ICRI 2024: The machine that goes ping is the thing (2025)

By Chris Still 19 December 2024 4 min read

Key points

• The International Conference on Research Infrastructure (ICRI) gathers leading scientists to discuss the equipment, people and training required to ensure research continues through long-term global challenges.
• ICRI 2024 was hosted by Brisbane, its first time in the Asia Pacific region and the first to focus on Indigenous knowledge and engagement.
• The location and hybrid participation provided an opportunity for regional nations to add their voice to important scientific conversations that affect them.

When we think of research infrastructure we hear thediesel roar of a research vessel, see the flashing lights of a high-performance computer or share a grin with the awed visitors gazing up at our iconic radio telescopes. We also think about all the amazing science these machines enable.

What’s an ICRI?

Research Infrastructure (RI) includes synchrotrons, lasers, neutron sources, electron microscopy, radio astronomy, quantum and high-performance computing (HPC). It is essential as the world embraces technologies like AI and gene editing CRISPR platforms, and confronts global challenges such as climate change, the energy transition, and pandemic preparedness.

But it is also often huge and very, very expensive. So expensive, in fact, funding it is a long-term process involving international, regional and national organisations strategically investing in the technology, networks and processes we’ll need in the future. While also ensuring this pricey tech remains relevant through further innovations.

No-one wants to invest in a vast CD collection when iTunes is just around the corner. Which is where the International Conference on Research Infrastructure (ICRI) comes in.

ICRI is all about future proofing research infrastructure. Held every two years and primarily funded by the European Commission, hosting duties for ICRI alternate between the European Union and the rest of the world. Bringing the world’s top RI experts under the one physical or virtual roof, ICRI helps build capacity, capability, collaboration and performance of research infrastructure around the globe.

Researchers from around the world enjoying ICRI 2024.

You can’t spell Brisbane without RI

ICRI 2024 was held in Brisbane from 3-5 December. We ran the conference in cooperation with the European Commission and the Australian Department of Education.

Around 420 global RI leaders from 50 nations travelled to the River City to take part. Ninety of them –across diverse geographies and scientific disciplines – presented in 23 separate panels on everything from the atomic to the cosmic scale.

To ensure the greatest possible level of global participation and benefit, ICRI 2024 was also streamed online. A further 423 people from 40 countries participated in ICRI virtually, many of them from countries not otherwise represented at the conference.

It was the first time the Asia Pacific had hosted ICRI, which helped increase regional engagement with the global research infrastructure community. Eleven Southeast Asian and Pacific nations attended and representatives from some of those nations took part in panels, introducing previously absent voices and viewpoints to ICRI.

It was also the first ICRI to include a focus on Indigenous Knowledge and engagement. Māori, Lakota, Sami, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples presented ideas and concepts about science and research infrastructure, sometimes thousands of years in the making. How to build ethical, meaningful and respectful collaborations with local and Indigenous communities was also discussed.

These important conversations will contribute to Australia’s next National Research Infrastructure (NRI) Roadmap, planned for release in 2026.

Panelists take to the stage for a session at ICRI 2024: "Global trends and environmental considerations for research infrastructures."

Side event hustle

To get people talking and spark new ideas and opportunities, 22 side events were organised. These included a site tour of the SKA-Low radio telescope under construction on Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, our Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, in WA’s Mid West. Another event was a visit to the Brisbane Planetarium to learn about Indigenous perspectives on astronomy and Indigenous scientific traditions. And a networking dinner was held at the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). In keeping with ICRI 2024’s regional focus, this dinner allowed guests from around the world to view the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

We also installed our immersive, 3D experience INVESTIGATE at QUT’s Gardens Point campus to engage the public. This installation showcased the importance of research infrastructure like our 94-metre advanced ocean research vessel (RV) Investigator.

ICRI 2024 attendees at a networking event, held at the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA).

Volunteers make the world go around

The backbone of the ICRI experience were our volunteers who engaged and supported hundreds of international guests.

Decked out in their distinctive orange t-shirts, 39 of our people played an important role keeping the conference orderly, fun and informative while remaining relentlessly energetic, friendly and helpful. Experts in a wide range of fields themselves, they were often engaged in conversations with attendees.

Unsurprisingly, a further 30 of our people also joined the conference, both on and off the stage. As Australia’s national science agency, we host a diverse range of research infrastructures on behalf of the nation and manage major international facilities for NASA, the European Space Agency, and the SKA Observatory.

ICRI 2024 was a great example of how we like to get things done: making sure our own research infrastructure is effectively managed, and complementing it through strong international collaborations that benefit Australia.

Some of the many CSIRO volunteers at ICRI 2024 in Brisbane

Even ICRI has a to-do list. Check out the Brisbane Statement to learn what's next for research infrastructure.