Research and development in the context of Funding of science

The People's Republic of China has a developing mixed socialist market economy, incorporating industrial policies and strategic five-year plans. China has the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and since 2016 has been the world's largest economy when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). China accounted for 19% of the global economy in 2022 in PPP terms, and around 18% in nominal terms in 2022. The economy consists of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and mixed-ownership enterprises, as well as a large domestic private sector which contribute approximately 60% of the GDP, 80% of urban employment and 90% of new jobs.

China is the world's largest manufacturing industrial economy and exporter of goods. China is widely regarded as the "powerhouse of manufacturing", "the factory of the world" and the world's "manufacturing superpower". Its production exceeds that of the nine next largest manufacturers combined. However, exports as a percentage of GDP have steadily dropped to just around 20%, reflecting its decreasing importance to the Chinese economy. Nevertheless, it remains the largest trading nation in the world and plays a prominent role in international trade. Manufacturing has been transitioning toward high-tech industries such as electric vehicles, renewable energy, telecommunications and IT equipment, and services has also grown as a percentage of GDP. However, recent research indicates that China’s Total factor productivity (TFP) growth has slowed significantly. IMF estimates show that TFP growth declined from approximately 3.7% in the 2000s to around 1.9% during 2010–2019. Structural reforms and technological progress in manufacturing between 2010 and 2020 contributed only modestly to productivity gains. Additionally, a 2024–2025 IMF working paper finds that factor misallocation resulting from industrial and regulatory policies implemented since the early 2010s reduces China’s aggregate TFP by roughly 1.2% annually. IMF research suggests that while China’s state-led push for high-tech self-reliance since 2013 has supported rapid innovation, it has been accompanied by efficiency losses. Policy measures, including targeted state subsidies appear to favor politically connected firms, crowd out competition, and lead to overcapacity, undermining overall productivity. China is the world's largest high technology exporter. As of 2023, the country spends around 2.6% of GDP to advance research and development across various sectors of the economy. It is also the world's second-largest importer of goods. China is a net importer of services products.

South Korea has a highly developed mixed economy. By nominal GDP, the economy was worth ₩2.61 quadrillion (US$1.87 trillion). It has the 4th largest economy in Asia and the 13th largest in the world as of 2025. South Korea is notable for its rapid economic development from an underdeveloped nation to a developed, high-income country in a few decades. This economic growth has been described as the Miracle on the Han River, which has allowed it to join the OECD and the G20. It is included in the group of Next Eleven countries as having the potential to play a dominant role in the global economy by the middle of the 21st century. Among OECD members, South Korea has a highly efficient and strong social security system; social expenditure stood at roughly 15.5% of GDP. South Korea spends around 4.93% of GDP on advanced research and development across various sectors of the economy.

South Korea's education system and the establishment of a motivated and educated populace were largely responsible for spurring the country's high technology boom and economic development. South Korea began to adapt an export-oriented economic strategy in the 1960s to fuel its economy. In 2022, South Korea was the ninth largest exporter and ninth largest importer in the world. The Bank of Korea and the Korea Development Institute periodically release major economic indicators and economic trends of the economy of South Korea.

Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to controlling sources of bias and error. These activities are characterized by accounting and controlling for biases. A research project may be an expansion of past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects or the project as a whole.

The primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied research) are documentation, discovery, interpretation, and the research and development (R&D) of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. There are several forms of research: scientific, humanities, artistic, economic, social, business, marketing, practitioner research, life, technological, etc. The scientific study of research practices is known as meta-research.

Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied research uses scientific theories to develop technology or techniques, which can be used to intervene and alter natural or other phenomena. Though often driven simply by curiosity, basic research often fuels the technological innovations of applied science. The two aims are often practiced simultaneously in coordinated research and development.

In addition to innovations, basic research serves to provide insights and public support of nature, possibly improving conservation efforts. Technological innovations may influence engineering concepts, such as the beak of a kingfisher influencing the design of a high-speed bullet train.

Technological change or technological development is the overall process of invention, innovation and diffusion of technology or processes. In essence, technological change includes the invention of technologies (including processes) and their commercialization or release as open source via research and development (producing emerging technologies), the continual improvement of technologies (in which they often become less expensive), and the diffusion of technologies throughout industry or society (which sometimes involves disruption and convergence). In short, technological change is based on both better and more technology.

A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within institutions of higher education, a fellow is a member of a highly ranked group of teachers at a particular college or university or a member of the governing body in some universities. It can also be a specially selected postgraduate student who has been appointed to a post (called a fellowship) granting a stipend, research facilities and other privileges for a fixed period (usually one year or more) in order to undertake some advanced study or research, often in return for teaching services. In the context of medical education in North America, a fellow (also known as a fellow physician) is a doctor who is undergoing a supervised, sub-specialty medical training (fellowship) after having completed a specialty training program (residency). Lastly, In large, R&D-intensive institutions, the term denotes a small number of senior scientists and engineers.

Knowledge-intensive services, abbreviated as KIS, are services that involve activities that are intended to result in the creation, accumulation, or dissemination of knowledge, where knowledge-intensiveness refers to how knowledge is produced and delivered with highly intellectual value-add. Knowledge intensive business services (commonly known as KIBS) are the knowledge-intensive service activities for developing a customized service or product solution to satisfy the client's needs and they are provided mainly for other companies or organizations. These concepts are continuously discussed, formulated, and developed as a part of the constantly evolving academic discipline of knowledge management.

