Varsities lag on research recognition

Hyderabad: Hardly any state universities from Andhra Pradesh or Telangana State figure among the best in the country if international research value is considered as the criterion.

A study of NAAC accredited varsities revealed that only the University of Hyderabad had international collaborative research in the two states. UoH, however, is a Central varsity.

Andhra, Osmania and Sri Venkateswara University have also fared well, but the list ends there.

Collaborative resea-rch is when two or more institutions team up to work on a specific subject. International collaborative research, involving institutions from different countries, is garnering a lot of attention as scholars think it allows countries to keep pace with each other’s scientific progress while at the same time pushing the horizon of scientific knowledge.

According to a scientometrics analysis of varsities by Dr V.T. Bagalkoti and Dr S.L. Sangam from the Information and Lib-rary Network Centre of the University Grants Commission (UGC), University of Hyderabad accounted for more than 5 per cent of all collaborative research by all NAAC accredited varsities in India. It is pertinent to note that the study didn’t include exclusive research organisations or the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).

Anna University in Chennai and Jadavpur University in Kolkata lead the pack for international research.

Interestingly, Visa-khapatnam-based And-hra University acco-unts for about 2 per cent of all collaborative research carried out by varsities in the country.

Osmania University scored much less according to the study. But even worse, none of the state universities are among the top 20 of the country, if quality of research is to be counted as a criterion. Osmania University is the best in AP and TS in terms of quality research output.

“There is no research value per se in our state universities. Even though we have about 34 state universities in AP and TS, except for three or four, the rest are all very new. The new ones are yet to find their footing. Even in universities like Osma-nia or Andhra, we are grappling with financial issues. Funds for research need to be increased,” an Osma-nia University Dean said.