Strong spending and recruitment keep countries in this region near the top of the world's output in the Index, and scientists from universities collaborate more with their neighbours.
One 2014 article in the Index came from Cambridge materials scientist, Jason Robinson, and colleagues. This article in Nature Communications describes a breakthrough in the field of spintronics, a technology that could help create super-fast computers, processing data using the electron property 'spin' rather than charge. The paper provides the first evidence that superconducting materials, which carry current without losing energy, can be made into data processing devices using a layered magnetic material containing the element holmium. Robinson says one of Cambridge's strengths is the sense of a collective way of working. He says, “When I first arrived there wasn't as much interaction between departments, but now I feel there is a lot of collaboration going on.”