Few Indians are willing to pursue a career in research in their own country as the enabling environment for it is missing
At the 100th annual session of the Indian Science Congress held in Kolkata earlier this month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged scientists to give top priority to research that would address pressing problems in the country, such as energy security, agricultural productivity, safe drinking water and sanitation. He asked scientists across disciplines to collaborate with one another, and with private research labs to foster innovation that would improve living conditions in India.
Last in retaining talent
But if that is to happen, the country would first need an environment for research. A recent survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research in the United States (http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/the-global-brain-trade) contains some revealing numbers. Switzerland has the highest rate of immigrant scientists and the United States, unsurprisingly, is the most popular academic destination around the world. But shockingly for India, 40 per cent of its researchers are emigrating to pursue their research abroad; the aspiring economic powerhouse is at the bottom of the list for retaining research talent. So why does a country with a trillion dollar economy not attract its own researchers? A peek into the state of research in India can give some answers.
In 2011, of the 14,617,000 people who graduated from the colleges in India, 12 per cent pursued post graduate degrees and an abysmal one per cent pursued research in the country. The low interest in research is due to sub standard facilities, which in turn is due to a lack of funding in most research institutes. Indians are willing to pursue research but not in India. In 2011, the number of students from India pursuing higher education (masters and PhD) in the U.S. was 103,895 and they formed 14 per cent of the higher education population in the U.S. alone.
In terms of research productivity, India has 7.8 scientists per 1,000 population compared to 180.66 in Canada, 53.13 in Korea and 21.15 in the U.S. The scarcity in research was vindicated by the number of patents filed in 2010. There were a total of 36,812 patents filed in India, of which only 7,044 were domestic applications and the remaining, foreign patent applications. Of these 7,044 applications, only 1,725 applications were granted patents. While quantity is not necessarily a prescriptive of the quality, it does provide a perspective on emphasis on research in the system.
One of the pillars of higher educational institutes, leave alone research, is the amount of capital that is invested in educational activities. Even in the 12th Five Year Plan proposed by the Planning Commission, the educational expenditure is not anywhere near the proposed target of six per cent of GDP. The investment in higher education as of 2009-10 according to a recent report released by the University Grants Commission (“Higher Education at a glance”) was a paltry 1.25 per cent of GDP. The U.S. on the other hand has a public expenditure at 3.1 per cent (2007) of its almost $15 trillion GDP. Harvard University’s endowment stands at $32 billion whereas the total extramural grants provided to Indian universities put together is about Rs.12 billion! As a first step up, there should be an increase in spending in higher education research to at least two per cent of the GDP in order to try infusing capital into academic research.
The policy document released at the Science Congress in the first week of January was titled “Science, Technology and Innovation.” It contained no details, no road map for research, and was more aspirational than visionary. Besides everything else, India does not enable scientists and corporates to make more revenues from their intellectual property rights. Not only does India suffer from the lack of a culture of research or shortage of funds, but there is also a lack of clarity in matters such as Intellectual Property regulations that could help researchers earn greater revenues.
The Protection and Utilisation of Public Funded Intellectual Property Bill, (PUPFIP), the Indian equivalent of the Bayh-Dohle Act, has been pending in Parliament since 2008. If passed, it could help to leverage the best out of the intellectual properties of patents. A recent report from the Indian School Business (“India R&D 2011 — Industry & Academia Linkages”) estimates that the total R&D spending of the top 100 companies is Rs.11,500 crore. Only 13 per cent of it goes into partnerships with universities. Intellectual property regulation and awareness could assist in increasing this share of spending by corporates in building university research centres.
Alumni involvement
The top 19 out of the 20 universities in the U.S. News rankings have a common dominating denominator. All of them are run predominately by alumni of the institutions. Even in public universities such as Purdue, there is a significant alumni involvement in the boards. In India, this is an idea nonexistent in government institutes and very rare in private institutes.
Alumni involvement ensures that the universities’ interest is the most supreme (especially in an era where education is non profit) and everything else becomes secondary. As such, it would be an interesting idea for the state to impose a minimum 50 per cent involvement of the alumni in the functioning of university boards. This would democratise the process more, and help to nurture talented alumni who could contribute back to the universities.
President Pranab Mukherjee observed at the Science Congress that a Nobel Prize in Indian science was “long overdue,” as if every country has a predetermined right to be given the Nobel. Let’s get the research going first.
(Sriram Balasubramanian is a journalist and writer. Email: sriram2424@yahoo.com and Twitter @Sriram316)
Keywords: Nobel Prize, Indian Science Congress, research labs, scientific research, research in India, R&D spending
so true. If given chance I would love to research at MIT than IIT
because the latter is just interested in holding national level
techfests with the same competitions every year and spending crores in
the same instead of actually investing it in improving infrastructure
for research facilities. Even if the machines and all are present, the
govt. support for making the research practically viable are second to
none.
