ATMO-ACCESS supports Trans-National Access to services offered by selected, first-class European atmospheric research facilities.

TNA is provided in two types:

• in person (physical access), with users physically visiting the facility/installation and receiving the service “hands-on”
• remotely (remote access), with resources and services offered without users physically visiting the facility/installation

The access is free of charge and includes the logistical, technological and scientific support and the specific training that is needed to use the services provided by the facility.

Proposals for access any of the services of the ATMO-ACCESS facilities are eligible if they meet the following criteria established by H2020 regulations:

• TransNationality: the user group leader (project PI) and the majority of the users must work in a country other than the country where the installation providing access is located (except in case of remote access to a set of facilities in different countries offering the same type of service).
• Affiliation: Users must be affiliated to an organisation in the European Union. Applications from user groups with a majority of users working outside EU are eligible, though limits may be applied (max 20% of the total access available).
• Dissemination: User groups shall be entitled to and willing to disseminate the knowledge they will generate under the project, unless coming from the private sector.

Users are warmly encouraged to interact directly with the PIs of the facilities during the preparation of TNA proposals and before their submission to verify details of access, address practicalities and explore.

Young scientists, scientists who have never used atmospheric facilities before, and companies are particularly welcome. ATMO-ACCESS promotes gender equality in scientific research and specifically encourages applications from women.

N.B.! Users from potential ACTRIS National Facilities seeking support from Central Facilities are not eligible, as Central Facilities services are covered by the ACTRIS ERIC funding scheme.

Eligible proposals are selected by an independent selection panel considering:

• Scientific excellence, considering the scientific and technical value, the originality and novelty, the relevance and impact of the project, the dissemination plan, the quality of the proposing user group etc.
• Technical need-driven criteria for increasing instrument performance (maintenance, calibration, QA) and operator training.
• Innovation and Market-driven aspects, especially when access involves users from the private sector. In this case, the innovation potential of TNA proposals, possible technological developments as well as market developments and impacts on the economy are principally considered.

The evaluation and selection of the TNA requests shall be completed within about 4-6 weeks from the start of the selection process, provided that:

1. users and the facilities have already discussed the details of the project before submission
2. the suitable reviewers are available at the request
3. no complex integrations or clarifications are requested to users by reviewers

Once the evaluation is completed, the TNA Team will inform applicants of the final decision and of the amount of financial support.

The General Evaluation Guidelines are available at this link.

To benefit from the programme, users need to submit a request in response to one of the calls published in the project. We alternate between general calls and specific targeted calls, according to the following schedule:

All information and links necessary to apply are accessible on our dedicated application page:

Do not hesitate to contact the ATMO-ACCESS TNA team at tna@atmo-access.eu for any questions or for assistance.

Users have to accept the general TNA terms and conditions by signing the ATMO-ACCESS User acknowledgement statement, with which they undertake to:

• Acknowledge the project and the support from the EC in the H2020 Programme, in any publication resulting from work carried out in a TNA Activity (with a standard statement).
• Make the data resulting from the TNA available to the Data Centres of the Reseach Infrastructures involved in the project.
• Confirm that no double financing is taking place from other sources.
• Comply with the post-access requirements (see below).

• a “Confirmation of Access” document, issued and signed by the access provider, reporting the quantity of access provided à within 2 weeks after the access;
• an Activity Report presenting the TNA preliminary results or other document attesting the TNA activity realized (e.g. calibration certificate) à within maximum 8 weeks after the access.
• a TNA User Feedback Questionnaire
• a User TNA Carbon Footprint Assessment
• Acknowledge properly the project in all dissemination activities (publications, conference contributions)  including the following statement: “This [insert type of result] is part of a Transnational access project that is supported by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 – Research and Innovation Framework Programme, H2020-INFRAIA-2020-1, ATMO-ACCESS Grant Agreement number: 101008004.”

Starting from the 2nd call for access, all post-access documentation will be done online via the PASS Access management Platform.

The TNA process in a nutshell