Improve quality of research
Harender Raj Gautam
ADVANCEMENT in science is necessary for the progress of any country, because it brings future technological revolutions that make industries globally competitive. However, science can progress only with quality research which is needed for cutting edge technologies. Of the four Indians to win the Nobel Prize in Science, only C. V. Raman was awarded for research work done in India. Other three recipients, Hargobind Khurana, S. Chandrashekhar and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, were honoured for research at foreign institutions.

UK kids with English as first language now in minority
THE number of children who count English as their mother tongue are now in the minority at more than 1,600 schools across England. According to the Daily Mail, the new figures show that close to one million children who now attend schools in England do not have English as their first language at home - with the multicultural effects of migration now showing in the nation's classrooms.

Campus Notes
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
Admission schedule released
GURU Nanak Dev University has released the admission schedule for the 2012-13 academic session. According to Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar, the admissions will be held up to July 16 without late fee and with the approval of the Head of the Department till July 20. Admission can also be sought with the permission of the Dean, Academic Affairs, up to July 25 and with the permission of the Vice-Chancellor till August 1. From August 2 to 8, admission can be sought with a late fee of Rs 5,000 and is subject to the approval of the Syndicate of the university.

• Admission deadline

Improve quality of research
Harender Raj Gautam

Research papers published in India have 2.7 citations per paper in comparison to 6 citations per publication in the US and the UK

ADVANCEMENT in science is necessary for the progress of any country, because it brings future technological revolutions that make industries globally competitive. However, science can progress only with quality research which is needed for cutting edge technologies. Of the four Indians to win the Nobel Prize in Science, only C. V. Raman was awarded for research work done in India. Other three recipients, Hargobind Khurana, S. Chandrashekhar and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, were honoured for research at foreign institutions.

As per the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2011, none of the Indian institutes of higher education figures in the first 200. We find only the Indian Institute of Technology, that too in the penultimate band of 301-350. The World University Rankings are based on the largest global survey of academic opinion, where more than 13,000 experienced academics from 131 countries give their expert views. The World University Rankings are based on 13 different indicators of performance classified into five categories: teaching (learning environment), research (volume, income and reputation), citations (influence of research), industry income, and international outlook pertaining to staff, students and research.

While the US had 45 universities in the top 100, the UK had 12 and Japan five. Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands had four universities each in the top 100. Between 2004 and 2009, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management and Jawaharlal Nehru University figured in the global list of 200 institutes but have slipped out in the new scoring system. Harvard has been ranked as the top university in the world for the sixth consecutive year. China has performed exceedingly well with six of its universities figuring in the list of 200, two in the first 50.

There are number of factors which contribute to the ranking of an institution and among these, quality of research is one of the most important and dominant factor. India was placed eighth in the 1980s in the top 20 countries undertaking scientific research. In the 1990s, we were down to the 12th position. Today, India ranks 21st in terms of output of research papers in science, but 119th in terms of research papers of any worthwhile contribution. In India, number of core researchers was about 1.5 lakh as compared to China’s 8-10 lakh. In India, we have only 157 scientists (research and development) and engineers per million of the population in comparison to 30 times more in countries like the US and Japan, and five times more in South Korea. We have 17 per cent of the global population but account for a mere 1.5 per cent of the global output in research and development. Quality of the research papers is judged by the rating of the journal wherein it is published and further the citation of such publications in the good-rating journals. Publications impact is measured through citations per papers. Research papers published in India have 2.7 citations per paper in comparison to 6 citations per publication in the US and the UK, and 4 citations per article in Japan.

Industry is a critical catalyst of growth in the economy, but it needs continuous input of technological innovations. Technological innovations can be generated with quality research which needs quality scientists and engineers. In India, many institutions are engaged in high standard of quality research but the average is bettered by the volume of publications in poorly-rated journals. We have many ace institutions like the Department of Biotechnology that leads the list of funding agencies with 4.09 citations per paper on an average followed by the Department of Atomic Energy (3.64), Centre of Scientific and Industrial Research (3.24), Department of Science and Technology (3.17) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (1.12). However, there is need to emulate the scientific management and working culture in such institutions. Also, our universities need to encourage academics to publish in top journals and score high on citations per paper with reference to such journals. Further, the Central and state governments should encourage the good researchers with better promotional avenues to boost the talent.

The government funding in research should be on well-defined and time-bound objectives with accountability and rigorous monitoring, so that it is clearly focused. Spending on science has remained at 0.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) as compared to 1.4 per cent in China. In contrast, developed countries’ expenditure on research and development (R&D) is up to 3 per cent of the GDP. Our annual research spending is about $8 billion a year, compared to $250 billion by the US and $60 billion by China. Thus, due to less support in higher education, few people are attracted to pursue higher studies.

According to the Anil Kakodkar Committee, the US and China produce 8,000-9 ,000 Ph.Ds in engineering and technology every year, compared to 1,000 produced by our seven Indian Institutes of Technology in India.

The bulk of India’s research funding continues to flow from the government, but there is need for participation of the industry in research funding, so that the outcome of such research can cater to the needs of the industry. At present, 80 per cent of research funding comes from the public sector, while the private sector share is only 20 per cent. In China and the USA, the public sector share is only 30 per cent each, while in Japan it is only 18 per cent. Therefore, the government should encourage the industry for liberal funding by giving more tax initiatives and other benefits, so that excellence is achieved in this critical area.

Research and Development is in critical focus of the Central government and it is planned to allocate 2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) for research in science and technology in the next Five-Year Plan from April 2012 to March 2017 against the current spending of 0.98 per cent. It is proposed to triple the expenditure from Rs 33, 000 crore in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan to around Rs 90, 000 crore in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.

