Why India’s R&D system needs a map of where funds really go, Pg II

Key Highlights:

• A recent NITI Aayog report, 'Ease of Doing R&D in India', highlighted significant issues in the country's research and development ecosystem.
• The report revealed that nearly 80% of funding from the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) is concentrated in IITs.
• India lacks a unified system to track R&D funding, leading to potential overlaps and inefficient use of public money.
• NITI Aayog has proposed the Unified Project Management System (UPMS) to streamline the planning, funding, monitoring, and evaluation of public R&D projects.
• The report emphasizes the critical need for Persistent Digital Identifiers (PIDs) and a robust metadata infrastructure for all research grants.

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Detailed Insights:

• The NITI Aayog report was based on inputs from over 400 institutional leaders and 850 scientists.
• The concentration of ANRF funding in IITs goes against its mandate to support a broader base of research institutions.
• Multiple Central agencies funding similar research areas results in duplication and suboptimal utilization of resources.
• PIDs are unique, machine-readable identifiers for research grants, akin to a PAN or IMEI number.
• Metadata would provide structured details for each grant, including funding agency, institution, researcher, amount, duration, and field.
• Currently, grant information is scattered across various agency databases in inconsistent formats, making comprehensive analysis difficult.
• Global solutions like the Grant Linking System by Crossref and the Research Organisation Registry (ROR) already exist to address these issues.
• Key global identifiers include funder IDs, ROR IDs for institutions, and ORCID for individual researchers.
• Crossref also provides a grant DOI (Digital Object Identifier) to permanently identify grants and link them to research outputs.
• Such systems enable tracking of duplicate proposals, identification of funding concentration, and evaluation of research outcomes.
• India can adopt a hybrid model, using a national portal like UPMS to generate Crossref-compatible grant DOIs and link to ROR and ORCID.

Key Concepts Involved:

• NITI Aayog: The premier public policy think tank of the Government of India, providing strategic and technical advice.
• Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF): A flagship body established to provide high-level strategic direction for research and development in India.
• Unified Project Management System (UPMS): A proposed system by NITI Aayog to centralize and streamline the management of R&D projects across government entities.
• Persistent Digital Identifier (PID): A long-lasting, unique reference to a digital object or entity, ensuring its discoverability and accessibility over time.
• Metadata: Data that provides information about other data, describing the content, quality, condition, and other characteristics of data.
• Crossref: A non-profit organization that provides services for scholarly communication, including a Grant Linking System for research funding.
• Research Organisation Registry (ROR): A global, community-led registry of open, sustainable, and unique identifiers for research organizations.
• ORCID: An open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers.