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Peer-reviewedCC BYEPJ research infrastructures

Big Science as Strategic Infrastructure: European Coordination, Public Value and Socio-economic Evidence.

  • Riccardo Crescenzi1
  • Charlotte Glass2
  • Patricia Postigo McLaughlin3
  • José Luis Martínez Peña4,5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
  2. 2UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Swindon, UK.
  3. 3Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
  4. 4European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, Brussels, Belgium.
  5. 5Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
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Abstract

Big Science investment is justified primarily by its contribution to scientific discovery. Yet, the political economy around public investment in Big Science has changed. Public budgets are tighter, scientific equipment is more costly, energy and environmental constraints are more visible, and geopolitical fragmentation has made technological capability a more explicit policy concern. This article examines how socio-economic evidence can support strategic choices without reducing science to short-term accounting. It argues that the economic case for public investment in Big Science, mediated through research infrastructures (RIs), should be framed around capability formation, excellent science, European coordination and system-wide impacts. Three shifts are central: from national return to European value added, from facility-level assessment to portfolio-level strategy, and from one-off impact studies to life-cycle evaluation. Better evidence should be cumulative, analytically robust and decision-relevant. It should show not only what research infrastructures produce, but also what they enable across scientific communities, firms, skills systems, regions and policy domains.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{crescenzi2026science,
  title = {{Big Science as Strategic Infrastructure: European Coordination, Public Value and Socio-economic Evidence.}},
  author = {Riccardo Crescenzi and Charlotte Glass and Patricia Postigo McLaughlin and José Luis Martínez Peña},
  journal = {EPJ research infrastructures},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1007/s41781-026-00193-4},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999463},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Big Science as Strategic Infrastructure: European Coordination, Public Value and Socio-economic Evidence.
AU  - Riccardo Crescenzi
AU  - Charlotte Glass
AU  - Patricia Postigo McLaughlin
AU  - José Luis Martínez Peña
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/06
JO  - EPJ research infrastructures
DO  - 10.1007/s41781-026-00193-4
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999463
AB  - Big Science investment is justified primarily by its contribution to scientific discovery. Yet, the political economy around public investment in Big Science has changed. Public budgets are tighter, scientific equipment is more costly, energy and environmental constraints are more visible, and geopolitical fragmentation has made technological capability a more explicit policy concern. This article examines how socio-economic evidence can support strategic choices without reducing science to short-term accounting. It argues that the economic case for public investment in Big Science, mediated through research infrastructures (RIs), should be framed around capability formation, excellent science, European coordination and system-wide impacts. Three shifts are central: from national return to European value added, from facility-level assessment to portfolio-level strategy, and from one-off impact studies to life-cycle evaluation. Better evidence should be cumulative, analytically robust and decision-relevant. It should show not only what research infrastructures produce, but also what they enable across scientific communities, firms, skills systems, regions and policy domains.
SN  - 3091-4558
SN  - 3091-4566
ER  -