A strong foundation in high-quality science education and impactful, citable research is the backbone of a nation’s innovation capacity, technological leadership, economic competitiveness, and national security. For India, this foundation is essential to realise the vision of Aatmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat. Yet recent global research rankings send a sobering message—India is falling behind in research output and influence at a time when global competitiveness is accelerating.
Two major datasets—the Nature Index 2025 Research Leaders and the CWTS Leiden Ranking (2020–2023)—offer a comprehensive view of global research performance across all major academic disciplines. These rankings emphasise not only the quantity of research publications but also their quality and impact.
When viewed collectively, they reveal a troubling pattern for India. The highest-ranked Indian institution in the CWTS ranking appears only around 270th globally, producing roughly 15 per cent of the research output of the top Chinese university. This gap is not new; it has persisted year after year and is mirrored in India’s relatively weak performance in patents and commercialisation.
This situation is deeply concerning, given India’s ambitions. As the world’s most populous nation and fourth-largest economy, India aspires to surpass both China and the US economically by mid-century. Such aspirations are incompatible with continued underperformance in research and innovation, despite various efforts currently. The data clearly indicate that India’s higher education and research ecosystem is not functioning as envisioned and requires urgent, structural reform. Degree production alone is insufficient. What India needs is a skilled, adaptable, and research-oriented workforce capable of meeting rapidly evolving global demands.
Drawing on personal academic and professional experiences in both India and the US, the authors identify several systemic weaknesses. Even in top-ranked Indian colleges, students often lack exposure to seminars, research discussions, and active researchers. Faculty engagement in sustained, high-impact research is limited, especially at the college level. As a result, students remain unaware of cutting-edge developments and are insufficiently motivated to pursue research careers. This early disconnect creates a long-term deficit in the research pipeline.
Talent not nurtured
India possesses immense talent, but it is not being adequately nurtured. Social preferences historically favour medicine, engineering, and civil services, often at the expense of basic and applied sciences. Parents and students, driven by concerns about job security and income, rarely view research as a viable or rewarding career path. Compounding this issue is the lack of structured career counselling and mentoring at the school and college levels. In contrast, systems such as those in the US allow students flexibility to tailor academic pathways, supported by robust guidance frameworks.
Although the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 introduces positive reforms, including multidisciplinary learning and sustainability-focused education, implementation remains uneven and limited in scale. School-level curricula, particularly NCERT materials, require a significant overhaul to become more application-oriented, engaging, and aligned with real-world challenges. Students should be exposed early to national priorities, societal challenges, and India’s scientific legacy, ideally through a modernised mentoring model inspired by the traditional gurukul system.
A major structural deficiency is the absence of interdisciplinary learning. Historically, students in different academic streams rarely interacted, limiting innovation and systems-level thinking. Today’s complex challenges—climate change, public health, energy security, and sustainability—demand integrated, transdisciplinary solutions. While NEP 2020 recognises this need, many educators lack the training and experience to implement it effectively. Faculty development, therefore, becomes central to reform.
Stricter benchmarks for teaching and research performance must be established nationwide. Faculty evaluation should include research productivity, mentorship outcomes, and student feedback, assessed regularly with mechanisms for course correction. Such accountability systems are standard in leading global institutions and essential for maintaining academic excellence. While government initiatives such as ANRF, INSPIRE, VIGYAN JYOTI, and MANTHAN are steps in the right direction, their reach and inclusiveness remain limited. Parents must also be engaged through counselling to understand the long-term value of research careers and skill-based learning.
A persistent cultural issue is the perception of research as a fallback option rather than a first-choice career. This mindset discourages talented students from entering research early and results in low-impact outcomes when individuals join research late without motivation. Unlike professional institutes, most universities lack structured career placement and research-oriented grooming. Bridging income gaps between research and industry roles, while expanding research-focused employment opportunities, is critical to reversing this trend.
Private universities now play a growing role in Indian higher education, with some performing well but many offering degree-centric models with limited research rigour. Clear quality benchmarks must be established to assess faculty credentials, infrastructure, and research output. The practice of hiring retired professionals should be evaluated based on sustained research contributions rather than symbolic prestige.
India’s 165 Institutes of National Importance (INIs), including IITs, have excelled at undergraduate education, but their postgraduate and doctoral research performance must be rigorously assessed relative to their funding. At the same time, more than 1,000 central, state, and deemed universities—often underfunded and under-evaluated—must not be neglected. Over-concentration of resources in INIs risks undermining the broader research ecosystem. Faculty at affiliated colleges are often overburdened with teaching and administration, leaving little room for research or mentorship. Structural reforms are needed to balance teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities.
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India must assess its own gaps
Closer integration between premier research institutes (such as TIFR and BARC) and universities can help inspire students through mentorship, collaborative projects, and exposure to frontier research. Leveraging national scientific infrastructure for broader educational impact is essential.
India’s global diaspora demonstrates exceptional research and innovation capacity abroad, contributing significantly to foreign economies and, at times, India’s geopolitical disadvantages. Policies must be developed to retain domestic talent for the initial years after graduation and to facilitate the return of non-resident Indians through transparent, respectful, and merit-based pathways. Current engagement mechanisms are often ineffective and discouraging.
Encouraging efforts by scientific communities such as WeMR and INYAS show promise in mentoring and motivating students, but require strong government and industry support to scale nationally. Alarmingly, enrollment in BSc and MSc programs is declining as students drift away from science toward commerce or professional degrees. This trend threatens the foundation of long-term innovation and must be reversed through targeted incentives, outreach, and public-private partnerships.
India must assess research funding allocations against short, medium, and long-term national goals, ensuring accountability and impact. International collaborations should also be evaluated based on how effectively they advance India’s strategic interests and research capacity.
India does not need to blindly replicate the models of the US or China. Instead, it must critically assess its own gaps as well as strengths and implement a bold, actionable five-year strategy that reorients education and research toward national priorities. Only through systemic reform—grounded in inclusiveness, accountability, and excellence—can India ensure that no student and no institution is left behind in its journey toward global scientific leadership.
Mohan Gupta is a senior strategic advisor at the US Federal Aviation Administration. Mamta Aggarwal is a nuclear physicist, and university educator. Views are personal.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)