Sustainability in Higher Education through Basic Science Research

Abstract

Basic research in Universities is essential for a sustainable development. Recent developments in higher education have seen the inclusion of curiculum redesigned to serve the concept of developming young minds in the intrepretation, execution, and use of basic science research. The challenge for educators is to “demystify” research and teach in ways that are professionally meaningful as well as intellectually acceptable. The objective of this chapter is to bring in various case studies to prove the essentiality of basic research in higher education with specific concern over pharmaceutical industrial growth plans. Data on R&D in higher education can be broken down by field of science (natural sciences, engineering, medical sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences, and humanities), by type of costs (current expenditures, capital expenditures), and by source of funds (business enterprise, government, higher education, private non-profit, and funds from abroad). Measures of R&D performance in the higher education sector are often estimated by national authorities, and evaluation methods are periodically revised. It is necessary to review the design and conduct of higher education R&D surveys to improve the comparability of these indicators.