Big-science, bigger returns: how the HSRC is helping Europe’s physics labs turn bright ideas into real-world benefits

How do breakthroughs at Europe’s big research facilities progress from concept to real-world application? HSRC researchers and their European partners used a six-dimensional framework to examine three projects funded by the ATTRACT initiative. This European programme bankrolls early-stage detection and imaging ideas from leading research facilities so they can be built into market-ready prototypes, to chart their early socio-economic pathways. The analysis tracks factors such as serendipity, knowledge spillovers, skills development, and spin-offs that shape each project’s route toward impact.