paris

The geographical distribution and abundance of research is a burning political issue in France (see page opposite and above), and discussion of it at the European level seems likely to be stimulated by a map of research activity across Europe published by the Paris-based Observatoire des Sciences et des Techniques (OST).

More than 80 per cent of the European Union's scientific output in terms of papers and patents is accounted for by just 67 regions on the map. The Paris area came top of the league, followed by London, Munich and Düsseldorf. Paris and London alone accounted for almost 10 per cent of Europe's scientific output.

The map (right) shows clearly that research activity is highest in the economically strong ‘banana’ extending along the axis of Milan, Rotterdam and London, with a skew towards Paris and Lyons. Other striking features are that Italy and Germany are both split into two halves, one half rich in research, the other poor.

figure 1

Figure 1

Research activity in Scotland is also revealed to be much stronger than might be widely believed, adds Remi Barré, director of OST, adding that Nordic countries also have strong research according to the map.

“The aim is to better understand the regional reality of scientific activity in Europe,” says Barré, arguing that increasingly the regions, with their own substantial funds, are major players in research.

Barré cautions that the map is a simplified version of a detailed OST analysis, co-financed by the European Commission, of the research activities of the 445 regions in the member states of the European Union.

Regions were selected using the commission's NUTS scale, which classes regions from NUTS 0 (a country) to NUTS 5 (a village). The OST analysis mostly included regions the size of NUTS 2 or 3 (roughly the size of a county, depending on the country), although tiny Luxembourg was counted as a single region, NUTS 0.