The core data set represents the key information that each RI should provide. The data indicated with asterisk (*) are compulsory and have to be completed for an entry to be publishable. Some non-compulsory fields may apply to specific types of RIs (for example, to distributed RIs only) and should be completed if applicable.

RI coordinators are strongly encouraged to provide additional information that better describes their RI’s access, use and networking resources. This set of data may also be completed by the MERIL Office if it is available on the RI’s webpages or elsewhere. This set of data complements the core data, providing MERIL users a better overview of the resources available in Europe

RI coordinators are encouraged to provide advanced data that details policy-relevant information, e.g. funding, HR, and impact. This data will remain confidential and will only be communicated (to the European Commission and any reports) as aggregated and/or anonymised data

Enter the acronym or abbreviation of the RI (2-10 characters)

Enter the full name of the RI (in English)

Enter the official RI website (in English)

Select RI type category value from the provided drop-down list:

• Single-sited - the RI has one main physical location for users;
• Distributed - the RI has multiple physical locations but a unified management structure and a single coordination centre;
• Mobile - the RI is changing its physical location on a regular basis (e.g., satellites, research vessels); or
• Virtual - the RI is exclusively an electronic resource/service.

Multiple values can be entered (e.g., distributed and virtual): select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field.

Applies to distributed and virtual RIs only;

List individual nodes that compose the RI:

• select and list any set of RI node name values from an existing list of RI node names by searching for and selecting the node name of interest, and clicking “Add”.
  Initiate the search by typing into the field the three first characters of an RI node name/acronym. Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, and click “Add” to register the chosen set of values;
• if the node name of interest is not found among the provided node name values, create a new Nodes record:
  In the subsection “and/or add more”, enter the name of the node, select the city and country value to indicate the location of the coordinating office of the node, and click “Add” to register the entered information. Multiple additions are possible.

If the RI is single-sited/mobile RI, select a country value from the provided drop-down list to indicate the country which provides the coordination of the RI.

If the RI is distributed/virtual RI, select a country value to indicate the country which hosts the RI coordinating centre.

Applies to RIs that are funded by several countries only; select any set of country values from the provided drop-down list to indicate all the countries supporting the RI, including the Coordinating Country value.

Select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field.

If the RI is single-sited, enter the details of the physical location of the RI. Select the corresponding country value from the provided drop-down list.

If the RI is distributed/virtual/mobile, enter the details of the physical location of the RI coordinating centre. Select the corresponding country value from the provided drop-down list.

Indicate RI hosting legal entities - organisations/institutions legally hosting (housing) the RI or its coordinating centre:

• if the RI is self-standing and has a defined and distinct legal entity, tick the “Self-Standing RI” box;
• If the RI is embedded into another institution which itself stands as a legal entity (such as a university, a research organisation, etc.):
  • select and list any set of RI hosting legal entity name values from an existing list by searching for and selecting the name of interest;
    Initiate the search by typing into the field the three first characters of the Hosting Legal Entity name/acronym. Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, and click “Add” to register the chosen set of values;
  • if a hosting legal entity of interest is not found among the provided RI hosting legal entity name values, create a new Hosting Legal Entity record:
    click “New” to access the record data entry sub-form

Applies to self-standing RIs only: select a value that describes the legal status of the RI

Select a value that describes the current status of the RI life-cycle: choose the value by providing a year value that marks the beginning of the chosen current status; provide the year value (YYYY) in the cell next to the current status value. If the exact year value is unknown, please provide a default value which is 1901

Enter a year value (YYYY) in the provided fields “From” and “To” to indicate the start and end year of each RI life-cycle phase respectively in order for the time that was dedicated to each RI life-cycle phase to be calculated.

Indicate the main, RI-related, contact person whose full name will be displayed on the public MERIL portal, and whose e-mail will be displayed to the logged-in MERIL users for requests regarding the RI (services, equipment, additional information etc.):

• select a full name value from an existing list of public contact full names by searching for and selecting a contact name of interest;
  Initiate the search by typing into the field the three first characters of the full name of interest; or
• if the name of the contact person for the web portal of interest is not found among the provided contact person name values, create a new Public Contact record:
  In the subsection “or add new one”, enter the contact person-identifying details; the entered information will be saved when saving the whole of the RI data entry form.

Indicate the main contact for internal-to-project requests regarding the MERIL RI data:

• select a contact person full name value from an existing list of MERIL contact full names by searching for and selecting a contact name of interest;
  Initiate the search by typing into the field the three first characters of the full name of interest; or
• if the Contact Person for MERIL data entry of interest is not found among the provided MERIL contact name values, create a new Contact Person for MERIL data entry record:
  In the subsection “or add new one”, enter the contact person-identifying details; the entered information will be saved when saving the whole of the RI data entry form.

List any number of keywords or concepts that describe the RI:

• select and list any set of RI keyword values from an existing list of RI keywords by searching for and selecting an RI-describing keyword of interest;
  Initiate the search by typing into the field the three first characters of an RI keyword. Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the field RI Keywords;
• if the keyword of interest is not found among the provided RI keyword values, create a new RI Keyword record:
  In the subsection “other”, enter a desired keyword value. Up to 10 additions are possible (comma separated). The entered information will be saved and registered when saving the whole of the RI data entry form.

Enter word description of the scientific mission and research activities of the RI. We advise that information on access, funding, training etc. should NOT be included here and should be reported in the relevant sections below (sections Services and Equipment, and Additional data)

Select any set of the MERIL-defined RI category classification values that best describe the nature of RI activity (based on the main equipment available). Choose a value from the provided drop-down list which appears upon a mouse click over the field. For full MERIL RI Category descriptions please refer to a document available here.

Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field.

Select any set of the MERIL scientific domain classification values that best describe the scientific fields impacted by the RI activity. Choose a value from the provided drop-down list which appears upon a mouse click over the field.

Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field.

Select any set of the ESFRI domain classification values that best describe the RI activity. Choose a value from the provided drop-down list which appears upon a mouse click over the field.

Multiple values can be entered: select multiple values individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the values side-by-side in the field.

Create any set of new records that list the main services/types of services provided by the RI to users (e.g., specific analysis, data, testing, training, user support, archiving, access to a certain platform, etc.):

In the section “Research Services”, access the Research Services data entry sub-form through clicking “Add a new Service”. Multiple additions are possible.

Create any set of new records that list the main equipment/types of equipment provided by the RI to users:

In the section “Equipment”, access the Equipment data entry sub-form through clicking “Add new Equipment”. Multiple additions are possible

Access refers to the legitimate and authorised physical, remote and virtual admission to, interactions with and use of RIs, and to services offered by RIs to Users.

• Select any set of the following access type classification values from the provided drop-down list which appears upon a mouse click over the field:

• Physical access – requires the presence of users on RI’s premises.
• Remote access – allows users to access RI facilities and/or equipment from a distance and retrieve results/data without physically accessing the RI (eg. launching experiments from a remote desktop).
• Mail-in access – users mail in samples and retrieve results on a pre-selected list of parameters.
• Virtual access – refers to the use and exploitation of RI resources that are exclusively available via online, internet-based tools.

• Enter a different access type classification value in the field “Other” if your defined Access Type value is missing from the provided set of values.

Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field

Select any set of the following access mode classification values from the provided drop-down list which appears upon a mouse click over the cell:

• Excellence Driven – an access mode which exclusively dependent on the scientific excellence, originality, quality and technical and ethical feasibility of an application evaluated through peer review conducted by internal or external experts. It enables Users to get access to the best facilities, resources and services wherever they are located. This access mode enables collaborative research and technological development efforts across geographical and disciplinary boundaries.
• Market Driven – an access mode which applies when access is defined through an agreement between the User and the Research Infrastructure that will lead to the payment of a fee for the Access and that may remain confidential.
• Wide – an access mode which guarantees the broadest possible Access to scientific data and digital services provided by the Research Infrastructure to Users wherever they are based. Research Infrastructures adopting this mode maximise availability and visibility of the data and services provided.

Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field.

Enter a webpage which provides information regarding access to the RI.

Users of Research Infrastructures can be individuals, teams and institutions from academia, business, industry and public services. They are engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems and also in the management of projects. Teams can include researchers, doctoral candidates, technical staff and students participating in research in the framework of their studies

Select a user definition classification value to qualify the numeric figure that you might provide in the data field “Number” under the section “Number of Users” :

• select a user definition classification value from the provided drop-down list which appears upon a mouse click over the field, or
• enter a different user definition classification value in the field “Other” if your defined User Definition value is missing from the provided set of values.

In the field Number, enter the total annual number of RI users as defined under section “User Definition”. Only users exploiting the RI for research purposes should be included. In the case where exact number of users is not known, please provide an estimate.

In the field Year, enter a year value (YYYY) to which the provided total annual number of RI users corresponds to

Enter percent distribution values for the estimated number of the types of users exploiting the RI.

If needed, provide an additional Type of Users classification value if it is missing from the set of values provided, and enter the according percent distribution value.

Examples of public research organisations include CNRS (France), CNR (Italy), CSIC (Spain), Max Planck (Germany), etc.

Enter percent distribution values for the estimated number of national, EU Member State (MS), EU Associated Country (AC) to H2020 and Third Country (TC) users per a given year.

• National users - users from the country where the RI (or its coordinating centre) is located. For distributed RIs national users should include all users from countries in which the different nodes are located.
• European MS users - users from other EU Member States.
• European AC users - users from other EU Associated Countries for H2020.
• TC users - Third Country users: users from countries outside of Europe.

In the field “Year”, enter a year value (YYYY) to which the provided percent distribution numeric values correspond to.

Applies to RIs that are (part of) an ESFRI project only. Select a value that describes the nature of RI’s participation in the ESFRI project. Choose a value from the provided drop-down list which appears upon a mouse click over the field.

List networks that the RI is part of:

• select and list any set of network name values from an existing list of RI network names by searching for and selecting a Network name of interest, and clicking “Add”;
  Initiate the search by typing into the field the three first characters of an RI Network name or acronym. Multiple values can be entered: select each value individually by confirming your choice through a click in order to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field;
  
  
• if the RI Network name of interest is not found among the stored Network values, create a new Network record:
  click “New” to access the record data entry sub-form.

Attach 1-3 pictures that are representative of the RI facilities/RI mission

After the successful data entry, click “Save” to save the record.

To go back to the main RI data entry form, click on the RI name in the sub-section "Names" in the data field "RIs".

Enter the name of an organisation hosting the RI, provide English version if possible.

Enter the acronym of an organisation hosting the RI.

Enter the official organisation website (in English)

Indicate the name(s) of the RI(s) that the given organisation is hosting: initiate the search of the RI name by typing into the field the three first characters of the RI name/acronym, confirm your choice through a click, and click “Add”

Enter the details of the physical location of the coordinating centre of the RI-hosting legal entity. Select the corresponding country value from the provided drop-down list.

Select a value that describes the legal status of the RI hosting legal entity (organisation)

After the successful data entry, click “Save” to save the record. You will be automatically redirected to the main RI data entry form.

Enter the name of a specific service offered by the RI.

Enter any accompanying information that would specify the type of activities offered through the identified service.

Indicate the name of the RI that provides the given service: initiate the search of the RI name by typing into the field the three first characters of the RI name/acronym and confirm your choice through a click.

After the successful data entry, click “Save” to save the record. You will be automatically redirected to the main RI data entry form.

Enter the name of a specific piece of equipment or enter a common title grouping inter-related equipment made available for specific research by the RI.

Enter any accompanying information that would specify the type of equipment available/activities enabled through the identified equipment/group of equipment.

Indicate the name of the RI that provides the given equipment: initiate the search of the RI name by typing into the field the three first characters of the RI name/acronym and confirm your choice through a click.

After the successful data entry, click “Save” to save the record.

To go back to the main RI data entry form, click on the RI name in the sub-section "Names" in the data field "RIs".

Enter the name of a network that the RI takes part of, provide English version if possible.

Enter the acronym of a network that the RI takes part of, provide English version if possible.

Enter a brief description of a network that the RI takes part of, provide English version if possible.

Indicate the name(s) of the RI(s) that participate in the given network: initiate the search of the RI name by typing into the field the three first characters of the RI name/acronym, confirm your choice through a click, and click “Add”

You can use the advanced search form to search for RI records or for records of other types of entities.

• Choose Search for RIs to search for RIs.
  Type a search text in the Keyword field to search in RIs' names, descriptions or acronyms. Wildcard characters can be used. Supported wildcards are *, which matches any character sequence (including the empty one), and ?, which matches any single character.
  Type in the RI Keywords field at least 3 characters to choose amongst the available keywords. Multiple values can be chosen.
  Type in the RI Category field at least 3 characters to choose amongst the available categories. Multiple values can be chosen.
  Choose a country from the Location Country field to search for RIs based on their physical location.
  Choose a country from the Coordinating Country field to search for RIs based on their country responsible for its coordination.
  Type in the Type Of RI field at least 3 characters to choose amongst the available types. Multiple values can be chosen.
  Type in the Legal Status field at least 3 characters to choose amongst the available statuses. Multiple values can be chosen.
  Type in the Scientific Domain field at least 3 characters to choose amongst the available domains. Multiple values can be chosen.
  Type in the ESFRI Domain field at least 3 characters to choose amongst the available domains. Multiple values can be chosen.
• Choose Search for to search for other types of entities, i.e. for Services, Equipment, Organisations and if you are logged in, Persons or all the above.
  Choose the type of record that you want to search for by using the Type field. You can choose only one type of entity.
  Type a search text in the Keyword field to search in records' names or acronyms. Wildcard characters can be used. Supported wildcards are *, which matches any character sequence (including the empty one), and ?, which matches any single character.

