Inauguration of the Polish ERIHS-ERIC Node and the ERIHS.pl Project

Inauguration of the Polish ERIHS-ERIC Node and the ERIHS.pl Project

The European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science, which more commonly goes by the name of ERIHS-ERIC, has just been officially inaugurated in Poland. The launch of the Polish ERIHS-ERIC node, along with the presentation of the ERIHS.pl project (financed from the European Funds for Modern Economy – FENG), took place at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń on 16 and 18 September 2025. Among the attendees of this event there were representatives of the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center, which happens to be one of the project consortium members.

In March 2025, the ERIHS infrastructure was granted the status of a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) by the European Commission. Not only did this upgrade change its name into ERIHS-ERIC, but also enhanced ERIHS potential in supporting modern research and conservation of cultural heritage.

The inauguration of the Polish node was attended by Dr. Vania Virgili – the general director of the ERIHS consortium, Dr. Polona Ropert – the chairwoman of the National Nodes Committee of E-RIHS ERIC, and Prof. Piotr Targowski – the chairman of the Council of ERIHS.pl and a professor at the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy, and Applied Computer Science at Nicolaus Copernicus University. Prof. Targowski introduced the attendees to the structure and tasks of the Polish node, while Dr. Virgili  emphasized in her speech that connecting science and cultural heritage is more than just our motto; it is our program.

The event featured a series of lectures and workshops dedicated to presenting the research offerings of ERIHS.pl. Discussions were focused on research methods used within the consortium and the results of past projects, as well as details concerning the new call for proposals. An important element of the project presentation was the introduction of a brand new concept of the IT service for research within the ERIHS.pl offer, which was presented by Joanna Kowalska from the Digital Libraries and Knowledge Platforms Department of PCSS.