Research Hubs in the Baltic Sea Region
An Explorative study about Research Cooperation and the Usage of Research Facilities in Physics and Life Sciences
By Simon Falck Folke Snickars Hans Westlund
2011-04-10
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) Division of Urban and Regional studies Corresponding author: simon.falck@abe.kth.se
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1 Introduction
The aim of this explorative study is to investigate the extent the research infrastructure facilities at DESY in Hamburg (Germany) and MAX-lab in Lund (Sweden) serve as research hubs in the Baltic Sea Region, and how different research cooperations related to these facilities are structured. Our purpose is to focus explicitly on cooperations that exist or have existed and proceed to analyze whether there is a functional relationship between
researchers and these research facilities within the Baltic Sea Region. The overall objective is to produce an undercoating material to discuss how the Baltic Sea Link can contribute to an improved research and innovation environment in the Baltic Sea Region by promoting cooperation and joint-actions between research institutes and research facilities.
The Baltic Science Link project relates to EUs Baltic Sea Region Strategy, which aims at coordinating actions by Member States, regions, the EU, pan-Baltic organizations, financing institutions and non-governmental bodies to promote a more balanced development in the Baltic Sea Region. The strategy rests upon four cornerstones that aim at making this part of Europe more: Environmentally sustainable; Prosperous; Accessible and attractive; Safe and secure. The strategy has an action plan with a set of different priority areas. It is within these areas where the strategy can contribute to improvements, either through tackling the main challenges or through seizing the main opportunities. Priority area 7 aims at exploiting the full potential of the Baltic Sea Region in research and innovation, the activities in all priority areas are handled through so-called flagship-projects, which are projects with high
significance.
The Baltic Science Link (BSL) is flagship-project no. 7.5. It emphasizes the importance of research infrastructure for a region to be at the forefront in research and innovation. The Baltic Sea Region has several important existing research facilities, such as the high-energy synchrotron facilities at DESY in Hamburg and the MAX-laboratory for synchrotron radiation research, nuclear physics and accelerator physics in Lund. In addition, several future facilities are under construction: the European X-ray laser project XFEL in Hamburg, MAXIV and the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, which will contribute to an enhanced research environment and new opportunities in research and innovation. Optimal use of these facilities could strengthen already strong research areas in scientific capacity and
competitiveness as well as the attractiveness of the region. This is the purpose of the Baltic Science Link, to build a strong network between universities, research institutes and
industries in the Baltic Sea Region.
While the Baltic Science Link emphasizes the potential advantages in strengthening the links within the Baltic Sea Region, we will demonstrate that such a strategic notion is not as obvious as it at first may appear. Our results show that the links between the existing research facilities in Hamburg and Lund and different research institutes are not essentially bound to the Baltic Sea context but embedded in Nordic, European, and Global contexts. In effect, functional relationships (here denoting research cooperation and utilization of the
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research facilities) are bound to specific techniques, resources, competences or research projects that different research institutes carry out. As a result, the Baltic Sea Region context is a rather restrictive delimitation and does not, by default, reflect functional relationships in research and development work in physics and life sciences. On the other hand, the Baltic Sea Region context is not irrelevant. Several existing cooperations within the region indicate synergy effects from collaboration among researcher, situated at institutes within the Baltic Sea Region.
The forms for how to achieve a strong research network in the Baltic Sea Region will neither be discussed nor deepen in this study. Instead, we simply report by whom the research facilities in Lund and Hamburg are utilized in relation to their origin, and in some cases how the structures of these cooperations. This explorative approach enables analysis of the extent of functional relationships in R&D activities in Baltic Sea Region, which hopefully can contribute to advancing in the work with the Baltic Sea Link.
The study is organized as follows. Section 2 outlines what we mean by cooperation. After that, we describe the methodology and data material. In Section 4 the existing or planned research facilities in Lund and Hamburg are summarized. Empirical results are presented in Section 5, followed by conclusions in Section 6.
2 Cooperation or Collaboration
In this study, cooperation is defined as any relevant action or process, to conduct research, that implies an established or formalized relationship between the research facilities in Hamburg (DESY) or Lund (MAX-lab) and external actors. A relationship is relevant if it has a R&D content, implies a commitment between different researchers or if the research facilities are utilized. As such, cooperation may as well indicate collaboration, i.e. here when researchers work jointly towards a common goal. Thus, the reason to cooperate is already given and will not be a matter of further investigation. Nor will we investigate the selection procedures of partners, research objectives or the outcome from research.
We measure cooperation by the amount of institutes and researchers that have utilized the research facilities at MAX-lab or DESY (DORIS, PETRA, FLASH) in research and experiments, or participated in research projects that have been allocated beam time. These measurements reveal the extent to which actors utilize these research facilities in general and in the Baltic Sea Region specifically. Furthermore, for MAX lab, we will also be able to investigate some fundamental institutional structures in projects that have been allocated beam time indicating research collaboration at the institutional level in the Baltic Sea Region.
