Figures released today [Friday 9 February] by
Universities UK shows that research from UK universities is
highly respected across the world and brings in billions of
pounds to the economy.
Higher education research in facts and
figures provides an overview of the quality of
research, impact, international collaboration, students and
staff, and finance at UK universities.
Key points from the report:
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UK universities excel at producing world-class
research – despite representing only 4.7% of
researchers and a small global share of research investment, UK
research accounted for 10% of global downloads, 11% of
citations and 15% of the world’s most highly-cited articles.
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International research collaboration is vital for the
UK – in 1981, about 90% of UK research
output was completely domestic, however this is now the case
for less than half of the UK’s research output. Six of the UK’s
top 10 international collaboration partners are from Europe.
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Universities are increasingly reliant on non-UK
academic staff – the proportion of non-UK
staff in research roles has increased considerably since
2004-05 in UK higher education institutions, from 34% in
2004−05 to 47% in 2015−16.
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More than £1 billion of UK research income is from
overseas – in 2015−16, UK universities received
£7.8 billion in research income. £840 million came from EU
sources outside of the UK and £440 million came from non-EU
sources.
-
Knowledge-exchange activities provide high levels of
income for the UK – overall, university income
from these knowledge-exchange activities have increased above
GDP growth across most indicators, and amounted to £4.2 billion
in income during 2015−16. The government has increased
investment in research and committed to meeting the OECD
average for investment in research &
development within ten years.
Paul Boyle, Chair of Universities UK’s Research Policy
Network and Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Leicester, said:
“This new publication makes it clear that research from UK
universities is internationally leading, changes lives and brings
in billions of pounds to the UK economy. To ensure that the UK’s
research success continues, we must continue to increase
investment in research and development, as many of our
international competitors are doing. The UK must develop a
post-Brexit immigration system that encourages talented
international staff and students to work and study in the UK, and
negotiating access to the next European research and innovation
programme (FP9) and to the Erasmus+ mobility scheme must also be
a priority for the UK.”
