Purpose: How much to invest in research facilities has long been a question in research policy and practice in higher education. This matter is time-sensitive due to critical financial challenges at institutions in the USA, with signs of significant problems in Europe. The purpose of this report is to present new techniques for assessment of one particular type of research infrastructure - computing facilities and staff that support research. These new approaches are timely because of the ongoing financial crises which may make it essential for institutions of higher education to make difficult decisions regarding research infrastructure. Principal results: We present recently developed methods for assessment of the economic and scientific value of investment in advanced computing facilities and services. Existing examples of these tools in use show that investment in advanced computing facilities and services contributes importantly to positive financial and academic outcomes for institutions of higher education. We present a format based on the Balanced Scorecard concept for summarizing such information. Conclusion: The methods presented here enable quantitative assessment of the relationship between investment in computing facilities and research and education outcomes. These methods should be of interest to research policy investigators and practitioners. The analysis methods described may be applied retroactively, making this report of potentially immediate value in setting research policies.

翻译：目的：在高等教育的研究政策与实践中，长期存在关于研究设施投资规模的疑问。由于美国高校面临严峻的财务挑战，且欧洲已显现重大问题的迹象，该议题具有时效性。本报告旨在提出评估特定类型研究基础设施——支持研究的计算设施与人员——的新方法。鉴于持续存在的财务危机可能迫使高等教育机构就研究基础设施做出艰难决策，这些新方法恰逢其时。主要成果：我们展示了近期开发的评估先进计算设施与服务投资的经济与科学价值的方法。现有应用案例表明，对先进计算设施与服务的投资对高等教育机构的积极财务与学术成果具有重要贡献。我们提出一种基于平衡计分卡概念的框架来整合此类信息。结论：本文提出的方法能够量化评估计算设施投资与科研教育成果之间的关系。这些方法应引起研究政策研究者与实践者的关注。所述分析方法可进行回溯性应用，使得本报告对制定研究政策具有潜在的即时参考价值。