Southern States has 1/3rd of PhD applications in India

The three southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have a third of all PhD enrolments in the country while Delhi, home to 26 universities, comes fourth. With its largest student population, Uttar Pradesh stands fifth, followed by Maharashtra in the sixth spot.

Andhra Pradesh with 46 universities has enrolled the largest pool of 8,212 doctoral candidates. Tamil Nadu with the largest number of 59 universities has 7,995 candidates pursuing PhD programme. Karnataka is a close third with 7,938 PhD candidates. In all, 77,798 candidates are currently pursuing research in subjects ranging from humanities to natural science and from medicine to agriculture.

TISS director S Parasuraman said research grants have gone up encouraging many youths to look at PhD programmes. "Also, universities in the southern states seem to be having many more supervisors, enabling them to enroll more candidates," he said.

Maharashtra lacked the resources including faculty which has led to a decline in research though the state ranks sixth in terms of number of PhD enrolments, said a former Mumbai University vice-chancellor who didn't wish to be identified. "Government investment has fallen and many universities have not recruited faculty for years now. This has led to a fall in research projects and PhDs in Maharashtra," he said.

Institute of Chemical Technology director G D Yadav said fewer candidates from Maharashtra were doing well in the NET/SET exams, conducted for those who wish to qualify for university level teaching jobs or seek admission to PhD programmes.

When a similar analysis was carried out in 2007, researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, studied the decadal output of research papers (from 1998 -2007) and concluded that Delhi had emerged as the PhD capital of India.

As observed in the report, two-thirds of all PhDs have been awarded to males; and across genders, the attrition rate stands at 50% -only half of those enrolled managing to cross the finishing line. In Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh, women outnumber men.

China tops global chart

China has done a lot better than India when it comes to the PhD count. In 2002, India (11,974) and China (14,706) stood close producing a similar number of PhDs. America held the pole position producing a total of 40,024 PhDs. Within a span of merely five years, a comparative study by Sunder S of Yale University, showed India producing 20,131 PhDs. China leaped up and in 2007, stood close to the USA with 41,464 PhDs. The USA accounted for 48,112 PHDs that year. In 2010, as per data put out by the China's ministry of education, China outnumbered America in the number of PhDs produced with 48,978 students being awarded the degree as compared to 48,069 in the US.