Improving science, technology vital to win economic war- Prof Tissa Vitharana

By Dhameshi Tatawara

*Low output of postgraduate research degrees by Sri Lankan universities

*Need to establish National Cadre of Researchers

On November 10, the world would admire the marvels of science and honour the heroes of technology and research as it is the World Day for Science. Established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the World Science Day for Peace and Development was established in 2001 to raise awareness of the benefits of science to the world.

The World Science Day for Peace and Development this year recognises the role of science in facilitating the repprochment of people and cultures through its contribution to the advancement of ‘mutual knowledge and understanding of people.’

This year’s event symbolises the world’s tribute to the contribution of various civilisations from different parts of the world that helped form the basis of science. With the day right around the corner, Sri Lanka needs to re-analyse its positioning in the world arena in the science and technology field.

In the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ Vision for Tomorrow, highlighting the importance of transforming Sri Lanka in to a strategically notable economic centre of the world, President Mahinda Rajapaksa states, “Using our strategic geographical location effectively, I will develop our motherland as a naval, aviation, commercial, energy and knowledge hub, serving as a key link between the East and the West.”

Identifying the true desires of the people, President Rajapaksa states that people are now awaiting victory in the ‘economic war’, in a manner similar to victory in the war against terrorism. Accordingly, the Government’s aim is to increase the per capita income to well above US$ 4,000, thus placing Sri Lanka in the ranks of middle income nations.

“Our per capita GDP was US$ 320 as against US$ 84 for South Korea in the 1960s and in 2009 our per capita GDP had gone up to US$ 2200 whereas South Korea exceeded US$ 20,000. In fact, Sri Lanka had only 1.5 percent of high technology exports while Korea had 75 percent. Considering other countries of our region, Thailand had 27 percent, while Singapore and Malaysia exceeded 50 percent. That is why these countries have been able to capture foreign markets and also generate more income for their own economies,” Technology and Research Minister Prof. Tissa Vitharana said, explaining the significance of improving science to win the economic war.

Thus, the Ministry of Technology and Research handed over its five-year plan for Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Sri Lanka. The mission is restructuring and mobilising the knowledge creating systems to make Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia.

According to statistics available with the Ministry of Technology and Research, Sri Lanka has 31 research institutes under nine ministries and 48 university faculties. More than 50 percent of the research and development institutes are in the Western Province while the second highest number is in the Central Province. Out of those in the Central Province, more than 90 percent are dedicated to agriculture research and development work. The statistics indicate that nearly 50 percent of the State research institutes are dedicated to agricultural research and development while only five are dedicated to industrial research and development and two for health research.

Accordingly, the Sri Lankan university system consists of 78 hard science-related faculties with 425 departments with science laboratories in 16 State universities. Among these for industrial and engineering sciences, five specialised labs and four other labs exist in faculties in the Moratuwa, Peradeniya, Ruhuna and Open Universities. For Veterinary Science and Marine Aquatic resources Sri Lanka has two labs each. And for health sciences seven labs exist in University Medical Faculties, one with the Dental Faculty in Peradeniya University and others with Medical Research Institute and Bio Medical Research Institute. For Applied Sciences 14 labs exist at Science Faculties in universities. There are many more; only the main labs are mentioned here.

It is important to have separate labs for each field, yet the Ministry also focuses on one mega centre for all types of scientific research such as those found in Malaysia and Singapore which are national centres of world class standard. As the first step the Government succeeded in establishing the Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTEC) at Malabe in collaboration with five blue chip companies in the telecommunication, agriculture, exporting fields. So far, the institute has applied for five US patents within nine months based on researches of local scientists. One patent is for producing nano tubes; two for agricultural products, one a slow release fertiliser; for innovative manufacturing techniques of solid tyres; and another for using magnetite in the medical field.

Action plan

As the action plan states, Sri Lanka has only 4,600 researchers, with a full time cadre of 2,700, in research related jobs in the 31 State research institutes, 16 universities and a few private sector industries. According to this report, the number is far below that of other countries in the region. As estimated by UNESCO in 2004, an average of 894 researchers should exist per million inhabitants. Thus the Ministry proposes that, “If we are to be at least on par with the world average, we need 18,000 research personnel to be engaged in research.”

In Sri Lanka only around 138 researchers are there for a million people. China has 714.61 researchers for a million people and Singapore 5,479.14. In USA it is 4,628.20 and in Korea 3,723.28. (According to UNESCO statistics published.)

According to data with the Ministry, the total number of available researchers with PhDs in universities in Sri Lanka is 1160. Only less than 300 of this are currently supervising research degrees - producing an average of 20-50 research degrees a year, by 16 universities.

This number of supervisors is inadequate to train the target of 18,000 researchers. All potential trainers in Sri Lanka are estimated to be around 2100 (1100 in the universities and 1000 in the research institutes). In particular, there is also a scarcity of research trainers in advanced technologies in this country.

“People need to understand more the importance of their contribution to the science field yet we see more children enter other lucrative fields of studies to gain more benefits within a short span,” Prof. Vitharana said. Thus the Ministry suggests a special approach to train more graduates, postgraduates and scientists for research careers.

Planning to reach an average number in the developing country range, the Ministry proposes to increase Sri Lanka’s number of scientists to 7,500 by 2016. Adding 1,800 research scientists per year, the Ministry predicts Sri Lanka can reach the world average. For this the university system needs to produce 500 research personnel per year during 2011 to 2016. Then from 2017 - 2021 Sri Lanka needs 900 research scientists.

Almost 50 percent of the research facilities in the country are located outside the university system and they are not effectively used for research training at present.

Postgraduate research

There is a low output of postgraduate research degrees by the Sri Lankan universities - less than 100 per year for the last three years. And another factor the report highlights is postgraduate research degrees being awarded only by the universities, which limits the number. A low number of university academics are actually engaged in research and development i.e. 5 - 20 percent of a total of 2,161 potential trainers in the university system. The Sri Lankan university system has 78 faculties and 425 departments which comprises 346 professors, 98 associate professors and 1,717 senior lecturers. Only 21 percent of the research and development personnel are in the engineering disciplines, which directly affects the capacity for technology development.

The strategy that would be carried out, following the directives of President Rajapaksa, will be in three mechanisms, i.e. support scheme for research degrees, overseas special training program and international partnership for science and technology. Local scientists will also be loaded with research directly contributing to the improvement of the national economy.

The Ministry emphasises the requirement to establish a National Cadre of Researchers. It also highlights the need to treat scientists and technologists on research and development as a special category in this country, like the members of the defence services. Also the Ministry proposes a tiered structure for the National Cadre of Researchers where promotions in the National Research System will purely be based on research and development performance. Developing a performance appraisal system for researchers at the national level is also vital.

Like most developing countries, Sri Lanka has also suffered from the loss of its most talented scientists, engineers and technologists to advanced nations. However, with the end of the war, the time is just opportune for us to create aggressive initiatives to induce the return of expatriate nationals of great talent.

Identifying this dire situation, President Rajapaksa in his Mahinda Chinthana clearly states, “I have already introduced a mechanism to effect a reverse brain drain to obtain the knowledge and services of local experts who have excelled internationally. I will soon improve this mechanism and ensure that all such resources are attracted back to our country, instead of leaving the country.”