UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT
Research Council (ERC). Between 2008 and 2013, one-third
of all ERC grantees co-authored articles listed among the top
1% most highly cited publications worldwide. The Horizon
2020 programme for research and innovation, which has
been endowed with by far the biggest budget yet of any EU
framework programme (nearly € 80 billion), is expected to
boost EU scientific output further.
Although the R&D intensity of the ten countries which joined
the EU in 2004 remains lower than that of the older members,
the gap is narrowing. The same cannot be said of Bulgaria,
Croatia and Romania, which contributed less to EU GERD in
2013 than in 2007.
Several member states are promoting technology-intensive
manufacturing, including France and Germany, or seeking
ways to give SMEs greater access to finance. Of some concern
is the fact that the innovation performance of 13 countries
out of 28 has slipped, owing to a declining share of innovative
companies, fewer public–private scientific partnerships and a
lesser availability of risk capital.
Southeast European (Chapter 10) economies are at different
stages of EU integration, which remains a common goal, even
if countries are at very different stages: whereas Slovenia
has been part of the Eurozone since 2007, Bosnia and
Herzegovina’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement with
the EU only entered into force in June 2015. In July 2014, all
non-EU countries in the region announced their decision to
join the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
Slovenia is often considered a leader in the region. Its GERD/
GDP ratio rose from 1.63% to 2.59% between 2008 and 2013,
albeit within a contracting GDP. Slovenia is also the only
country in Southeast Europe where business enterprises fund
and perform the majority of R&D. Although business R&D has
stagnated in most other countries, R&D intensity has risen
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia and Serbia; as of 2012, it was close to 1% in
Serbia (0.91), which was also performing better in innovation
surveys. However, even the more industrialized countries
of Croatia and Serbia suffer from weak university–industry
linkages. Strong growth in the number of doctorate-holders
has enabled researcher density to grow in most countries.
In 2013, governments adopted the SEE 2020 Strategy
mirroring its EU namesake, in which they commit to raising
their R&D intensity and boosting the size of their highly skilled
labour force. This strategy is complemented by the Western
Balkans Regional Research and Development Strategy for
Innovation (2013) promoting technology transfer from public
research organizations to the private sector and greater
collaboration with industry; it advocates smart specialization
in high-opportunity areas, such as ‘green’ innovation and
energy, and includes a component promoted by the UNESCO
Institute for Statistics of bringing the region’s statistics up to
EU standards by 2018.
The European Free Trade Association (Chapter 11)
encompasses four wealthy countries which remain strongly
integrated with the EU, yet distinct from it. The European
Economic Area agreement signed two decades ago gives
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway fully associated partner
status in EU research programmes. Switzerland’s involvement
in the latter, while traditionally strong, has recently been
confined to temporary arrangements limiting participation
in key programmes like Excellent Science, pending the
resolution of a dispute with the EU over the implications of
the February 2014 Swiss referendum for the free movement
of EU researchers in Switzerland.
Switzerland figures in the top three OECD countries for
innovation. It has a research-intensive private sector, even
though the share of Swiss firms investing in innovation has
recently fallen. Switzerland owes its success partly to its ability
to attract international talent to private industry and the
university sector.
At 1.7 (2013), Norway’s GERD/GDP ratio remains below
the EU28 average and the level of Iceland (1.9 in 2013)
and Switzerland (3.0 in 2012). Norway’s share of the adult
population with tertiary qualifications and/or engaged in the
STI sector is one of the highest in Europe. Unlike Switzerland,
Norway struggles to attract international talent and to
transform scientific knowledge into innovative products;
it also counts a small proportion of high-tech companies
conducting R&D. These trends may reflect weak incentives to
compete in an oil-rich welfare state.
Iceland was severely hit by the global financial crisis of 2008.
Its R&D intensity declined from 2.6 to 1.9 between 2007 and
2013. Despite being confronted with brain drain, Iceland has
an excellent publication record, largely due to a highly mobile
younger generation of scientists. Most spend at least part of their
career abroad and half of all doctorates are awarded in the USA.
Despite Liechtenstein’s tiny size, some of its internationally
competitive companies in machinery, construction and
medical technology conduct a high level of R&D.
Seldom viewed as a region, the countries of the Black Sea
basin (Chapter 12) are middle-income economies that face
similar challenges with regard to STI. Although they have
followed different trajectories, most Black Sea countries appear
to be converging in terms of educational attainment and, for
the larger ones (such as Turkey and Ukraine), in terms of their
level of industrialization. Most are feeling the gravitational pull
of the EU in international scientific collaboration.
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