The Polish government is working on revamping its higher education system to better optimize innovation in the country. With a low ranking on the European Innovation Scoreboard, Poland lacks an international reputation for scientific research and innovation and has “modest” scientific output, as only 5% of Polish scientific publications are amongst the 10 most frequently cited papers worldwide. The country has healthy public R&D investments, yet is underperforming in its R&D output. This is likely due to Poland keeping its scientific outputs on a national level instead of participating in international collaborations, creating a fragmented science industry. This is evident with the lack of cohesion amongst Polish universities, as R&D projects are distributed to institutions that are higher ranked. However, although higher education R&D expenditure (HERD) is low in Poland, it is steadily increasing, as HERD totaled PLN 4.7 million ($1.3 million) in 2014, a 21.7% increase from 2010. Business expenditure in R&D (BERD) has also increased, especially corporate R&D, though it is sluggish in international comparison. In 2015, Polish BERD was 0.44% of GDP, a 0.22% increase from 2011; however, this is far below the 1.3% average of the EU. Poland has the lowest rate, at 10%, in the EU of small- to medium-sized enterprises innovating in-house. In regards to ease of business between government and corporate enterprises, Poland has increased its World Bank ranking from 76^th in 2009 to 25^th in 2016.

Poland is developing better links between business and science, but currently, only 10% of innovative companies collaborate with higher education institutions. By reforming the higher education system, developing better research priorities, focusing on international networking and collaboration, and establishing stronger and more easily accessible associations between science and industry, Poland is working on implementing a sustainable strategy to create a more comprehensive science system.

Source: European Commission