Basic Research in India

chillibreeze writer — D R Rajalakshmi

Man is the most intelligent and manipulative species on this planet. He has a natural curiosity to look around and question the why and how of his existence and creation of life. Probably the earliest attempt at unraveling the mystery of nature and that of the mind has been preserved in the form of Upanishads or the Vedanta. Though rudimentary in style, it set the human mind thinking.

Barring a few traditional thinkers, basic research in the true sense, in India, began only in the 20th century. Traditionally, basic research pertains to research in natural sciences such as physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology. There are a few research institutions dedicated to pure research such as Indian Institute of Science, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Science and Engineering Research council, which were established by the Government of India to promote research and development.

Breakthrough research?
While our intention is not to undermine the achievements of some of the scientists, I, as a lay person, have not heard of a single achievement credited to any scientist of the stature of the Raman Effect or Chandrasekhar limit in the present times, not to mention the epoch making and path breaking discoveries of Newton or Einstein. Think of Srinivasa Ramanujam, Marie curie, Edison or other great physicists. For them, it was knowledge for knowledge sake.

Today, the success of a scientist is judged by the number of articles that are published in foreign journals. The esoteric nature of these articles acts as a deterrent to even understand them. While we may have conquered Silicon Valley (due to which India was able to withstand the economic recession, unlike some European countries and the US), it’s the economy and the strength of science that makes a nation strong. It has also been predicted that India will become an intellectual and economic superpower in the coming decades (Dr.Mashelkar, CSIR).

Advantage India?
One great advantage India has over other non-English speaking countries is that it has a large pool of English speaking population, though China is fast catching up. The atmosphere here is conducive for grooming scientists, what with so many people who are intelligent, intuitive, and hard working. What is lacking is probably motivation. There are a number of children aspiring to become a Sachin Tendulkar or Shah Rukh Khan, or a great singer but how many want to become scientists? We have the brightest of the children, waiting to be admitted to Ivy League schools, the primary motive behind, being, a plum, well paying job. If 10% of these youth can take up basic research, the results would be promising. Oour generation has now, better facilities, better technology, better tools and scientific instruments, with global knowledge sharing, unlike our predecessors, who had no access to any of these facilities and had to work under adverse conditions. The scenario is better with respect to applied research.

Brain Drain
We have cars giving more mileage, less emission, solar lighting, stem cell research, nanotechnology, rocket sciences, innovative minds, and numerous entrepreneurs but do we have one Stephen Hawking? We have institutions dedicated to applied research - the DRDO, BARC, ICRISAT, and SERC to name a few, but do we see a Charles Darwin or Mendel in our present times? The seventies and the eighties saw an exodus of best brains but what with economy falling apart in these countries, let's hope that some of them will return and remain in India.

Research requires constant endeavor, perseverance, and highest dedication to one's work. This effort has to begin at school level, where we should inculcate in the minds of children, the importance of learning basic sciences. Researchers should be given more monetary benefits (on par with IIMs or ISB placements), more perks, and an environment conducive to academic endeavors. Most high paying jobs (technical, administrative, or managerial) are 'performance oriented', but how does one judge the performance of scientists who are exploring phenomena that take years to explain or discover? These are tricky issues that our policymakers will have to contend with.

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in October, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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