The IPERION HS proposal aims at establishing and operating an Integrating Activity for a distributed pan-European research infrastructure, opening key national research facilities of recognised excellence in heritage science. Heritage science is a young and cross-cutting scientific domain embracing a wide range of research disciplines enabling deeper understanding of the past and improved care for the future of heritage. Since 2016, heritage science is included in the ESFRI Roadmap as one of the strategic areas in the domain of Social Sciences and Humanities, where it is represented by the ESFRI Project E-RIHS (European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science). IPERION HS will provide to the advanced community of heritage science - built and reinforced with the support of four EU projects spanning across four Framework Programmes, approaching 20 years of constant service to the heritage domain - a further level of pan-European integration, in view of the establishment of E-RIHS. IPERION HS is a further step towards a unified scientific approach to the most advanced European instruments for the analysis, interpretation, preservation, documentation and management of heritage objects in the fields of art history, conservation, archaeology and palaeontology. IPERION HS core activity will be offering Trans-National Access to a wide range of high-level scientific instruments, methodologies, data and tools for advancing knowledge and innovation in the domain. In addition, IPERION HS will contribute joint innovative research for a better interoperability not limited to data, but including sample materials, methods and instruments. The networking activities in the project aim at reinforcing the binding in the group and at creating a sense of belonging for heritage science researchers which will exploit the RI services. IPERION HS consists of partners from 22 Countries clustered around their national nodes.

AERIS aims to build an international, cross-sectoral network to advance atmospheric sciences by improving vertically-resolved atmospheric characterization techniques, including near-surface regions. The project unites European academic and commercial institutions with North and South American partners (LALINET). AERIS enhances measurement techniques, connects international observation programs, and creates opportunities for early warning systems, business innovation, and job creation. The main objective is to advance retrieval capabilities for biogenic and non-biogenic aerosols over South America, enabling data with applications in health, hydrology, air quality, and climate. This will support a regional early warning system with global implications, benefiting aviation, biodiversity, and space mission validation. Specific goals include: (1) Implementing quality assurance and calibration for vertically resolved and near-surface measurements; (2) Optimizing inversion algorithms for aerosol property retrievals; (3) Enhancing synergies between instruments to improve spatial and temporal data; (4) Developing predictive models linking aerosols to health impacts; and (5) Investigating aerosol-induced cloud nucleation and its effects on the hydrological cycle. South America faces critical atmospheric challenges with global consequences. Limited infrastructure and monitoring networks hinder accurate data collection and climate modeling, weakening public policies and international cooperation. AERIS addresses these challenges by integrating high-quality, vertically resolved atmospheric data with near-surface imagery, advancing aerosol characterization in South America. This unique database will strengthen regional and global atmospheric science. To achieve these goals, AERIS includes an ambitious consortium and proposes secondments, workshops, and training activities to foster a shared culture of research and innovation.

The proposed project “Readiness of ICOS for Necessities of integrated Global Observations” (RINGO) aims to further development of ICOS RI and ICOS ERIC and foster its sustainability. The challenges are to further develop the readiness of ICOS RI along five principal objectives: 1. Scientific readiness. To support the further consolidation of the observational networks and enhance their quality. This objective is mainly science-guided and will increase the readiness of ICOS RI to be the European pillar in a global observation system on greenhouse gases. 2. Geographical readiness. To enhance ICOS membership and sustainability by supporting interested countries to build a national consortium, to promote ICOS towards the national stakeholders, to receive consultancy e.g. on possibilities to use EU structural fund to build the infrastructure for ICOS observations and also to receive training to improve the readiness of the scientists to work inside ICOS. 3. Technological readiness. To further develop and standardize technologies for greenhouse gas observations necessary to foster new knowledge demands and to account for and contribute to technological advances. 4. Data readiness. To improve data streams towards different user groups, adapting to the developing and dynamic (web) standards. 5. Political and administrative readiness. To deepen the global cooperation of observational infrastructures and with that the common societal impact. Impact is expected on the further development and sustainability of ICOS via scientific, technical and managerial progress and by deepening the integration into global observation and data integration systems.

Societies underinvest in research either because it is a long term process and the results are not easily seen, either because of the complexity of this enterprise. This along with other difficulties weighs on the researchers who lack the will or power to get more engaged in the public life which further affects the trust in science and research. Breaking the vicious circle is a slow process and should be based on a genuine partnership between the researchers, as promoters of new findings about the world's true nature, the society as a whole, with its most stringent but also subtles needs, and the communication facilitators as a way to surface the unexpressed realities. The partnership, ReCoNnect-ing these different views, should be effective in educating the present citizens, but also shaping the teaching approaches for the members of the future society. This consortium is made up from 6 research institutes, 4 universities, 1 public body, and 2 civil community associations experienced in promoting science and STEM education, which supported the development of one of the largest educational networks in the country in connection also with EU programmes. Together, we propose a highly innovative concept of European Researchers' Night rooted in a long experience with the programme and well supported by the partner's institutions, which we will implement in a nationwide campaign comprising 21 events in representative urban areas. Three UNESCO/aspiring geoparks will organize events in rural areas, while others will be encouraged to participate remotely. Focusing the conversation, we tackle a topic of great interest for the European Union countries: The European Green Deal. We propose to map the current perceptions and expectations of the population on this programme by a large number of encounters with the public, and to better communicate on the endeavors and successes that Romanian researchers have in contributing to the very ambitious goals of the EU programme.

Doing Research Midnight in ROmania (DoReMi-RO) 2020 is the International Year of Sound, an area of high importance for science and technologies for all in modern society. Our team goal is to join the European Researchers’ Night event in Romania with this initiative, in order to emphasize both research activities and technological development mixed with sounds and music: DoReMi-RO. The promotion and dissemination of the research results among young people, in one day event, is at the same time welcome but also insufficient. For the moment the kids' curiosity will be sparked but on the next day they feel that everything is beautifully solved in science and there is not much left to do. Then, the research as a career might be unattractive. After a single successful evening, as the Night is, the event must be transformed into a new public challenge based on the well-known concept of collaborative engagement. Thus, the general objective of the project is to raise awareness on research results baked by experiments, involving the participants in a particular citizen science project whereby researchers and the public are working together. The collaborative process will take place before, during and after the Night event and aims to make the magnetic map of Romania. All together will use common smartphones to measure the magnetic field, throughout Romania. The anonymous collaborative public have to send us the measured data, along with the GPS coordinates, uploaded on an internet web-platform. DoReMi-RO event will be held in more than 15 cities, spread throughout entire Romanian territory, among which: Baia Mare, Brasov, Bucharest, Cluj, Constanta, Craiova, Iași, Pitesti, Timișoara, Sibiu and Suceava. All proposed activities are represented by various minds-on and open-air activities: hands-on experiments, debates about collaborative engagement types, games, quizzes, organized in an amusing and stimulated manner by real researchers.