SCOTLAND is falling behind its international competitors in the amount of public funding it spends on vital university research, according to a new report.

A new study found Scotland spends just 1.6 per cent of its GDP on research - "substantially less" than leading European companies such as Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

The report also found that businesses in Scotland only contributed 3.1 per cent of the £24.1 billion invested in business research and co-operation between universities and business which is lower than other parts of the UK.