Europe’s fragmentation impacts research

Europe is famously fragmented. Even within the EU (not to mention the wider European region), different countries have different rules and regulations and businesses and researchers who are trying to collaborate have to find a way through the jungle of institutions, rules and regulations.

Compare this situation with the US, where academic researchers and businesses developing new technologies face essentially one system of grant-making institutions and one system of regulations. It is much easier to engage in research collaborations with other universities and businesses if you are in the US than if you are in Germany, trying to collaborate with someone in Spain or the UK.

This isn’t a problem in a world where research can be done within one institution, but when it comes to AI, quantum computing, biotech, etc., the research efforts are becoming increasingly complex and require more and more collaborators, each with their own speciality. And this means that the less fragmented research and innovation landscape in the US provides a distinct advantage compared to Europe.

A team from Harvard and the European Commission tried to measure the fragmentation of the academic and private sector research and innovation landscape by measuring collaborations in patent filings and scientific publications. Then they scored the complexity of the research field in general and arrived at the map below for scientific publications.

Research and innovation fragmentation in Europe and the US, and the complexity of research

What this chart shows is that Europe has an advantage over the US in fields like engine and pump technology, telecommunication technology, but also green tech and semiconductors. The US, meanwhile, has an advantage in medtech, biotech, life sciences more broadly, and computer technology.

The darkness of the spots indicates the complexity of the fields, and they make it clear that in more complex fields, the US has a clear advantage. Meanwhile, the only complex research fields where Europe leads the US are in green tech and semiconductor research. The authors of the study conclude that the higher fragmentation of the research environment in Europe is becoming an increasing obstacle to competing with the US in cutting-edge research for the 21st century.