Enter the full name of the RI (in English)

Enter the official RI website (website content in English)

If the RI is single-sited/mobile RI, select a country name value from the provided drop-down list to indicate the country which provides the coordination of the RI.
If the RI is distributed/virtual RI, select a country name value to indicate the country which hosts the RI coordinating centre

Enter the contact person-identifying details for the contact person that is suggesting the RI.
It is recommended not to use personal e-mail accounts but rather provide your formal one.

Indicate the main contact for internal-to-project requests regarding the MERIL RI data: enter the contact person-identifying details

Please use this space to provide any further comments related to your RI suggestion

Please use this system ID finder tool in order to complete the excel system ID values for an existing Organisation, Node, Person, Keyword and Network. If you want to create a new one, please complete the corresponding excel sheet and provide a unique internal excel code of your choice. This means that the excel code must be anything ("1","2", "334f" or "a", "first node", "2nd organisation" for example) uniquely identified across excel document.

RI Coordinators and MERIL Data Managers use this field to specify the status of an RI’s profile page.
Draft – the entry is not yet complete, and/or some compulsory fields are not filled. RIs with status “draft” are not visible to the public beyond the RI name and website.
Finalised – the entry has been completed and all compulsory fields are filled. This signals to the MERIL Data Manager that the profile page is ready for a quality check.
Published – all compulsory fields are filled and the entry has been quality checked. The entry is now visible to the public.
Archived – MERIL never deletes entries. RIs that are no longer relevant for MERIL are archived.

RI coordinators are encouraged to provide advanced data that details policy-relevant information, e.g. funding, HR, and impact. This data will remain confidential and will only be communicated (to the European Commission and any reports) as aggregated and/or anonymised data.

Enter the number of staff (full-time equivalent) employment or working at the RI for each year. Senior Researcher refers to any employed researcher beyond post-doctorate level.
If an employment class is missing from the provided set, please enter an additional Employment classification value under ‘Other’ and the number of staff corresponding to this Employment class.

Please give estimates of the number of staff/users per staff/user group and per given year that actively receive training within the RI.
If a staff/user group is missing from the provided set, please enter an additional training classification value under ‘Other’ and the number of staff/users corresponding to this group.

Indicate the RI's data access policies, i.e. data both collected and processed at the RI.
Select any set of the following Data Access classification values from the provided drop-down menu:

• Open Access Data
• Time-limited embargo on data
• On-site data storage
• Data conservation and storage

Multiple values can be entered (e.g. open access & on-site data storage). To list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, sequentially add and select each value individually to confirm your choice.

List any kind of data services the RI offers.

• Select and list any set of data services values from the existing list.
• If the data service of interest is not found among the list provided, create a new data service record using the ‘Other’ field.

Multiple values can be entered (e.g. Data delivery & Data control). To list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, sequentially add and select each value individually to confirm your choice.

Describe the types of metadata used by the RI, i.e. a description of the types of data the RI collects, uses, processes and/or stores. This free text field is limited to 256 characters.

Enter total annual number of publications produced by, or acknowledging, the RI. In cases where the exact number of publications acknowledging the RI is unknown, please provide an estimate.
Enter the publication year in (YYYY) format.

Enter the total annual number of patents submitted by the RI. ‘Submitted patents’ denotes those either submitted by the RI (or its hosting organisation) as an applicant, or those that explicitly acknowledge work performed at the RI.
Under "year," enter a (YYYY) value for the annual number of patents submitted.

Enter the total annual number of patents granted by the RI. ‘Granted patents’ included should either be submitted by the RI (or its hosting organisation) as an applicant or should explicitly acknowledge work performed at the RI.
Under "year," enter a (YYYY) value for the annual number of patents granted.

Select a value that describes the RI’s primary area of activity. Choose a value from the provided drop-down list:

• Basic research
• Applied research
• Technological development

Societal Grand Challenges are focus areas identified by the European Commission as part of Horizon 2020, which reflect the policy priorities of the Europe 2020 strategy and address major concerns shared by citizens in Europe and elsewhere. For further information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/societal-challenges
Select all the Societal Grand Challenges the RI addresses using the existing list:

• Health, demographic change and wellbeing
• Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research, and the Bio-economy
• Secure, clean and efficient energy
• Smart, green and integrated transport
• Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials
• Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective societies
• Secure societies – protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens.