Our national agencies including the academic and research institutions should open their doors for collaboration with talent systems. Their focus is purely on publishing papers in journals to fetch high value Impact factor meant for fundamental research works. Retaining the talent system is a challenging one for our Government. Science and Engineering talents from India migrate to other parts of the world for various reasons. Acquiring Knowledge is one the reasons. Government agencies should encourage Science and Engineering Diasporas to deliver their knowledge for solving our national science and technology issues. This is possible in this Social Networking Era as we do for Corrosion Control in India through establishing knowledge collaboration of Overseas Indians with the talent pool in India.
First, Dr.Manmohan has to fund the research institutes adequately to lend credibility to his own words urging others to do something.It is not the prerogative of scientists otherwise. Second the amount of money flowing outside India as student investment towards education and capitation fee being paid to dubious private education institutes could be funneled to well organized Universities by augmenting their intake capacity or creating new ones. This again is GOI's initiative. Mere delegation of this responsibility to private players has resulted in what we witness today.It is hard to believe that there are only a few thousand intelligent students (IIT's or central and other autonomous universities) and the rest are condemned to enter these Dubious institutes. Apart from basic IQ it is the institutional capacity to impart quality training to these students that matters.After fulfilling these basic responsibilities, he can lecture these committed people on what they should be doing.
Although I don't claim firsthand knowledge of Indian research
institutions, I have had numerous discussions about this issue with
both Indian researchers and scholars from abroad who have had links
with Indian institutions. These are some of the issues that have
emerged:
1. Yes, funding is an issue, but it's not the biggest issue.
2. In fact, many Indian researchers and professors have degrees from
foreign (especially American and European) universities, and therefore
there are qualified people for research, although the number is
probably small for a country of the size of India.
3. Indian research institutes don't in fact always attract the most
qualified people, since many with foreign degrees prefer the IITs or
IISc.
4. The IITs still labor predominantly as institutions of undergraduate
education; research output from the IITs is relatively small. Unless
undergraduate education is de-emphasized and faculty are freed up to
do research, the situation is unlikely to improve.
The data presented is informative, but sometimes plain facts does not reveal the big picture. To be noted that the governments are actively increasing the funding and number of research institutes. Rightly mentioned the incentive factor- All scientists are government employees. Hence one who does nothing gets the same money as one who is trying hard. The survival of a young scientist is so difficult in India that he forgets his real aim, and ultimately remains concerned only with his salary. The people who can do hard work without much worry about money (the students) are treated as laborers. They have no right and no representation. Unsurprising, there is no mention of incentives to the real researcher in this article too. Having worked in India and the US both, I can say this- we still have a lot of talent working in our country, but their talent is wasted, wise people get out of the country. University research is important as institutes tend to be undemocratic away from scrutiny.
In India education was never given due importance in regard to allocation of funds in the budgets by the federal and state govts. Politicians want to allot more money in providing subsidies rather than giving quality education to all the people. Even premier institutes like IITs lack research facilities. Nobel laureates like astrophysicist Dr.Chandrasekar,Prof. Korana and Venkatraman were able to pursue their research and get Nobel prize only because they left India. They did not get proper support and recognition in India. Now education is commercial in India and many colleges are run by politicians who just want to make quick money. U.S govt does not interfere even in the administration of public institutions. In the field of scientific and other areas of research India has got a long long way to go.
I agree with the writer SB that India has not provided a suitable environment for research. We praise Indian born Nobel laureate Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan who has failed to get admitted to any of the Indian Institutes of Technology or the Christian Medical College, when he leaves the country and acheived. We say now he is a Indian. Where was he till this period, did any one called him to give any lecture in their institutes earlier? or know who is he?.
The value for being a Professor or Scientist in India is not by the innovative or forseeing thoughts. Money is the criteria, unless you have money or recommended by politicians you may not get a good position in India. Dont ask me how i can prove this; every one in the field knows how they got in and what their position is and what research they do, except few institutes and few scientists and few prof.
Quality is there, but chances given for qualified indivizuals are less.
India, first needs proper insfrastructure. If taps do not flow clean water and its takes 8 hours to travel few hundred kilometers, no lab can ever flourish. Its connectivity stupid, that makes a country great. The faster the connectivity, the higher the creative impact on society.
