Catalonia Leads the Way for Scientific Production

Recent statistics released show that the vast majority of scientific production in Spain, which ranks ninth in the world for its scientific outputs, comes from Catalonia. According to the Spanish Department for Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, some 21.6% of the country's work is produced in the autonomous region, the capital of which is one of Spain's most successful educational centres: Barcelona.

Indeed, despite the economic crisis, the Catalan government have managed to significantly exceed their investment target for Research, Development and Innovation, so far committing 954 million euros to the venture, compared with their original pledge of 834 million.

Most impressively, the data published indicate that not only is Catalonia the most scientifically productive region in Spain, but also that it is outdoing Finland and Austria. These findings are based on scientific production indicators, which include indices such as the number of times scientists are cited in scientific publications.

Catalonia was shown to have produced particularly high quality data in the following sectors: veterinary and energy, engineering, chemical engineering, environmental and earth sciences, and space issues.

The report concluded by emphasising the importance of continuing to support Research, Development and Innovation, given its potential to contribute to overcoming the current economic crisis.