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R&D statistics for Iceland in 2003

Iceland spent about 3% of GDP on R&D in 2003. About 5.500 persons spent almost 3.000 full time equivalent on R&D.

Statistical information on Icelandic doctorate degree holders has now been updated so that it covers the period from 1990 to 2004.  This is information on e.g. the number of graduations per year, the field of study and gender.  The statistics can be accessed from the Rannis home page.

The Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe) has now completed the second round of projects linked to innovation policies in the Nordic countries. In relation to this, NICe has published a synthesis report with descriptions of the projects.  This report focuses on those recommendations which NICe considers should be followed-up at both Nordic and national levels with a view to implementation.

A "fact-finding mission" from the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam was received in Reykjavik by Rannis, The Icelandic Centre for Research.  The aim of the delegation was to study the Icelandic science and technology system that, over the past thirty years, has highly contributed to a rapic economic and social development in Iceland.  The members of the delegate were representatives of the various ministries in Brunei and the University of Brunei Darussalam.

Iceland has been ranked in 3rd place when it comes to research and development expenditure as a percentage of GDP.  Sweden and Finland are the leading European countries with 4.3% and 3.5% of GDP respectively.  In 2002, total R&D expenditure represented almost 2% of GDP for the EU-25, with a Business Enterprise Sector R&D intensity of 1.3%.  More information can be found in the most recent Eurostat Statistics in focus newsletter.

Global Information Technology Report is a benchmarking tool that can be used to determine national ICT strengths and weaknesses, and to evaluate progress.

The number of female doctorate holders having completed a doctorate degree has shown an increase in Iceland.  Women accounted for 46 per cent of doctoral degrees awarded in 2004.    This marks a considerable increase since 2003 when the proportion was 40 per cent.  All in all, this increase had an affect on the total number of completed degrees in 2004.  In 2003, 35 doctorate students completed their degree, whilst 37 completed their studies in 2004.  According to these figures, 2002 can still be considered a record-breaking year since that was when 48 students completed their degrees.  This can be seen in the annual Rannis analysis of doctorate degree holders.

Iceland supports proposals for a substantial increase of the budget for the coming 7th Framework Programme and reminds of the importance of paying due regard to the impacts from the RTD effort.

The Commission of the European Union has published the European Innovation Scoreboard. Iceland gets high ranking when it comes to Innovation.

http://trendchart.cordis.lu/scoreboards/scoreboard2004/index.cfm

deCODE genetics has announced that it has been awarded a five-year, $23.9 million contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Under the contract, deCODE will apply its population approach and resources to discover genetic factors associated with susceptibility to certain infectious diseases and with vaccine response. deCODE will be working with scientists at the University of New Mexico (UNM) to conduct functional validation of biological pathways discovered through its genetics research. The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) will provide bioinformatics resources to make study information and results available to the scientific community.

More on deCODE web site:  (www.decode.com.)