Sir,
The writer has rightly identified the strength, weakness,
opportunities and threats of research scenario in a country like
India. Truely, its said that inspite of having an inspiring human
resource and great talent, it is not rightly recognised or appreciated
due to socio-economic as well as political obligations. It is high
time to make a sector like Education free from all red tapes and
shortcomings and unleash the enormous growth opportunities. It is a
sorriful plight to observe that even UGC sponsored Lecturerships and
fellowships take time to get things roll. The process of application
is also not very transparent and is often time consuming. There is a
lack of innovation and fund in every sector of pursuing research.
Leave alone the infrastructure, the required exposure needed by the
reasearcher is often lacking. In this globalised environment, if
resaerch dont carry with it attractive opportunities, why will a
student in early 20's will at all be interested to carry it?
It is so true, but besides the investment there are some other issues which are pushing researchers out of the country. Though mismanagement of the country is the most important, bossism in the university culture is another major problem for young researchers. Even if you find something, you will be given last authorship of that article. The young researchers have two choices, either to remain subjugated or to move out which is more lucrative too.
Good article with lot of statistics to drive the point. As with other things, I am not sure whether this will fall into deaf ears of policy makers and other stakeholders who can make it happen
I totally agree with the views of the author. Indian research suffers
from lack of facilities, job opportunities and manpower. Very few
people join for research after pursuing their post-graduate degrees
and out of those few,the majority goes abroad in search of greener
pastures. Comparing this scenario with countries like China, Singapore
and Korea, the research is being pushed forward for achieving a
technologically secure and developed future. The emigrated talent is
being attracted by them in form of establishment of new research
centres and universities, R&D companies. India, however, languishes in
terms of providing job opportunities(other than academic positions) to
highly qualified PhDs. The PhDs, therefore, who have no interest in
teaching, can never find a suitable job in India because of their
specific fields. As a result of this neglect, we would keep importing
technological products trading our raw materials. Development cannot
be complete without science & technology.
Follow the path of "value creation with values", Indians are weak on
personal values and they follow the path of sin and false and force to
survive, to thrive, to mature, and for safety and security for their
lives. The path of sin derived prosperity is convoluted. Without proper
basic values Indians cannot/can never grow and thrive.
Its not just the laboratory but what really matters is the income once
someone has completed his/her research studies. It has to be noted
that in India, the undergraduates earn more than post graduates and
Phd. This is because the companies which employs undergraduates are
mostly funded by foreign companies. These companies consider PG and
PhD as "overqualified". The research facilities and universities pay
far lesser than private companies. This is not the situation in
Western nations. Introducing new laboratories is not going to change
anything until students feel "secured" and "dignified" (nobody likes
to works for 20000 or 30000 for the sake of interest).
Research is a subject that is dear to me so I could vax
eloquent about it. However more to the point the premise of
this article is wrong. The writer implies that genius in
Indians - like in S Ramanujan - is hiding and needs to be
nurtured with money. Unlike Ramanujan who worked with Paper
and Pencil the Scientists of today need laboratories and
sophisticated instruments yes. More importantly they need an
inner urge and the dedication to do good work. This is not
dependent on salaries or on huge grants as the writer of this
article and lately the Government seem to think. Has India's research
contribution increased dramatically post the Sixth Pay Commission? No
definitely not. If anything it has declined since educational
standards at all levels have declined. Taking the example of my town
we recently - four years ago - were granted a Central University with
a block grant of Rupees Five Hundred Crore. Prior to this we had only
degree colleges. Now four years later the Central University has yet
to make any impression at all on education and we hear lame excuses
from the Vice Chancellor for his inability to attract faculty or
students. The Government Degree College where I studies during my
undergraduate years has declined in academics to the extent that
teachers who make nearly one lakh rupees per month in their enhanced
pay scales turn up for duty for three hours.
In India research & innovation is either government supported
programs which have very low efficiency or by MNC's who have other
priorities (for eg. pharmaceutical research which is running in India
due to low cost & aimed at developed world diseases). There are
absolutely negligible R & D initiatives by local corporates. One of
the reasons for this can be that mostly Indian business houses are
wary of long term gestation period of research which hampered their
short term profit. Secondly most of the good talent is either
migrated to abroad due to lack of research support infrastructure or
crowded out by government agencies. The need of the hour is that
government should provide platform or infrastructure in terms of
well-equipped LABs & scholarships in desired fields and at the same
time corporates should be encouraged in the form of more incentives
(eg. tax breaks & IPR) so their short term goals should not affected
by investment in research activities &
I fully endorse the view of the author that the country would first
need an environment for research. Successive governments with view to
give top priority to research have created gigantic centers like GTRE,
NAL, number of DRDO labs, ADE, ADA etc. Most if not all these
institutions have been at R&D for decades. There is total lack of
transparency of the output from these behemoths though there appears no
lack of resources. Though there are many institutions doing research
in the field of aeronautical technology, it is sorry tale of India
totally depending on overseas companies for the civil and defense
aviation requirements tells its own sorry tale. No sooner than a
technocrat assumes charge as head of these centers first thing most of
them do is to throw the technical hat and wear political hat to please
the concerned ministries for their survival. Instead of calling for
private research institutions to foster innovation PM should do honest
soul search and demand accountability from the government research
centers.
Excellent article, thanks. Indian minds are valued all over the World. I had moved to the US for postdoc after my PhD in India. I agree with most points discussed here - the lack of IP awareness, skewed budget allocation and the need to democratize research institutions. Science (I can speak for Biosciences) these days is rapidly evolving. However smart you are, there are areas where it is hard to compete with the high-throughput and scale of Western Science. Even if a few scientists are lucky to get funded, the red tape and petty personal ego of several admin staff have to be satisfied before any order for chemicals and material required for experiments actually gets placed. By the time these reach the scientists, it is often too late. We must have a sense of urgency. I hope the attitude of bureaucrats changes and they become enablers and appreciate the value of our work. We have visionary leaders - I hope the middle managers too are sensitised about these issues.
Dear Sir,
You seem to be repeating the oft-committed folly of prescribing foreign solutions to indigenous problems and attributiing unrelated causes to effects. What do you view as the crux of the problem? Is it the unwilligness of Indian scientists to work in India or their willingness to work abroad? You might think that these two are one and the same problem but the one does not necessarily mean the other. The unwillingness of Indian scientists to work in India might be a problem but is their willingness to work abroad the cause? Doesn't India reap huge benefits from its large and vibrant non-resident scientific community?
You say interest in research is low because facilities are substandard. You attribute this to a lack of funding. However, what about the non-scietific work culture? Will swanky, cutting edge facilities make any difference if the work culture remains the same? Won't it be better to focus on improving the work culture in existing scientific institutions?
First get rid of reservation then think about producing good scientists. Where can you have reserach when you don't have bright minds doing Ms or Phd.
In India, if you have a powerful professor as your boss for Ph.D, you can get into any
academic position. Merit or interest is not a criteria. Many scientists get these govt jobs.
Those who have got talent and vision do not get recruited. How research will blossom? First,
get rid off favoritism and lay down the plan how you want the research to grow in next 20
years. Do research related to Indian problems and critical world issues, be it in agri,
healthcare or whatever is required. But we need people with a vision at the top and talented
people following.
I can think of 1 Institute in India that is predominantly run by its
alumni- CMC Vellore- and it is doing very well compared to any Institute
in India, private or govt run.
Corrupt Politicians have has destroyed all “truth” values. Science values some things which are not compactable with our social values. We cannot get it here. You can get many places outside India. If you stay in India, you cannot achieve any thing. Get out and do your best. Any way it is a Globalised world.
Our politicians should leave science alone. The moment they try to help, they will destroy it. IT is an example.
A very correct observation and analysis by the writer, which is sadly true about India. Our national leaders are only good at lip-service, can't expect anything useful from them except sloganeering. R&D labs need to be funded from private players, such as VCs and other rich donors. Take for example Indian IT, it was a result of private individuals and not an iota of support from govt. So, lets keep India in perspective and realize the fact that Indian govt is of no good to its people, only the people need to help each other and those deserving. Another aspect which Indians mostly lack information on is patents.
A much awaited topic and full of sense.It is fact that many countries
benefit a lot from imported scientists from countries like India where
research field gets least attention. These scientist importing
countries rightly deserve the benefit from immigrant researchers as
they spend money and provide them world class environment/facilities to
conduct research. In India it is useless to even think of noble prize
winners around but here in US you see that many universities have
produced Noble Prize Winners in bunches.
I fully agree with the author. This is from family experience. My
sister was working at a 'premier' Indian institute after graduating
from an IIT, and she struggled all along, most of the times with lack
of basic facilities and equipment. When she went to the US, I asked
her how it felt different. She said 'I do not have to wait for a
fortnight for a single reagent. Just ask for it in the evening before
leaving, and you'll find it in the morning on your desk.' The
libraries are excellent, have subscriptions to all journals, and are
open 24x7. In India, libraries are poorly stocked, there is no online
access, and you have to really struggle to get material for education.
Universities even lack basic facilities like a 24 h cafeteria, a
gymnasium, a decent doctor etc. One may ask as to why these are
required, but all these facilities add to the appeal of the institute,
and keep students interested. This is from my own experience during
postgraduation.
Please Email the Editor