Kaleidoscopic view of research journey at National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee (INDIA)

Abstract

The National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee (NIH-R) is a premier research organization in India working in the areas of hydrology and water resources. It was founded on 16 December, 1978 and has completed forty years of existence encompassing a rich legacy of conducting basic, applied and strategic research for the country. This paper is attempted to trace the historical set up and to explore the scientific contribution of NIH-R in the form of research study reports, publications in journals and training courses in the last 30 years from 1991 to 2020. Broad theme areas of research contribution during blocks of five-year are identified and ranked. During the reported period, average annual research output of NIH-R has been fifty study reports, fifty-four papers in journals and sixteen training course. The output in terms of study reports has shown a decline since 2006-10 and publication of papers in journals picked up since 2001-05. NIH-R emphasized organizing training courses since 2006-10. Consistent (during whole period), and emerging and gap theme areas during the recent ten and five years are identified, which are important from the point of view of national interest. An important inference having a bearing on the future trajectory of NIH-R is to cultivate an alignment between the training themes/topics and the study areas pursued at NIH-R. A major lacuna noticed in the functioning of NIH-R is on effective utilization of young scientists in enhancing the scientific productivity. A commensurate enhancement in the research output with addition of new scientists is seen missing. Such exercise is also useful for evaluating the research productivity and benchmarking of NIH-R. Some specific suggestions and recommendations are made for improving the research output and on policy implications to develop strategic capability keeping in view the societal needs.