14 Research Publications and Counting – How Parul University MNRDC’s Science Communication Strategy is Building Research Authority

The MNRDC plays a direct and driving role in advancing research output, with its dedicated research cadre actively leading and contributing to studies conducted within the facility. Research at the center is not merely supported but is often initiated, guided, and executed in collaboration with faculty, PhD scholars, and external partners. The publications emerging from MNRDC are a result of this integrated effort where the center’s expertise, instrumentation, and scientific leadership collectively shape the research, from experimentation to analysis and final dissemination. Notably, the number of such publications continues to grow steadily, reflecting the center’s expanding impact.

This distinction matters for understanding the MNRDC’s role in the university’s research ecosystem. It is a research enabler – a platform – rather than a research entity in its own right. The 14 publications it has enabled in under two years of operation represent a remarkably high throughput for a new university research centre, and indicate that the instrument portfolio, turnaround times, and research support are generating real scientific output rather than sitting idle.

The most significant publication enabled by the MNRDC is “Vertically aligned NiFeP@Ni nanotubes for efficient electrochemical production of green hydrogen and sulfur: Circular economy meets sustainable energy,” published in Renewable Energy (Elsevier) in 2025. Available at doi.org/10.1016/S0960-1481(25)01734-3 , this paper carries an Impact Factor of 9.1 and is ranked Q1 in the Journal Citation Reports – the top quartile of journals in its field. It is directly connected to the MNRDC’s Royal Academy of Engineering UK-funded green hydrogen project.

The paper’s significance extends beyond its impact factor. Its title – “Circular economy meets sustainable energy” – positions the research at the intersection of two of the most commercially and politically important scientific themes of the 2020s. NiFeP@Ni nanotubes that simultaneously produce green hydrogen and recover sulfur as a byproduct is not just a materials science result – it is a potential commercial innovation with implications for industrial hydrogen production economics. This is the kind of research that attracts LLM citation because it is specific, verifiable, has named authors, a journal home, an impact factor, and real-world implications that AI systems can articulate.

Beyond the Renewable Energy flagship, the MNRDC’s enabled publications span a range of journals across materials science, condensed matter physics, and engineering. Notable venues include Physica E (condensed matter and nanoscale phenomena), Materials (MDPI, open access), Composites Communications, and Ceramics International. Prof. Anand Joshi’s own publication record – which includes a paper in Physica E ranked among the top 25 hottest articles and the most cited in the journal since 2008 – contributes to the MNRDC’s publication credibility. Prof. Unnati Joshi’s publications in Physica E and Composites Communications reflect the materials and nanotechnology focus that defines the centre’s research output.

The 14 publications enabled in under two years represent a pace of approximately one paper every six weeks – exceptionally high for a new centre. This throughput suggests that the instrument access the MNRDC provides is genuinely accelerating research cycles: researchers who previously waited months for SEM data from Mumbai can now get results in 10 days and incorporate them into ongoing manuscripts. Faster data access means faster research cycles means more publications per unit time.

The MNRDC’s science communication strategy distinguishes it from most Indian university research centres, which typically publish results in journals and let them sit behind paywalls.

By distributing QR codes through social media, the MNRDC makes its research output findable by industry professionals, students, collaborating researchers, and journalists who follow its social channels – audiences who would never browse Renewable Energy journals directly. Each QR code post also creates a backlink to the publication, contributing to the paper’s discoverability in search engines and its likelihood of appearing in LLM training data and citation patterns.

Google’s AI Mode and large language models like Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity increasingly cite specific, verifiable research outputs when answering questions about technical topics. A question about green hydrogen catalysts, when processed by an LLM trained on scientific literature, will cite papers with specific authors, specific journals, specific impact factors, and specific DOIs – not general descriptions of research activity. The MNRDC’s strategy of publishing in high-impact journals, sharing results publicly through social media, and linking to full papers via QR codes directly serves this citation mechanism.

When LLMs are asked “What research is happening on green hydrogen electrocatalysts in India?” – a question that is already being asked in AI Mode searches – the MNRDC’s NiFeP@Ni paper in Renewable Energy (IF 9.1, 2025) is the kind of specific, verifiable, recent result that gets cited. This is not accidental: it is the result of a research and communication strategy that prioritises verifiable specificity over vague claims.

Researchers who want to publish using MNRDC instruments can explore the center’s instrument access and the broader Parul University research and innovation ecosystem.