Researcher-guide networking: A case of renewable energy research

Renewable energy research has recently been seen as one of the most important areas of studies by budding doctoral researchers. The paper is an attempt to study the trends of renewable energy research on the basis of PhD dissertations database provided by University Grants Commission (Government of India). The database provides the information about researcher, guide, title, university/Department and year. On the bases of the PhD database a unique combination of researcher and guide was established by searching scientometric output of the combination on SCOPUS database. The results were analyzed using Pajek social network diagrams and UCINET and further network between Researcher, Guide, Institution and future research collaborations were illustratively mapped. The final output highlights the Universities' contribution towards creation of renewable technology research not only by creating the human resource but also by various modes of networking, be it researcher to guide, university to university, researcher to research or a combination of all. It also shed light on the behavior of a researcher after completing of doctoral programme.