The FEDERICA project has the following main objectives:- Support research experiments on new Internet architectures and protocols,- Create a versatile, scalable, European wide "technology agnostic" infrastructure, separated from the production networks, but with the possibility to interoperate,- Be open to host researchers hardware and applications,FEDERICA adopt the paradigm that "the infrastructure is the network". The traditional model of core and edges is replaced by a quasi-homogeneous network, where each node is defined according to its functions, rather than through its position and the logical and node functions topology can be easily changed. The infrastructure can be adapted to whatever the user wants it to be. Particular features are:- Simultaneous use by more than one research group,- Availability of the infrastructure for Call1 Network of the Future and Call2 FIRE,- Exploiting the excellent networking facilities that are available in Europe.\tThe project will network, in terms of:- Facilitating technical discussion amongst specialist,- Providing preliminary information and results for the next generation of the NREN networks, and link with GEANT2 and as a pre-experimental phase for GEANT3,- Contributing with real test case and results to standardization bodies, e.g. IETF, ITU-T, OIF, IPsphere.Research will be undertaken to:- Understand and produce initial solutions on management and control of distributed, parallel, virtual networks which may communicate between them and with the general Internet,- Develop experience and a model for managing and using virtual infrastructures as a combination of networks and systems, - Open the infrastructure to any "application" type (application can be a test),- Use, test and advance the tools and services being developed by GN2, NRENs and partners, in particular for end-to-end services,- Enable the graceful implementation of new inter-domain service layer.