European science must “catch up” with China and the US, the president of the European Research Council (ERC) has said.
In January, the ERC called for the European Union to double the budget of its next research and development framework programme, the successor to Horizon Europe, while advising a similar increase to its own funding.
“We often hear that Europe is a leader in research and discovery,” ERC president Maria Leptin told Times Higher Education. “I’m a scientist, I need facts, and if we look at the facts, both China and the US spend significantly more than Europe.”
Professor Leptin highlighted European Commission data indicating that the European Union produces 18.4 per cent of the top 1 per cent most-cited scientific publications, placing it third after the US, with 27.5 per cent, and China, with 23 per cent. “So where are we leading?” she said. “The data says, ‘Hey folks, we’re maybe not as leading as we think we are.’
