Together with other EHRI partner institutions, the VWI successfully secured the EHRI Implementation Phase Project (EHRI-IP) under the HORIZON-INFRA-2023 call. The project ran from February 2024 to the end of January 2026, and its main task was to coordinate the transformation of EHRI into a permanent European research infrastructure: EHRI-ERIC.

EHRI-ERIC was officially established in January 2025, and it is currently undergoing further expansion. The VWI is leading Work Package 6 (WP6), ‘Acquisition of New Members and Funding’. The aim is to review the landscape of Holocaust research and the representation of individual countries and institutions within the EHRI portal. Potential member and observer countries are thus identified as high priorities and supported throughout the accession process. Furthermore, possible funding sources are identified at the transnational, transregional, national and local levels to ensure the financial sustainability of EHRI-ERIC.

The VWI is also involved in three additional work packages. In WP3, ‘Strengthening of National Nodes’ (led by MÚA/Prague), the focus is on supporting the development, communication and service catalogues of national consortia within EHRI-ERIC. The aim is to establish the National Coordinator Committee (NCC) and set up working groups. In WP4, ‘Science, User and Technological Strategies’ (led by IfZ/Munich), the VWI is contributing to developing a concept for regularly conducting a centralised survey of the EHRI fellowship programme. This survey will be important for both the future direction of EHRI-ERIC and for gaining a deeper understanding of the current state of Holocaust research in Europe and beyond. In WP5, ‘Internationalisation and Partnerships’ (led by Yad Vashem/Jerusalem), the VWI is contributing to the global networking of EHRI-ERIC. For example, it supported the organisation of a workshop on strategic partnerships in Vienna in September 2025.

Duration: February 2024 – January 2026 (24 months)
Funding Programme: Horizon-INFRA 2023
Funding Amount: €1.5 million
Consortium: 14 partners from 13 countries