Assessment of Additional Appropriation for Research

This study is the most comprehensive bibliometric report of Finnish science carried out, and it is based on a long time series. It uses many types of bibliometric indicators to describe the scentific and technological activities of the Finnish research base. It draws attention to publication activities and the international visibility and impact of Finnish scientific research domestic and international collaboration patterns, and indicators of technological innovation activities. The major findings of the report include the following. The report gives a very positive picture of Finnish science. The policy to strengthen the internationalisation of Finnish science seems to have been effective. Finland has increased its international publishing and has improved the international visibility and impact of its research publications. Overall, Finnish scientific publications are well above the world average in impact. The positive trend in the international impact of Finnish science is associated with a dramatic increase in international collaboration. Today, 40 % of the Finnish publications are co-authored with researchers from other countries, while the corresponding figure was only half that in 1986. Researchers from EU countries have become major collaboration partners for Finnish researchers. Twenty percent of Finnish papers are co-authored with researchers from the EU-countries, and the share has grown significantly faster than the share of papers co-authored with researchers from North America. EU research collaboration and the EU Framework Programme for research and development have probably played an important role in the increase of scientific collaboration with other EU countries. The report further shows that, in the Finnish national research system, the Helsinki region dominates. To some extent, there has been a decentralisation process, which has reduced this dominance a little. The decentralisation of research into small units, however, is not advantageous for research impact and quality, which impact is expected to reflect. Regions that produce small numbers of papers do less well in impact than other regions. The study of Finnish US patents shows that Finland is active in producing technological innovations and has impact in telecommunications, industrial process