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Follow UsInternational Comparative Performance of Scotland's Research Base
Published January 2010, this report provides information on the performance of Scotland's research base relative to that of the 26 comparator countries which are responsible for around 95 per cent of the world's top research.
It examines the research base in universities, research institutes, industry, the NHS and compares publication rates and impacts with competitor countries.
Key findings:
- Scotland has maintained its world leading position on research quality. Scotland's research is cited by other researchers around the world more often than any other country in comparison to its GDP.
- Scotland achieved 1.8 per cent of world citations in 2008, up from an average of 1.6 per cent in 2003-07, with a population share of less than 0.1 per cent. Areas of particular strength are biological sciences (2.4 per cent), environment (2.2 per cent) and health and medical research (1.8 per cent).
- The impact of Scottish research, as measured by citations per paper, has been well above world average in recent years and rose by a further 21 per cent in 2008, with only Switzerland being ranked higher.
- Scotland's researchers are highly productive in terms of citations per researcher, with Scotland being ranked third in the world after Switzerland and the Netherlands, ahead of all the G8 countries.
- Global collaborations are increasing, with almost half of Scotland's papers being internationally co-authored in 2008, compared with a third in 1999. Co-authorship with Germany, France, China and India is rising, although the USA remains the most popular, accounting for more than 31 per cent.
- PhD awards in Scotland have grown with Scotland now producing around 60 PhDs per 1000 researchers. This places Scotland seventh in the world, up from ninth two years ago, but still below the UK average.
The report was commission by Scotland's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Anne Glover, who also chairs the UKCDS Steering Board.
