How the latest additions to Europe’s mega-facilities roadmap secured their coveted status
Dotted across Europe are scores of huge scientific facilities. They generate prestige, income, and sometimes even Nobel prizes for their host nations, as they enable researchers to investigate everything from the nano-scale structures of materials to the global impact of pollutants. But while facilities that enable excellent research have international appeal, they are not cheap.
Since 2002, EU governments have sought to ensure they spend money on such infrastructure wisely, by coordinating their investments through the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures.