Background: Research is a pillar in garnering evidence in Health Sciences. It is important to impart clinical and research skills to students persuing medical and allied branches. Physiotherapy treatments are becoming evidenced based and there is a need to train Physiotherapy students in research studies. The study aims to evaluate the interest of Physiotherapy students in research activity as therapists and as academicians. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out at a Physiotherapy College affiliated to a Tertiary care Academic Institute. After obtaining ethical clearance from IEC of institute, UG students of Physiotherapy from I to IV B.P.Th were asked to respond to a locally developed self-administered questionnaire with 11 items related to research. Data was analyzed using Graph Pad version. Results: Total of 133 Physiotherapy students with mean age of 19.84 ± 2.14 completed the questionnaire. On being asked about interest in continuing research after graduation, 54.88% showed their interest while, 44.36% wanted to pursue an academic career. A majority of 96.24% showed clinical practice as important aspect of their training and only 3.75% considered research as their priority. Half of the students who were aware about research being part of their curriculum, 44.30% knew research as an integral part of academic career while 50.37% were not sure about its importance. On being asked about knowledge of publication, small percent were aware about its relevance. Conclusion: Although interest in research is present among students, measures should be taken to orient the students about research activities right from 1st B.P.Th and should be reflected in the curriculum.

Keywords: Physiotherapy students; Research; Undergraduate curriculum; Learning, Motivation.