Transatlantic metrics would benefit both EU and US

Julia Lane

The US and the EU have benefited tremendously from science investments. Yet funding agencies in both regions face increased pressure to spend wisely and well. There is clear urgency. The global game has changed. The competition for scientific research has increased: Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle-East are investing heavily in science. Changing technologies have wrought fundamental changes in the way scientific knowledge is created, transmitted and adopted.

There is also increasing demand for measurement of the results of science investments. Funding agencies have called for more of this in both the EU and the US and there has been a proliferation of university rankings since the inception of the first—the influential Shanghai Jiaotong University indicator.