A new report on the performance of the UK research base has today shown that in some areas the impact of UK research has surpassed the United States. This represents a clear indication of the high impact of UK research according to the Research Councils, who together invest over £2.5 billion a year in research.
The PSA metrics data report, commissioned by the Office of Science and Technology, shows that relative to investment in research the UK produces around 9 per cent of the world’s PhDs and papers and achieves 12 per cent of the world’s academic citations. Research productivity within the UK research community is the highest of any G8 country and ranks third globally. In 2004, the UK had the highest citation impact in biology and health.
Professor Julia Goodfellow, speaking on behalf of Research Councils UK, the strategic partnership of the eight Councils, said: "I am very pleased to see that the impact of UK research is not only very high but in terms of our proportion of global citations, it is also rising. Biology and medicine are both outstanding highlights but across the board UK research is delivering high impact results for the investment being made."
"However, we must make sure that we are not complacent. For example Germany has more PhD students, and we have to be aware of the obvious rise of China. It is important that both Government and private sector investment in research and development grows in the future and we invest in growing capacity in areas where we currently have skills shortages," Professor Goodfellow warned.
The full report PSA target metrics for the UK research base, is available from the Office of Science and Technology
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Contact
Matt Goode, Research Councils UK
Tel: 01793 413299
Notes to Editors
The study was undertaken by Evidence Ltd on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology. It included publications and recognition and citations.
The Evidence Ltd study reports on a basket of indicators used to measure progress against the DTI’s Public Service Agreement Target 2: Monitoring the relative international performance of the UK Science and Engineering Base.
Data sources for the report include OECD, ONS and Thomson Scientific.
This is the first year in which bibliometric data for the Arts and Humanities have been analysed in this report.
About Research Councils UK
The eight Research Councils are independent non-departmental public bodies, funded by the Science Budget through the Office of Science and Technology. They are incorporated by Royal Charter and together manage a research budget of over £2.5 billion a year.
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the partnership between the UK's eight Research Councils. Through RCUK, the Research Councils work together to champion the research, training and innovation they support. The Research Councils are independent non-departmental public bodies, funded by the Science Budget through the Office of Science and Technology.
RCUK was created to increase the collective visibility, leadership and policy influence of the Research Councils; to stimulate multi-disciplinary research that encourages collaboration; to provide a single focus for collective dialogue with stakeholders and to encourage greater harmonisation of internal operations.
The partnership is led by the RCUK Executive Group, which meets monthly and comprises the chief executives of the eight Research Councils. The Group is currently chaired by Professor Ian Diamond, Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council.
The eight UK Research Councils are:
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC);
- Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC);
- Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC);
- Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC);
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC);
- Medical Research Council (MRC);
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);
- Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council (PPARC).