Friday 4 November 2011

Germany is India’s second most important S&T research partner


Germany, after the USA, is the most productive partner in collaborative research with India in science and technology (S&T) research. This was revealed in the recently released study, ‘Analysis of India’s S&T Research Capabilities and International Collaborative Strength, particularly in the context of Indo-German Collaboration,’ conducted by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Matthias Kleiner, president, DFG, says, “This report reflects upon the very intense scientific contacts between both countries that the DFG has already noted over the last couple of years. We expect even higher publication performances in the years to come, thanks to more systematic cooperation in programmes, for instance, through International Research Training Groups or Priority Programmes.”

Science and technology has been one of the key areas of Indo-German bilateral relations for decades. During the festival ‘Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities,’ science will be a key element. Germany will showcase how its renowned science and technology ecosystem can help create sustainable solutions for India’s rapid urbanisation. Also on display will be cutting-edge research and technology in the fields of clean air and water, efficient city mobility, cost-effective and durable construction materials, reliable energy supplies and innovative city planning. Organised under the aegis of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), in cooperation with Indian partner institutions, symposiums, workshops, expositions and demonstration projects will be exhibited throughout India.
The DFG report also shows that the scientific performance in bilateral cooperation mainly comes from the subject areas of physics, materials science, chemistry, biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, mathematics, earth and planetary sciences, chemical engineering, computer science and energy.
Kleiner points out that the report also highlights the Indian and German institutes engaged in most of the bilateral collaborations. Both, university institutes and extra-university institutes have their share in Indo-German collaboration: in all, 76 German institutions and 69 Indian institutions have participated in bilateral scientific collaboration in 2004-2009. The universities have contributed 5,344 joint publications whereas the extra university institutes had a share of 1,395 publications.

The most active German institution in Indo-German collaboration has been the Technical University of Darmstadt with a total of 351 publications, followed by the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and the University of Bonn.

On the Indian side, the most active institute in Indo-German collaboration is the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai with 447 joint publications, followed by the Punjab University Chandigarh and the Mangalore University.
The report has been carried out on the basis of 2004-2009 figures available in the SCOPUS data base by Dr BM Gupta (National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies – NISTADS).
 
The Indo-German overall scientific collaboration during 2004-2009 has grown at a remarkable annual average growth rate of 6.8%, the report says. Some broad areas have shown a particularly high annual growth rate include computer science (23.6%), immunology and microbiology (18.9%), nedicine (18.2%) and environmental sciences (17.5%).

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