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3 Methodology and Data
This quantitative study explores research cooperation and collaboration through simple descriptive statistics on users, participation in experiments and publications. The main sources are (micro-) data on users and projects from MAX-lab and DESY respectively.
The main references are relevant reports or information collected from the homepages of DESY, and MAX-lab. Results are summarized in tables and figure, by macro-region, country, city and institute, with emphasis on the Baltic Sea Region. In order to reduce complexity and ease analysis only the highest rated relationships are reported in the result section. Lists with information for each country are found in appendix A (MAX-lab) and B (DESY). For secrecy reasons, if the number of researchers or beam time allocation is equal or less than three the quantity is indicated with “<=3”.
The reported results should be considered as indications on the extent the facilities in Lund and Hamburg have been utilized. It is important to underline that these results do not
indicate how important certain cooperations are but simply measure the extent of the usage;
alternatively reveal general patterns in research collaboration. The objective is not to cover all structures and relations but to reveal some general structures and give them as much content as possible, with a focus on the Baltic Sea Region.
The results may include minor errors and biases. This is due to data incompleteness, its configuration or at worst, from our data management. However, to the best of our knowledge, the main patterns and structures are accurate. Any future analysis based on information from this report should consider that the data on MAX lab and DESY are not fully comparable and hence should be treated cautiously, especially in comparative contexts. In addition, comparisons between different years should be made with caution. The time series for MAX-lab and DESY are not fully equal.
3 Baltic Sea Region
In order to report information on the Baltic Sea Region it is important to give it a definition.
Several definitions exist which generally relate to different pan-Baltic organizations, programs and networks. In this study, we follow the definition given in the Baltic Sea Region program, which includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and northern parts of Germany, as well as the neighboring countries of Norway, north-west regions of Russia and Belarus.
The rationale of this is due to the existence of an integrated Baltic Sea Region framework that allows the European Union and Member States to identify needs and match them to the available resources through co-ordination of appropriate policies such as the Baltic Sea Link.
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3 Research Infrastructure Facilities and Cooperation Partners
In this section, we briefly introduce the research infrastructure facilities in Lund and in Hamburg. Although the report only investigates MAX-lab and DESY, there are reasons to establish a link between the existing facilities and the upcoming European X-Ray Laser project XFEL; the upgrade of MAX-lab into the MAXIV laboratory; and the European
Spallation Source (ESS). The Baltic Sea Region strategy (Action plan) emphasizes these future facilities and highlights their importance to improve the opportunities in research and innovation in the Baltic Sea Region.
3.1 Lund
The research facilities in Lund are the existing national laboratory MAX-lab and the future facilities MAXIV, expected in 2014, and the European Spallation Source (ESS), expected in 2019.
MAX-lab
MAX-lab is a national laboratory. Its main purposes are research in accelerator physics, research based on the use of synchrotron radiation, and nuclear physics using energetic electrons. For this MAX-lab operates three storage rings: MAX I (opened 1986), MAX II (opened 1997) and MAX III (opened 2008) and one electron pre-accelerator (MAX injector).
MAX II and MAX III are high performing 3rd generation storage rings. All three storage rings
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produce synchrotron light used for experiments and measurements in a wide range of disciplines and technologies.
MAXIV
MAXIV will be Sweden´s next-generation high-performance synchrotron radiation source. It will replace the existing laboratory consisting of the MAX I, II and III storage rings. The new MAXIV laboratory will serve a large user community is intended to be the future “work- horse” at MAX-lab, offering high brilliance radiation over a wide spectral region. The construction started in 2010. Commissioning is planned in 2015.
ESS
The European Spallation Source (ESS) is to become a materials research facility for scientific research using the neutron scattering technique. ESS is a joint European project like that of many larger-scale research facilities. It will become a multi-scientific facility for advanced research and industrial development, and create new opportunities for researchers in different fields such as chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and material physics among other. ESS will open in 2019 but be operational only in 2025.
3.2 Hamburg
The research infrastructure in Germany is associated to the Deutsches Elektronen-
Synchrotron (DESY) and the European X-Ray Laser project XFEL. DESY is a national research centre with a large institute in Hamburg and small institute in Zeuthen (outside Berlin) that develops, facilitates and uses accelerators and detectors for photon science and particle physics. DESY´s main purposes are research in particle physics and research with synchrotron radiation in surface physics, material science, chemistry, molecular biology, geophysics and medicine.
