An end and a new beginning

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

31st July marked the end of the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) and, with it, the completion of a series of EC-funded projects over the course of some twenty years. Europlanet 2024 RI was built upon a rich heritage of Transnational Access programmes, Virtual Access services (most notably the VESPA and SPIDER platforms) and networking activities, but has advanced the field and community still
further with:

• The initiation of the Europlanet Telescope Network.
• The inclusion of geological mapping and machine learning tools and services.
• Extended international collaborations with partners in Africa, South America and Korea.
• Strategic investment in upgrades to facilities to better-simulate and understand diverse and extreme planetary environments.

During Europlanet 2024 RI, we have provided services that have allowed the European planetary science community to continue to lead the world in pioneering research. We have supported over 300 researchers in their visits and research while providing access to a vast array of databases and tools for planetary and space science research through our Virtual Access programmes. We have been integral to
more than 230 publications, and there are many more to come!

I contend that today it is almost impossible to view European planetary science without the presence of Europlanet. The annual Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) regularly attracts over 1200 delegates and has grown to become the recognised European meeting point of the planetary community. The Europlanet Early Career (EPEC) network supports the next generation of researchers, who will become the PIs of future missions! Europlanet is referenced in the strategic landscape analysis for European research infrastructures.

Throughout Europlanet 2024 RI, we have been planning for the sustainability of the Europlanet portfolio to ensure that twenty years of research and community work will continue into its third decade. I am therefore delighted to announce that, although Europlanet 2024 RI ends today, Europlanet is ready to continue its work and ambition.

Last year, we set up a not-for-profit association (Europlanet AISBL) that means we now have the legal structure in place to operate sustainably. In September 2024, we will be launching a new membership programme for organisations, in addition to the individual membership programmes we have been running since 2018. This new funding model will enable us to carry on our core activities, including:

• Mobility programmes, with access to facilities, telescopes and expert exchanges.
• Training and mentoring of early career planetary scientists and the wider community, including the Planetary Mapping Winter School.
• Support for the community at a grass-roots level through travel bursaries, prizes and small grants.
• Sustaining and growing our community through EPSC, strategic partnerships and other activities in all regions of Europe and internationally.
• Ensuring the voice of the planetary science community is heard in important strategic fora in Europe and internationally.

An exciting aspect of moving beyond the EC-funded project is that we are not limited to a fixed set of beneficiaries. Henceforth, Europlanet is open to everyone, so any laboratory or research group working in the field will be able to join. With over 200 planetary-related organisations in Europe alone, that is already a sizeable pool of potential members — for a fee that is typically less than one open-access publication charge!

When organisational membership opens at EPSC, I would suggest that each of you ask your institution to join for at least one-year with a small amount from your project overheads to ensure that you are able to ensure your own legacy of Europlanet 2024 RI post-project. And, of course, we encourage you all to join as individual members. It is a small amount to support Europlanet, which is your community, designed and created through all your efforts.

A summary of our plans for Europlanet Beyond 2024 is online now, and further details will be circulated over the summer for discussion at EPSC and our final Council meeting.
In the meantime, I wish to end with many thank yous:

• Thank you to the Europlanet 2024 RI Consortium for the constant camaraderie and team spirit – we worked through the Covid-19 pandemic, and all the subsequent issues and changes we had to make, to deliver everything we had promised despite the challenges.
• Thank you for the enthusiasm and dedication with which everyone addressed all the Europlanet 2024 RI tasks.
• Thank you for delivering a truly extraordinary set of scientific and technical results that have ensured our community is at the forefront of one of the greatest endeavours of humanity – exploring our Solar System and beyond.

While everyone involved has played an essential part in Europlanet 2024 RI’s success I would like to express particular thanks to the Europlanet Office team:

• Susmita Datta, without whom we would never have been able to run this project and secure Europlanet’s future. Her efforts for all of us were (and are) remarkable, not least in engaging with the Commission so tirelessly and ensuring all their staff were supportive of our many requests. She will be chasing us for those final reports to be presented at the final Council meeting in Berlin.
• Anita Heward, who has lived Europlanet almost since its inception in 2004 and through whom so much of the recognition of Europlanet beyond our own community has been achieved. Europlanet 2024 RI is just one part of her ‘lifetime work’ for Europlanet community.
• Alicia Barron, Zofia Kicinova and Rosemary Stevens for their inexhaustible work on the complexity of the project finances (Rosemary will be pestering you for your financial reports now).
• Callum Piper, for whom this was his first full-time employment and who has taken on any task we have thrown at him. Note that Callum will continue to work with us and will be your main contact point in the new future of Europlanet.

Finally, to the whole Europlanet 2024 RI team, a personal thank you for making the last years ones in which I felt I was amongst a remarkable group of people who have made a significant impact in both science and the community. It has truly been a pleasure and privilege to be the coordinator of Europlanet 2024 RI which I will always look back upon as a highlight not only of my career but my life.

And now we move on into those ‘sunlight uplands’ not only on the Earth but all those other planets and moons out there…

With very best wishes,