Written question asked by Esther McVey (Conservative) on Monday, 18 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 October 2010. It was answered by Lord Willetts (Conservative) on Monday, 25 October 2010 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Science: Research

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate his Department has made of the contribution that UK science and technology research makes to the global economy.

Answer: Single estimates of the contribution of the UK science and research base are not available as the benefits from science and research reflect in diverse areas of economic and social activity that cannot be easily aggregated together.International comparisons of the relative contribution of the UK to global advances in science and research are followed through in the various assessments BIS undertakes of the performance of the research base, including"1. Annual returns under the economic impact reporting framework—available on Research Councils' websites. These give evidence of the international standing of funded by councils, peer reviewed as excellent and outstanding by international standards, as well as examples of international advice led by Research Councils investments such as Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) advice during the crises of international air space caused by the volcanic ash cloud.""2. Biannual international comparisons of spending and performance under the report ““The International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base”” published in the BIS website. In this the UK ranks second in the world (after the USA) attracting 9% of world publications, 12% of world citations and 14% of the world's highly cited papers. The UK is also the most productive research base among the large economies of the G8, when considering publications and citations per pound spent."

Secondary information