the contribution of these financial instruments to the subsequent RI operational costs is yet rather marginal. About 90% of running costs of RI, needed to ensure long-term sustainability, are covered by state budgets.