Research & Scientific Facilities
Research and scientific facilities covers major civil research infrastructure operated for science rather than for industry or defence, including synchrotrons and light sources, particle and heavy-ion accelerators, fusion devices, research reactors, national supercomputing centres, astronomical observatories and polar and oceanographic research stations.
- Indicators
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- Leaders
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- Developments
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What Research & Scientific Facilities is, and how it is measured
Research and scientific facilities covers major civil research infrastructure operated for science rather than for industry or defence, including synchrotrons and light sources, particle and heavy-ion accelerators, fusion devices, research reactors, national supercomputing centres, astronomical observatories and polar and oceanographic research stations.
Indicators
- Major research facilities in operation
- National research infrastructure investment
- International user access share
The nations that lead in Research & Scientific Facilities
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The capabilities most like Research & Scientific Facilities
Likeness, from 0 to 1, as the Atlas measures it.
How Research & Scientific Facilities came to be
- Technology
Historical Developments
Oldest first14th–16th century
The Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics sustained a continuous research tradition whose discoveries ended with Narayana Bhattathiri
The school flourished for roughly three centuries as an organised centre of mathematical and astronomical enquiry. Its original discoveries are said to have concluded with Narayana Bhattathiri (1559–1632). It stands as an early example of sustained institutional research outside Europe.
1660
The Royal Society was founded in London as a permanent learned society for scientific enquiry
The Society institutionalised collective scientific investigation in England. Its creation marked a shift from private correspondence among natural philosophers to a standing body dedicated to research.
1666
Louis XIV founded the Académie royale des sciences in France
The academy followed earlier private academic assemblies created in the seventeenth century to foster research. State sponsorship gave French science a durable institutional base alongside England's Royal Society.
1724
The St Petersburg Academy was established by decree in the Russian imperial capital
The academy was formally created by decree on 28 January 1724, realising Peter the Great's plan. It became Russia's foundational scientific research institution.
Recent Developments
Most recent first1977
Stanford Research Institute was renamed SRI International
The institute dropped its Stanford designation in 1977. The change reflected its evolution into an independent large-scale research organisation.
1876
The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was founded as the oldest research institute in Asia
Its establishment brought the European research-institute model to Asia. The Association is described as the continent's oldest such institute.
late 1800s
Thomas Edison created the first industrial research laboratory at Menlo Park
Edison applied the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention. This organised invention as a systematic, staffed activity rather than individual tinkering, and is credited as the origin of the industrial research laboratory.
early 18th century
Peter the Great ordered an educational-research institute built in his new imperial capital
Peter the Great planned a combined teaching and research establishment for St Petersburg. The decision extended the European model of state-founded scientific academies into Russia.