The need for solutions through application of science and technology is universal. But rampant application of technology without duly considering sustainability is nearly forcing us to operate like a ‘risk society’, in the words of Ulrich Beck. The impact of problems caused due to the failures of science and technology and its applications is increasing in scale and spread each time it strikes us. Hence, the newer applications need to be designed and applied in a flawless manner. For accomplishing this, we need scientists who are motivated, committed and competent in their fields.
A civilisation thrives or perishes depending on the capability, capacity and ecosystem of its research. The societies that support unhindered and all-round research have always been ahead. Research thrives entirely on emotional and infrastructural support. Raman’s Nobel became possible due to the unconditional and liberal financial support of Ghanshyam Das Birla. (Dr C V Raman requested Birla for a huge sum of money. In the request, he committed to winning a Nobel prize within a couple of years of receiving the money. He got the money and the award.)
Often, we compare success with performance. When an athlete or any sportsperson wins a medal for the country, they get public recognition—in terms of money, jobs or brand ambassadorships for some leading brands. In contrast, scientists, despite their groundbreaking findings, hardly get due admiration from the public or from their parent organisations. The governments and registered societies have instituted a handful of medals/awards for them, but the number of scientists who receive the accolades are much fewer than sportspersons. Among scientists, the younger lot suffers more and is less resourceful than seniors. This situation is getting worse with time and the increase in retirement age.
The world is facing huge challenges: climate change, Covid-19, land degradation, frequent and devastating natural calamities like avalanches, landslides, floods and cyclones, and scanty resources to feed the ever-increasing population. In this backdrop, the role of young scientists has become challenging. The time has come for a country like India to mobilise its scientific resources, including young scientists—regardless of age, gender and scientific field. India needs to accept and encourage the views of these young scientists who, more often than not and unlike their senior colleagues, think unconventionally to solve problems. This often results in regular conflicts at the workplace. They need a voice and must be heard and supported to produce wonders.
According to VIDWAN, a Government of India database containing scientists’ profiles, there are nearly 10,744 scientists working in agricultural sciences, 6,752 in biological sciences, 8,149 in chemical sciences, 68,748 in engineering and technology, 18,771 in medical sciences, and 16,544 in physical sciences. However, the global position of India in the science and technology (S&T) sector is not encouraging even though we have improved our rankings in the Global Innovation Index (81 in 2015 to 40 in 2022) and the number of scientific articles published (Third place globally). Considering the number of scientists in India, we are far behind in our performance compared to smaller countries like South Korea, Israel, and some European countries. We are also far behind in getting patents as opposed to China, the US and South Korea. It is estimated that over 55% of scientists in India are below 45 years of age. This huge ‘pool of talent’ has to be empowered and engaged to help India take a giant leap in science and technology research.
One of the mandates of the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India is to empower the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) ecosystem to enable India to achieve her rightful place in the comity of nations. To this end, the nurturing and empowerment of the next generation of young scientists and researchers in the early stages of their careers is an initiative that will determine the future direction of scientific leadership in research and development. Efforts are being made to develop policy recommendations for building a research-conducive ecosystem for young scientists through online questionnaires, brainstorming sessions and international webinars.
In a recently conducted survey by the office of the PSA, more than 2,000 young scientists wanted a secure research environment, including seed funding to start research, flexibility in using the funds obtained, autonomy to scientists in decision-making processes, more collaborative research opportunities, and better career growth.
Some salient recommendations from the Indian diaspora in a recently held international webinar included focus on soft skills, talent recognition and mentorship, project investigator’s grant to young scientists, international collaboration through establishment of MoUs with foreign universities, streamlining international travels of scientists for collaborative research and attending important seminars, and recognising the expertise of young scientists at an early stage and funding their research work, etc.
The most important thing lacking in the Indian research ecosystem is commensurately rewarding scientists for their good work. Incentivising scientists for their work has proven to reap benefits in different countries. They should be made stakeholders in the projects, deciding niche areas of research, evaluating projects, consulting, and reaping the commercial benefits of the products post-commercialisation.
Research institutes must share their overhead components with project investigators to enable them in updating their tools, training, skilling and networking without any restriction. Personal/informal meetings create greater trust, collaboration and the understanding needed for joint ventures, without which long-term solution-providing research for real-life problems cannot be undertaken.
(Views are personal)
Prof Sanjay Kumar Sharma
Professor (Mining), IIT (BHU), Varanasi
Dr Monoranjan Mohanty
Adviser/Scientist ‘G’, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, GOI