Best Countries Around The World For Life Sciences Research

Best Countries for Life Sciences Research

Deciding what makes one country better than another in science is not an easy thing to measure as it can involve various factors and criteria. Global scientific progress cannot be captured with a single measure, thus, determining the best countries around the world for life sciences research can be done by evaluating R&D spending, patents, and the number of researchers and academic papers a country has. A nation’s commitment to be at the forefront of scientific discovery can be seen with such leading indicators.

Considering the number of research papers published from a country can give an idea about the scientific research happening in the country, however, this does not provide much information about if the country is making use of those good ideas and taking advantage of it. Thus, other metrics come into the picture in this case. An idea about how well a country is utilizing its ideas for commercial gain can be got from analyzing the patents in the nation. What a nation spends on R&D captures the contribution from industry along with what universities and government research programs do. Another key metric could be analyzing how many students a nation educates in life sciences, however, not enough data are available to consider this.

The Nature Index is one indicator of institutional research performance, and the best countries for life sciences research in this article are in accordance with the Nature Index ranking. Independent panel of leading scientists in their fields analyzes an institution’s or country’s publication output in 82 natural-science journals, on the basis of which the metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are determined. The Nature Index is an indicator of global high-quality research output and collaboration as it provides absolute and fractional counts of article publication at the institutional and regional levels.

The United States’ Share in the Nature Index 2020 Annual Tables, is 20,152.48, followed by China’s Share at 13,566.11. According to this, the United States has the highest number of high-quality life sciences research published.

Best Countries For Life Sciences Research Include:

1. The United States

In the United States, the life sciences research accounts for almost 50% of the nation’s share and has maintained its number one spot on rankings of global research performance. The country’s scientists’ contribution to high-quality scientific research has been outperforming all its competitors in recent years.

Life Sciences Research in the US: Top 10 institutes in the United States for life sciences research:

• Harvard University
• Stanford University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• University of Michigan (U-M)
• The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego)
• The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• Northwestern University (NU)
• Yale University

The United States topped the rankings in the life, physical, and Earth and environmental sciences in the Nature Index 2020 Annual Tables

2. China

China has been catching up in life science research and its influence in the global life science sector has expanded significantly over the past decade. China’s evolving life sciences sector has provided greater access to medical products and has paved way for various innovations in life science research.

Life Sciences Research in China: Top 10 institutes in China for life sciences research:

• Chinese Academy of Sciences
• University of Science and Technology of China
• Peking University
• Tsinghua University
• Nanjing University
• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)
• Zhejiang University (ZJU)
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU)
• Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU)
• Fudan University

China is the second strongest and the fastest-rising country in the Nature Index 2020 Annual Tables and topped the rankings in chemistry.

3. Germany

Germany is considered a center of education and the desired destination for researchers given that the country hosts more than 1,000 publicly funded research institutions and around 400 higher-education institutions.

Life Sciences Research in Germany: Top 10 institutes in Germany for life sciences research:

• Max Planck Society
• Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
• Leibniz Association
• Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU)
• Technical University of Munich (TUM)
• Heidelberg University (Uni Heidelberg)
• The University of Münster (WWU
• University of Würzburg (JMU)
• Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin)
• RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen)

In order to stay competitive in an international market in research, the country investing ever more heavily in intelligent technologies and innovative digital applications. The country additionally has other advantages such as stable growth, high research and development (R&D) spending, and a relatively low cost of living.

4. United Kingdom

A globally unique health and life sciences ecosystem can be seen in the United Kingdom. The country has provided various scientific breakthroughs and is driving the next generation of life-changing services, technologies, and treatments. The country aims to increase its R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP by the year 2027.

Life Sciences Research in the United Kingdom: Top 10 institutes in the United Kingdom for life sciences research:

• University of Cambridge
• University of Oxford
• The University of York
• The University of Sheffield
• Imperial College London (ICL)
• University College London (UCL)
• University of Bristol (UoB)
• The University of Bath
• The University of Manchester (UoM)
• University of Glasgow

Producing high-quality research in the life sciences, the United Kingdom is at the forefront of global scientific exploration, invention, and innovation and remains one of the world’s best countries for life sciences research. The country’s research and development sector provide leading-edge technology and the right environment for life sciences research.

