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India accounts for just 3.5% of global research output: Study

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NEW DELHI: At a time when India is being looked at as the next big knowledge superpower, this could come as a shocker. Just 3.5% of global research output in 2010 was actually from India. In most disciplines, India's share in global research output was actually much below this overall average count.

Sample this - India's share of world research output in clinical medicine was a meagre 1.9% in 2010, 0.5% in psychiatry, 1.4% in neurosciences, 1.8% in immunology, 2.1% in molecular biology and just 3.5% in environmental research.

In mathematics, India's share of world output stood at around 2% in 2010 while it was 17% for China. In case of materials sciences, India's share of world research stood at 6.4% in 2010 while China's stood at 26% -- a rise from 5% in 1996.

While India's research on physics stood at 4.6% in 2010, China's stood at 19%.

In 2010, India's largest shares of world research output were in chemistry (6.5%), materials science (6.4%), agricultural sciences (6.2%), pharmacology and toxicology (6.1%), microbiology (4.9%), physics (4.6%) and engineering (4.2%).

India is often referred to as the next big place for computer sciences. But the figures on its research is abysmally low. Only 2.4% of global research on computer sciences was from India in 2010 while the world share moved to three emerging research economies - China 15%, Korea 6.3% and Taiwan 5.7%.


India's global share of research in economics stood at 0.7% in 2010 while in social sciences it was worse - 0.6%.

The biggest declines in volume of research between 1981 and 2010 were in plant and animal sciences (-2.2%) and agricultural sciences (-1.6%). The most significant expansions were in pharmacology and toxicology (+4.2%), microbiology (+3.2%) and materials sciences (+3.1%).

These are the findings of the study on India's research output and collaboration conducted by Thomson Reuters and recently submitted to the department of science and technology.

"India has been the sleeping giant of Asia. Research in the university sector, stagnant for at least two decades, is now accelerating but it will be a long haul to restore India as an Asian knowledge hub. Indian higher education is faced with powerful dilemmas and difficult choices - public/private, access/equity, uncertain regulation, different teaching standards and contested research quality," the report said.

According to it, India's share of world output in engineering fell from 4.3% in 1981 to 2.2% by 1995. India later regained its lost share, increasing to 4.25 by 2010. However, even then, India was overtaken by China (16.4%), Korea (5.4%) and Taiwan (4.4%).

India, where agriculture dominates economic standards, had quite a large share in agricultural sciences which averaged 7.45% over the 1981 to 1995 period, well ahead of other emerging research economies. Its share, however, fell to 6.2% in 2010. Even in the field of plant and animal sciences, the global research output fell from 6.1% in 1981 to 3.9% in 2010.

The report said, "India has a long and distinguished history as a country of knowledge, learning and innovation. In the recent past, however, it has failed to realize its undoubted potential as a home for world class research."

It added, "During the 1980s and 90s, the output of India's research was almost static while other countries grew rapidly, particularly in Asia. China expanded with an intensity and drive that led it rapidly to overtake leading European countries in the volume of its research publications. India is just beginning on this gradient."

India accounts for just 3.5% of global research output: Study - The Times of India
 
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It's not that bad. It's just that Indian scientists do the research in the US or Western countries rather than India, so their research counts towards those countries.

Probably because most Indian students that go abroad to study and research rarely go back.
 
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Yup. After Chinese, Indians are favorite choice of foreign Universities. UK took huge steps to lure Indian students as most of them were going to US. There are many events organized by them in India.

Lack of funding, research facilities especially state of the art and low salary, stipend etc. make these bright Indian students go to Western countries.

The article should have focused more on brain drain too.
 
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i know its a shame that india accounts for 8% world population and just 3.5% of the scientific research but considering the fact that we have JUST started, its not bad
 
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This is a Pretty Bad Statistics . We need to pull our socks up . Even if Indian Scientists are doing research in foreign institution there is no point in Tagging them Indians as India as a country will get nothing out of it .
 
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I agree we lack in building good research institutions. India needs huge investments in Rand D and especially in the teachers and lecturers. We have huge talent pool and it needs to be exploited rather than just becoming doctors and engineers we need scientists also.
 
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The article should have focused more on brain drain too.

Brain drain is one reason, but major one would importance of research in Colleges, how many actually are interested in it? even so what facilities do our Universities have?

Also what is private sector's contribution to research?
 
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as of now we spend just 0.8% of GDP on research

we should spend more and should raise world class institutes dedicated to R&D in various fields

these institutes need to be superior than IITs
 
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The majority of the progress made by India in R&D is related to mainly three fields > Nuclear tech and fissile material technology, Space tech and Missile Tech

The reasons are GOI from decades have poured vast amount of money in R&D in these sectors and have backed projects in these fields to ensure that the projects are completed successfully.

The is why ATV,Indian Space Program and IGMDP are successful

These efforts also gave boost to private sector as ISRO and DRDO use components of hundreds of types produced by private firms.

Example> A total of 258 private firms and 20 DRDO laboratories were involved in K 4 Missile Project.

The just 17 gram chip DRDO has just showed to media is produced by Accord Software and Systems, a Bengaluru-based firm.

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...qIDgAQ&usg=AFQjCNF1SuOeEZWDachjAFe-ZhG0FXWx5A

http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...s-17-gm-device-guide-missiles.html?highlight=


DRDO also developed tech to increase missile range by 47%



http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...s-17-gm-device-guide-missiles.html?highlight=
this needs to be done in other sectors too
 
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i know its a shame that india accounts for 8% world population and just 3.5% of the scientific research but considering the fact that we have JUST started, its not bad

by the way, India accounts for 17.5% world population, 2.5% world GDP, to make 3.5% scientific research ,not bad
 
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Yup. After Chinese, Indians are favorite choice of foreign Universities. UK took huge steps to lure Indian students as most of them were going to US. There are many events organized by them in India.

Lack of funding, research facilities especially state of the art and low salary, stipend etc. make these bright Indian students go to Western countries.

The article should have focused more on brain drain too.

the uni I went to in London almost 50% of the students were from India or Pakistan, and mostly doing computer sciences and enginering``and most Chinese went to Business studies, Actrual science, accounting and economices...but after 2008 more Chinese students went to fashion and design```and Indian students still majorly computer and enginering

and also interesting thing is ALL my Chinese friends (who are from rich families and proper unis) went back to China after studies, I was acutally the last one came back to China, and most of my Indian mates went to Dubai and other countries
 
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At a time when India is being looked at as the next big knowledge superpower,

that illusion from the west should have long been bursted by now!

only very few uk universities excel much in computer and engineering. the us still dominates the vast majority of science and engineering disciplines!

This is a rare open frankness:

A study in mediocrity - Hindustan Times
 
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In fact I am disappointed to see China having such a low output in Math and Physics in particular; low in other subjects generally!
 
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