Microscopy Europe and NFFA2050 Included in the ESFRI Roadmap 2026
Area Science Park is a partner in two new research infrastructures included in the 2026 Roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), the strategic planning document that identifies Europe’s priority research infrastructures, considered essential for scientific and technological competitiveness over the next 10–20 years. The selection of research infrastructures follows a two-stage process: a rigorous scientific evaluation by international experts, followed by an approval process involving government delegates from EU Member States and Associated Countries.
The two new initiatives in which Area Science Park is a partner are Microscopy Europe, the first distributed European research infrastructure dedicated to advanced electron microscopy for the atomic-scale characterization of materials, and NFFA2050, a digital nanoscience infrastructure designed to integrate experiments, simulations, and FAIR data management.
Microscopy Europe originated from the joint commitment of three countries—the Czech Republic, Italy, and Germany—which first recognized the need to equip Europe with an integrated infrastructure for advanced electron microscopy in support of materials research. Under the leadership of the Czech Republic, Microscopy Europe now brings together 26 centres of excellence across 15 European countries and serves as a strategic platform for the development, understanding, and engineering of advanced materials. The initiative overcomes the current fragmentation of services through an integrated model that provides, via a single access point, access to a distributed network of state-of-the-art instrumentation supported by digital services and artificial intelligence tools. Area Science Park plays a central role in developing the infrastructure’s scientific programme through the expertise of its Electron Microscopy Laboratory (LAME) led by researcher Regina Ciancio, and acts as Italy’s national representative within the European consortium.
NFFA2050 is coordinated by the Institute of Materials (IOM) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). The proposal was submitted by five European countries and involves twenty-seven European scientific institutions. It builds on eleven years of successful operation of the NFFA-Europe research infrastructure, also supported by the NFFA-DI project funded under Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), in which Area Science Park participates.
Through its Data Engineering Laboratory (LADE), Area Science Park will contribute to NFFA2050 as the Italian national node specializing in Materials Science data management. It will provide access to the ORFEO High-Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure and contribute its expertise in metadata models, interoperability, FAIR data pipelines, and artificial intelligence applied to experimental workflows.
“The inclusion of Microscopy Europe and NFFA2050 in the ESFRI Roadmap 2026 represents an important recognition of the strategy pursued by Area Science Park and of the significant investments made in recent years in materials science and advanced electron microscopy,” commented Professor Caterina Petrillo, President of Area Science Park. “This achievement strengthens the institution’s role within the European strategy for research infrastructures and helps ensure the long-term continuity and sustainability of a strategic sector for both research and industry.”