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Though dwarfed by their neighbours, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are not short of scientific prowess

Netherlands

In its latest global competitiveness the World Economic Forum ranks the Dutch third in the world for the speed at which they adopt new technologies and eighth in terms of education. Besides putting effort into training its own scientists, the Netherlands lures 鈥渒nowledge workers鈥� from other countries with tax breaks. The fact that English is widely spoken is also a selling point, as is the extensive network of bike paths if you are a cyclist.

Holding back the sea听听听听听听听听

A quarter of the Netherlands lies below sea level. 鈥淲ith sea levels rising, people all over the world want to know how the Dutch do it,鈥� says Astrid van Bragt of , a research and consulting firm specialising in water management in river deltas, where a substantial proportion of the world鈥檚 population lives. It is one of many research organisations in the Delft-Rotterdam region that make up the science park , which also includes the Technical University of Delft and Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Science Port Holland encourages collaboration between academia and industry.

鈥淲ith sea levels rising, people all over the world want to know how the Dutch keep the sea at bay鈥�

Europeans in space听听听听听听听听

With 18 member states, the European Space Agency flies the Ariane rocket, despatches experiments and astronauts to the International Space Station, and launches missions such as the GOCE satellite, which went up in 2009 to map the Earth鈥檚 precise shape. The agency鈥檚 biggest laboratory is the (ESTEC) in Noordwijk 鈥� the 鈥渋ncubator of the European space effort鈥�. Its engineers and scientists analyse data from past space flights, manage ongoing missions and design future spacecraft. Current projects include the Don Quijote mission, investigating the feasibility of deflecting an incoming asteroid by crashing a spacecraft into it.

Fixing farming听听听听听听听听聽

The Dutch are famous for growing things, from tulips to Friesian cows, and Wageningen is the place to do research into all aspects of food production. The carries out world-leading research on crops and livestock, and is surrounded by a cluster of institutes devoted to applied research under the banner of the Wageningen University and Research Centre. This is part of a broader network called , which includes numerous firms in the food industry 鈥� from biotech companies to contract research organisations to specialist ingredients suppliers. Food Valley facilitates contacts between universities, research institutes and businesses, and rents out lab space for testing new food processing techniques and housing start-ups.

High-tech, high spend听听听听听听听听聽

Eindhoven lies at the heart of a region called , which takes in the , plus smaller technical schools and high-tech firms. These companies, which together spend nearly 鈧�2 billion a year on R&D, range from start-ups to giants such as Philips Healthcare and ASML, which makes lithography equipment for etching semiconductors. 鈥淲e employ 6500 people, nearly half of them researchers, and the same number work for nearby companies in our supply chain,鈥� says ASML鈥檚 senior vice-president of human resources, Harry de Vos. Brainport companies fund expatriate social clubs to help integrate foreign staff.

Belgium

Two-thirds of Belgians are Dutch-speaking Flemish, and one-third are French-speaking Walloons. Though Wallonia once thrived on coal mining and steel production, it has declined like other rust belts. Flanders now boasts most of Belgium鈥檚 high-tech activity. Brussels, the capital, is home to a large international community employed at the European Union institutions and other international organisations. One reason they stay: good food, fine chocolate and 500 kinds of beer.

鈥淎part from the science, people come to Belgium for its fine chocolate and 500 kinds of beer鈥�

Chips with everything听听听听听听听听

Based in the ancient university town of Leuven, may be the place to head if you want to help develop the next generation of micro and nanoscale electronics. Besides employing 1100 scientists, the company hosts around 500 visiting scientists at a time from companies like Intel or Panasonic, says Katrien Marent, head of communications. PhD and master鈥檚 students working on microprocessor technology, smart systems and energy can use the company鈥檚 facilities, and internships lasting from three to 18 months are available to students, depending on their level of expertise and nationality. The company also runs , a series of classes and seminars about its research.

You could end up working on the production of miniaturised, wearable heart and brain monitors, a system to detect cancer using thermal imaging, and semiconductors based on polymers rather than silicon.

Vaccines for the future听听听听听听听听聽

GlaxoSmithKline, the world鈥檚 second biggest vaccine maker, carries out all its R&D on 鈥� drugs or vaccines derived from proteins 鈥� in Rixensart, on the outskirts of Brussels. It employs 1600 scientists, runs two-year graduate training courses in areas such as global vaccines development and procurement, and offers unpaid lasting from three weeks to six months. 鈥淲e look for people who know a bit of French,鈥� says hiring manager Roya Paganini, 鈥渁s the lab technicians make it a French-speaking environment 鈥� but we also give lessons.鈥�

Biotech heaven听听听听听听听听聽聽

In the 1980s Belgian biologist Marc Van Montagu invented a way to genetically modify plants. The company he founded, Plant Genetic Systems in Ghent, became the nucleus of Flanders Bio, a which now includes more than 220 biotech companies. Many were initially supported by the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology or , which employs 1200 researchers across four Belgian universities. One such company is , which makes what it calls 鈥渘anobodies鈥� 鈥� pharmaceuticals based on antibody fragments. Edwin Moses, the British chief executive, says the region is 鈥渆xtremely easy to live in鈥�, partly because English is widely spoken.

Luxembourg

Tiny, wealthy Luxembourg is so international in its outlook that it educates its people in German and French as well as in its own L毛tzebuergesch dialect, and sent its students abroad for university until finally founding its own in 2003.

Rapid expansion听听听听听听听听

Though still dominated by its discreet banking system, Luxembourg鈥檚 economy has started to diversify 鈥� especially into science, in the hope of attracting high-tech companies. To this end, the government is pumping money into the fledgling , funding the construction of a new arts and sciences campus. Two years ago it set up the university鈥檚 to work on electronic security, a subject clearly of interest to the country鈥檚 main industry. Symeon Chatzinotas, a Greek postdoc at the centre who works on cooperative wireless networks, says they expect to grow from 60 to 100 researchers this year.