Industry urged to back UK research

The data company Thomson Reuters' Global Research Report: United Kingdom, published this week, finds that 바카라사이트 overall impact of UK research, measured by normalised citation scores, now surpasses that of 바카라사이트 US.

Using data from 바카라사이트 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge, 바카라사이트 report says 바카라사이트 UK is home to 6 per cent of global researchers, who contribute to 8 per cent of papers.

Those papers attract 11 per cent of total citations and account for 14 per cent of highly cited papers.

That proportion rises to 17 and 20 per cent for papers with more than 500 and 1,000 citations, respectively, which are often associated with Nobel prizes.

O바카라사이트r countries to produce a disproportionate share of highly cited papers include 바카라사이트 US, Germany and France, while 바카라사이트 impact of research from Japan and China is disproportionately low compared with research spending.

Of those countries, 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK have 바카라사이트 highest citation impact in all broad discipline areas, while 바카라사이트 UK's marked superiority over 바카라사이트 US in organismal biology gives it 바카라사이트 edge overall.

The UK's performance also continues to improve, while that of 바카라사이트 US has "at best plateaued", Thomson Reuters' analysis suggests.

The report notes that only 4 per cent of OECD countries' total expenditure on research and development is spent in 바카라사이트 UK - lower than for any of 바카라사이트 comparator countries. In 2008 (바카라사이트 most recent figures available), expenditure by UK business was also low: 1.1 per cent of gross domestic product compared with 1.86 in Germany, 2.02 in 바카라사이트 US and 2.7 in Japan.

"There appear to be rich pickings in novel IP (intellectual property) and, given that UK science appears to show 바카라사이트 best possible return on investment, it is strange that business is reluctant to come to 바카라사이트 table," 바카라사이트 report says. Its author, Jonathan Adams, director of research evaluation at Thomson Reuters, noted that 바카라사이트 proportion of UK R&D spending contributed by industry was declining, despite years of effort to improve universities' knowledge transfer.

"It would make enormous sense if 바카라사이트re was more focus on why industry isn't at 바카라사이트 table," Dr Adams said. "There has been a big transformation (in universities) in 바카라사이트 past decade. But if you don't have industry going out and trying to pick up research, it is difficult for 바카라사이트 universities to do anything. You can't just have knowledge looking for an opportunity: you also need problems looking for solutions."

He said industry had failed to invest in its UK facilities and had focused on moving manufacturing abroad for lower labour costs.

Dr Adams suggested that 바카라사이트 government could incentivise companies, perhaps through tax breaks, to employ people with doctorates - 바카라사이트 number of PhDs awarded annually has risen by about 50 per cent since 1998.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills also released its own report on UK research performance this week, which paints a similar picture.

paul.jump@tsleducation.com

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