This title is about the most important concept underpinning current European Union research policy. It focuses on the notion of the European Research Area, a European 'internal market' for research, whose achievement will become the main objective of EU research policy once the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.

Since the European Research Area was launched at the beginning of the century, significant efforts have been made to realise the vision of a coherent space for science and research in Europe. But how does one define such a space and measure its development? This timely book analyses the dynamics of change in the policy and governance of science and research within Europe over the past decade. It widens the scope of traditional policy analysis by focusing attention on the interaction between policy rationales, new governance mechanisms, and the organisational dynamics of the scientific field. The contributors build a novel analytical framework to understand the European research space as one shifting from a fragmented space of “Science in Europe” to one that is labeled “European Science”. The chapters explore the dynamics of this shift through the lenses of political science, organisation theory, science policy and related analytical traditions. Towards European Science is an interdisciplinary book which will attract a wide set of scholars and professionals interested in science policy, governance and scientific practice. It will also be of use to university leaders and managers, as well as policy-makers and practitioners working on issues of internationalisation and the Europeanisation of science.

Recoge: 1. Europe's place in the changing world of science and technology - 2. The EU and the european research area.

"The 2007 Key Figures on science, technology and innovation takes a detailed look at the most important aspects of EU investment and performance in the knowledge-based economy, and in this regard benchmarks the EU and its Member States against their main competitors. The set of benchmarking indicators used consists of live broad categories - R & D expenditure, human resources, scientific performance, technological performance, and the impacts of S & T performance on competitiveness (e.g. high-tech trade performance) - and is organised in two main parts. The first part compares the European Union with the other main world regions. The second part examines intra-European differences and similarities, convergences and divergences by analysing the performances of the Member States in relation to each other and to the EU average."--Ed.