Minister Moerman asked the VRWB whether the investments (federal or Flemish) in 'big science' do satisfy a scientific requirement and what the expected economic and scientific return is. Advisory report 106, based on an extended summary report, is the result.
'Big science' refers to top international scientific projects, which exceed the resources of one country and one discipline, such as CERN, ESRF, large telescopes, etc. From a scientific viewpoint, and taking the high cost price into account, the only possibility is to participate in these projects, according to the VRWB.
Yet, we could use the possibilities offered to participate in these research infrastructures still better. This is determined to a great extent by the availability of sufficient Flemish resources. Financing of experiments however falls outside federal jurisdiction and is primarily done via the FWO in Flanders. The problem lies here. The dimension (scope, financial requirements, duration) and nature of the research are usually very different from those of traditional FWO projects. In order to compensate for this fact, the VRWB proposes a staggered financing system:
- (1) federal membership as access ticket
- (2) a new specific, recurring line of credit with the FWO for institutional, logistics costs
- (3) the actual cost of the research project
The economic return to Flanders arising from the membership is not good and for CERN it is even entirely substandard. Deficient information flow regarding the opportunities which are prevalent for industrial partners is an important reason for this substandard performance. The VRWB recommends an active policy on information flows and exchanges. The capture, issue and use of information are important items here.