International Science Engagement Fact Sheet 

KEY POINTS 

• Approximately 97% of scientific discoveries occur overseas.  Australia, like most countries – with notable exceptions such as the USA – is a net importer of knowledge.
• Science is an increasingly globalised activity. Effective international engagement plays an important role in contributing to the quality of Australian science and its capacity to deliver benefits to the broader community.  
• Engagement and integration with the global science system enables Australian science to achieve more that it could on its own, including by providing access to knowledge, networks, technologies, people and infrastructure that are not available domestically.  
• Increased globalisation of science and research activity and global problems such as climate change are leading to an increased emphasis on international scientific engagement.  While many nations have specific funds set aside to allow participation in major international engagement activities, Australia has tended to take a more ad hoc approach.  
• The complexity, cost and accelerating time-to-market of leading edge scientific and technological activity means participation in global research is vital if Australia is to access new discoveries and generate improvements in the nation’s economic and social well-being.
• International collaboration is growing strongly, as demonstrated by the share of research papers involving authors from more than one country.  Australian researchers do not collaborate as extensively as their colleagues in many European countries but conduct more collaborative work than researchers in the US and Asian countries.  
• In 2007, 58 per cent of all papers with an Australian author possessed an international co-author, an increase from 39 per cent in 2003.
• Australia was assessed by the European Commission in 2007 as demonstrating relatively strong performance in innovation drivers (structural conditions required for innovation potential) and innovation and entrepreneurship (efforts towards innovation at a firm level), but comparatively weak in terms of investment  in R&D activities and intellectual property outcomes.
• To maintain its access to current science and make the most of limited resources, Australia must therefore identify and target international partners for S&T collaboration.