5. Japan

Japan is constantly working to retain its position in the global research ranks and has focused on its challenges and opportunities and has implemented great changes in the country’s life sciences sector. To improve the nation’s high-quality scientific research output, they implement the strategy of funding selected institutions to boost their overseas collaboration.

Life Sciences Research in Japan: Top 10 institutes in the United Kingdom for life sciences research:

• The University of Tokyo
• Kyoto University
• Osaka University
• Tohoku University
• RIKEN
• Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Nagoya University
• Kyushu University
• Hokkaido University
• National Institute for Materials Science

With an increase in the country’s proportion of articles co-authored with international researchers, the improvement in Japan’s research performance was highlighted.

6. France

France is known to spend around 48 billion euros on research, equal to 2.24% of its GDP, every year. This had enabled the country to reach its objective of being a country with high-quality scientific research.

Life Sciences Research in France: Top 10 institutes in France for life sciences research:

• French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
• Sorbonne University
• The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)
• National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM)
• University of Paris
• University of Paris-Sud (UPSud)
• University of Strasbourg
• University of Toulouse
• University of Lyon
• Aix-Marseille University (AMU)

The country is known to have more than 417,000 researchers working as researchers in companies, research staff, lecturers, professors, and research directors, other professions in the life sciences industry.

7. Canada

Canada has a huge network of research companies, laboratories, universities, and hospitals, working with the bio-health, bio-energy, bio-technology, and agri-biotechnology under the life sciences sector. The country is a world leader in biotechnology (the bio-economy).

Life Sciences Research in Canada: Top 10 institutes in Canada for life sciences research:

• University of Toronto
• McGill University
• The University of British Columbia
• University of Alberta
• University of Waterloo
• University of Calgary
• University of Montreal
• University of Ottawa
• Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
• Western University

The Canadian life sciences and biotechnology sector one of the country’s fastest-growing industries and is a significant contributor to Canada’s innovation economy.

8. Switzerland

A globally unique life science cluster can be seen in Switzerland. The country has a dense network of biotech, medtech, and nanotech companies along with the chemical and pharma giants such as Roche, Novartis, and Syngenta. The Swiss life science industry has the highest work productivity in comparison to other top international locations.

Life Sciences Research in Switzerland: Top 10 institutes in Switzerland for life sciences research:

• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
• University of Zurich
• University of Geneva
• University of Basel
• University of Bern
• University of Lausanne
• F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG
• Paul Scherrer Institute
• European Organization for Nuclear Research

The leading universities, and financially sound and research-based life sciences companies ensure the availability of high-quality scientists in Switzerland. The country is also known for the country with the highest salary for scientists.

9. South Korea

South Korea spends 4.3% of its gross domestic product on R&D and is one of the most innovative countries in the world. The country has around 32% of its degrees being granted in STEM fields and claims to be the world’s most science-educated country.

Life Sciences Research in South Korea: Top 10 institutes in South Korea for life sciences research:

• Seoul National University (SNU)
• Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
• Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)
• Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)
• Institute for Basic Science (IBS)
• Yonsei University
• Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
• Korea University
• Hanyang University (HYU)
• Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)

The country was also known for spending hugely toward the goal of achieving the Novel Prize, which shows the importance of life sciences research in the country.

10. Australia

Australia’s life science industry continues to grow increasingly with rising medical devices and biotechnology sectors, fueled by technological advancement. For professionals across the life sciences industry, the country is improving its reputation as a very attractive place to work and is becoming a world-leading life sciences hub.

Life Sciences Research in Australia: Top 10 institutes in Australia for life sciences research:

• University of New South Wales
• The University of Queensland
• Monash University
• The University of Melbourne
• Australian National University
• The University of Sydney
• The University of Western Australia
• The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
• The University of Adelaide
• University of Wollongong

Australia ensures abundant opportunities for researchers in the life sciences field with the established biotechnology hub growing to be a rising power within medical devices and health technology.

Countries having a range of options for availing research funding and those with strong incentives for the development of technology and the ones who are doing well in the field of life sciences research. Ultimately, the best destination of your research would largely rely on your own goals, needs, and interests.

With so many exciting opportunities available all over the world, which is your dream destination for a great career in life science research?