Statistics of Indian Research : Two sides of the same Coin

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Background:

India is a democratic and second largest populous country in the world with rapidly expanding economy and scientific production at an impressive rate. India has started the 21st Century well behind Russia, France, Italy and Canada, this needs empowerment and advancements in technology and scientific endeavours. In terms of yearly publications India leads all these countries by healthy margins and now its about to reach Japan. Despite of these gains, Indian publications generate fewer citations on an average when compared to emerging countries like China and Brazil. The brighter spots include several world class centres for science, education and technology investing sufficient funds in Research & Development (R&D). More women almost 14% are participating in science in India heading towards the global progress. 

Top 10 Elite research institutions in India:

1. Punjab University -Chandigarh
2. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research - Mumbai
3. Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science - Kolkata
4. CSIR Chemistry and Physics - 5 locations
5. Indian Institute of Technology - Mumbai
6. Indian Institute of Science - Bengaluru
7. Indian Institute of Technology - Guwahati
8. CSIR industry and standards - 12 locations
9. Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur 
10. Indian Institute of Technology - Chennai

This image is copied from Nature - News Feature; the author of this blog is not responsible for incorrect geographical map of India

Investments in Research and Development: 

India is Asia's second largest country, but has very few scientists; as many Indian born researchers leave for higher positions in abroad and very very few foreign scientists settle in India. The country invests adequate economy in Research & Development and produces relatively very less patents per capita compared to other nations. China's research spending has shot up to almost 2% of its GDP, India languishes around 0.9% and lags behind Brazil and Russia. India spends 171 thousand US $ per researcher, and the United states tops with 342 thousand US$, Pakistan at the bottom with 58 thousand US $. Countries like Hungary, Spain, UK are behind India where as China, Brazil, South Korea, France, Japan, Italy, Germany are beyond. 

Publications and Patents: 

Since 2000, though India has quadrupled its scholarly output the impact remained very low, nearly 30% of the world's average. India is one of the world's leading filters of patents but registers few applications till date. 17 domestic and foreign patent applications are filed in 2013 per 1 million people, whereas South Korea filed 4,451 applications. India lacks behind and has only 2,00,000 full-time researchers i.e.; 1 researcher per 10,000 labour force and ranks behind Chile and Kenya. This is because 40% of Indian researchers settle in abroad for higher positions.

Reference: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v521/n7551/

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Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia