Report reveals impact of over £1.8 billion on UK science and economy by Diamond

A recent study by Technopolis and Diamond estimates a cumulative monetised impact of at least £1.8 billion from the UK’s synchrotron, Diamond Light Source, reflecting very favourably with the £1.2 billion investment made in the facility to date. Diamond was set-up as an independent not for profit company through a joint venture, between the UKRI’s Science and Technology Facilities Council and one of the world’s largest biomedical charities, the Wellcome Trust – each respectively owning 86% and 14% of the shareholding.

The study, to be published on 26 May, set out to measure and demonstrate Diamond’s scientific, technological, societal, and economic benefits. To launch the report, Diamond is hosting a webinar to share the findings showing the significant impact achieved to date.

Chief Executive of Diamond, Professor Andrew Harrison OBE, comments; “Diamond’s mission is to keep the UK at the forefront of scientific research. We do this by providing our users in academia and industry access to our state-of-the-art facilities enabling them to fulfil their research goals across a wide variety of scientific disciplines. This report illustrates the fantastic return on investment and brilliant science being achieved by our 14,000-strong user community, who are tackling some of the most challenging scientific questions of the 21st century.”

The Launch Webinar will be Chaired by Sandra Ribeiro, Chair of lightsources.org. Attendees will be given insight into the methodology of the study from the team involved from both Diamond and Technopolis, as well as a chance to hear the perspectives from our stakeholders at UKRI and the Wellcome Trust on impact and evaluation. In addition, four key users will give ignite talks on how Diamond has impacted on their scientific research:

• Professor John McGeehan, University of Portsmouth – Developing plastic degrading enzyme

• Professor Katherine Morris, University of Manchester – Impact on nuclear industry

• Professor Sir Dave Stuart, University of Oxford – Therapy (drug and vaccine) design, FMDV

• Professor Dave Rugg, formerly Rolls-Royce – Competitive edge provided by imaging engineering components

Some of the highlights from the report which will be discussed in the webinar include:

• Research Output – 9,600 articles, resulting in a cumulative impact to date of £677 million in terms of the production of research output – based on the opportunity cost of time spent developing publications based on data collected on the facility’s instruments and assuming that the wage of researchers reflects the values of their time to society.

• Patents – collectively valued at £10.2 billion (in 2018 prices). The exact criticality of Diamond in each case is unknown – but some proportion of this considerable sum can be ‘claimed’ by Diamond. A conservative estimate is around 1%, meaning Diamond’s contribution could be worth at least £103 million.

• The study also developed 28 case-studies of breakthrough science achieved at Diamond from the plastic degrading enzyme to the new synthetic vaccine against the Foot-and-Mouth disease virus, as well as academic and industrial use of Diamond, and suppliers of the facility.

• Software and applications – An estimated £51.3 million valuation for the software and applications produced at Diamond.

• Training – £8.8 million in training provided through Diamond (for free), based on 19,191 days of training across 7,668 attendees in the past five years and commercial rates for similar courses.

• Wider Societal Benefits – 80,000 visitors reached to date through a programme of engagement supporting the UK Skills’ agenda in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Plus, increased awareness of the value of STEM subjects to everyday lives through many news articles and outreach activities.

There will be a question-and-answer session with all the panellists. Please register by 17:00 (BST) on Monday 24th May 2021. You will then be emailed all final details, including the programme and Zoom link, for the event on Wednesday 26th May.

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For further information please contact Diamond Communications: Lorna Campbell +44 7836 625999 or Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke +44 1235 778130

Editors Notes: An advance copy of the report can be obtained by journalists upon request and under embargo for Wednesday 26thMay 16:00 BST.