Careers360 honours 54 researchers from Indian institutions across 27 disciplines
Fifty-four researchers from public and private higher education institutions across India were recognised at the third Careers360 Faculty Research Awards held in New Delhi on October 1.The awards were presented at the India Research and Impact Summit 2026, organised by Careers360. Researchers were s
Fifty-four researchers from public and private higher education institutions across India were recognised at the third Careers360 Faculty Research Awards held in New Delhi on October 1.The awards were presented at the India Research and Impact Summit 2026, organised by Careers360. Researchers were selected across 27 academic disciplines based on their publications, citations, and H-index, as recorded in academic research indices. In 26 disciplines, one researcher each from a public and a private institution was selected, while in one domain both the awardees were from public institutions.The recipients included researchers from institutions such as the IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, the University of Hyderabad, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Symbiosis International University, and Manipal Academy of Higher Education.Speaking at the event, Abhay Karandikar, NITI Aayog member and former secretary of the Department of Science and Technology, stressed the importance of research and said that India is severely lacking in it. “India is severely lacking in our academia, universities, and also in the industry ecosystem in terms of basic research, and research that has been published into translatable technologies, commercialisation, and so on. Research is concentrated only in a few universities … We have very weak industry-academia linkages and primarily that is arising from industry not spending enough on research … The government has made institutional and sectoral interventions.”Abhay Karandikar expressed hope that government intervention would lead to the creation of an ecosystem in which academia will have a much stronger connection with the industry and will focus on doing research that addresses the challenges for the country and the world.Sribharat Mathukumilli, Lok Sabha MP and president of GITAM Deemed-to-be University, said that India needed to strengthen its research capacity.“We need to become an exceptional knowledge-based institution, advancing on a culture of honesty and compassion. Capacity for academic research in India is very low, and if we don’t change that, our impact on research and knowledge will be very low.”The summit also featured six panel discussions on hindrances to research, industry-academia collaboration, measuring research impact, PhD students’ experiences, and the role of research in institutional rankings.Careers360 founder and chairman Maheshwer Peri said that the awards were aimed to bring individual researchers into focus, arguing that universities should be recognised not only for teaching existing knowledge, but also for creating new knowledge.