RAMALLAH, November 18, 2009 (WAFA)- Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Wednesday that the total expenditure on research and development in the West Bank was $10.9 million.
In a press release, PCBS said it has implemented for the second time data collection on research and development through administrative records of research & development institutions. Data represent the institutions in the West Bank only.
The total number of institutions was 56 institutions, of which 12 institutions the interview results was (refused and incomplete) and 44 institutions that it’s data was completed, with a response rate 78%, the findings below represent only the 44 completed institutions. Data collected during the third quarter of 2009, focused on the human resources in research and development, types of research and their purposes, the amount spent on each type of research, sources of funding and the most important achievements such as the number of patents and research published locally and internationally.
The most important findings were as follow: Data showed that the number of employees in research and development reached 1,542 workers representing 669 workers in full time equivalent in 2008, compared with 1,555 workers representing 566 workers in full time equivalent in 2007, number of researchers was 992 which represent 363 researchers in full time equivalent in 2008, compared with 981 researchers represent 280 researchers in full time equivalent in 2007. Number of researchers was 150 per million inhabitants in full time equivalent in 2008, compared with 120 researchers in full time equivalent per million inhabitants in 2007. The total number of male researchers was 765 researcher in 2008, compared with 744 researcher in 2007 and number of female researchers was 227 in 2008, compared with 237 researcher in 2007.
Major outputs of research and development in 2008 were as follows: 27 local and international awards, two patents, 389 researches and studies published in journals, 315 studies published in local magazines, 697 studies and consultations, 86 International Standard Book Number (ISBN), and 3 citation indexes. Researches was distributed by type of research as follows: 54.1% studies and consultations, 19.9% basic researches, 19.0% applied researches, and 7.0% experimental researches.
The total expenditure on research and development was $10.9 million, representing $30,000 for each researcher in full time equivalent. Sources of funding for research and development was as follows: 40.3% direct fund from abroad, 32.0% self-financing, 13.8% from non-profit institutions, 5.7% from governmental institutions, 2.1% from private institutions, 0.5% from higher education institutions, and 5.6% the source of funding was not stated.
