India’s scientific landscape is evolving rapidly, with advanced laboratories, ambitious research programmes and technology pushing the boundaries of discovery. But behind every breakthrough is a human team and leading that team requires a different kind of expertise. Dr Veda Krishnan of ICAR–IARI, Dr Sriparna Chatterjee of CSIR–IMMT, Prof Chandra Shekhar Sharma of IIT Hyderabad and Dr Pooja Devi of CSIR-CSIO have come together to address this often-overlooked gap. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience in research, they have created BODH (Building Opportunities & Driving Hope) — an activity-based leadership framework designed to help scientists move beyond experiments and publications to the equally complex work of mentoring teams, navigating technology-driven change, building collaborations and shaping stronger scientific institutions. In an exclusive chat with CE, Prof Chandra Shekhar Sharma takes us through the initiative, issue they are trying to solve and more.
Excerpts
What gaps have you observed among researchers and scientific institutions that inspired BODH, and how does the initiative address them?
Indian scientific institutions produce good researchers and good science, but leadership skills — communication, team building, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence — are never taught in any structured way. This isn’t just a concern for senior leadership; even young researchers managing a diverse lab need these skills. BODH was founded by four scientists across disciplines, all former leaders of the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (the only young scientists’ academy in India), where they gained hands-on experience in leadership and outreach. Three of the four are also active in the Global Young Academy (headquartered in Germany, 100+ countries), which one of them chaired last year — only the second Indian to do so. Years of discussion about bridging this leadership gap in Indian academia led to BODH.
How does the initiative use structured learning, experiential workshops, and reflection to help researchers develop these skills?
BODH runs hands-on, activity-based workshops rather than one-way lectures. The founders draw on their own 15+ years of academic and research experience to share real case studies participants can relate to. The programme is intentionally human-centred, capping batch size at 50. It’s also designed with interdisciplinarity in mind — covering early-career faculty, mid-career faculty, and PhD students — with a dedicated module on women’s leadership.
How is the initiative preparing researchers to lead teams where technical expertise alone isn’t enough?
BODH is built around seven core pillars: Sarathi (accountability and strategic alignment), Shakti (women’s leadership in science), Setu (strategic engagement, collaboration, and team building), Siddhi (science communication to both scientific and public audiences), along with Isparsh, Pragya, and Prabodh. Technical skills come through mentors and guides, but succeeding as a group leader, department head, or dean requires empathy, resilience, and human-centric leadership — the focus of the programme.
Science today is collaborative across institutions, disciplines, and geographies. How does BODH prepare leaders to navigate this?
Solving real-world, grand-challenge problems demands multidisciplinary work — not just across departments but across academia, industry, government, policymakers, and NGOs. Each of these audiences needs a different communication style; the same technical explanation won’t land with industry, the public, or policymakers. BODH teaches effective, audience-adapted communication and the importance of team building across institutions, since working in silos is no longer viable. It also introduces the concept of ‘communication colour’ — recognising that people communicate differently — and stresses empathy as essential to building successful, collaborative teams.
How can technology help address barriers to leadership opportunities, visibility, and access to professional networks in science?
AI and digital tools make disseminating research and information far easier. But that ease comes with responsibility: social media also spreads misinformation quickly, so scientists must learn to communicate carefully and accurately rather than make exaggerated claims. As emerging technologies simplify outreach, they simultaneously raise the bar for scientists to communicate responsibly and keep the public well-informed rather than misled.