Open acess to research infrastructures

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) opens its scientific laboratories and facilities to people working in academia and research organisations, industry, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and more in general to the public and private sector.

The JRC offers access to its non-nuclear facilities to researchers and scientists from EU Member States and countries associated to the EU Research Programme Horizon Europe. For nuclear facilities, the JRC opens to EU Member States and to countries associated to the Euratom Research Programme.

Offering access to visiting researchers is part of JRC's strategy to:

• enhance dissemination of scientific knowledge;
• boost competiveness;
• bridge the gap between research and industry;
• provide training and capacity building.

Scientists will have the opportunity to work in the following fields:

• nuclear safety and security (Euratom Laboratories); 
• chemistry;
• biosciences/life sciences;
• physical sciences;
• ICT;
• Foresight.

The results will also feed into JRC's mission to support EU policymaking.

The JRC is opening access to the following groups of Research Infrastructures:

Nuclear calls:

• Actinide User Laboratory (ActUsLab)
• Laboratory of the Environmental & Mechanical Materials Assessment (EMMA)
• European research infrastructure for nuclear reaction, radioactivity, radiation and technology studies in science and applications (EUFRAT)

Non-nuclear calls:

• Energy Storage
• European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA)
• Nanobiotechnology Laboratory

The central feature of the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA) is the Reaction Wall. The ELSA reaction wall is a facility of unique dimensions and capabilities in Europe and worldwide, capable of conducting experimental tests on full-scale specimens for the safety assessment of structures against earthquakes and other natural and man-made hazards.

It consists of a reinforced concrete vertical wall and a horizontal floor rigidly connected together to test the vulnerability of buildings to earthquakes and other threats to structural stability.

By means of computer controlled hydraulic actuators it is possible to expose full-scale structures to loads of dynamic strong forces and control the resulting movements with high precision. The wall and the floor are designed to resist the forces which are necessary to deform and seriously damage the full-scale test models of structures.

Call for proposal: Reaction Wall, European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA)