The European Respiratory Society (ERS) Clinical Research Collaboration (CRC) programme funds a network of researchers to work on projects which improve knowledge in respiratory health and medicine. This programme was established in 2013 with the aims of: promoting the exchange of research ideas among clinicians and affiliated scientists in Europe and/or globally; building an infrastructure for prospective clinical research; securing additional funding through national and EU funding streams; and facilitating the planning, conducting, evaluation and publishing of clinical and translational studies at pan-European level and beyond.

There are currently 17 ongoing ERS CRCs, representing all eight major respiratory disease domains (airway diseases, interstitial lung diseases, pulmonary vascular diseases, sleep and breathing disorders, respiratory critical care, paediatric respiratory diseases, respiratory infections and thoracic oncology), as illustrated below. The ERS CRCs encompass a vast spectrum of pan-European and/or global collaborations, including disease-specific paediatric and adult clinical registries for common and rare lung diseases (the latter in close collaboration and partnership with ERN-LUNG).