DESY was founded already in 1958. Since then the research centre and its facilities have developed to meet growing demands in e.g. higher energies. When new facilities are constructed, older are used as support or by laboratories with new research tasks. Today, DESY consists of several storage rings, lasers and laboratories. The focus of this study has been DORIS and PETRA, which are synchrotrons and on the free-electron laser FLASH. The existing and planned sources are complement to each other and provide scientists with the type of radiation they need for their experiments.
DORIS III
This particle accelerator provides radiation suitable for a whole range of experimental purposes. DORIS III is the most recent upgrade of the Doppel-Ring-Speicher (DORIS) that was constructed in the 1970s and, at that time, was DESY's second circular accelerator and its first storage ring. DORIS III contributes to research of catalysts and semiconductor crystals as well as to the development of new drugs. Industrial companies use DORIS III to optimize materials and develop new products.
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Since 2009, researchers at DESY have access to one of the most efficient storage ring-based X-ray radiation source in the world, PETRA III, which is the latest upgrade of the initial
Positron-Elektron-Tandem-Ring-Anlage that was built already in the 1970s. PETRA III provides short-wavelength X-ray radiation of especially high brilliance, and offers excellent research opportunities for various applications – from medicine to materials research.
FLASH
FLASH is the world’s first X-ray free-electron laser. Which provides unique experimental opportunities. International research teams have obtained groundbreaking results here – results that point the way to a new era of structural research, targeting ultra-short, intense X- ray laser pulse to produce images of nanoparticles, viruses and cells.
European XFEL
The European X-ray laser European XFEL is currently under construction. Like FLASH, XFEL will generate X-ray radiation but at a shorter wavelength. The high-intensity X-ray laser flashes from the European XFEL will open up areas of research that were previously
inaccessible. Scientists will for example be able to map the atomic details of viruses, decipher the molecular composition of cells, take three-dimensional images of the nanoworld, film chemical reactions and study processes such as those occurring deep inside planets. The construction started in 2009. Commissioning is planned in 2014.
5 Results
In this section, we describe the main results starting with MAX-lab because its underlying material allows more extensive description than what is the case of DESY. The results for DESY are less complete and only reveal some general patterns. This is mainly due to data restrictions. The results are summarized in tables and figure, by macro-region, country, city and institute, with special emphasis on the Baltic Sea Region. In order to reduce complexity and ease analysis, only the highest rated relationships are reported in the result section. Lists with complete country information are found in appendix A (MAX-lab) and B (DESY). For secrecy reasons, if the number of researchers or beam time allocation is equal or less than three the quantity is indicated with “<=3”.
5.1 MAX-Lab
MAX-lab is used as a research facility by researchers from all parts of the world. In 1995, approximately 250 researchers conducted research at MAX-lab. Up to 2009, the number of users had more than tripled and increased to approximately 850 researchers from almost 160 institutes. Over this period, their scientific contributions resulted in almost 2500 articles published in different scientific journals, such as: Science, Surface Science, Protein Science, Review of Scientific Instruments and Radiation Measurements indicating that MAX-lab serves researchers with different objectives and research interests. Table 5.1 illustrates the share of researchers using MAX-lab, by macroregion.
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The majority of researchers are associated to an institute in the European Union. In fact, only 3 percent is non-European, i.e. from Asia, Eastern Asia, Middle East, North America, South America or Oceania. Although researchers from all over the world use MAX-lab, the trend is an increased concentration of users from the European Union.
While the top 10 countries account for approximately 75 percent of the institutes and 90 percent of the researchers. The top three countries: Sweden, Denmark and Finland account for two third of the users, implying that MAX-lab is primarily a research facility used by Nordic researchers. The United States is the only non-European country with a relative large number of users. Even so, they only account for half as many as the users from Germany and United Kingdom. Table 5.2 illustrates the number of institutes and researchers using MAX- lab, by country (top 10) in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The concentration of users becomes more evident if we consider the number of institutes and researchers by city: 35 percent are from Lund, Uppsala and Copenhagen. The top 10 cities accounting for approximately 60 percent of the users are situated in Sweden, Denmark or Finland confirming that MAX-lab is primarily a facility for Nordic researchers. Table 5.3 illustrates the number of institutes and researchers using MAX-lab, by city (top 10) in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
We know that MAX-lab is primarily used by Nordic researchers. This will affect the magnitude of the usage of MAX lab in the Baltic Sea Region, which the Nordic countries are part of.
Studied as a region as a whole, approximately half of all institutes and three quarters of the
Table. 5.1. Share (%) of Researchers using MAX-lab (in total), by Macroregion, 1995-2009
Macroregion 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Asia 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.1% 0.4%
Eastern Asia 1.9% 2.9% 1.1% 1.2% 0.4% 2.8% 1.5% 1.2% 1.1% 1.8% 1.4% 1.7% 0.9% 0.7%
Eastern Europe 3.9% 2.6% 3.2% 1.4% 1.5% 1.8% 2.3% 0.4% 1.3% 1.0% 0.9% 2.1% 2.2% 1.4%
European Union 84.9% 85.2% 88.9% 91.6% 89.6% 89.1% 92.2% 95.6% 93.7% 92.2% 91.3% 90.3% 89.1% 92.7%
Middle East 0.5% 0.1%
North America 2.3% 2.6% 0.5% 1.2% 4.0% 2.3% 1.9% 1.1% 1.8% 2.1% 2.6% 2.8% 2.9% 1.8%
Oceania 1.2% 1.6% 1.1% 1.4% 1.1% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.3% 0.6% 0.1% 0.8%
South America 1.0% 0.8% 0.5% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%
Western Europe 5.8% 4.2% 4.1% 2.4% 3.0% 3.0% 1.8% 0.7% 1.3% 2.3% 2.7% 2.9% 3.5% 2.9%
Total (in number) 259 311 370 419 530 604 619 571 618 616 656 723 771 852
Country 2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009
1) Sweden (incl. MAX-lab) 28 25 24 322 303 366
2) Denmark 17 11 12 106 142 156
3) Finland 6 6 5 31 36 54
4) Germany 23 19 19 58 59 53
5) United Kingdom 12 13 12 35 33 34
6) Poland 7 7 8 17 16 23
7) France 7 7 9 20 17 22
8) Norway 2 5 5 15 23 20
9) Spain 4 6 6 12 9 14
10) USA 11 9 9 18 19 14
Top 10 117 108 109 634 657 756
Top 10 - Share 75% 72% 69% 88% 85% 89%
Total 156 150 157 722 771 853
The number of reserachers at MAX-lab was (in total) 32 in 2007, 34 in 2008 and 39 in 2009 Table 5.2 Top 10 countries - Nr of Institutes and Researchers using Max-lab, by Country, 2007-2009 (sorted by nr of Reserachers 2009)
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers
City 2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009
1) Lund (incl. MAX-lab) 5 4 4 116 111 157
2) Uppsala 5 3 2 87 87 81
3) København 5 2 2 36 60 61
4) Aarhus 2 2 2 30 53 57
5) Stockholm 5 6 6 41 45 56
6) Oulu 2 2 2 14 13 27
7) Lyngby 3 2 3 16 15 24
8) Göteborg 2 2 2 32 18 21
9) Turku 2 2 1 13 17 21
10) Linköping 1 1 1 14 14 18
Top 10 32 26 25 399 433 523
Top 10 - Share 21% 17% 16% 55% 56% 61%
Total 156 150 157 722 771 853
The number of reserachers at MAX-lab was (in total) 32 in 2007, 34 in 2008 and 39 in 2009 Table 5.3. Top 10 cities - Nr of Institutes and Researchers using Max-lab, by City,
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers
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researchers using MAX lab are from the Baltic Sea Region. This is shown in table 5.4. Very few users are from institutes in Russia and the Baltic counties (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
There are approximately 65 researchers from Poland, Germany, Russia and the Baltic countries. These are relatively small numbers compared with the Nordic countries. The Nordic concentration becomes even more obvious if we investigate usage by research institute and type of organization. Approximately half of all MAX-lab users are from
universities in Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The usage across non-academic institutions is concentrate to firms in Denmark and Sweden. However, non-academic organizations only account for 4 percent of the total users. Table 5.5 illustrates the top 10 institutes in terms of number of researchers, by type of organization (Academic to the left, and Non-Academic to the right) in relation to the Baltic Sea Region and in total.
