In a span of nine years, the Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) has recognised and awarded 56 researchers and scientists for their outstanding contribution to their fields of expertise. K. Dinesh, president and trustee of the foundation, and one of the co-founders of Infosys, talks about the future of science and research in India.
What is ISF doing to inculcate scientific temperament among students to inspire them to take up research as a career option in India ?
We realise that scientists do not take up their work in order to win awards, but rewarding them through the Infosys Prize is a positive gesture. It is a signal for scientists and researchers that there is an important place for them in our socio-economic landscape.
The ISF works with students and educators independently and through collaborations with partners to popularise science.
A new initiative this year is our partnership with the New York Academy of Sciences to host a virtual challenge on malnutrition in India. Around 3,000 students between 13 and 18 years of age have signed up to use their STEM skills to present solutions to this social blight in India. We want children to see that scientific thinking can be applied outside laboratories to solve problems in the social domain.
Can you comment on government science and research spending in India, which remains relatively low when compared to other countries?
According to data from UNESCO Institute of Statistics , there are only 156 researchers per million inhabitants in India. Currently, our country spends 0.8 % of its GDP on R&D compared to countries such as Israel and Korea who spend 4.2% and 4.3%, respectively. While China spends 2% of its GDP on R&D, USA spends 2.7%. Although countries like India, China and the USA have higher numbers of college graduates, they are not actively engaged in science research. In general, regardless of which government is in power, we would like to see the government step up exponentially and work towards improving our overall GDP spend for research.
We are also seeing increased investments from the private sector on research as they have realised the need to develop stronger research roots in India. The situation has seen an upturn with reports that science funding has doubled in 2017-2018 compared with 2014-2015. It is only through concerted efforts that this change can be sustained.
There needs to be more collaboration between public and private players to fund science research in order to champion innovation in the country.
Many scientists are worried about the growing trend of ‘pseudoscience’ being promoted in the guise of science. Do you believe more awareness programmes are the answer?
The world today lives at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, a fact that we as Indians cannot escape from. Many traditional practices today have been dubbed as ‘pseudosciences’ due to their limited scientific validity. Hence, awareness programmes are an essential component of the endeavour to change this scenario. It is encouraging to see that this scenario is changing now, with many local groups coming together to build this culture of verification.
There is also the view that scientists need to communicate their work to the public through the media in order for them to dispel the myth of being in an ivory tower with no relevance to society. However, many in the academia and the scientific community themselves feel scientists and researchers should be left to do what they do best. So, this leaves open a gap in understanding that is often filled with myths or with dense explanations that are hard to understand. It is very important to have good science writers and communicators to interpret the ever interesting news from the world of science.
