In the 1st Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam (ABSS) held at Varanasi, it was emphasised that academics to validate their experience with verified testing and focus on evidence-based research. Also to research on the demographic dividend of India , its utilisation and solutions for the ageing societies of the world, resilient infrastructure etc

To this end, the government has prioritized the establishment of the Research and Development Cells (RDCs) by releasing Guidelines for same in 2022. Over the past 3 years, 2261 R&D Cells have been established in various HEIs in collaboration with several industries to carry out industrial research and consultancy work. More than 300 Universities and 2500 HEIs have set up R&D Cells. At present, 7265 IICs have been set up in 28 States & 8 UTs. Through the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023 approved by the Union Cabinet recently, an allocation of ₹50,000 crore has been made for an apex body to oversee R&D initiatives throughout all Indian HEIs.
The government is taking a variety of measures, including policy support, infrastructure support, funding support for education and skilling, research parks, and technology business incubators, with the goal of developing India into a global innovation hub and providing an enabling environment that promotes research and development in India. Several strides have been made to improve the quality and impact of Indian research. Due to these developments, India’s ranking in Global innovation Index has improved, with ‘Human Capital and Research’ pillar featuring at 43 (in 2022) from 122 (in 2015).

The Vision is to develop India as global Education hub by providing incentives to publish high-quality, globally cited research through universities in collaboration with robust industry-academia partnerships. The short-term roadmap to achieve these visions by 2030 is by strengthening the research fabric in universities by Identifying international institutes for academic and research collaboration, and encourage publication of internationally collaborated research through monetary incentives and scholarships. NRF will fund and facilitate funding research, liasioning between researchers, and relevant branches of government and industry. By 2047 the roadmap is to establish research as a central tenet of India’s education ecosystem, publish high-quality, globally cited research papers catalysing innovation across sectors such as technology and medicine, and forge robust industry-academia partnerships. By that time National Research Foundation will turn into a global facility, build a robust research repository, undertake pioneering research informing national policy, adopt patent commercialization, and act as a hub for global research.

The target is to increase the Citations per document which was at 11.19 in 2021 to 15 in 2030 and 20 by 2047. Similarly, the target for Intellectual Property Receipts (% of trade) which is at 0.2 in 2022 to increase to 0.5 in 2030 and 1.00 by 2047.

9.1 Expected Outcomes of the Session

The session can provide a forum for highlighting the various aspects of R&D implementation:

• Scope and opportunities for increasing R&D linkages and collaborations across the country.
• Pathways for improving the R&D output (patents, publications, global rankings, etc) of Indian HEIs at international forum across multiple research disciplines.
• Technological interventions and digital linkages to improve overall environment for R&D in HEIs.
• Initiatives for improving accessibility of R&D infrastructure in all regions, across all demographics, including improving participation of women researchers in STEM.

9.2 Roadmap for the Institutes

• Increasing linkages within research community
  
  1. RDCs and University Clusters - HEIs may be encouraged to work in collaboration with the Research Development Cells (RDCs) of other HEIs, particularly the ones having industry sponsored projects. Raising awareness and onboarding HEIs in R&D University Clusters and other educational hubs may also be encouraged.
  2. Workshops on process of MoUs - Workshops for HEIs may be conducted to raise awareness on scope, provisions, and process of creating MoUs with industry partners, educational institutions, etc. to support entrepreneurship and research in student body.
• Support to researchers
  
  1. Infrastructural and financial support – Researchers may be provided dedicated support by availing facilities and funds under the upcoming National Research Foundation (NRF).
  2. Workshops on patents and publications – Research fellows may be trained through workshops on the process for filing patents and submitting papers to publication journals of national and international repute.
  3. Enabling mobility of researchers – Cross-border and cross-institutional mobility of researchers, faculty may be supported through specific grants for conferences, paper presentations, workshops, etc for improved exposure and research outcomes.
  4. Digital systems support - HEIs may be encouraged to implement digital Research Information Management Systems (RIMS), subscribe to plagiarism tools, journals, etc.
• Industry Connect
  
  1. Guidance from experts - Industry experts present in the Board of Directors of institutes may guide further on how industry-academia connect may be improved for boosting R&D sponsored projects, collaborations for publications, citation score, etc.
  2. S&T Clusters, Start-up Policy – HEIs may collaborate with industrial partners through existing region-wise government backed hubs such as Start-up India, S&T Clusters, etc, that encourage academic involvement for research and innovation to solve local problems.