Journalof ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT JET-M ELSEVIER J. Eng, Techaol. Manage. 13 (1996) 301-314 A framework of motivations for industry-big science collaboration: a case study Erkko Autio a,*, Ari-Pekka Hameri a, Markus Nordberg b " Helsinki University of Technology, Otakaari 1, FIN-02150 Espoo, Finland CERN, CH-1211, Geneva 23, Switzerland Abstract The epistemic (knowledge creation) benefits of big science centres are obvious to everyone. During an era of tight budgetary constraints, however, it is difficult to justify the existence of these centres on the basis of their epistemic contributions alone. Although it is recognized that t'ae contributions are not limited to epistemic types only, the picture of other types of contribution (e.g., spin-off benefits) remains blurred. The present paper proposes a framework for depicting and discussing the various contributions of big science centres in a systematic manner, The main objective of the paper is to provide policy-makers, industrialists, and academics with a framework to justify, motivate and establish systematic technological interaction between big science centres and industry, The framework comprises six basic dimensions. These dimensions are viewed both from the industrial and from the scientific perspective, and partly from the public perspective. It is argued that direct and measurable incentives constitute only a fraction of the overall benefits stemming from the industrial-scientificcollaboration. The paper concludes with a framework of motivations and actions to materialize them. Keywot'ds. Technology transfer;Interaction between industryand scientificresearch; Industry-sciencecollab- oration motives;Technologydiffusion 1. Preamble Pushing technological limits to the extreme and even beyond is characteristic of large-scale scientific research facilities performing experimental and instrument-based research work. These laboratories, or big science centres, are often almost solely financed by public sources. Their work is mainly aimed at finding means to acquire * Correspondingauthor. 0923-4748/97/$17.00 Copyright © 1997 Publishedby Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Pll S0923-4748(96)01011-9