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Olof Hallonsten. Photo

Olof Hallonsten

Senior lecturer

Olof Hallonsten. Photo

Is there an ‘iron law’ of Big Science?

Author

  • Olof Hallonsten

Editor

  • Katharina C. Cramer
  • Olof Hallonsten

Summary, in English

Big Science is costly and complex, and historical evidence seems to suggest that projects often get delayed and more expensive than planned. On the basis of several studies of large infrastructures such as railroads and bridges, the Danish geographer Bent Flyvbjerg has proposed that there is an “iron law” of megaprojects, meaning that they almost without exception turn out more expensive and more time-consuming to complete than originally envisaged. In this chapter, the “iron law” is applied on Big Science in Europe, to see whether it holds, and if so, to make a preliminary analysis of why. The chapter uses a sample of the 17 most expensive Research Infrastructures listed on ESFRI roadmaps, complemented by an in-depth case study of the neutron facility European Spallation Source currently under construction in Lund, Sweden to investigate this matter, important for both policymaking and scholarly research.

Department/s

  • Organizational Studies

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Pages

217-231

Publication/Series

Big Science and Research Infrastructures in Europe

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Topic

  • Other Social Sciences
  • Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Anthropology, Demography and Criminology)
  • Public Administration Studies

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 9781839100000
  • ISBN: 9781839100017