French report shows emergence of new research powers in Asia while France falls behind and US retreats

A shift is reordering the global scientific hierarchy, according to a report showing that the traditional dominance of the "Triad" (the United States, Europe and Japan) is rapidly giving way to an era of intense scientific globalisation.

This statement is issued by the Observatory of Science and Technology (OST) of the French High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES), in a study from July 2026 examining the evolution of France’s position in global scientific competition over a 20-year period (2005-2024), which was made public on 26/08/2026.

The main finding is a multi-faceted "decoupling" of French and Japanese research from the global vanguard. At the same time, the new hierarchy is marked by the emergence of new research powers such as China, now competing…