Macroregion/Country 2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009
Eastern Europe 1 1 <=3 <=3
Russia 1 1 <=3 <=3
European Union 70 62 64 525 557 643
Denmark 17 11 12 106 142 156
Estonia 1 1 2 8 15 9
Finland 6 6 5 31 36 54
Germany 9 10 9 34 38 28
Latvia 2 <=3
Lithuania 2 2 2 7 7 5
Poland 7 7 8 17 16 23
Sweden (incl. MAX-
lab) 28 25 24 322 303 366
Western Europe 2 5 5 15 23 20
Norway 2 5 5 15 23 20
Baltic Sea Region 73 68 69 541 583 663
Baltic Sea Region - Share 47% 45% 44% 75% 76% 78%
Top 10 117 108 109 634 657 756
Top 10 - Share 75% 72% 69% 88% 85% 89%
Total 156 150 157 722 771 853
Institutes and reserachers in Russia and Germany whos origin are not part of the Baltic Sea Region are excluded. The number of reserachers at MAX-lab was 32 in 2007, 34 in 2008 and 39 in 2009. For secrecy reasons, real number of researchers are not reported if <=3 Table 5.4. Nr of Institutes and Researchers using Max-lab, by Macroregion and
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers
Table 5.5. Nr of Researchers using Max-lab, by Institute (Academic or Non-Academic) in the Baltic Sea Region, 2007-2009
Institute 2007 2008 2009 Institute 2007 2008 2009
1) Lund University (incl. MAX-lab) 112 109 154 1) Haldor Topsøe A/S 6 7 8
2) Uppsala University 77 69 62 2) GKSS Research Center 6 7 6
3) University of Copenhagen 33 59 61 3) Novo Nordisk A/S 8 8 5
4) University of Aarhus 30 53 57 4) Carlsberg Laboratory <=3 <=3 4 5) University of Oulu 14 13 27 5) Institute for Surface Chemistry <=3 <=3 6) Royal Institute of Technology 14 14 22 6) Saromics Biostructures AB <=3 <=3 <=3 7) Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences 11 21 22 7) Eka Chemicals AB <=3
8) Göteborg University and
Chalmers University of Technology 32 18 21 8) Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB <=3 <=3 <=3
9) University of Turku 13 12 21 9) Tetra Pak <=3
10) Stockholm University 10 11 19 10) AAK <=3
Top 10 - Academic 346 379 466 Top 10 - Non-Academic 23 28 30
Top 10 - Share - Academic 48% 49% 55% Top 10 - Share - Non-Academic 3% 4% 4%
Baltic Sea Region - Academic 510 554 633 Baltic Sea Region - Non-Academic 31 29 30 Baltic Sea Region - Share - Academic 71% 72% 74% Baltic Sea Region - Share - Non-Acade 4% 4% 4%
Total 722 771 853 Total 722 771 853
Institutes and reserachers in Russia and Germany whos origin are not part of the Baltic Sea Region are excluded. The number of reserachers at MAX-lab was 32 in 2007, 34 in 2008 and 39 in 2009. Because of secrecy reason, we do not show the real number of reserachers if <=3.
Non-Academic Academic
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The relationships between MAX-lab and external organizations, academic or non-academic, appear to be comparatively weak in the Baltic Sea Region. However, the number of institutes and researchers is a relatively static approach to explore the extent of utilization of the research facilities. A more revealing approach is to investigate the allocation of beam time across users in relation to their origin. Beam time is the time approved to use MAX-lab in research experiments. Table 5.6 illustrates allocated beam time at MAX-lab by country (top 10) in 2007, 2008 and 2009, in days and weeks (two separate units for beam time allocation).
The beam time is strongly concentrated to the top 10 countries. We can also see that the Nordic context is for the most part a Swedish-Danish context that roughly adds up to more than 75 percent of the total beam time in “days” and 50 percent in “weeks”. Table 5.6 also reveals that 6 out of 10 top countries are part of the Baltic Sea Region. They, in total, correspond to almost 90 percent of total beam time in “days” and 70 percent in “weeks”. If we further explore beam time distribution by institute, we find that almost 70 percent of the total beam time (in 2009) is allocated to the 10 top institutes, mainly from Sweden and Denmark. In fact, only two institutes are not Nordic, i.e.: the Technical University of Lodz from Poland and the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) from Greece. Yet, they only correspond to about 10 percent of the beam time among the top 10 institutes. Table 5.7 illustrates allocated beam time at MAX-lab by institute (top 10) in 2007, 2008 and 2009, in days and weeks (two separate units for beam time allocation).
Country 2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009
1) Sweden 345 361 353 87 88 104
2) Denmark 151 149 179 4 5 <=3
3) Poland 11 24 33 7 8 12
4) Germany 24 21 22 11 18 8
5) Greece 10 12 20 <=3
6) Finland 24 30 18 17 18 27
7) United Kingdom 4 27 17 8 12 12
8) Norway 10 <=3 10 4 4 6
9) Switzerland <=3 7
10) Portugal 9 15 6
Top 10 588 639 665 138 153 169
Top 10 - Share 91% 91% 97% 81% 81% 74%
Baltic Sea Region 565 587 622 130 139 165
BSR - Share 87% 83% 90% 76% 74% 73%
Total 647 706 689 171 188 227
Beam time allocated by the origin of the project leader in the application procedure Table 5.6. Allocated Beam Time at MAX-lab, by country, 2007-2009 (sorted by Days 2009)
Days Weeks
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One of the shortcomings in using allocated beam time is that the distribution may be bias by the origin of the project leader in a research project. A project can comprise researchers from different parts for the world but classified as, e.g., a Swedish project. This would not be a problem if there were no collaboration between researchers. However, research
collaboration is common in physics and life science and many projects are consisted by a number of researchers from different institutes across the world. Therefore, it is interesting to further explore how research project with allocate beam time are organized between researchers and relate these internal project structures to the Baltic Sea context. This is also useful in order to indicate functional relationships in research collaboration in the Baltic Sea Region, which clearly is not captured in the tables above.
