This article has two outreach aims. It concisely summarizes the main research and technical efforts in the EC H2020 ARIES Integrating Activity – Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society [1] during the period 2017/2018. ARIES is a continuation of CARE, TIARA and EuCARD projects [2-3]. The article also tries to show these results as an encouragement for local physics and engineering, research and technical communities to participate actively in such important European projects. According to the author’s opinion this participation may be much bigger [4-27]. All the needed components to participate – human, material and infrastructural are there [4,7]. So why the results are not satisfying as they should be? The major research subjects of ARIES are: new methods of particles acceleration including laser, plasma and particle beam interactions, new materials and accelerator components, building new generations of accelerators, energy efficiency and management of large accelerator systems, innovative superconducting magnets, high field and ultra-high gradient magnets, cost lowering, system miniaturization, promotion of innovation originating from accelerator research, industrial applications, and societal implications. Two institutions from Poland participate in ARIES – these are Warsaw University of Technology and Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology in Warsaw. There are not present some of the key institutes active in accelerator technology in Poland. Let this article be a small contribution why Poland, a country of such big research potential, contributes so modestly to the European accelerator infrastructural projects? The article bases on public and internal documents of ARIES project, including the EU Grant Agreement and P1 report. The views presented in the paper are only by the author and not necessarily by the ARIES.

On 2-3 May 2022 ARIES – Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society held its last annual conference in CERN summarizing 6 year long effort on the smart development of particle accelerator infrastructures in Europe. The whole series of Integrating Activities on accelerator infrastructures started in 2003 with preparations of CARE, then followed by EuCARD, TIARA, EuCARD2 and culminating with ARIES.

CERN hosted on May 2-6, 2022, the first annual meeting of the H2020 I.FAST project to support innovation in the field of science and technology of particle accelerators. The project has a completely different character from its predecessors in this area of research. It was approved for implementation a year ago by the EC with the highest marks. It is worth looking at why projects such as ARIES, I.FAST and EURO-LABS are so easily accepted. This alleged ease of acceptance is an appearance. Behind the acceptance, in conditions of extremely tough competition, is the excellent organization of the submitting community that has been developed over the years, as well as the perfect, well-thought-out preparation of the material. The author, a participant in the ARIES and other EC projects in the field of particle accelerator science and technology, presents here, on specific examples, his subjective opinions on how to prepare materials for high-output projects for the EC FP. The author hopes that these remarks may be useful in the process of submitting research projects from Poland in international cooperation to the EC in the best possible way. The science and technology of particle accelerators is an excellent area of showing such examples because it is interdisciplinary and includes the following components: building of research infrastructure, applied physics, mechatronics, materials engineering, automation and robotics, electronics, ICT, innovation, cooperation with industry, and social.