26 Bangladeshi researchers among top two percent most cited

We take great pleasure in congratulating our researchers whose works, 26 of them, have been cited most often in the world, ranking among the top two percent of those quoted. The 17 universities/institutions to which these researchers belong, that include both public and private, deserve our commendations too. Our researchers also fared very well in so far as impact made by researchers in a single year. The statistics were revealed in research on metascience by Stanford University. The list includes 1,59,683 scientists of various disciplines.

That being said, we would like to suggest that the underlying pointers in the report be assessed in the light of funding for research and the number of scholars who devote themselves to research work annually, and evaluate the present state of research in educational and other institutions in the country.

Currently, the percentage of the budget that public universities spend on research and research related work is worth little mention. What we would like to know is what percentage of the annual budget, for example of Dhaka University, is allocated for research, and what percentage of that has been spent over the last few years? Our understanding, which is even more startling, is that the universities can seldom spend half or even less of whatever little that is set aside for research. Why is this so? We would like to know too how much of the University Grants Commission tranche set aside for research has been spent in the last few years.

We believe that research work should spread over a larger field, which is now confined to scientific studies mainly, as the Stanford findings reveal, to sectors like social sciences and humanities also. We understand too that most of the research are not primary research but done mainly for the purpose of promotions or seminars.

Research work should ultimately benefit people. It needs little reiteration that research and research-driven higher education, which all universities should provide, contribute positively to society at large. It is undisputed that a knowledge based society is one that is strong, dynamic and better equipped to adapt to the challenges of the times. In our context, the absence of research in many areas leave us blindsided and results in short term interventions or temporary fixes that are not long lasting. Apart from university resources, research can also be funded through grants from private institutions, as is the case in other countries.

Knowledge generated by research, as has been acknowledged by UNESCO, "is the basis of sustainable development, which requires that knowledge be placed at the service of development, be converted into applications, and be shared to ensure widespread benefits." Thus not only more funds should be allotted, more students and scholars must be drawn towards research, which should become a culture rather than routine work.