Science in Kerala – a Snapshot
Having recognized that Kerala has had a long tradition of literacy and school education, it is of concern to note that it is still behind leading states of the country, let alone comparative regions of the world (e.g. South Korea, or the Scandinavian countries), when it comes to higher education and research.
Although Indian Scientific and Technological Research and Development activities have received substantial support, it has still a long way to go to reach the level attained by the advanced economies. While a large number of R&D establishments have been set up in the country, Kerala’s share in this has been insignificant. Opportunities for those who are interested to pursue research in Kerala are meagre.
Identifying the champions of research
SCOPUS was used to identify the leading researchers in Kerala during the last ten to fifteen years. The indicators used are: number of papers published in the SCOPUS list of journals, number of citations obtained, and the h-index. The profiles are such that they will easily count as world class researchers. This list is appended as Annexure I. It is seen that most in the list are already retired or approaching retirement age. They can still be tapped as mentors and champions for spearheading the new initiative. They also come from a few institutions, indicating that excellence in Kerala is highly concentrated in a few premier centres. It is also to be noted that very few are from the engineering area.
Identifying the regional research profile of Kerala
Again, using data from SCOPUS (with emphasis on the output from Kerala for the last ten to fifteen years), it is possible to take a look at the region-wise research profile of Kerala. If the number of papers published from various regions of Kerala is weighted for population of the corresponding cities (or conglomerations, where appropriate), we get the regional performance profile in terms of research intensity as shown in of Annexure II.
It will not surprise anyone to see that Thiruvananthapuram tops the list for research intensity, followed by Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur and Kozhikode. However, we also see that vast tracts of Kerala hardly have a research culture. This should guide us to take remedial steps so that such imbalances are removed and bring in the culture of research to regions where they do not exist now.
Placing the research profile of Kerala on the national landscape
Annexure III is extracted from a recent NISTADS study. It is seen that on Papers/Million of Population/Year basis, Kerala has only a very middling performance, joining the company of states like Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. This is worrying, given that Kerala has had a long and much vaunted tradition of literacy and school education. Annexure III suggests that while a large number of R&D establishments have been set up in the country, and the UTs and small states (Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Delhi and Goa) have benefited from this, Kerala’s share in this has been insignificant. Opportunities for those who are interested to pursue research in Kerala are decidedly meagre
Annexure IV shows an analysis of the current status of project grants given by CSIR under its extra-mural research schemes in physics. All projects, i.e. newly proposed, those actively under progress, and even those being terminated, are accounted for. There is no current proposal from Kerala being funded by CSIR under this scheme! This is indicative of the general poor health of Kerala's research.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) promotes scientific research in universities by providing financial support for research projects under their Extramural Research Projects scheme. The scope of this programme has been presented in terms of discipline- and state-wise coverage (K Rani and S Khilnani, An overview of funding pattern of Extramural Research projects of CSIR, Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 64, August 2005, pp. 560-563). Annexure V shows an analysis of the all project grants given by CSIR under its extra-mural research schemes from 2000-2003. Again, the poor health of Kerala's research activities is confirmed. In a four year period, Kerala completed four projects, of which three were in Life Sciences and one in Chemical Sciences. No project in Physical or Engineering Sciences were proposed.
