big science

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big science

Big science projects like the Large Hadron Collider involve thousands of researchers.

Definition

Noun: - Large-scale scientific research: "Big science" refers to scientific research that is characterized by large-scale projects, typically requiring massive financial investment, extensive collaboration among many scientists and institutions, and often involving complex, sophisticated equipment or facilities. The term implies an expectation that such investment will lead to significant, groundbreaking results.

Usage

The term "big science" is used to describe a modern paradigm of scientific inquiry that contrasts with smaller, individual-led research. It highlights the scale, cost, and collaborative nature of the endeavor. - It is often used in discussions about funding, policy, and the sociology of science. - It typically modifies other nouns (e.g., big science projects, big science era).

Examples
  • Noun:
    • The construction of the Large Hadron Collider is a classic example of big science.
    • Government funding is crucial for supporting big science initiatives like space exploration.
    • The shift toward big science has changed how researchers collaborate across borders.
Advanced Usage
  • "The era of big science": A phrase used to describe the period, beginning notably in the mid-20th century, when large-scale, government-funded research projects became dominant in certain fields.
    • The Manhattan Project is often cited as marking the start of the era of big science.
Variants and Related Words
  • Little science (n): A term sometimes used contrastively to refer to smaller-scale, investigator-driven scientific research, which was more common before the rise of big science.
  • Megaproject (n): A very large-scale investment project, which can include but is not limited to scientific endeavors.
  • Collaborative research (n): Research conducted by teams, a key feature of big science.
Synonyms
  • Large-scale research
  • Megascience
Antonyms
  • Little science
  • Small-scale research
Related Concepts
  • Funding agency: An organization that provides financial support for research, essential for big science.
  • International collaboration: A common feature of big science projects, involving scientists from multiple countries.
  • Research infrastructure: The large facilities (e.g., particle accelerators, telescopes, genome sequencing centers) central to big science.
big science

Big science projects like the Large Hadron Collider involve thousands of researchers.

Noun
  1. scientific research that requires massive capital investment but is expected to yield very significant results