Dr Manish Patel, Senior Lecturer in The Open University (OU) Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics and Dr Leslie Budd, Reader in Social Enterprise in the OU's Faculty of Business and Law, have been awarded a grant of €350,000 by the European Space Agency (ESA) for their cross-faculty collaborative study titled the ‘Benefits of the European Space Agency Exploration Roadmap in Socioeconomics’ (BEERS).  

The project investigates and evaluates the socioeconomic benefits of ESA exploration space missions with respect to economic competitiveness and growth, new means to address global challenges/sustainable development goals and inspiration. This grant in open competition against many of the key European players in economic analysis, and represents a significant achievement for The Open University.  

Read more about the project.

* Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash