Universities struggling against US in Nobel quest

Varsity 14 August 2015

New analysis shows that US institutions are far outstripping their UK rivals in the number of Nobel Prizes received, despite the UK producing the second highest number of Nobel Laureates since the millennium, writes Keir Baker for Varsity.

The data, released this month by Times Higher Education, shows British academics receiving 12 Nobel Prizes since the year 2000, second to academics based in the United States, who received 71 out of a possible 146 prizes. The data also outlines the countries and the higher education institutions that have been most successful this century in producing recipients of the world-renowned prize.

According to Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education rankings, they are “a warning sign” that should flag up some important questions, including whether “...the uniquely pressurised atmosphere created by a series of funding cuts and a growing culture of short-termism and target-setting is taking its toll on our academics' ability to truly find the space to think big”.
Full report on the Varsity site

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