Figure 5.1 illustrates the internal project structure in the 100 first research projects (in
alphabetic order by institute) with allocated beam time in days or weeks. These projects are a sample (approximately 1/3 of all research projects) of research project that have been
allocated beam time over the investigated period. Projects are selected to be in the sample based on the name of institute (first letter in name). This implies that figure 5.1 does not include research projects in which e.g. “Uppsala University” and “University of Copenhagen”
is acting project leader. Table 5.7 indicates the extent of this shortcoming. Although a
complete analysis of all research projects possible would reveal different relations, figure 5.1 indicates the complexity and functionality in research projects conducting experiments at MAX-lab.
Table 5.7. Allocated Beam Time at MAX-lab, by institute, 2007-2009 (sorted by Days 2009)
Institute 2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009
1) Lund University 104 92 108 27 23 31
2) Uppsala University 78 86 76 28 27 36
3) University of Copenhagen 70 55 70 <=3 4 <=3 4) University of Aarhus 60 64 67 <=3 <=3
5) Stockholm University 11 13 28
6) Technical University of Denmark 12 18 28
7) Karolinska Institute 59 60 25
8) Technical University of Lodz 4 25
9) Umeå University 20 24 24
10) National Hellenic Research
Foundation (NHRF) 4 4 20
Total - Top 10 418 420 471 59 55 70
Share - Top 10 65% 59% 68% 35% 29% 31%
Baltic Sea Region 565 587 622 130 139 165
BSR - Share 87% 83% 90% 76% 74% 73%
Total 647 706 689 171 188 227
Beam time allocated by the origin of the project leader in the application procedure Weeks Days
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Figure 5.1. Internal project structure in 100 research projects with allocated beam time
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A relationship is present if a project is consisted by researchers from more than one institute.
Lines and arrows indicate the existence and direction of these relationships. Collaboration may also take place between researchers within one institute, which then is not related to other institutes in figure 1. However, most projects consist researchers from more than one institute. The central position of Lund University, Linköping University, Karolinska Institute and Chalmers university of Technology as project leaders is obvious, implying the likelihood relatively high beam time allocation to Sweden and Swedish institutes. Thus, we can say that the actual allocation of beam time at MAX-lab is likely not to (fully) correspond to the
statistics in table 5.6 and 5.7.
In accordance with the aim of this project, it is interesting to investigate research
collaboration within the Baltic Sea Region, here demonstrated through the internal project structure where project leaders and collaborators (institutes) are located in the Baltic Sea Region, as shown in figure 5.2 (by institute) and figure 5.3 (by city).
Figure 5.2. Internal project structure in 100 research projects, by institute, with allocated beam time. All institutes are located in the Baltic Sea Region
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Figure 5.3. Internal project structure in 100 research projects, by city in the Baltic Sea Region, with allocated beam time
We know that most projects have, in this example, Swedish project leaders implying that a central position for a few institutes. As a result, in a Baltic Sea Region context, the Swedish cities will be central (as described above). However, this restricted example interestingly indicates the existence and functionality of relationships between research institutes and researchers situated in different countries in the Baltic Sea Region.
5.2 DESY
DESY is used as a research facility by researchers from all parts of the world. In 2007, approximately 450 institutes and 1300 researchers used photon sources at DESY (DORIS, PETRA, FLASH). Up until 2010, these numbers had increased to 485 institutes and almost 1700 researchers. The concentration of users from the European Union is very high. Table 5.8 illustrates the share of institute and researchers using DESY by macroregion.
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All top 10 countries are from Europe. They account for approximately 75 percent of all institutes and 85 percent of the researchers. While researchers from Germany account for almost 70 percent, the top three countries: Germany, Poland and France, account for more than 80 percent of the users (2010), implying that DESY is primarily a research facility used by German researchers. Table 5.9 illustrates the number of institutes and researchers using DESY, by country (top 10) in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
The concentration of users in German Institutes becomes even more obvious in a Baltic Sea Region Context. They correspond to more than 70 percent of the institutes and 80 percent of the total users, counted as Germany as a whole and not only the northern parts which in this study is part of the Baltic Sea Region. Table 5.10 shows the number of institutes and
researchers in the Baltic Sea Region.
