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Big Science large scale research organisations
BIG SCIENCE Official Swedish Industrial Liaison Office (ILO)
An important part of the ILO work is to build networks between Swedish companies and relevant contacts at the research facilities. Big Science Sweden works actively to match Swedish companies with tangible needs and current procurements at the facilities.
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FUSION REACTORS
ITER DONES
PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
CERN, ESS, MAX IV, ESRF, ILL, ISIS, XFEL, DESY, FAIR
CERN: CMS event display of candidate event with a lepton and high jet multiplicity.
SPACE RESEARCH FACILITIES
ESO, SKA, EISCAT
The antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA), set against the splendour of the Milky Way.
Photo: ESO/B. Tafreshi
LUND, SWEDEN
ESS – a world leading science and technology infrastructure
The multi-disciplinary research facility European Spallation Source, ESS, based on the world’s most powerful neutron source, will enable scientific breakthroughs in a wide range of areas, such as environment, health, materials and energy. ESS is a European partnership, with member countries all over Europe that have committed to collectively build and operate the world’s leading facility for research using neutrons. The facility is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden, and will be in full operations in 2027.
World’s most powerful neutron source Lund, Sweden (data centre in Denmark)
Full operations: 2027 Employees: 550 Users/researchers: 3000 per year No. of member countries: 13 Host countries: Sweden and Denmark
Photo: RPerry Nordeng/ESS
LUND, SWEDEN
MAX IV makes the invisible visible
The MAX Laboratory is a synchrotron light facility that has been in operation for more than 35 years, and construction of the new synchrotron facility was completed in 2016. Hosted by Lund University, it is the world’s most brilliant synchrotron light source, capable of viewing material structures atom by atom. MAX IV facilitates discoveries of new structures at nanolevel, and scientists are able to monitor chemical processes in real time. The facility can house up to 26 beamlines.
Operational start: 2016 Construction cost: SEK 4.5 billion Operational budget: SEK 530 million/year
Employees: 280 Guest researchers: 2000 per year No. of member countries: N/A (Swedish national facility, hosted by Lund University).
Co-located in South Africa and Australia
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area. The scale of the SKA represents a huge leap forward in both engineering and research & development towards building and delivering a unique instrument, with the detailed design and preparation now well under way. As one of the largest scientific endeavours in history, the SKA will bring together a wealth of the world’s finest scientists, engineers and policy makers to bring the project to fruition.
The world's most advanced SKA telescope in South Africa will consist of 197 dish antennas, each with a diameter of 15 m.
Photo: SKA
Representing Sweden in the SKA project Onsala Space Observatory is Sweden’s national infrastructure for radio astronomy, giving scientists access to equipment for studying the Earth and the rest of the universe. Run by Chalmers University of Technology, the observatory operates radio telescopes and other instruments for both astronomy and geodesy.
FINLAND, NORWAY AND SWEDEN
EISCAT – ionospheric and atmospheric measurements
EISCAT is an international scientific association that conducts ionospheric and atmospheric measurements using a technique called ‘incoherent scatter radar’. An example is studies of the Northern Lights.
The association operates equipment in three countries – Finland (Sodankylä), Norway (Tromsø and Longyearbyen), and Sweden (Kiruna) – and all the facilities are located north of the Arctic Circle. In Tromsø the facility comprises a combined ionospheric heating and short-wave radar facility.
EISCAT is currently building a next-generation research radar facility, called EISCAT_3D. The radar will replace the systems in Sodankylä, Tromsø, and Kiruna. EISCAT_3D will also be located in the three countries.
Operational start: 1981 Construction cost (current systems): SEK 300 million (1976-1998). EISCAT_3D: SEK 650 million (2017-2022) Operational budget: SEK 8 million (1981) SEK 26 million (2021) Employees: 26 (2021) Researchers: 200 per year No. of member countries: six (China, Japan, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, and Sweden), plus institutes from five other countries (France, Germany, Ukraine, US, and South Korea).
Welcome to Big Science Sweden
Funding bodies Big Science Sweden is funded by Sweden’s largest and most important organisations for supporting and funding Swedish research and high-tech research and growth: Vinnova (Sweden’s Innovation Agency) and The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet).
Catarina Sahlberg, programme director for Big Science Sweden. "It's vital that Swedish companies have the necessary expertise and skills to deliver services and products to research facilities, both nationally and globally," she says. "Big Science Sweden opens doors and creates new contacts, establishing Swedish innovation on a global market."
Management Big Science Sweden is led by a consortium comprising the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries (Teknikföretagen), the industrial development centre IUC Syd (Industrikluster IUC Syd), Chalmers University of Technology, Lund University, Luleå University of Technology, Uppsala University, RISE, and Region Skåne. "A company may feel that entering the Big Science market and contacting research facilities would be too big a step," says Kjell Möller, Chair of the Big Science Sweden Steering Committee and representing the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries. "However, many Swedish companies definitely have both the expertise and the capacity to meet the requirements of the facilities. Big Science Sweden provides guidance, and facilitates the first important contacts that can lead to a business relationship.”
ILO Big Science Sweden is Sweden’s official ILO (Industrial Liaison Office), which means it has the national responsibility for facilitating contacts, networks and business between Swedish companies and the European research facilities that Sweden is involved in funding.
Big Science Sweden works actively to match Swedish companies with the research facilities' identified needs and current procurements.
A designated member of the Big Science Sweden team is responsible for each facility, maintaining contacts, building relationships, and getting to know the facility’s organisation and needs.
Dr. Fredrik Engelmark, ILO at CERN and Business Development Officer, Big Science Sweden, is responsible for contacts with CERN.
To get a true impression of the scale and scope of Big Science research facilities, they are best experienced on site. In April 2022, Big Science Sweden took part in a guided tour of ESS and MAX IV.
Sven-Christian Ebenhag Adam Wikström
Ekaterina Osipova Ingela Bogren
