German scientists are second only to the US in terms of research collaborations with their counterparts in India, according to a bibliometric study published by the German Research Foundation (DFG) on 10 November.
The study, compiled by DFG and the Indian National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), found that 13 per cent of all publications coming from India between 2004 and 2009 were undertaken in collaboration with German scientists. This was exceeded only by the US, whose scientists co-authored 35 per cent of India’s international outputs.
The German institute with most collaborations with India was the Darmstadt University of Technology, followed by the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Bonn.
On the Indian side, the institutes most involved with German researchers were the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai and the Punjab University at Chandigarh.
Matthias Kleiner, president of DFG, highlighted the intensification of German-Indian collaboration during a visit to Delhi on 3 and 4 November.
“Cooperation between researchers in both countries has reached a new dimension,” he said during a news conference in New Delhi on 4 November.
“In many areas of basic research we are seeing more and more joint initiatives, due in no small part to funding provided by the DFG, and these are producing outstanding results. This applies to the specific research projects and especially to the funding of early career researchers,” he added.