Scotland is a world leader in science and research says new report

The First Minister has hailed as "inspirational" the publication of a new report which puts Scotland's science and research base among the best in the world.

The report examines the research base in universities, research institutes, industry, the NHS and compares publication rates and impacts with competitor countries.

The key findings of the report, which was commissioned by Scotland's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Anne Glover, include:

• 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.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:

Scotland has made an immense contribution to shaping the modern world through innovation in science and research. This new report makes inspirational reading and reinforces Scotland's proud scientific reputation, with the infrastructure and people to deliver quality research and the solutions to problems that affect our world.

Read the full Scotland innovation story on the Nexxus website