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3rd Meeting of EU-Latin America and Caribbean Working Group on Research Infrastructures

Ilona Trtíková

Brasilia, 6th – 8th May 2019 – The 3rd meeting of EU-Latin America and Caribbean Working Group on Research Infrastructures was held in the capital of Brazil from 6th to 8th May 2019. The meeting was followed by the 2nd policy workshop on “Transnational Access to Research Infrastructures: EU/LAC Collaboration”. In total 28 delegates from 19 European and South America countries participated in the meeting. Areas and possibilities for collaboration and results of study visits to research infrastructures were discussed during the meeting.

Following study visits were held in the region of Latin America (LAC) so far:

  • 9th – 12th April 2019, Chile: Costal Marine Research Centre (ECIM) and Patagonia Station for Interdisciplinary Research – participation of the Czech Republic by Manuel Acosta (CzeCOS, Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences);
  • 24th – 26th April 2019, Costa Rica: Study Visit to the CONARE (Public Universities) Research Infrastructures – Nanotechnology (LANOTEC), Advance Computing (C.N.C.A.), Geomatics (PRIAS), Climate Observatory / Agromatics, Biotechnology (CENIBiot) – participation of the Czech Republic by Milan Váňa (ACTRIS-CZ, Czech Hydrometeorological Institute);
  • 25th – 26th April 2019, Brazil: Brazilian Centre for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) – synchrotron Sirius and National Institute for Space Research (INPe) – participation of the Czech Republic by Břetislav Šmíd (SPL-MSB, Charles University);
  • 13th – 15th May 2019, Argentina: Scientific-Technological Centre (CCT) CONICET, Bahía Blanca, which the Czech Republic did not attend.

The study visits that have taken place so far have met with positive feedback from participants and have laid the foundation for further cooperation between the institutions involved. There is currently intensive work on mapping of domestic research infrastructures and prioritizing cooperation in Latin America. The key research topics are food, energy (especially renewable) and health (pharmacy, biotechnology). Other areas of interest include language research and cultural heritage. Latin American countries are open to collaboration on research infrastructures, but the establishment of specific cooperation is complicated by the absence of an overview of research infrastructures. In case of interest Czech research infrastructures may use the platform of the EU-LAC Research Infrastructure Working Group.

The next meeting is scheduled for November 2019 in Mexico. The topic will be the governance of research infrastructures.