The writer is Senior Scientist at Dr Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan

UK kids with English as first language now in minority

THE number of children who count English as their mother tongue are now in the minority at more than 1,600 schools across England. According to the Daily Mail, the new figures show that close to one million children who now attend schools in England do not have English as their first language at home - with the multicultural effects of migration now showing in the nation's classrooms.

In UK schools, the number of pupils who do not have English as their mother tongue is steadily increasing by one a week. Classrooms across Britain are becoming more multicultural with one in six youngsters in primary schools not having English as a first language. There are 97 schools where children with English as their first language are in such a minority that they make up less than one in twenty pupils.

The statistics released by the Department of Education shows that in 1997, when Tony Blair first came to power, there were 866 schools in England where more than 50 per cent of the pupils had English as a second language. Last year that figure had nearly doubled in just 14 years to 1,638 schools.

Now, there are 1,363 primary schools, 224 secondary schools and 51 special schools where more than half the pupils come from a non-English speaking background.

A recent study found that Punjabi was the most frequently spoken language among pupils who did not have English as a first language.

After that the most popular languages were Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Somali, Polish, Arabic, Portuguese, Turkish and Tamil. — ANI

Campus Notes
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
Admission schedule released

GURU Nanak Dev University has released the admission schedule for the 2012-13 academic session. According to Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar, the admissions will be held up to July 16 without late fee and with the approval of the Head of the Department till July 20. Admission can also be sought with the permission of the Dean, Academic Affairs, up to July 25 and with the permission of the Vice-Chancellor till August 1. From August 2 to 8, admission can be sought with a late fee of Rs 5,000 and is subject to the approval of the Syndicate of the university. Dr Singh said the departmental students who got promoted to the next classes could seek admission till July 11 without late fee, and with a late fee of Rs 200 from July 12 to 18, subject to the approval of the Head of the Department. With a late fee of Rs 500, along with the approval of the Dean, Academic Affairs, admission can be sought from July 19 to 25, he said. With the approval of the Vice-Chancellor, admission forms will be accepted from students from July 26 to August 6 with a late fee of Rs 1,000. Admissions can also be sought from August 8 to 16 with the approval of the Syndicate with a late fee of Rs 5,000, he added.

Teachers must help boost confidence of students: VC

The School of Punjabi Studies organised a conference on "Aadhunik Punjabi Galap: Navay Rujhaan" at the Conference Hall of the university recently. More than 20 eminent personalities of the Punjabi literature were present on the occasion. Professor A.S. Brar, Vice-Chancellor, in his presidential remarks talked about various academic activities. He also urged upon the teachers to help boost confidence of students to disseminate maximum knowledge. "The university is committed to provide state-of-art infrastructure and education-friendly atmosphere on the campus for this purpose," he said. Meanwhile, Dr Ajmer Singh Aulakh and Dr Baldev Singh Sadaknama were honoured by the School of Punjabi Studies.

Swami Bhrahmdev awarded

The 26th foundation day of Gurudwara Sahib was celebrated on the university campus recently. Swami Bhrahmdev Udasi was awarded "Bhai Nand Lal Goya Sanmaan 2011" for his research and writings on the role and contribution of Udasi Panth in the Sikh society by the Registrar of the university, Dr Inderjit Singh. The university students also organised an exhibition showcasing publications of classical and creative world literature on the occassion.

Seminar on microbiology

A UGC-SAP sponsored national seminar on "Current Scenario of Microbiology" was organised at the Conference Hall of the university recently. About 15 research papers were presented on the concluding day. The valedictory session was presided over by Dean, Academic Affairs, Prof. Rajinderjit Kaur Pawar. The speaker at the valedictory function was Prof. Anand Bacchawat from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali. Presenting his research paper on "Glutathione Metabiolism—New Insights from Yeast", Prof. Anand said glutathione is an important enzyme that counteracts reactive oxygen species generated in human cells by simple action of breathing and respiration. Professor R.K. Saxena from the Department of Microbiology, Delhi University, South Campus, talked about "microbial cellulose" which has versatile applications in various fields such as medical, cosmetics and food industries. Prof. Sanjay Chhibber from the Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, delivered a lecture on "Combating Bacterial Inaccessibility in Biofilms by using Novel Delivery Systems". He explained that certain human bacterial pathogens could form bio-films, which show resistance to antibiotics and immune system. — Contributed by G. S. Paul

Admission deadline
Armed Forces

Indian Navy, Post Bag No 04, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi 110066
www.nausena-bharti.nic.in

Eligibility: For 1,2,3,4,5: Unmarried Indian men;
For 1: BE / BTech: (Mechanical / Marine / Automotive / Mechatronics / Industrial & Production / Metallurgy / Aeronautical / Aerospace / Control) (60%)
For 2: BE / BTech: (Electrical / Electronics / Telecommunication / Instrumentation / Instrumentation & Control / Electronics & Instrumentation / Electronics & Communication / Power / Control Systems / Power Electronics / Computer Science) (60%)
For 3: BE / BTech: (Mechanical) (60%)
For 4: BE / BTech: (Electrical / Electronics / Telecommunication / Instrumentation / Control) (60%)
For 5: BE / BTech (any) (60%)
Age Limit: 19 ½ - 25 years (DoB: 02 Jan 1988 - 01 July 1993)

Selection: SSB Interview; Medical Exam

Application Form: Online application only

Details: Website

Application Deadline: 10 April 2012

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