Medical and health sciences (for R&D data): To break down R&D expenditure and personnel by fields of research and development.

Researchers by fields of research and development : Professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge (who conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models, techniques instrumentation, software or operational methods) broken down by fields of research and development. The fields included are:
1. Natural sciences
2. Engineering and technology
3. Medical and health sciences
4. Agricultural and veterinary sciences
5. Social sciences
6. Humanities and the arts.

Medical and health sciences (for R&D data): Medical and health sciences include: basic medicine; clinical medicine; health sciences; medical biotechnology; and other medical sciences.

Full-time equivalent (FTE) of R&D personnel: The Full-time equivalent (FTE) of R&D personnel is defined as the ratio of working hours actually spent on R&D during a specific reference period (usually a calendar year) divided by the total number of hours conventionally worked in the same period by an individual or by a group. In other words, one full-time equivalent may be thought of as one person-year. Thus, a person who normally spends 30% of his/her time on R&D and the rest on other activities (such as teaching, university administration and student counselling) should be considered as 0.3 FTE. Similarly, if a full-time R&D worker is employed at an R&D unit for only six months, this results in an FTE of 0.5. Therefore, it is measured by combining two variables: actual involvement in R&D activities and formal engagement on the basis of normative/statutory working hours. FTE is considered to be a true measure of the volume of R&D and also the main R&D personnel statistic for international comparisons.