World-class research
Research is vital as it supports Scotland's economic development, enriches our cultural lives, informs decision making and helps us to understand the world around us.
Scotland has one of the strongest university research bases in the world; it produces
1.2 per cent of all new knowledge and is second in the world in terms of impact of its research. These are considerable achievements for a country of only five million people. Scottish scientists are world leaders in specialist areas of research such as health, biological and clinical sciences, informatics and energy technologies.
We seek to deliver a collaborative research base that remains highly competitive internationally; nurtures, attracts and supports world-class international researchers in Scotland; and attracts high levels of project support from research councils, charities, business and the public sector.
We have developed the concept of "research pooling" to encourage greater collaboration between networks of researchers across universities. Research pooling has helped to create a new and distinctive research landscape across Scotland's universities. By concentrating investment on networks of excellence with our partners, we have created powerful, well resourced communities that are now attracting research talent from across the world.
We support universities' research infrastructure (eg academic staff, laboratories, capital equipment) through a stable stream of funding based on quality.