R&D becomes international as new scientific superpowers emerge
13 May 2011 by Evoluted New Media
A new report from the Royal Society takes a look at the global scientific landscape, with some surprising results
A new report from the Royal Society takes a look at the global scientific landscape, with some surprising results
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New report suggests R&D is becoming an increasingly international affair |
Research and development is increasingly becoming an international affair says a new report from the Royal Society which also highlights emerging scientific nations.
The report – Knowledge, Networks and Nations – shows collaboration between countries is increasing, driven by individual scientists who are keen to work with the best of their peers. Through this, researchers gain access to complementary resources, equipment and knowledge, enhancing the quality and improving the efficiency of their work.
Society faces a number of wide-ranging and interlinked global challenges, and the report suggests international scientific collaboration is essential in addressing the causes and dealing with the impact of these problems.
“The global scientific community is increasingly charged with or driven by the need to find solutions to a range of issues that threatened sustainability,” the report said. “These ‘global challenges’ have received much attention in recent years, and are now a key component of national and multinational science strategies and many funding mechanisms.”
The report makes five major recommendations to further strengthen global science:
1. Support for international science should be maintained and strengthened
2. Internationally collaborative science should be encouraged, supported and facilitated
3. National and international strategies for science are required to address global challenges
4. International capacity building is crucial to ensure that the impacts of scientific research are shared globally
5. Better indicators are required in order to properly evaluate global science.
The report – produced in cooperation with Elsevier – calls for “more creative, flexible and better-resourced mechanisms to coordinate research across international networks and to ensure that scientists and science can fulfil their potential.”
There are now seven million researchers around the world, says the report, spending a combined US$1000bn on R&D – a 45% increase on spending in 2002. The US, UK, Japan, Germany and France are responsible for 59% of this.
Between them, these scientists publish over 25,000 separate scientific journals per year and analysis of this published research shows new scientific powers emerging, in particular in China. In 1996, the top spot was taken by the US, who published 292,513 papers compared to 25,474 from China. By 2008 this figure swelled to 184,080, while the US rose to 316,317.
A key indicator of research value is the number of times it has been cited. “The scientific league tables are not just about prestige – they are a barometer of a country’s ability to compete on the world stage,” the report said. Chinese research has risen up the ranks, but still lags behind the US and UK – who are the first and second most cited – especially considering the publication rate and investment the Chinese have made.
They now stand second in the scientific leader board – between the US and UK – but a simple linear interpretation of Elsevier’s publishing data predicts they may overtake the US by 2013, the report says.
Chinese spending on R&D has risen by 20% per annum since 1999, reaching $100bn in 2006, accompanied by 1.5m students graduating in science or engineering. The report also suggests Brazil and India are beginning to rival the traditional “scientific superpowers”. Tunisia and Turkey are also rapidly emerging, and Iran was highlighted as the fasted growing nation, publishing 736 papers in 1996 to 13,238 in 2008.
“The scientific world is changing and new players are fast appearing,” said Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith from the University of Oxford, who chaired the advisory panel. “But these emerging science centres offer the chance for new thinking and new collaboration to find solutions to the global challenges we all face.”
