A new index has found that academics from The Republic of Korea are the most commercially valuable in the world, with its top universities attracting the most cash from big businesses.
The World Academic Summit Innovation Index has calculated that global companies are investing the equivalent of nearly USD 100,000 in each Korean scholar to carry out work in innovation and research on their behalf. This is compared to less than USD 10,000 per head for countries lower down the index.
Compiled by Times Higher Education, which rank the world’s top 30 countries, the results give an interesting global snapshot of how successfully the world’s top universities compete for research funding from industry. They show Singapore in second place, bringing in an average of USD 84,500 per academic, The Netherlands in third place with USD 72,800 and South Africa in fourth place with USD 64,400.
Nine countries in Asia featured in the table, with over 50% of its institutions in the top ten—more than any other continent. Indeed, whilst Western continents dominate this new index in terms of quantity, with 15 European countries joining the USA and Canada, nearly two-thirds of Western institutions are featured in the bottom half of the list—a far cry from Asia’s stand-out performance at the top of the table.
The big surprise for many will be that traditional educational powerhouse, the US, lies in the middle of the table in 14th position, with industry contributing nearly four times less to its academic researchers—USD 25,800 per person—than that of Korea.
However, it would seem that in recent years, the world’s increasing enthusiasm for technological advancement and computer science has seen big business shift its attention eastward to Asia; a region now known for its strong manufacturing sector and traditional academic focus on these subject areas. It seems that the balance of power is destined to tip further eastwards.
World Academic Summit Innovation Index
| Rank | Country | Average Value Per Researcher (US$) |
| 1 | Korea, Republic Of | 97,900 |
| 2 | Singapore | 84,500 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 72,800 |
| 4 | South Africa | 64,400 |
| 5 | Belgium | 63,700 |
| 6 | Taiwan | 53,900 |
| 7 | China | 50,500 |
| 8 | Sweden | 46,100 |
| 9 | Denmark | 43,600 |
| 10 | India | 36,900 |
Source: Times Higher Education / Thomson Reuters, InCites™, 2013
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
