The European and International scientific communities and industrial stakeholders will be kept apprised of EuroFAANG developments through regular updates to the EuroFAANG website, EuroFAANG data portal and EuroFAANG social media accounts. A communication and dissemination plan will be developed for the long term promotion of the EuroFAANG infrastructure through the EuroFAANG webpage, social media networks, and relevant conferences. Meetings and networking events will be designed to facilitate global collaboration with international FAANG efforts and the five RIA EuroFAANG projects. The communication and dissemination strategy will include liaising with national ESFRI representatives for each partner country and with Elixir node representatives.

This task will outline the design components necessary for the EuroFAANG infrastructure to provide services that offer new solutions for a transformed farmed animal production landscape in Europe. The design study will document the feasibility of the infrastructure with respect to technical (e.g. databases WP3, biological resources WP4), legal (e.g. data accession rights WP2 or interfaces to stakeholder infrastructures WP7) or societal (e.g. adoption of new technologies WP5) challenges. In addition to comprehensive analyses of the current research infrastructures in the field of farmed animal science and complementary areas (WP7, WP3), the design study will map the position of the national political Roadmaps and funding bodies regarding the level of priority dedicated to an integrated and coordinated network infrastructure for farmed animal research. A key component of the design study will be to identify any additional end users of the infrastructure and assess their access needs and desired outcomes. The design study will be framed to fit an ESFRI proposal template for the next update to the ESFRI Roadmap in 2025.

This task is focused on the preparation of funding applications for the next stage of the EuroFAANG infrastructure once concept development is complete. In the life cycle of a research infrastructure the next stage is the ‘Preparatory Phase’. For further development of new ESFRI research infrastructures the HORIZON-INFRA-DEV-02-01 funding stream is most appropriate, and our aim is to ensure that EuroFAANG becomes embedded in the farmed animal resources to be included in the next version of ESFRI Roadmap. As such for Task 8.3 we will fully explore this funding option and others that are available to ensure the sustainability of the EuroFAANG infrastructure in the long term. Other funding options include the HORIZON-INFRA-SERV funding stream that supports research infrastructures. Partners in EuroFAANG will also support the infrastructure by applying for EU and national level funding for research projects requiring access to the services provided by the infrastructure.