The Israeli government plans to create 30 centers of academic excellence over a five-year period. The $347 million project will be funded in equal amounts by the government, the host institution and a specific foundation for each center. In the coming academic year, the first five centers will be established. The centers are designed to […]

According to a survey by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, the country’s number of R&D personnel for the year ended March 31, 2009 rose 0.9% to 10,650. Excluding research assistants, technical staff and administrators, the number of researchers increased 1.4% to 8,390. Japan’s R&D spending for the year ended March 31, 2008 declined 0.8% to […]

India’s 2010–2011 budget proposal increased funding for the Ministry of Science and Technology by 17.0% to INR 4825 crore ($1.1 billion). Within the Ministry, the Department of Biotechnology’s budget rose 19.3% to INR 1222 crore, 32% of which goes to R&D, a 15.7% increase. The budget for the Department of Science and Technology, also part […]

The economic downturn has hurt European companies in the microtechnology, nanotechnology and advanced materials industries, according to a survey by IVAM Research completed in December 2009. The sector accounted for nearly €44 billion ($62 billion) in revenues in 2009 and had 310,000 employees. Twenty-seven percent of the companies surveyed reported a decline of more than […]

China’s R&D spending increased 24.4% to CNY 461.6 billion ($67.5 billion) in 2008, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Experimental-development expenditures increased 25.5% to represent 82.8% of total annual R&D expenditures, while spending on applied research and basic research increased 16.7% and 26.5% to represent 12.5% and 4.8%, respectively. Enterprises’ R&D spending increased 26.1%, […]