Contribution of superannuated scientists to …

1 Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research Vol. 66, April 2007, pp. 330-334 Contribution of superannuated scientists to National S&T: A case study of CSIR emeritus scientist scheme V S Bhati, S K Sharma, Archana Gupta and Rajesh Luthra* Human Resource Development Group, CSIR Complex, Library Avenue, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012 Received 25 May 2006; accepted 30 November 2006 Performance analysis of the CSIR Emeritus scientist scheme has been carried out on the following criteria: i) Quality of output from the Emeritus scientists ; ii) Value attached to the scheme by scientific community; and iii) Acceptability of the scheme across research disciplines. Analysis reveals that the scheme selects high quality research workers who not only turn out work, acceptable in high-end journals, but also train students.

2 The scheme attracts scientists equally from universities and R&D institutions, and enjoys high prestige across the scientific disciplines. Keywords: Emeritus scientist scheme, Performance analysis, Research scheme, superannuated scientist Introduction Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) under Emeritus scientist (CES) scheme, started in 1958, provides financial assistance to superannuated outstanding scientists to pursue research, write books/monographs etc. in their respective fields of specialization, especially areas of relevance to the programmes and activities of CSIR. A scientist who is an acknowledged expert in the field of his specialization and has been actively engaged in scientific research during the last 5 years of superannuation is eligible for grants under CES scheme.

3 Quality of publications of the scientist , particularly those during the last 5 years prior to his retirement, and honours/awards and recognition received, are important criteria for selection under the scheme. CSIR has a specially constituted Standing Committee, chaired by Director General, CSIR, to consider the research proposals under CES scheme and recommending grants, which consist of: (i) Honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month to the CES for the duration of his/her tenure; (ii) Suitable contingent grant per annum; and (iii) Technical assistance as research fellows/associates. This study presents Contribution of CES to National S&T on three criteria: i) Quality of output from the Emeritus scientists ; ii) Value attached to the scheme by the scientific community; and iii) Acceptability of the CES scheme across research disciplines.

4 Analysis of CSIR Emeritus scientist (CES) Scheme Quality of the Output Quality of the output of Emeritus scientists who completed their tenure during 2001-2004 was examined in terms of number of papers published in the Science Citation Indexed (SCI) Journals and their Impact Factor (Tables 1 & 3). On the average, each Emeritus scientist published around 7 papers in the high end journals (Table 1). The highest average was in physical sciences ( papers/CES), whereas engineering sciences has the lowest average ( papers/CES). In chemical sciences , the average ( papers/CES) was essentially the same as in physical sciences followed by biological sciences ( papers/CES), earth sciences ( papers/CES) and mathematical sciences (4 papers/CES).

5 Apart from highest number of SCI publications made by physical scientists , number of Emeritus scientists publishing 10 and above papers was also highest in physical sciences , followed by biological and chemical sciences and then earth sciences (Table 2). Further evaluation on the Impact Factor (IF) of these research papers showed that the highest average IF of research papers published by CES (Table 3) was in biological sciences (IF ) followed by earth sciences (IF ), physical sciences (IF ), chemical sciences (IF ), engineering sciences (IF ) and mathematical sciences (IF ). Thus research output of CES is very high in terms of quality and quantity and compares well with that of active scientists working in the premier Indian institutions.

6 An overview of final technical reports _____ *Author for correspondence Tel: 25748632; Fax: 25840887 E-mail: BHATI et al: Contribution OF CSIR EMERITUS scientist SCHEME TO NATIONAL S&T 331received indicates that the CES also contribute significantly towards training of Ph D students, process development, software development and towards design and fabrication. Value Attached to the Scheme by the Research Community Various government organizations (CSIR, ICAR, ICMR, UGC, INSA, AICTE, DST, DAE and DOS) have instituted schemes for superannuated scientists (Table 4). CSIR and ICAR have an Emeritus scientist Scheme for superannuated scientists1,2, whereas ICMR calls it Emeritus Medical scientists Scheme3.

7 UGC & AICTE supports superannuated scientists through Emeritus Fellowships 4,6, and INSA5 through Senior Fellowship scheme. DAE has the DAE-BRNS Senior scientist Scheme 8, whereas DST7 on the other hand calls it Utilization of Scientific Expertise of Retired scientists . The superannuated scientists through these schemes are normally given support in the form of a small honorarium/ scientist allowance, personnel support in the form of a JRF/SRF/RA and some contingency to undertake the scheme. Some organizations give part-time technical assistants and an extra grant for Table 1 Research papers published in SCI journals by CSIR Emeritus scientists (CES) who completed their tenure during 2001-2004 BS CS ES Engg MS PS Total Year of completion No.

8 Of CES Papers No. of CES Papers No. of CES Papers No. of CES Papers No. of CES Papers No. of CES Papers No. of CES Papers 2001-02 5 43 6 53 7 30 5 11 1 8 5 85 29 230 2002-03 5 36 5 70 4 10 0 0 0 0 3 8 17 124 2003-04 7 31 5 24 4 26 2 0 1 0 12 113 31 194 Total 17 110 16 147 15 66 7 11 2 8 20 206 77 548 Research Paper/ CES BS=Biological science, CS=Chemical science, ES=Earth science, Engg=Engineering science, MS= mathematical science, PS=Physical science Table 2 Number of CSIR Emeritus scientists who published research papers in SCI journals during the tenure of schemes completed during 2001-2004 Number of CSIR Emeritus scientists Research papers published BS CS ES Engg MS PS Total No paper 2 2 3 4 1 4 16 0-2 6 0 6 1 0 3 16 2-4 1 6 1 1 0 2 11 4-6 1 2 0 1 0 1 5 6-8 2 0 1 0 1 1 5 8-10 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 10 & above 5 5 3 0 0 8 21 Total 17 16 15 7 2 20 77 BS=Biological science, CS=Chemical science, ES=Earth science, Engg=Engineering science, MS= mathematical science, PS=Physical science Table 3 Impact Factor of research papers published in SCI journals by CSIR Emeritus scientists (CES)

9 Who completed their tenure during 2001-2004 BS CS ES Engg MS PS Year of completion No. of papers TIF of papers No. of papers TIF of papers No. of papers TIF of papers No. of papers TIF of papers No. of papers TIF of papers No. of papers TIF of papers 2001-02 43 53 30 11 8 85 2002-03 36 70 10 - - - - 8 2003-04 31 24 26 - - - - 113 Total 110 147 66 11 8 206 Average IF/ paper Total Impact Factor = TIF; Impact Factor = IF; BS=Biological science, CS=Chemical science, ES = Earth science, Engg = Engineering science, MS = mathematical science, PS = Physical science J SCI IND RES VOL 66 APRIL 2007 332 BHATI et al: Contribution OF CSIR EMERITUS scientist SCHEME TO NATIONAL S&T 333adopting a developing institute.

10 In addition, the awardee can approach various funding agencies for research grants. There has been tremendous response for CES Scheme (Table 5) during the last 5 years. On the average, only 1 in 5 gets selected which indicates the tremendous prestige the scheme enjoys among members of the scientific community. Perusal of the biodata of the Emeritus scientists shows that quite a few of them have won prestigious awards including Bhatnagar award, whereas many others are Fellows of the Science Academies. Thus, the scheme maintains very high standards, enjoys very high prestige and is highly sought after by the research scientists who want to continue research after superannuation.