Multiple values can be entered (e.g. Health, demographic change and wellbeing & Secure, clean and efficient energy); to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, sequentially add and select each value individually to confirm your choice.

In the field ‘Number’, please enter the total annual number of technology transfer activities that the RI has been involved in per given year. Technology transfer activities encompass any kind transfer of technology to industry.

• Licenses
• Commercial contracts
• Collaborative research projects
• R&D projects
• Proof of concept / prototyping projects

Under "year," enter a (YYYY) value for the annual number of technology transfer activities granted.

Under "Number," enter a value for the annual number of start-ups that have spun off from the RI.
Under “Year,” enter a year value (YYYY) to which the provided annual number of start-ups corresponds to.

RI capital value refers to total full costs incurred from inception / application until beginning of operations. The estimate of the total capital value should include all costs for construction/building (incl. Manpower); acquisition of real estate; special technical equipment; and supply/construction of devices and equipment.
Choose a single value from the provided drop-down list:

• <1 M EUR
• 1-10 M EUR
• 11-20 M EUR
• 21-50 M EUR
• 51-100 M EUR
• 101-200 M EUR
• 201-500 M EUR
• 501-1000 M EUR
• >1001 M EUR

Select a value that describes the RI’s estimated running and/or operation costs. The estimate of the average total amount per year should include all costs for personnel (e.g. operation, maintenance, user support); material (incl. membership fees or other payment of contributions to organisations); running the premises (rent, electricity); and other noteworthy investments (replacement purchases) required to keep the research infrastructure and equipment at "state-of-the-art" levels.
Choose a single value from the provided drop-down list:

• <100 k€
• 100-200 k€
• 201-500 k€
• 501 k€-1 M€
• 1-5 M€
• 5-10 M€
• 10-50 M€
• 50-100 M€
• 100-200 M€
• >200 M€

Please estimate the expenditures incurred in operating the RI for each of the following fields:

• Staff - %
• Maintenance - %
• Equipment - %
• Other - %

If the desired value is not listed, please select ‘Other ’. If more than one desired value is not listed, please combine the percentages into a total percentage.

Please indicate (yes/no) whether the RI charges some external users fees to access the RI. If yes, then please select the relevant user groups from the following menu:

• All users
• Industrial / private / companies users only
• Non-European users only
• Other

Multiple values can be entered (e.g. Non-European users only & Other). To list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, sequentially add and select each value individually to confirm your choice.

Please indicate (yes/no) whether the RI can produce unit costs and quotes on demand, e.g. quote to user for cost of using the equipment.

Please indicate (yes/no) whether the RI is featured on the respective country's national roadmap for infrastructures.

List any set of national public funding organsations from which the RI is receiving or has received funding.

• Choose from the existing list of national public funding organsations by searching for and selecting the organisation of interest.
  Initiate the search by typing the first three characters of a national public funding organisation’s name or acronym in the field.
• If the funding organsation’s name is not found among the provided names, provide the missing national funding organisation’s name in the field ‘Other’.

Multiple values can be entered; to list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, sequentially add and select each value individually to confirm your choice.

Enter percent distribution values for the funding the RI has received from each type of the following funding sources:

• Public - National government %
• Public – Regional government %
• Public – European (EU) funding %
• Service/research contracts and expertise (including from the private sector) %
• User fees - %
• Other - %

If the RI does not receive any funding from one or several of the listed funding sources, please leave the field blank. If any funding source classification value is missing from the set of values provided, please enter the corresponding percent distribution value in the field corresponding to ‘ Other’. Should there be multiple funding source classifications values missing, then please combine the percentages into a total ‘Other’ percentage.

Please select the type of European funding the RI is receiving:

• EC Framework programmes (FP7, H2020, etc.)
• EU Structural funds

If the relevant value is not listed, please enter an additional European Funding classification value under ‘Other’.

Field to be completed by a MERIL Data Manager, indicating the sources of information that have been used:

• RI Coordinator
• RI Website
• NDI

Multiple values can be entered (e.g. Ri Coordinator & RI website). To list the multiple values side-by-side in the provided field, sequentially add and select each value individually to confirm your choice. If a source of information is missing from the provided set, please enter an additional source of information under ‘Other ’.