Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators of Nepal

A country Report

Chiranjivi RegmiGanesh Kumar Pokhrel

Capacity building workshop on Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators: Current Issues and Challenges for South Asia

6-9 December, 2010 Kathmandu, Nepal

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

IntroductionHistorical BackgroundDevelopment Plans

S&T IndicatorsCollecting R&D statisticsMajor Findings

Institutional ProfileHuman ResourcesInvestment in S&TS&T Equipment

Recommendations

Outlines of Presentation

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Information on status of S&T is necessary for developing overall plan and policies of the country.

It is important to have an updated status report on S&T to know the strengths, weaknesses, lacunas, shortcomings, problems and priorities.

UNESCO also has been constantly urging developing countries to keep and update S&T data base.

The study was carried out by NAST in collaboration with and financial support of Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST)

Introduction

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Historical Background

Four distinct phases can be recognized to complement the development of S&T

Rana Era (before1950)Transitional decade (1951-1960)Panchayat Era (1961-1990)Democratic Era (After 1990)

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Prithvi Bir hospital -1890 ADPharping hydropower - 1911Agriculture office -1924Civil medical school -1934Dept Livestock Services -1939 Training school for sub-overseers-1942Forestry Training institute for rangers -1947Science education at intermediate level was started in 1919 AD, upgraded to bachelor level in 1945 at Trichandra College

Rana Era (before1950)

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Tribhuvan University, the first University - 1959 Department of Forest-1955 Department of Soil Sciences- 1956 Department of Geology & Mines-1958 Department of Survey-1958 Central Bureau of Statistics- 1958 Department of Medicinal Plants, Botanical Survey and National Herbarium- 1960

Transitional decade (1951-1960)

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Establishment of government departments continued.Research Laboratories Royal Drugs Research Laboratory (1964) Central Food Research Laboratory (1966)Corporations/companies Royal Drugs Limited (1972)Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (1975) Herbs Production and Processing Company Limited (1981)National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) 1976 (Royal) Nepal Academy of Science and Technology - 1982Water and Energy Commission (1981) (King Mahendra) National Trust for Nature Conservation (1982). Five Institutions were established in 1972 under TU.

Panchayat Era (1961-1990)

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

At present there is a possibility of getting higher education in different fields of science and technologyKathmandu University (1991) B.P. Koirala Institue of Health Sciences (1993)Purbanchal University (1996)Pokhara University (1997) andNational Academy of Medical Sciences (2004) Several constituent and affiliated technical colleges have been established.Government Research organizations -Nepal Agricultural Research Council (1991), Nepal Health Research Council (1991), Environmental Protection Council (1992) and High Level Information Technology Commission (1997) Ministry of Science and Technology came into existence.R&D organizations in private and public sector are coming up

Democratic Era (After 1990)

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Adopted in Nepal since 1956 with the inception of first five Year Plan

S&T is being mentioned only since sixth Five Year Plan Interim plan(2008-2010) is running with the goals;

•to contribute towards the national goal of poverty alleviation by uplifting the living standard of the people of Nepal through the development and utilization of S&T, •to increase national capacity through institutional strengthening of S&T sector, and human resource development and utilization •to increase competitive capacity of production and service sectors through research and development of S&T and utilization of suitable technology.

Development Plans

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

S&T Indicators

Following indicators were identified for collection of S&T data.Institutional Profile

Type of the organization (Government, Educational, Private nonprofit, Business)

Activities of the organization (policy formation, R&D, Analytical services etc)

Publication of S&T Journal/statisticsS&T Human Resources

Production of S&T Human ResourcesSector wise Human ResourcesHuman Resources by Qualification Human Resources by genderPhD Personnel in Science & Technology

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S&T BudgetTotal allocated budgetSource of fundingR&D expenditure

S&T EquipmentNameCompanyCostOrder/out of order

S&T Indicators

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Collecting R&D Statistics

Study was conducted by NAST & MoST by visiting and contacting various S&T institutions of the countryQuestionnaire was developed for information collectionList of institutions was prepared based on the following criteria; -Government organization directly related to S&T -Universities and institutions providing higher educations -Large Industries within the Industrial Estate -Metropolitan and sub-metropolitan cities -National level NGOs and INGOs related to S&TCollected data were analyzed and a comprehensive report was prepared

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

During our survey we covered most of the Government and higher education institutions.Regarding private nonprofit and business institutions we covered partly only.We didn’t survey the institutions related to Social science and Humanities. We have made head counts only for the calculation of R&D human resources in the country. We have also collected the information related to PhD human resources and S&T equipments

