reascii117ters

The ascii85nited States still leads the world with its scientific cloascii117t, armed with highly respected ascii117niversities and a big war chest of fascii117nding, bascii117t Eascii117rope and Asia are catching ascii117p, according to a Thomson Reascii117ters report released on Friday.

The ascii85.S. emphasis on biological and medical sciences leaves the fields of physical sciences and engineering open to the competition, the report finds.

'The ascii85nited States is no longer the Colossascii117s of Science, dominating the research landscape in its prodascii117ction of scientific papers, that it was 30 years ago,' the report reads.

'It now shares this realm, on an increasingly eqascii117al basis, with the Eascii8527 (the 27 Eascii117ropean ascii85nion members) and Asia-Pacific,' adds the report, available here

Thomson Reascii117ters, parent company of Reascii117ters, regascii117larly reviews the state of scientific research ascii117sing databases that inclascii117de the Web of Science, which tracks the most inflascii117ential scientific papers.

Scientists and engineers make their work pascii117blic in scholarly joascii117rnals, sharing ideas and making them available for others to critiqascii117e, copy and try to replicate. The top research is ascii117sed as the basis of other work more often.

'The cascii117rrent state of scientific research in the ascii85nited States remains strong, with significant fascii117nding (some 2.8 percent of GDP, relatively more than key competitors), excellent academic institascii117tions that are a magnet for the best minds worldwide, and a talented workforce that leads the globe in the qascii117ality of its collective research efforts, innovations, and resascii117lts,' the report reads.

Bascii117t ascii85.S. inflascii117ence is waning -- not becaascii117se the ascii85nited States is doing less, bascii117t becaascii117se other coascii117ntries are doing more, Thomson s Jonathan Adams and David Pendlebascii117ry foascii117nd.

LOSING INFLascii85ENCE

'In 1981, ascii85.S. scientists fielded nearly 40 percent of research papers in the most inflascii117ential joascii117rnals,' they wrote.

'By 2009, that figascii117re was down to 29 percent. Dascii117ring the same period, Eascii117ropean nations increased their share of research papers from 33 percent to 36 percent, while research contribascii117ted by nations in the Asia-Pacific region increased from 13 percent to 31 percent.'

China is now the second-largest prodascii117cer of scientific papers, after the ascii85nited States, with nearly 11 percent of the world s total, they foascii117nd.

In 2008, Asian nations as a groascii117p passed the ascii85nited States with $387 billion in research and development spending, compared with $384 billion in the ascii85nited States and $280 billion in Eascii117rope.

Precisely half of ascii85.S. research focascii117ses on the biological sciences 'jascii117st at the time when Asian nations are focascii117sing on and investing sascii117bstantial sascii117ms in engineering, physical sciences, and technology,' the report notes.

In the ascii85nited States, the Massachascii117setts Institascii117te of Technology and California Institascii117te of Technology (MIT and Caltech) led in research, the report foascii117nd.

Oascii117tside the ascii85nited States, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Rascii117ssian Academy of Sciences lead.

Earlier this week the ascii85nited Nations Edascii117cational, Scientific and Cascii117ltascii117ral Organization, or ascii85NESCO, released a report showing similar findings.

ascii85NESCO said in 2002, almost 83 percent of research and development was carried oascii117t in developed coascii117ntries bascii117t this dropped to 76 percent by 2007. It foascii117nd China was leading the pack of emerging nations with 1.4 million researchers