Annexure I
Champions and Captains: Top performers from Kerala
(based on SCOPUS)
Thomas, S. (with 271 papers, 2880 citations, h-Index = 28)
School of Chemical Sciences
Mahatma Gandhi University
Priyadarshini Hills P.O
Kottayam-686 560
Kerala
India
Kurup, P.A. (with 286 papers, 675 citations, h-Index = 10)
Formerly Division of Biochemistry
Kerala University
Trivandrum
India
Nair, V. (with 259 papers, 2393 citations, h-Index = 23)
Organic Chemistry Section
Chemical Sciences Division
NIIST (CSIR)
Industrial Estate PO
Papanamcode
Trivandrum-695 019
India
Nampoori, V.P.N. (with 189 papers, 911 citations, h-Index = 15)
International School of Photonics
Cochin University of Science and Technology
Kochi- 682 022
India
Damodaran, A.D. (with 185 papers, 962 citations, h-Index = 15)
Regional Research Laboratory (now NIIST)
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 019
India
Gupta, A.K. (with 131 papers, 324 citations, h-Index = 8)
Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology
Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology
Trivandrum
Kerala- 695011
India
Sugunan, S. (with 141 papers, 436 citations, h-Index = 10)
Department of Applied Chemistry
Cochin University of Science and Technology
Kochi -682 022
Kerala
India
Ninan, K.N. (with 121 papers, 763 citations, h-Index = 15)
Materials Characterization Division
Materials and Metallurgy Group
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
Trivandrum -695 022
India
Kuttan, G. (with 121 papers, 1320 citations, h-Index = 17)
Amala Cancer Research Centre
Amala Nagar
Thrissur-680555
Kerala State
India
Sebastian, M.T. (with 116 papers, 758 citations, h-Index = 15)
Materials and Minerals Division
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology
Trivandrum - 695019
India
Pandey, A. (with 138 papers, 1755 citations, h-Index = 19)
Department of Biotechnology
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology(CSIR)
Trivandrum -19
India
Radhakrishnan, V.V. (with 167 papers, 652 citations, h-Index = 12)
Department of Pathology
Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology
Trivandrum- 695011
Kerala
India
Vallabhan, C.P.G. (with 165 papers, 848 citations, h-Index = 15)
Centre of Excellence in Lasers and Optoelectronic Sciences
Cochin University of Science and Technology
Kochi -682 022
India
Mohanan, P. (with 149 papers, 658 citations, h-Index = 14)
Department of Electronics
Cochin University of Science and Technology
Kochi -682 022
India
Annexure II
Identifying the regional research profile of Kerala
(based on SCOPUS)
Using data from SCOPUS, the number of papers published from Kerala (mainly over a period of 15 years), and weighting for population of the corresponding cities (or conglomerations, where appropriate), we get the following regional performance profile:
Region |
Population |
Papers |
Papers/Million |
Thiruvananthapuram |
889,635 |
8458 |
9507 |
Kottayam |
172,871 |
1232 |
7127 |
Kochi |
1,355,972 |
3219 |
2374 |
Thrissur |
330,122 |
740 |
2242 |
Kozhikode |
880,247 |
1582 |
1797 |
Kollam |
380,091 |
170 |
447 |
Palakkad |
197,369 |
85 |
431 |
Alappuzha |
282,675 |
112 |
396 |
Malappuram+Manjeri |
170,409 |
66 |
387 |
Cherthala (Shertallai) |
141,558 |
21 |
148 |
Thalassery+Kannur |
562,004 |
66 |
117 |
Ponnani |
87,495 |
5 |
57 |
Kasargode |
75,968 |
3 |
39 |
Badagara |
124,083 |
4 |
32 |
Total |
5,650,499 |
15,763 |
2790 |
Annexure III
Geographical Distribution of Indian Scientific Output
(from a recent NISTADS study)
Division |
Population 2001 Census |
Publications 1996-2006 |
Papers/ Million/Yr |
Chandigarh (UT) |
900,635 |
8678 |
875.95 |
Delhi (UT) |
13,850,507 |
40140 |
263.46 |
Pondicherry (UT) |
974,345 |
2274 |
212.17 |
Goa |
1,347,668 |
1566 |
105.64 |
Uttaranchal |
8,489,349 |
6835 |
73.19 |
Tamil Nadu |
62,405,679 |
48365 |
70.46 |
Karnataka |
52,850,562 |
