Can companies benefit from Big Science? Science and Industry

Several studies have indicated that there are significant returns on financial investment via "Big Science" centres. Financial multipliers ranging from 2.7 (ESA) to 3.7 (CERN) have been found, meaning that each Euro invested in industry by Big Science generates a two- to fourfold return for the supplier. Moreover, laboratories such as CERN are proud of their record in technology transfer, where research developments lead to applications in other fields - for example, with particle accelerators and detectors. Less well documented, however, is the effect of the experience that technological firms gain through working in the arena of Big Science. Indeed, up to now there has been no explicit empirical study of such benefits. Our findings reveal a variety of outcomes, which include technological learning, the development of new products and markets, and impact on the firm's organization. The study also demonstrates the importance of technologically challenging projects for staff at CERN. Together, these findings imply ways in which CERN - and by implication other Big Science centres - can further boost technology transfer into spill-over benefits for industrial knowledge and enhance their contribution to industrial R&D and innovation. (1 refs).