With globalization entering a new phase, a notable feature has been the increase in the extent and depth of world-wide scientific cooperation.
Topics of scientific research are becoming internationalized, as a result of the development of the "global village."
The past year has seen a world repeatedly ravaged by disasters, including the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in the United States, and a world-wide bird flu outbreak.
In today's world, where human society has become more closely linked than ever, it is impossible for any single country to stay safe from a global disaster, such as an epidemic.
Global issues critical to the survival of human beings, such as climate change, developing sustainable and safe energy sources, and the restoration and preservation of the environment, also call for more international coordination and cooperation.
COOPERATION ON MAJOR SCIENTIFIC ISSUES MAKES HEADWAY
In 2005, international cooperation on a number of major science and technology issues has made significant progress.
Under the sponsorship of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), coastal countries concluded their multi-round consultation on the establishment of a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean.
Moreover, at a world disaster relief conference in January 2005 in Kobe, Japan, the United Nations announced a plan to establish a global disaster warning system to give early warning on all types of natural disasters.
The UN Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions also formally came into effect in February 2005, thanks to international efforts.
In October 2005 in Canada, delegates to a UN climate change conference agreed to start negotiation on post-Kyoto Protocol targets, as well as to launch talks on the long-term strategies on the control of global warming.
Global scientific cooperation had another resounding victory when the European Union (EU), the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea and China chose France to host the world's first nuclear fusion reactor in June 2005.
The 10-billion-euro (about US$12.18 billion) project, seeking to turn seawater into fuel by mimicking the way the sun produces energy, marks a major step in the pursuit of seeking cheaper, safer and cleaner energy.
As the bird flu topped the agenda of many international and regional meetings in 2005, the Geneva international conference succeeded in adopting a one-billion-dollar global action plan to combat the disease.
SCIENTIFIC GLOBALIZATION MORE CONVENIENT, MORE NECESSARY
With information and communication technologies renewing daily and capital, talent and knowledge flowing rapidly on a global scale, science and technology research increasingly goes global.
"Offshoring" of research and development is on the rise, with more multinationals setting up research and development (R&D) laboratories abroad, according to a report by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2005.
Foreign companies account for 70 percent of industrial R&D in Hungary and Ireland. The share of R&D conducted by multinationals is also over 40 percent in Portugal, Spain and Sweden, the report said.
In the United States, the world's science and technology powerhouse, multinationals have tripled their science and technology R&D investment since the 1980s, according to other statistics.
As scientific research becomes far more complicated than in the past, cooperation on major scientific projects also becomes a "must" for further scientific development.
Meanwhile, geographic factors have become less important with the advancement of technologies, making it more convenient to conduct scientific cooperation on a global scale. In particular, distance is no longer a problem.
SCIENTIFIC GLOBALIZATION CHALLENGES DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING NATIONS
However, the wave of science and technology globalization brings both opportunities and challenges.
Many developed nations are planning to sharply increase their science and technology investment in the next five to ten years for fears that they may lose the competitive edge in an intensified global arena of scientific competition.
In the United States, there are worries that the country may lose its science and technology leadership without "strong steps." A 500-page National Academy of Sciences study called for more investment in education and research.
The EU recently urged its member states to spend 3 percent of their GDP for R&D by 2010, up from about 1.9 percent in 2000.
Japan has planned to budget a mammoth US$215 billion over the next five years to maintain its reputation as a scientific powerhouse amid fears that it is losing its technological edge.
Britain published a ten-year report in 2005, setting out a long-term vision for science and innovation, together with the aim that public and private investment in R&D should reach 2.5 percent of GDP by 2014, from a current level of 1.9 percent.
Although the phenomenon of increasing scientific globalization opens new possibilities for developing countries to obtain capital and technologies, the scientific dominance of developed countries threatens to further widen the existing "divide" between the developed and the developing.
The "knowledge divide" has further separated countries endowed with powerful research and development potential from nations with deficient education systems and research power, a 2005 UNESCO report said.
As the OECD countries devote an average of 2.2 percent of their GDPs to scientific R&D, in Sub-Saharan African and Arabian countries, the figures only stand at 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent respectively, it said, warning that the "divide" may continue to widen further.