The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is working on a scheme to get doctoral candidates in science programmes to publish at least one “popular science” article explaining their research, before they land their degree.
The plan, alluded to by Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, at a function themed on science communication, is part of a larger initiative by the science ministries to encourage scientists to take science communication “more seriously” and better engage with “common citizens.”
More exposure
The hope, as Mr. Sharma detailed, is to have a large body of articles that can make their way into newspapers and social media outlets.
This isn’t the first such effort by the government. Earlier this year, a vision document outlined by several science ministries to transform the practice of science, spoke of communication. The highlights of this strategy included launching a dedicated television channel that would focus on science discoveries and research in Indian laboratories.
It earmarked ₹90-100 crore annually over the next five years to enable at least two hours of programming everyday, and a separate annual ₹35 crore as part of a Science and Technology Radio initiative for 1,000 hours of radio programmes in 19 languages through 117 stations and community-radio channels.
“We cannot leave science journalism to scientists and journalists only and need a much larger section of the public to understand and communicate science,” said Mr. Sharma.
At the same event, Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan said his government had “miserably failed” to effectively communicate the fruits of science and research in several laboratories. “Unfortunately science too is talked about when it’s laced with controversy…such as in the issue of genetically-modified crops. There are multiple views to every issue and we are still far from effectively conveying our achievements to most people,” he added.
