2015 - All Press Releases

• Reports a surge in high-quality scientific publication between 2012 and 2014
• Reveals that in the Index journals, Indian academic institutions co-author more papers with international companies than with domestic firms

London, 3 December 2015

The Nature Index analytics report Indian Science Ascending is the first of a new style of reports that further probe data from the Nature Index (www.natureindex.com) 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 (including 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 Nature Index report Indian Science Ascending shows a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% between 2012 and 2014 in the output of top-quality science in the country.

The report also chronicles India’s particular strength in the broad discipline of Chemistry, which shows the largest increase in CAGR of 8.6% among the comparator countries. The collaboration analysis reports 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.

President Designate, CII, Naushad Forbes said: “There’s a common perception that India fails to produce anything of significant scientific value, but this report presents a refreshingly different picture of Indian science, supported by evidence – a fact reflected in its title: India’s Ascent Towards World Class Science. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched a single-window mechanism called “Imprint” for release of R&D funds to academic institutions along with other policy measures. Hopefully soon then, our “historic love affair with chemistry”, aptly highlighted in this report, will be replicated in other areas of science too.”

Antoine Bocquet, Vice President Sales Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Oceania said: "Since its launch in 2014, the Nature Index has provided a new way to look at the scientific literature and the research organizations that contribute to it. India’s investment into R&D has stayed less than 1 per cent of its GDP for the past 2 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.”

Highlights from the Nature Index report Indian Science Ascending:

• At number 13, India is among the top 15 countries globally in the Nature Index 2014.
• India's research output has grown steadily since 2012, showing stronger CAGR of 8% 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 yet to take off in India, but Indian academic institutions have good collaborative ties with international corporations.

The Nature Index White analysis on Indian Science is available here: http://www.natureindex.com/news/indian-science-ascending/

More information about the Nature Index is available at: www.natureindex.com

-ENDS-

Contact

US
Rachel Scheer | Senior Communications Manager
T: +1 (212) 451-8569 | E: r.scheer@us.nature.com

Rest of the world
Ben Sawtell | Corporate Communications | Springer Nature
T: +44 (0) 20 7418 5577 | E: ben.sawtell@macmillan.com

Notes for Editors

About Springer Nature
Springer Nature one of the world’s leading global research, educational and professional publishers, home to an array of respected and trusted brands providing quality content through a range of innovative products and services. Springer Nature is the world’s largest academic book publisher, publisher of the world’s most influential journals and a pioneer in the field of open research. The company numbers almost 13,000 staff in over 50 countries and has a turnover of approximately EUR 1.5 billion. Springer Nature was formed in 2015 through the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media. Find out more: www.springernature.com and follow @SpringerNature

About CII
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government, and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.

CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Founded in 1895, India's premier business association has around 8000 members, from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 200,000 enterprises from around 240 national and regional sectoral industry bodies.

CII charts change by working closely with Government on policy issues, interfacing with thought leaders, and enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities for industry through a range of specialized services and strategic global linkages. It also provides a platform for consensus-building and networking on key issues.

Extending its agenda beyond business, CII assists industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with civil society organizations carry forward corporate initiatives for integrated and inclusive development across diverse domains including affirmative action, healthcare, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development, empowerment of women, and water, to name a few.

In its 120th year of service to the nation, the CII theme of Build India - Invest in Development: A Shared Responsibility, reiterates Industry’s role and responsibility as a partner in national development. The focus is on four key enablers: Facilitating Growth and Competitiveness, Promoting Infrastructure Investments, Developing Human Capital, and Encouraging Social Development.

With 66 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 8 overseas offices in Australia, Bahrain, China, Egypt, France, Singapore, UK, and USA, as well as institutional partnerships with 312 counterpart organizations in 106 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.