First edition of CII – Nature Index shows surge in high-quality scientific publication in India between 2012 and 2014
At number 13, India is among the top 15 countries globally in Nature Index 2014
Providing an eye-opener of sorts, showing India’s premier institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and IISERs doing remarkably well compared to even some of the developed nations of the world, the first of its kind report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Nature Index was released here on the occasion of 5th University – Industry Congress and Higher Education Summit of CII.
The report is the first of a new style of Nature Index analysis which further probes data from the Nature Index to answer questions about India’s place in global science, especially when compared with countries that have similar volumes of index output in 2014 and with broadly similar economic conditions such as Australia, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
The Nature Index database tracks the author affiliations of nearly 60,000 scientific articles published in an independently selected group of 68 high-quality science journals, and charts publication productivity for institutions and countries. The report, titled, “Indian Science Ascending” shows a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8 per cent between 2012 and 2014 in the output of top-quality science in the country. In particular, it chronicles India’s particular strength in the broad discipline of chemistry showing the largest increase in CAGR of 8.6% among the comparator countries.
Commenting on the report, President Designate of CII and Director of Forbes Marshall, Dr Naushad Forbes, said, “This report presents a picture which is refreshingly different from the common perception about Indian scientific output. This perception – of India failing to produce anything of significant scientific value despite a huge young and capable population -- is largely based on media interest. Positive stories rarely attract the attention they deserve. Hopefully, this maiden CII – Nature Index report will change perceptions.”
Director of IIT Kanpur, Prof Manna, said, “Internationalisation, which is one of the focus of this report, is an important component of engineering education today. The Government of India and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) are placing major emphasis on internationalisation of Indian campuses not just at the post-graduate and PhD level but also at the undergraduate level.”
Dr Baldev Raj, Director of National Institute of Advanced Studies, said, ““The CII – Nature Index Report on scientific research output from India is concise yet comprehensive. Few messages which emerge from it are that we need more investment in R&D by both industry and government. We also need to improve translational research which leads to creation of technology and patents. Statistics clearly demonstrate the capability of Indian science both in quality and quantity. De-bureaucratisation and avoiding disruptions in funding of those individuals and institutes which are doing well are other critical parameters for our continued success.”
The collaboration analysis in the report shows that India’s international collaboration far outweighs domestic collaboration, and zooming into links between industry and academia reveals that Indian academic institutions collaborate mainly with international corporations through their international branches.
India’s investment into R&D has stayed less than 1 per cent of its GDP for the past two decades, although the growth in Indian output in the index shows a steady increase. With other new initiatives by the Indian government such as tax incentives for R&D, we are excited to see the outcome in future years and continue working with CII to track the country’s growth both in the quantity of high-quality research and diversity in collaboration patterns. India will continue to be a driver of growth in both the quantity and quality of global research and a country to watch closely.”
Some highlights from the report are:
- At number 13, India is among the top 15 countries globally in Nature Index 2014.
- India's research output has grown steadily since 2012, showing stronger CAGR of 8 per cent than other countries with comparable output and economic conditions.
- Chemistry continues to be India's strongest research area with 50 per cent of India’s overall Nature Index output coming from Chemistry alone.
- The US is India's top collaborator followed by Germany. India collaborates with 85 countries, mostly in Europe. Other strong collaborative ties include East Asia and Australia.
- Institutions in India collaborate mostly with inter¬national counterparts, but their largest collaborations tend to be with other domestic institutions.
- Industry–academia collaboration is at a nascent stage in India, but Indian academic institutions have good collaborative ties with international corporations.
New Delhi
3rd December 2015