New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS): Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday launched the Institution's Innovation Cell (IIC) here at the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to foster an attitude of research among students.

So far, more than 1,000 higher education institutes have already established IICs on their campuses to "promote innovation", the Ministry said.

"This is a big achievement... After Independence we established research centres separately from the universities. This was a historical mismatch. In all developed countries universities act as research centres. And it can happen only there.

"Therefore, academia and research councils need to work together. Unfortunately, we separate them from each other and each has to work in isolation," Javadekar addressed the gathering at the launch through a video message.

With this establishing of IIC, the country will have a good rank in the global innovation rankings in 2-3 years, he said.