Table 5.8. Share of instiutes and researchers using DESY, by macroregion, 2007, 2009 and 2010
Macroregion 2007 2009 2010 2007 2009 2010
Africa 0.4% 0.4% 1.4% 0.2% 0.0% 0.2%
Asia 0.4% 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 0.1%
Eastern Asia 1.3% 1.0% 1.6% 1.0% 1.2% 1.7%
Eastern Europe 3.1% 3.5% 3.3% 2.2% 2.5% 2.5%
European Union 86.8% 88.1% 86.0% 91.6% 92.1% 91.4%
Middle East 0.9% 0.6% 0.6% 0.5% 0.2% 0.5%
North America 2.2% 2.7% 2.7% 0.9% 1.2% 0.9%
Oceania 0.7% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1%
South America 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%
Western Europe 4.0% 3.1% 3.7% 3.1% 2.6% 2.5%
Total 453 488 486 1330 1631 1667
Numbers for the structural biology community are not included, which normally account for approximatly 25% of the total number of users.
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers
Country 2007 2009 2010 2007 2009 2010
1) Germany 191 205 204 712 894 955
2) Poland 35 34 33 102 116 101
3) France 32 36 30 72 83 62
4) Denmark 15 18 20 47 53 50
5) Netherlands 9 13 11 32 39 44
6) United Kingdom 12 27 21 25 52 39
7) Switzerland 13 12 14 34 37 33
8) Italy 16 12 13 31 26 32
9) Spain 16 15 13 47 43 31
10) Hungary 11 10 11 19 25 29
Top 10 350 382 370 1121 1368 1376
Top 10 - Share 77% 78% 76% 84% 84% 83%
Total 453 488 486 1330 1631 1667
Numbers for the structural biology community are not included, which normally account for approximatly 25% of the total number of users.
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers Table 5.9. Share of instiutes and researchers using DESY, by country, 2007, 2009 and 2010 (sorted by the nr of reserachers in 2010)
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Although there is an obvious dominance of German users, we can see that DESY has users from all countries in the Baltic Sea Region. Compared with MAX-lab, there are more users from Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at DESY. However, it should be underlined that MAX-lab and DESY are two different research centers that should be consider as
complements to each other rather than competitors.
6 Conclusions
In this explorative study, the extent the research infrastructure facilities at DESY in Hamburg (Germany) and MAX-lab in Lund (Sweden) serve as research hubs in the Baltic Sea Region, and how different research cooperations related to these facilities are structured. Our results indicate that the users of MAX-lab and DESY are not essentially bound to the Baltic Sea Region. Instead, these research centers are embedded in Nordic, European, and Global contexts. More precisely our main results reveal that MAX-lab is mainly used by researchers from Nordic institutes, while DESY primarily is a research facility used by researchers from German institutes. In effect, research cooperation between research institutes or researchers and MAX-lab or DESY is bound to specific techniques, resources and competence.
Although the Baltic Sea Region context seems to be a rather restrictive delimitation, we show that, in the case of MAX-lab, functional relationships exist. These relationships indicate existing collaborations between researchers in the Baltic Sea Region and thus that the Baltic Sea Region context is not irrelevant. Instead, they indicate synergy effects from research collaboration is already a reality in the Baltic Sea Region, and that existing resources and research interests are shared in different joint-projects. This is an important result and in line
Country 2007 2009 2010 2007 2009 2010
Eastern Europe 9 9 9 16 16 22
Russia 9 9 9 16 16 22
European Union 254 272 269 895 1121 1162
Denmark 15 18 20 47 53 50
Estonia 1 1 1 10 12 14
Finland 3 3 3 9 12 14
Germany 191 205 204 712 894 955
Latvia 1 1 1 <=3 9 11
Lithuania 1 1 <=3 4
Poland 35 34 33 102 116 101
Sweden 8 9 6 13 22 13
Western Europe 4 3 4 6 6 8
Norway 4 3 4 6 6 8
Baltic Sea Region 267 284 282 917 1143 1192
Baltic Sea Region - Share 59% 58% 58% 69% 70% 72%
Total 453 488 486 1330 1631 1667
Numbers for the structural biology community are not included, which normally account for approximatly 25% of the total number of users. For secrecy reasons, real number of researchers are not reported if <=3. Institutes and reserachers in Russia and Germany whos origin are not part of the BSR are included. The number for these countries and the region as a whole is therefore biased.
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers 5.10. Nr of Institutes and Researchers using DESY, by macroregion and country, in the Baltic Sea Region, 2007-2009
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with the purpose of the Baltic Science Link project: to build a strong network between universities, research institutes and industries in the Baltic Sea Region.
A more detailed investigation of how research collaboration in physics and life sciences is organized would be an interesting subject in future research. Certainly, in a Baltic Sea Region context and then improve the relationship to the Baltic Sea Link. Furthermore, it is crucial to consider how strong research networks can be achieved and organized. Future research should therefore investigate how different models can be used to achieve this.
