Call for proposals to ESFRI Roadmap 2026

The following information describes the process and requirements for engaging in proposals for the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science (DAHES) to consider with focus on 'new proposals' and 'major upgrades'. 

For the other types of research infrastructure proposals such as ‘projects’ and ‘landmarks’, please contact DAHES directly.

National stakeholders are strongly encouraged to consult the ESFRI Roadmap 2026 Public Guide and the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science (DAHES) in all matters.

• ESFRI Roadmap 2026 Public Guide - on ESFRI's website (PDF)

Submission of 'new proposals' and 'major upgrades'

ESFRI calls for submission of 'new proposals' and 'major upgrades' for European research infrastructures for the Roadmap 2026 by 8th April 2025, cf. the call text and relevant documents:

• Call for ESFRI Roadmap 2026 - on ESFRI's website 

It is DAHES that on behalf of Denmark is eligible to submit and sign up to 'new proposals' and 'major upgrades' for the ESFRI Roadmap 2026.

Potential Danish proposers are encouraged to establish contact with DAHES as soon as possible, and there is a national deadline for DAHES’ consideration of the participation of Denmark in European research infrastructures.

Decision-making process

The decision-making process involves a two step-procedure and stakeholders needs to be aware of the two deadlines.

National level

DAHES is the decision-making authority for Danish participation and will decide upon advice from the National Committee for Research Infrastructures.

Please note that this deadline most likely differs from deadlines in other ESFRI-countries, cf. the ESFRI website. 

Proposals must be sent to DAHES electronically as a pdf-file, including the completed proposal template and all annexes to the following e-mail address: ufs-fvi-cvi@ufm.dk

The acronym of the research infrastructure and ESFRI should be in the file name.

European level

ESFRI Forum will select the proposals that enter the Roadmap 2026 based on the recommendation of ESFRI’s Executive Board. The recommendation of the Executive Board will be based on the evaluation of ESFRI’s Strategic Working Groups and Implementation Group and after a hearing of the applicants of the different proposals to clarify any specific questions.

It is the responsibility of the - or one of the - lead countries that offer/s financial commitment to submit the 'new proposal' and 'major upgrades' for research infrastructures for the ESFRI Roadmap 2026.

The ESFRI Roadmap 2026 is expected to be announced in December 2026.

National conditions and DAHES role

Danish participation in all ESFRI Roadmap proposals needs to be based on broad institutional partnerships that includes all Danish national knowledge institutions relevant and interested in the specific research infrastructures that are proposed.

The Danish partnership must consist of a main proposer and includes co-proposers. The ESFRI-proposal itself will be drafted by the Danish partnership in collaboration with their European colleagues, and DAHES will play no role in this part.

Upon request, DAHES can offer one of two types of support:

• Financial commitment to financially contribute to the proposal. This support can only be given to proposals that have been funded on the previous Danish roadmap for research infrastructure 2015 and 2020 or are fully funded from other side.
• Political support with the intend to participate in the proposal. This support can be given to other proposals than mentioned above.

Content of proposals and evaluation criteria

Proposal content

Each proposal must contain the following parts to be submitted for DAHES to consider its support:

• Draft application for ESFRI that respects the criteria and demands stipulated in the Roadmap 2026 Public Guide.
• A short description of the consortium in Denmark that will participate in the construction and use of the proposed research infrastructure, and more broadly, how the proposed research infrastructure will contribute to the strategic research agendas of the involved research institutions and how Denmark’s scientific community will benefit from it?
• A budget with a description of the financial costs (in cash and in kind) that the involved institutions and stakeholders in Denmark will need to commit and the financial plan to cover them, cf. letters of commitment below.
• CVs (maximum five pages) of the Danish scientific leader and of other key persons for the Danish involvement in the research infrastructure.

The main proposer and all co-proposers must also provide commitment letters with commitments from their institutions:

• If the request is for a financial support, the letters of commitments or letters of intent must document that that to the funding of the first 10 years of the research infrastructure is in place.
• If the request is for political support, the letters of commitments or letters of intent must document that the Danish partnership are willing to work for the provision of the funding for the first 10 years of the research infrastructure.
• The letters must be signed by the senior management of the knowledge institutions (rector, dean or equivalent level).

Evaluation criteria

ESFRI

For 'new proposals' and 'major upgrades', ESFRI evaluates:

• The scientific case (dimensions: scientific excellence, pan-European relevance, socio-economic impact, user strategy and access policy, e-needs & data, environmental considerations)
• The implementation case (dimensions: stakeholder commitment, preparatory work and planning, governance, management & human resources, finances, risks)

More information on the scoring and evaluation process is found in the ESFRI Roadmap 2026 Public Guide.

DAHES

In addition to ESFRI’s evaluation criteria, DAHES evaluates the following criteria in order to provide support:

• National added value, i.e. to what degree the proposed research infrastructure:

- Has widespread national interest and, if relevant, how it aligns with national research and innovation policies and strategies

- Is of high national importance and adds value to Denmark’s national research infrastructure landscape

- Involves all relevant and interested Danish national institutions and other types of stakeholders in the partnership.

• Financial case, i.e. to which degree the financial case is described with sufficient detail and precision.

NUFI, DAHES and the Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science may prioritize among all proposals that have been positively evaluated across the evaluation criteria.