Collecting R&D Statistics…

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Major Findings

S&T Institutions covered by study S.N. S&T Organizations/Institutions Number

1 Government institutions 144

2 Higher education institutions 55

3 Private/ non-profit organizations 23

4 Business enterprises 5

5 Other institutions 3

Total Surveyed 230

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

S&T Institutions

Government Institutions Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)Water and Energy Commission (WECs)Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC)Department of Forest Research and SurveyDepartment of Food Technology and Quality ControlDepartment of National Parks and Wildlife ConservationDepartment of Plant Resources (DPR)Department of Mines and Geology (DMG)Department of Hydrology and Metrology (DHM)Department of SurveyDepartment of Water Induced Disaster and Prevention

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Educational InstitutionsTribhuvan University (TU)Kathmandu University (KU)Pokhara University (PoU)Purbanchal University (PU)Nepal Sanskrit University (NSU)B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Science (BPKIHS)National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS)

S&T Institutions

Government Cont….Department of RoadsDepartment of Irrigation

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S&T Institutions

Sector wise status of publication of S&T journal

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S&T Human Resources

SN Subject 1985* 2005* 2008 2010

1 Engineering 2389 11234 15801 20693

2 Natural Sciences (Botany, Zoology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Statistics, Geology, Meteorology, Env.Sc., Microbiology, Computer Sc)

1909 7347 8819 10022

3 Medical Science 1658 5496 5732 77694 Agriculture 1396 3004 3334 36165 Forestry 719 798 919 9256 Food Technology 165 224 275 3327 Pharmacy - - - 687Total Number 8,236 28,103 34,880 44,044

Production of Human Resources

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S&T Human Resources

Human Resources by sector wise employment

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

S&T Human Resources

Human resources by field of science and sector of employment

Field of science Government Higher education

Private nonprofit

Business enterprise

Not specified

Total

Natural sciences 3282 1493 310 111 403 5,599Engineering & technology

11481 2557 990 5666 - 20,694

Medical and health sciences

2178 1811 1730 862 - 6,581

Agricultural sciences 7559 585 41 - - 8,185Not specified 446 406 - - - 852

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Human resources by academic qualification

S&T Human Resources

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Discipline Number of PhD Personnel Percentage (%)Agriculture 218 20.88Engineering 214 20.50Botany 113 10.82Chemistry 119 11.40Medicine 82 7.85Physics 69 6.61Zoology 42 4.02Veterinary 35 3.35Mathematics 31 2.97Geology 30 2.87Forestry 19 1.82Microbiology 19 1.82Statistics 17 1.63Biology 12 1.15Environment 9 0.86Natural Science 7 0.67Food Technology 4 0.38Public Health 4 0.38Total = 1066 100

Distribution of PhD Personnel in different disciplines of S&T

S&T Human Resources

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Decade wise PhD Personnel in of S&T

S&T Human Resources

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SN Ethnic group

Number of PhD Personnel

1 Madheshi 129

2 Janajati 358

3 Dalit 9

4 Others 570

Total 1066

9.58%

90.4%

Male Female

Genderwise distribution of PhD personnel in S&T

PhD Personnel by gender and ethnic group

S&T Human Resources

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Investment in S&T

S.N

Title 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09

1 GDP at Producer Price (CBS, 2008) in million

728178 818401 960011

2 Total Government Investment in R&D (in NRs 000)

443611 2562035 3604614

3 Investment on R&D by percentage of GDP

0.0609 0.313 0.3754

Government investment on R&D

This is calculated based on allocated budget for major S&T institutions of the government

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Investment in S&T

Sector wise funding source of R&D institutions

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S&T Equipment

Sector wise status of present need of the S&T Equipment

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S&T Equipment

Sector wise repair and maintenance of the Equipment

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Since, the preparation of S&T data base is continuous process requiring regular updating of the information, this has to be institutionalized. NAST is the appropriate institution for this. So, the Government of Nepal is requested to allocate annual budget to NAST for S&T database.Technology Information and Transfer Program (TITP) has to carry out this task on regular basis, accordingly NAST has to develop capacity of TITP in terms of human resources and necessary tools.There is no information about the Non Resident Nepalese (NRN) S&T human resources, it is most desirable to keep their records, and a separate study has to be carried out involving Non Resident Nepalese Association.Cooperation with international organizations such as UNESCO and other organizations for developing S&T related database and technology transfer is necessary.

Recommendations

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

We are most grateful to Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) for financial support to carry out the study.Sincere thank goes to Prof. Dr. Surendra Kafle, Vice chancellor and Prof. Dr. Praksh Chandra Adhikari, Secretary of NAST.We are thankful to other members; Mr. Ishwor Khanal, Mr. Sanu Kaji Desar, Mr. Vijaya Singh and Mr. Dev Kumar Shah of the study team.We also thank all the institutions who had provided the valuable information during the study.

Acknowledgements

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Thank You for your Attention…..