Socio-economic impact study of a research and synchrotron infrastructure
Context
A major scientific infrastructure with significant returns
Established in 2001 by CNRS and CEA on the Saclay plateau, the SOLEIL synchrotron manages the high-energy particle accelerator that required an initial investment of 248,5 M€.
As both an extremely bright light source, a service platform open to all scientific and industrial communities, and a cutting-edge research laboratory in experimental techniques, the main missions of the SOLEIL synchrotron are to develop and maintain the infrastructures around synchrotron radiation, support theoretical research, and encourage applied research by developing industrial applications.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation wanted to understand the contribution of TGIRs, including the synchrotron, and universities to the French economy.
service
A comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of the SOLEIL synchrotron
Our team studied the socio-economic returns associated with the activities of the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation source, one of the 22 Major Research Infrastructures (TGIR) in France.
All socio-economic impact multipliers (production, added value, and employment) of the expenditures associated with the activities of the SOLEIL Synchrotron (SOLEIL expenditures, employee expenditures, expenditures of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers hosted by the facility, expenditures of non-salaried users) were estimated according to several geographical levels (Essonne department, Île-de-France region, France, European Union, and global scale).
BENEFITS
Measured impacts at all scales: local, national, and global
To achieve this, we used our ImpacTer model across several geographical scales and acquired new skills in calculating impacts at the multi-regional scale (especially inter-country) through the use of the World Input-Output Database (WIOD).
These results demonstrated the actual contribution of the SOLEIL Synchrotron to research economics, scientific employment, and French and European technological competitiveness.
The mission highlighted the contribution of the SOLEIL Synchrotron to its host territory, as well as produced concrete communication elements for stakeholders, particularly its funders.
The + Vertigo Lab
Our evaluation tool ImpacTer was mobilized and adapted to the specificities of a research infrastructure, taking into account the impacts related to the use of the equipment.
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