Knowledge-intensive services occupy a central position as an integrator of the innovation system, which by knowledge-intensive processes enables information, people, and systems to interact and where companies, research institutions, and other innovative organizations drive technological and service innovations forward for the advancement of research and development and for business and entrepreneurial purposes.

An intangible asset is an asset that lacks physical substance. Examples are patents, copyright, franchises, goodwill, trademarks, and trade names, reputation, R&D, know-how, organizational capital as well as any form of digital asset such as software and data. This is in contrast to physical assets (machinery, buildings, etc.) and financial assets (government securities, etc.).

Intangible assets are usually very difficult to value. Today, a large part of the corporate economy (in terms of net present value) consists of intangible assets, reflecting the growth of information technology (IT) and organizational capital. Specifically, each dollar of IT has been found to be associated with and increase in firm market valuation of over $10, compared with an increase of just over $1 per dollar of investment in other tangible assets. Furthermore, firms that both make organizational capital investments and have a large computer capital stock have disproportionately higher market valuations.

The arms industry, also known as the defense (or defence) industry or military industry is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and other military technology to a variety of customers, including the armed forces of states and civilian individuals and organizations. Products of the arms industry include weapons, munitions, weapons platforms, communications systems, and other electronics, and related equipment. The arms industry also provides defense-related services, such as logistical and operational support. As a matter of policy, many governments of industrialized countries maintain or support a network of organizations, facilities, and resources to produce weapons and equipment for their military forces (and sometimes those of other countries). This is often referred to as a defense industrial base. Entities involved in arms production for military purposes vary widely, and include private sector commercial firms, state-owned enterprises and public sector organizations, and scientific and academic institutions. Such entities perform a wide variety of functions, including research and development, engineering, production, and servicing of military material, equipment, and facilities. The weapons they produce are often made, maintained, and stored in arsenals.

In some regions of the world, there is a substantial legal trade in firearms for use by individuals (commonly cited purposes include self-defense and hunting/sporting). Illegal small arms trade occurs in many countries and regions affected by political instability.

A white-collar worker is a person who performs knowledge-based, aptitude-based, managerial, or administrative work generally performed in an office or similar setting. White-collar workers include job paths related to banking, finance, compliance, legal, risk management, internal audit, data privacy, cybersecurity, insurance, government, consulting, academia, accountancy, business and executive management, customer support, design, economics, science, technology, engineering, market research, human resources, operations research, marketing, public relations, real estate, information technology, networking, healthcare, architecture, and research and development.

In contrast, blue-collar workers perform manual labor or work in skilled trades; pink-collar workers work in care, health care, social work, or teaching; green-collar workers specifically work in the environmental sector; and grey-collar jobs combine manual labor and skilled trades with non-manual or managerial duties.

The quaternary sector of the economy is based upon the economic activity that is associated with either the intellectual or knowledge-based economy. This consists of information technology; media; research and development; information-based services such as information-generation and information-sharing; and knowledge-based services such as consultation, entertainment, broadcasting, mass media, telecommunication, education, information technology, financial planning, blogging, and designing.Other definitions describe the quaternary sector as pure services. This may consist of the entertainment industry, to describe media and culture, and government. This may be classified into an additional quinary sector.

The term reflects the analysis of the three-sector model of the economy, in which the primary sector produces raw materials used by the secondary sector to produce goods, which are then distributed to consumers by the tertiary sector.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and development services to government and industrial clients.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets and personnel were transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NACA is an initialism, pronounced as individual letters rather than as a whole word, as was NASA during the early years after being established.

Among other advancements, NACA research and development produced the NACA duct, a type of air intake used in modern automotive applications, the NACA cowling, and several series of NACA airfoils, which are still used in aircraft manufacturing.

Deep technology (deep tech) is a classification of organization, or more typically startup company, with the expressed objective of providing technology solutions based on substantial scientific or engineering challenges. They present challenges requiring lengthy research and development, and large capital investment before successful commercialization. Their primary risk is technical risk, while market risk is often significantly lower due to the clear potential value of the solution to society. The underlying scientific or engineering problems being solved by deep tech (and hard tech companies) generate valuable intellectual property and are hard to reproduce.

Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logical sciences to advance health care treatment, including diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy. Also included under the scope of a biomedical engineer is the management of current medical equipment in hospitals while adhering to relevant industry standards. This involves procurement, routine testing, preventive maintenance, and making equipment recommendations, a role also known as a Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) or as a clinical engineer.

Biomedical engineering has recently emerged as its own field of, as compared to many other engineering fields. Such an evolution is common as a new field transitions from being an interdisciplinary specialization among already-established fields to being considered a field in itself. Much of the work in biomedical engineering consists of research and development, spanning a broad array of subfields (see below). Prominent biomedical engineering applications include the development of biocompatible prostheses, various diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices ranging from clinical equipment to micro-implants, imaging technologies such as MRI and EKG/ECG, regenerative tissue growth, and the development of pharmaceutical drugs including biopharmaceuticals.