The European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN) is a distributed Research Infrastructure that supports the preparation and implementation of multinational, high-quality, transparent clinical trials thus overcoming the obstacles caused by fragmentation and poor interoperability of the national, clinical research environment in Europe. Support areas include the preparation of applications for funding, protocol evaluation, trial management, quality assurance and addressing regulatory and ethical issues. ECRIN creates added value through access to expertise and patients, increasing the reach, diversity, and result quality of clinical trials. It fulfils the vision of a society where all decisions in medical practice are based on sound scientific evidence from high-quality clinical research.

In the ESFRI Roadmap since 2006, ECRIN established the status of European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) in 2013. As of November 2021, ECRIN ERIC is supported by nine Members and three Observers which collaborate through ECRIN’s unique organization involving the ERIC Core team, the European correspondents (EuCos) based in each country, and the national scientific partners of Clinical Trial Units (CTUs). The core team, based in Paris, develops ECRIN’s strategy, common tools and procedures, and contributes to ‘infrastructure development’ projects. The national scientific partners manage trials in-country and host the EuCos. In coordination with the EuCo, they identify the clinical trial units (CTUs) or clinical research centres (CRCs) that will provide trial management tasks in a given trial.