Representing 1 per cent of the world population, the UK produces almost 8 per cent of the publications in peer-reviewed journals, second after the USA; and the UK is second also on the index of the most cited articles. The UK is the first G8 country for the number of publications and patents delivered by invested pound. Since 1945, 58 British individuals have become Nobel Prize laureates in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology and Medicine (in which they are, again, second after their US colleagues).

These figures are perhaps part of the reason why, among students who wish to attend a university outside of their native country, 12 per cent choose to go to the UK, the second destination after the USA. Supporting this choice is the excellent international ranking enjoyed by British universities. Thus, the 2009 Shanghai ranking puts two British universities (Cambridge and Oxford) in the top 10, and 11 in the first 100, the overwhelming majority of them being American. For the Times Higher Education 2009 ranking, 4 out of the top 10 universities are British (Cambridge, University College London, Oxford and Imperial College London), with 18 being in the top 100.

Finally, there are three other points worthy of mention:

• • Forty-two per cent of postgraduate students are foreigners, compared with 33 per cent in the American universities.

• • Eighty-five per cent of the public research and development funds are captured by only 25 universities out of 166 higher education institutions; this tendency might increase as we enter a period of constrained funding, meaning that selection of projects will be harsher.

• • Considering the number of authors at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique co-signing a paper with foreign laboratory colleagues, the scientists belonging to British labs rank second currently, just behind their German colleagues.