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References
• Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) : http://www.desy.de (2011-January)
• European Spallation Source (ESS) : http://ess-scandinavia.eu/ (2011-january)
• European Spallation Source (ESS) : http://ess-scandinavia.eu (2011-January)
• Free-electron -LASer in Hamburg (FLASH) : http://flash.desy.de (January-2011)
• Hamburger Synchrotronstrahlungslabor (HASYLAB) : http://hasylab.desy.de/
• MAX-lab : http://www.maxlab.lu.se (2011-January)
• National Laboratory for Synchrotron Radiation in Sweden (MAX-lab) : http://www.maxlab.lu.se (2011-january)
• VR (2010) Report from the review of the MAX-laboratory. Vetenskapsrådets rapportserie: 2010:5.
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Appendix A – MAX lab
Country 2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009
Sweden 28 25 24 322 303 366
Denmark 17 11 12 106 142 156
Finland 6 6 5 31 36 54
Germany 23 19 19 58 59 53
United Kingdom 12 13 12 35 33 34
Poland 7 7 8 17 16 23
France 7 7 9 20 17 22
Norway 2 5 5 15 23 20
Spain 4 6 6 12 9 14
USA 11 9 9 18 19 14
Italy 4 5 5 9 18 12
Estonia 1 1 2 8 15 9
Ireland 2 2 2 7 3 8
Russia 5 4 6 11 10 8
Austria 1 1 4 6 4 7
Netherlands 3 2 4 4 <=3 7
Hungary 2 3 2 <=3 9 6
Japan 6 3 4 7 5 6
Greece 1 3 2 <=3 6 5
Lithuania 2 2 2 7 7 5
Portugal 1 1 1 <=3 4 5
Czech Republic 1 1 1 <=3 <=3 <=3
India 2 <=3 <=3
Switzerland 1 2 <=3 <=3
Iceland 1 1 1 <=3 4 <=3
Latvia 2 <=3 <=3
Turkey 1 1 2 <=3 <=3 <=3
Ukraine 1 2 2 <=3 6 <=3
Canada 1 2 1 <=3 3 <=3
Israel 3 1 <=3 4 <=3
Armenia 1 <=3 <=3
Australia 1 2 <=3 6
Belgium 1 <=3
Brazil 1 <=3
China 1 1 4 <=3
New Zealand 1 <=3
Singapore 1 <=3
Total 156 150 157 722 771 853
For secrecy reasons, real number of researchers are not reported if <=3.
Nr of Institutes and Researchers using Max-lab, by Country, 2007-2009 (sorted by the nr of researchers in 2009)
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers
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Appendix B – DESY
Country 2007 2009 2010 2007 2009 2010
Germany 191 205 204 712 894 955
Poland 35 34 33 102 116 101
France 32 36 30 72 83 62
Denmark 15 18 20 47 53 50
Netherlands 9 13 11 32 39 44
United Kingdom 12 27 21 25 52 39
Switzerland 13 12 14 34 37 33
Italy 16 12 13 31 26 32
Spain 16 15 13 47 43 31
Hungary 11 10 11 19 25 29
Belgium 9 9 11 22 24 26
Austria 11 9 10 22 19 25
Slovakia 4 5 7 15 15 23
Russia 9 9 9 16 16 22
Ukraine 4 6 5 10 19 16
China 4 3 5 11 12 14
Estonia 1 1 1 10 12 14
Finland 3 3 3 9 12 14
Portugal 2 6 5 9 14 14
United States 8 12 12 10 17 14
Sweden 8 9 6 13 22 13
Czech Republic 8 4 6 9 13 11
Latvia 1 1 1 <=3 9 11
Ireland 2 2 2 10 10 10
South Korea 2 5 <=3 10
Israel 4 2 2 7 <=3 8
Norway 4 3 4 6 6 8
Slovenia 4 4 5 5 7 6
Greece 1 1 1 <=3 <=3 4
Lithuania 1 1 <=3 4
Romania 1 2 1 <=3 4 <=3
Serbia 1 2 2 <=3 5 <=3
Singapore 1 2 <=3 <=3
South Africa 2 1 <=3 <=3
Australia 3 3 2 4 4 <=3
Cyprus 1 <=3
India 2 1 <=3 <=3
Japan 1 2 1 <=3 5 <=3
Bulgaria 1 3 1 <=3 4 <=3
Canada 2 1 1 <=3 <=3 <=3
Egypt 1 <=3
Saudi Arabia 1 <=3
Brazil 1 <=3
Jordan 1 <=3
Monaco 1 <=3
Total 453 488 486 1330 1631 1667
Numbers for the structural biology community are not included, which normally account for approximatly 25% of the total number of users. For secrecy reasons, real number of researchers are not reported if <=3.
Nr of instiutes and researchers using DESY, by country, 2007, 2009 and 2010 (sorted by the nr of reserachers in 2010)
Nr of Institutes Nr of Researchers
