London Dominates List Of Top U.K. Science Cities

Ask anyone in the United Kingdom which city in their country contains the greatest number of working scientists and you’re al most sure to hear it’s London. But if you ask which cities grew the fastest in number of publishing scientists during the last decade, probably few would guess Nottingham and Leicester. Yet, these two Midlands cities outpaced all others in a list of the top 20 science-active cities in the United Kingdom, according to a recent analysis by The Scientist. Th


Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

Ask anyone in the United Kingdom which city in their country contains the greatest number of working scientists and you’re al most sure to hear it’s London. But if you ask which cities grew the fastest in number of publishing scientists during the last decade, probably few would guess Nottingham and Leicester.

Yet, these two Midlands cities outpaced all others in a list of the top 20 science-active cities in the United Kingdom, according to a recent analysis by The Scientist.

The scientific population of Nottingham grew at an average annual rate of 25.2% between 1977 and 1987, while that of Leicester grew at an annual rate of 23.8%—far above the 14.1% average for the other 18 in the group.

In terms of absolute numbers, however, thirteenth-ranking Nottingham and eighteenth-ranking Leicester—with 1,486 and 967 publishing scientists, respectively—don’t even compete with London, which claimed more than 18,000 within its borders in ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide