Research lies at the heart of the European Union's strategy to drive forward the EU's economic development and competitiveness on the international stage. As major multi-national collaborative ventures, research infrastructures have an enormous part to play at regional, national and international levels.

RAMIRI is funded by the European Commission as part of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7), the EU's main instrument for funding research between 2007 and 2013. In devising the RAMIRI project, we have worked closely with the Directorate-General for Research (DG-Res). Based in Brussels, DG-Res exists to promote and coordinate strategic research initiatives throughout the European Research Area (ERA) and to direct resources to initiatives which further their strategic aims of greater integration and collaboration of community research.

The RAMIRI Consortium would like to acknowledge the help and support received from staff within the Directorate-General for Research, especially from Directorate B (European Research Area: research programmes and capacity) and the Research Infrastructures Unit.