On 2 April, Lise Fuhr, CEO of GÉANT, visited GARR as part of a series of introductory meetings with national research networks (NRENs) across Europe. These meetings were initiated by the new head of the organisation at the start of her tenure in November 2024.
The visit provided GARR with the opportunity to present an update on its organisation, infrastructure, and user community, highlighting its specific features and needs. The meeting was a key opportunity to strengthen cooperation among research networks and develop common solutions to address future challenges in Europe.

GÉANT, the European backbone connecting national research and education networks, faces the challenge of harmonising the diversity of national networks, which operate in different geopolitical contexts and feature highly varied governance models, management structures, user communities, and service offerings. GÉANT’s core mission is to interconnect these networks, bridging their differences to create a research support infrastructure that meets the needs of all. In this context, mediation and interaction play a crucial role in integrating the various "identities" within this community. GÉANT facilitates dialogue among networks, working to unify different perspectives and ensure increasingly effective and productive cooperation.

As one of GÉANT’s founding and active supporting members, GARR collaborates to provide high-capacity connectivity across Europe and beyond. Recently, GARR upgraded its connection to the European backbone, increasing its total capacity to 600 Gbps, responding to the growing data exchange demands of international collaborations. This was particularly evident during the LHC Data Challenge, where data transfer peaks exceeded 200 Gbps.

What is GÉANT?
GÉANT is Europe’s ultra-high-capacity backbone network, connecting research and education networks across the continent with multiple 100 Gbps links and advanced services for major research infrastructures. The network interconnects over 50 million users in approximately 10,000 scientific, educational, and cultural institutions across Europe, transferring more than 7 petabytes of data daily. With a scalable capacity of up to 8 Tbps, GÉANT supports the evolving needs of the scientific and education communities.

GÉANT is co-funded by the European Commission and research and education networks across Europe, including GARR. These networks manage and guide the GÉANT organisation. Its infrastructure and services continuously evolve thanks to research carried out within dedicated projects. For over 20 years, GÉANT and Europe’s research networks have been at the forefront of telecommunications technologies, ensuring ongoing support for the ever-changing needs of research and education users across Europe. GÉANT is in turn globally interconnected with the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia and, thanks to dedicated projects, is able to reach even the most remote areas of the planet to connect unique research infrastructures and make them available to scholars from anywhere in the world.