The latest science and technology indicators for Europe show it's ahead of the United States and Japan in the number of students graduating in science and technology disciplines

The latest science and technology indicators for Europe show it's ahead of the United States and Japan in the number of students graduating in science and technology (S&T) disciplines and the amount of industry-university research and development cooperation. According to the European Commission's Science and Technology Indicators 2003 report, the EU accounted for a total of 2.14 million S&T graduates, or more than a quarter of all students graduating in Europe in 2002. This ompared with 2.07 million in the United States and 1.1 million in Japan. The most popular destinations for graduating S&T students were Germany, France and the United Kingdom, which accounted for more than 70 percent of all destinations in Europe. According to the report, Germany attracted more than 40 percent of all foreign S&T employees. While European countries attracted Asian students at a growing rate, U.S. students are the least likely to study in Europe. The exception is Ireland, whose majority of foreign students come from the United States and Canada. The research shows that approximately 5 percent of the 'brain gain' in the EU come from member countries. Germany is most attractive to students from Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, Greece and Spain, and welcomed 59,100 foreign employees. Industry-university cooperation is also stronger in the EU than in the United States or Japan, according to the report. In 1999, the European business sector financed 6.9 percent of European university research expenditure compared with 6.3 percent in the United States and 2.3 percent in Japan. In Europe, German, Belgian and Spanish industry contributed the most to university research, totaling 11.3 percent, 10.9 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, of overall contributions. The report also found that the United States offered better prospects for European science and technology graduates.