35378 |
60.85 |
Himachal Pradesh |
6,077,900 |
3056 |
45.71 |
Meghalaya |
2,318,822 |
1162 |
45.56 |
Maharashtra |
96,878,627 |
46014 |
43.18 |
West Bengal |
80,176,197 |
32443 |
36.79 |
Sikkim |
540,851 |
206 |
34.63 |
Punjab |
24,358,999 |
9078 |
33.88 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
1,097,968 |
399 |
33.04 |
Haryana |
21,144,564 |
6895 |
29.64 |
Kerala |
31,841,374 |
10339 |
29.52 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
10,143,700 |
3220 |
28.86 |
All India |
1,028,610,328 |
297840 |
26.32 |
Andhra Pradesh |
76,210,007 |
21024 |
25.08 |
Manipur |
2,166,788 |
554 |
23.24 |
Gujarat |
50,671,017 |
9995 |
17.93 |
Uttar Pradesh |
166,197,921 |
29895 |
16.35 |
Orissa |
36,804,660 |
5381 |
13.29 |
Assam |
26,655,528 |
3818 |
13.02 |
Mizoram |
888,573 |
125 |
12.79 |
Madhya Pradesh |
60,348,023 |
8287 |
12.48 |
Rajasthan |
56,507,188 |
7729 |
12.43 |
Jharkhand |
26,945,829 |
2587 |
8.73 |
Nagaland |
1,990,036 |
164 |
7.49 |
Tripura |
3,199,203 |
217 |
6.17 |
Lakshadweep (UT) |
60,650 |
4 |
6.00 |
Chhattisgarh |
20,833,803 |
1147 |
5.00 |
Bihar |
82,998,509 |
1894 |
2.07 |
Daman & Diu (UT) |
158,204 |
3 |
1.72 |
Dadra & Nagar Haveli (UT) |
220,490 |
2 |
0.82 |
Annexure IV
Geographical Distribution of CSIR Extra-Mural Research Project Grants in Physics
Geographical Distribution of CSIR EMR Physics Projects |
|||
Division |
Population 2001 Census |
Projects |
Projects/Million |
Chandigarh (UT) |
900,635 |
6 |
6.662 |
Goa |
1,347,668 |
3 |
2.226 |
Pondicherry (UT) |
974,345 |
2 |
2.053 |
Mizoram |
888,573 |
1 |
1.125 |
Delhi (UT) |
13,850,507 |
14 |
1.011 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
1,097,968 |
1 |
0.911 |
Uttaranchal |
8,489,349 |
6 |
0.707 |
West Bengal |
80,176,197 |
43 |
0.536 |
Meghalaya |
2,318,822 |
1 |
0.431 |
Punjab |
24,358,999 |
10 |
0.411 |
Tamil Nadu |
62,405,679 |
24 |
0.385 |
Tripura |
3,199,203 |
1 |
0.313 |
All India |
1,028,610,328 |
164 |
0.159 |
Maharashtra |
96,878,627 |
12 |
0.124 |
Karnataka |
52,850,562 |
6 |
0.114 |
Andhra Pradesh |
76,210,007 |
8 |
0.105 |
Haryana |
21,144,564 |
2 |
0.095 |
Orissa |
36,804,660 |
3 |
0.082 |
Uttar Pradesh |
166,197,921 |
13 |
0.078 |
Assam |
26,655,528 |
2 |
0.075 |
Rajasthan |
56,507,188 |
3 |
0.053 |
Chhattisgarh |
20,833,803 |
1 |
0.048 |
Gujarat |
50,671,017 |
1 |
0.020 |
Bihar |
82,998,509 |
1 |
0.012 |
Lakshadweep (UT) |
60,650 |
0 |
0.000 |
Daman & Diu (UT) |
158,204 |
0 |
0.000 |
Dadra & Nagar Haveli (UT) |
220,490 |
0 |
0.000 |
Sikkim |
540,851 |
0 |
0.000 |
Nagaland |
1,990,036 |
0 |
0.000 |
Manipur |
2,166,788 |
0 |
0.000 |
Himachal Pradesh |
6,077,900 |
0 |
0.000 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
10,143,700 |
0 |
0.000 |
Jharkhand |
26,945,829 |
0 |
0.000 |
Kerala |
31,841,374 |
0 |
0.000 |
Madhya Pradesh |
60,348,023 |
0 |
0.000 |
Annexure V
CSIR Extramural Research Projects in Kerala – an Overview
Geographical Distribution of CSIR EMR Projects from 2000 to 2003 |
|||
Division |
Population 2001 Census |
Projects |
Projects/Million |
Meghalaya + Manipur etc |
38,857,769 |
25 |
10.781 |
Delhi (UT) |
13,850,507 |
64 |
4.621 |
Punjab + Chandigarh |
25,259,634 |
45 |
1.847 |
West Bengal |
80,176,197 |
120 |
1.497 |
Karnataka |
52,850,562 |
67 |
1.268 |
Tamil Nadu |
62,405,679 |
53 |
0.849 |
Andhra Pradesh |
76,210,007 |
45 |
0.590 |
Uttar Pradesh + Uttaranchal |
174,687,270 |
95 |
0.572 |
Maharashtra + Goa |
98,226,295 |
45 |
0.464 |
Haryana |
21,144,564 |
5 |
0.236 |
Madhya Pradesh + Chattisgarh |
81,181,826 |
13 |
0.215 |
Rajasthan |
56,507,188 |
12 |
0.212 |
Gujarat |
50,671,017 |
9 |
0.178 |
Orissa |
36,804,660 |
6 |
0.163 |
Kerala |
31,841,374 |
4 |
0.126 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
10,143,700 |
1 |
0.099 |
Bihar + Jharkhand |
109,944,338 |
1 |
0.012 |
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