From curiosity to prosperity: sharing the gains of science

Why should governments back “Big Science” when discoveries are uncertain and the benefits may seem distant from taxpayers’ daily lives? In this public lecture, France A Córdova—astrophysicist and former Director of the US National Science Foundation, NASA Chief Scientist, and President of the Science Philanthropy Alliance—explores how curiosity-driven research and the large infrastructures that enable it deliver value well beyond the lab.

Drawing on international experience, she will examine why these projects are often built through cross-border collaboration even as costs and operations are concentrated in particular places, and how this geography shapes debates about accountability, fairness, and who benefits.

The talk will consider practical ways to assess impacts beyond core science—from procurement and supply chains to knowledge spillovers, skills formation and entrepreneurship—and how public policy, partnerships and philanthropy can help measure and maximise that value locally and nationally.

Designed for a wide audience, the lecture addresses the central question facing science policy today: how to connect frontier discovery to broad societal benefit while maintaining the long-term ambition that keeps science moving forward.

Meet our speakers and chair

France Córdova is an internationally recognized astrophysicist and president of the Science Philanthropy Alliance, whose mission is to advance science through visionary philanthropy. Córdova was the 14th director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she served in the role from 2014 to 2020. This appointment followed Cordova’s earlier nomination to the National Science Board by President George W Bush. Córdova is president emerita of Purdue University and chancellor emerita of the University of California, Riverside. She was the youngest person and first woman to serve as NASA’s chief scientist and was awarded the agency's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal.

Riccardo Crescenzi (@crescenzi_r) is Professor of Economic Geography and Deputy Head of Department for Research at LSE. A leading scholar in the economics and geography of innovation, he has held a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grant and currently serves as the LSE Principal Investigator for a major Horizon Europe and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) project on inequalities in the era of global megatrends. He also leads a UKRI Metascience research grant, exploring the innovation impact of research infrastructure procurement in "Big Science Beyond Science." With a long-standing track record in teaching, research, and policy advisory, Riccardo’s work focuses on innovation, new technologies, foreign investment, global value chains, and public policy analysis.

Maria Cristina Russo is Deputy Director-General for Innovation, Prosperity and International Cooperation in DG Research and Innovation. In this role she oversees the relations with third countries on Research & Innovation and the Association Agreements to Horizon Europe, she steers the work of the Innovation and the Prosperity Directorates. Previously Director for Prosperity with responsibility for Industrial research innovation & investments agenda, Valorisation policies and IPR, Industrial transformation, and AI in Science. She has been working for the European Commission since 1992 where she held several policy and managerial positions related to external relations, the EU decision-making process and various EU policies, in particular Research & Innovation.

Mark Thomson (@ProfMarkThomson) is Director-General of CERN, and was previously the Executive Chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in the United Kingdom. He is also a Professor of Experimental Particle Physics at the University of Cambridge. Since completing his doctorate in particle physics at the University of Oxford, Professor Thomson has been a research scientist at CERN, played leading international roles in advancing neutrino physics and research for future colliders. Professor Thomson is credited in over 1000 publications and authored the widely adopted textbook Modern Particle Physics, used in universities globally. Beyond his research, he has held various research leadership and oversight roles at national and international level, including serving as the UK delegate to CERN’s Council since 2018. He also played the pivotal role in establishing the long-term UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) infrastructure roadmap and investment portfolio.

Larry Kramer has been President and Vice Chancellor of LSE since April 2024. A constitutional scholar, university administrator, and philanthropic leader, he was previously the President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dean of Stanford Law School.

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