ESS (European Spallation Source) will be a multidisciplinary research centre based on one of the world’s most powerful neutron sources. The facility can be compared to a gigantic microscope that can study materials - from polymers and pharmaceuticals to membranes and molecules - to understand how they are constructed and how they work.
International collaboration
Negotiations about the financing of the large research facility concluded just before the summer. They had been ongoing since 2009 when Lund and Sweden won the localisation fight in competition with for example Bilbao in Spain and Debrecen in Hungary. 16 countries are part of the collaboration and the cost of ESS is estimated to total 16.6 billion SEK, which is the equivalent of 1.84 billion Euros. Sweden, Denmark and Norway are contributing half the cost, while Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy are other big contributors.
Delegates from eleven European countries, who are funding the facility, was involved in the ground breaking ceremony for ESS in Lund.
Research hub
ESS will open up new possibilities in health, environmental, energy, climate, transport and engineering sciences but also in pharmaceuticals and archaeology. Next to ESS, another large research facility, MAX IV, is being built. These two gigantic laboratories will together constitute a hub in Europe’s research infrastructure. Construction of ESS is expected to be complete in 2019 and construction of MAX IV is planned for completion in 2016.
A boost for Skåne
Aside from offering fantastic research facilities which will benefit research across the world, the two facilities will be significant to Skåne and the Öresund region. Trade and industry in Skåne will benefit during the construction of the facilities and future interface opportunities and innovation arenas, where research meets the region’s trade and industry, will also be created. New products and services will be developed, which will lead to growth in Skåne.
Challenges
ESS and MAX IV will attract elite researchers from across the world, which means that a lot will be required of infrastructure and society at large. Part of ESS’ operations, data processing, will be carried out in Copenhagen, which for example means that smooth cross-border collaboration will be required. In Skåne, the regional government (Region Skåne) the municipalities and the state are working to ensure that housing, international schools, tax systems and other administrative systems function at an optimal level, so that Skåne can become a professional host to ESS and its staff and partners.