National Science Foundation- Sri Lanka

During the preceding three years the NSF supported 183 research grants and awarded 77 research scholarships

As the outcome of NSF sponsored research – 70 international publications, 44 local publications and 182 communications have been made during the preceding three years

The Foundation recorded an increase in the number of research students it supported towards PhDs or M.Phils.

A National Policy on biotechnology for Sri Lanka was prepared and accepted by the cabinet for implementation

Global Forum of Sri Lankan Scientists - The National Science Foundation  under the purview of the Ministry of Technology and Research and in collaboration with UNESCO is in the process of organizing a Global Forum of Sri Lankan Scientists to harness the knowledge of expatriate scientists for economic development of the country

The World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO inscribed Knuckles, Peak Wilderness and Horton Plains (Central Highlands of Sri Lanka) as a Natural World Heritage Site on the 30th July 2010 in Brasilia. This process was initiated by the National Man and the Biosphere Committee (MAB) of the NSF in August 2004.

The Journal of the National Science Foundation (JNSF) is the only Sri Lankan journal quoted in the Science Citation Index Expanded, a premier online database which provides bibliographic and citation information from over 8,500 of the world’s leading scientific and technical journals across 150 disciplines.

Science and Technology Management Information System (STMIS) registered 3,505 scientists and technologists (78% of the total number) and also established an online registration database for expatriate scientists.

The first NSF technology grant was given to “Sun Frost pvt. Ltd.” under the Technology Grant Scheme “Support for Industrial R & D”. The company has increased its production capacity by investing on five more green house modules as per the findings of the research.

Recognizing the importance of Nanotechnology, in 2007, The National Science Foundation (NSF) together with the Ministry of Science & Technology launched a programme, “National Nanotechnology Initiative” (NNI) with the vision to become the world leader in the field. An advanced national nanotechnology research centre, Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) Pvt. Ltd was established on April 09, 2008 under this initiative of which 50% share is held by the NSF on behalf of the government of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka National Innovation Survey 1 (SLNIS 1) was started and questionnaire - 1 was dispatched to about 2000 private and public institutions and companies. Feedbacks received from some companies.

National Research and Development Survey 2008 - Data collection and the S&T indicator development completed. The most up to date data of the year 2008 on the research and development activities in Sri Lanka were made available making Sri Lanka is the only country in Asia where S&T data for the year 2008 are available at present.

S &T indicators relevant to Sri Lanka that are being published by the UNESCO Statistics Report and the World Science Report are regularly submitted by the Science & Technology Policy Research Division (STPRD) of NSF. This is a clear output of NSF for being able to contribute to the World Scenario of the S&T sector as well as allocating funds for R&D work locally.

The first digital Library in the country was launched with a view to provide online access to the research out put of the local scientific community.

An Open digital Archive covering NSF publications enabling free downloading of the full text, established. The collection covers 1932 items (monographs, reports, journal articles) and is available for online access through the internet