Assessing the Value of a Research Project

As we follow the unfolding story of ASTRA through its many activities, we return to the third work package (WP3), which focuses on the impact and technology transfer of the project. Unlike the first two work packages, WP3 investigates the broader socio-economic consequences of scientific research.

WP3 is structured around three core tasks. The third (WP3C) is titled Ensuring the Ethical Use of New Technologies. With a dedicated budget of around €200,000, it is led by Adriana Carolina Pinate, a researcher in Applied Economics at the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI).

At the heart of this research lies a simple but crucial principle: the value of a scientific project cannot be measured solely by academic publications or technological outcomes. Broader, often harder-to-answer questions also come into play- ones that accompany many public investments: What is the actual societal impact? Is the project sustainable, useful, fair or all of the above?

“WP3C aims to measure the economic and social impact of ASTRA’s activities,” says Pinate. “We’ve set ourselves the ambitious goal of applying a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to a scientific research infrastructure that is modest in scale compared to the large-scale public works - such as highways or subway systems - that typically undergo this kind of evaluation.”

Traditionally, cost-benefit analysis has been reserved for massive infrastructure projects or, within scientific research, initiatives of major economic significance like CERN. In ASTRA’s case, however, the analysis is being applied to a project with limited duration, experimental nature, constrained resources, and a strong focus on knowledge production and the adoption of innovative technologies.

This is where the novelty of the approach lies: “We are working to build an evaluation model that can be applied to small- or medium-scale research projects, which are often excluded from conventional assessment tools. In this sense, our work also serves as a case study for both the scientific community and public funders,” explains Pinate.

Another distinctive feature of ASTRA’s methodology is its emphasis on in itinere evaluation—that is, assessment during the project’s implementation rather than only upon its completion. This real-time approach allows the team to capture effects and transformations as they happen, including those that are less visible. It’s a complex task that requires tracking inputs, outputs, and intermediate outcomes from personnel costs to academic output, from new collaborations to impacts on researcher training.

The challenge is to measure the value of knowledge itself—the ability of ASTRA to generate intangible wealth and inspire scientific innovation. To do so, the team uses tools such as the shadow price, an economic concept often employed in cost-benefit analysis. A shadow price estimates the value of a good or resource—in this case, the outcomes of ASTRA’s research—that does not have a direct market price. In other words, the team constructs indirect estimates of the social value of goods that lie outside traditional market mechanisms.

Ultimately, the WP3C analysis also embraces an innovative perspective that aims to foster a broader discussion within research communities: How are projects funded, and who truly benefits? The goal is to bring greater transparency and accountability to public investments in science—to demonstrate not only what is being done, but why it matters.