Building India through science and scientists
4 weeks, 1 day ago

Building India through science and scientists

Hindustan Times  

As India sets its sights on becoming a developed country by the 100th anniversary of Independence in 2047, concrete goals are being defined for various sectors. Science will play a pivotal role in attaining this vision of reaping the demographic dividend, eliminating the gender divide, enabling longer and healthier life spans, ensuring economic security and equitable progress, effectively and inclusively adapting to the climate crisis and increasing India’s contributions to the world. Indian science must evolve from isolated islands of excellence in a few academic institutions to widespread adoption of the latest technologies and scientific methods to solve societal challenges. Through more effective direct institutional grants, government investments should prioritise cutting-edge basic science in areas that will become foundational for building science-based solutions. But we can tackle emerging global threats to health and development only by increasing public investment in science, creating global public goods and inculcating a scientific temper in the population.

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History of this topic

An equitable future for women in science, in India
3 weeks, 1 day ago

An equitable future for women in science, in India

The Hindu  

Women in science navigate a minefield of challenges that often start early. A study of STEM scientists across 38 countries reveals higher attrition rates for women, driven by non-inclusive workplaces, work-life balance struggles, and limited access to high-impact research. Jacob Clark Blickenstaff’s “leaky pipeline” metaphor describes women dropping out of STEM due to biased pedagogy, a lack of role models, …

Leadership and innovation: Addressing the gender gap in India’s STEM ecosystem
3 weeks, 3 days ago

Leadership and innovation: Addressing the gender gap in India’s STEM ecosystem

Hindustan Times  

Scientists are often romanticised as geeky specialists working alone in the pursuit of a breakthrough idea. The mid-career stage—roughly between 10 and 25 years into a person’s career, often preceding senior leadership and decision-making roles—is particularly vulnerable for women working in health, STEM, and allied fields. An analysis of WomenLift Health data shows that at the mid-career stage, without intentional …

STEMM without women? A lost opportunity for science and innovation
1 month, 2 weeks ago

STEMM without women? A lost opportunity for science and innovation

India Today  

Not many from this generation had heard of Kamala Sohonie before the Google Doodle marked her 112th birthday in June last year. Women constitute just 16.7 percent of faculty in STEM and a mere 10 percent in the top science and research institutes. With the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2013 as the overarching policy, several initiatives—such as Women in …

India's scientific potential: Breaking barriers to breakthroughs
4 months, 2 weeks ago

India's scientific potential: Breaking barriers to breakthroughs

Hindustan Times  

Why is India, a nation bursting with brilliant minds and world-class institutions, not leading in transformative scientific discoveries? Efforts by funding agencies to reform the system have largely focused on adding new programmes within the existing organisational structure and processes, achieving limited impact on the underlying systemic issues. In a radical shift to improving efficiency, department of science and technology …

Women Scientists in India Exit STEM Careers Despite High PhD Numbers as Gender Gap Widens in Academia
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Women Scientists in India Exit STEM Careers Despite High PhD Numbers as Gender Gap Widens in Academia

The Hindu  

Published : Nov 06, 2024 21:10 IST - 8 MINS READ Uma’s academic track record was what any scientist would dream of: she completed her PhD in molecular biology, and continued on her career path after her marriage, becoming an assistant professor at a new Central University in the Northeast. When the authors reached out to women scientists, they found …

‘The rest of the world realised from Chandrayaan how you do science without being wasteful’
1 year, 1 month ago

‘The rest of the world realised from Chandrayaan how you do science without being wasteful’

The Hindu  

In 2023, the Association of American Universities formed a task force on expanding United States-India university partnerships with the idea of exploring how research institutions in both countries can work together to expand bilateral research and partnerships in higher education. A report released by the task force identified five high-impact areas of collaboration, including semiconductor technology and manufacturing, sustainable agriculture …

‘Science researchers in India not lacking funding, but reliable fund flow’
1 year, 1 month ago

‘Science researchers in India not lacking funding, but reliable fund flow’

The Hindu  

On February 5, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act came into effect. ANRF, which aims to be a research funding organisation and subsumed the very similar Science and Engineering Research Board established in 2008, is supposed to have a corpus of ₹50,000 Crores. The inadequate and insufficient funding for science and research has been a major hindrance to the scientific …

The problem with India’s science management
1 year, 2 months ago

The problem with India’s science management

The Hindu  

Sustained economic progress which can satisfy national ambition is invariably fuelled by scientific advances translated into deployable technologies. Alive to this reality, the government is overhauling India’s science establishment, which includes setting up the new National Research Foundation and restructuring the Defence Research and Development Organisation. An outsized role by scientists The defining feature of India’s science administration is the …

How India can unlock its scientific potential
1 year, 2 months ago

How India can unlock its scientific potential

The Economist  

I ndia’s government wants the country to surpass the World Bank’s high-income threshold by 2047, a century after its independence from Britain. Becoming a world-class scientific player will help to solve India’s most pressing challenges, such as improving sanitation and poor air quality. The applications from a booming scientific field—from vaccines to rockets—will also generate new industries, ensuring that the …

The gender gap: Only 16% of Indian STEM faculty members are women
1 year, 4 months ago

The gender gap: Only 16% of Indian STEM faculty members are women

Live Mint  

Women make up only about 16% of Indian STEM faculty members in Indian universities and institutions, a new study, published in preprint repository bioRxiv, has revealed. The study, Women’s representation in Indian academia and conferences, published by scientists Shruti Muralidhar and Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan, highlights the dearth of women researchers in Indian academia. From microaggressions to harassment, there is a range …

Science in India needs a ground-up approach
2 years, 2 months ago

Science in India needs a ground-up approach

Hindustan Times  

Being a scientist five years younger than independent India who trained and worked in a country that was “developing” affords me an interesting perspective about the nation’s status in science in the early days of freedom and what we need to aim for in our centenary. The successes of the nation’s space and nuclear programmes and successful scientific programmes such …

How innovation in science, technology can pave the way for an Atmanirbhar Bharat
2 years, 7 months ago

How innovation in science, technology can pave the way for an Atmanirbhar Bharat

Live Mint  

As India celebrates its 75th year of independence, it reminds us of the sacrifices made by unsung heroes and is a good way to remember to forge a nation built on strength and solidarity, to work towards a prosperous India. In order to realise the true economic potential, India must pay heed to the role that science and technology play …

Researchers and Teachers Demand Robust Funding for Education and Scientific Research
2 years, 7 months ago

Researchers and Teachers Demand Robust Funding for Education and Scientific Research

News 18  

Around 500 researchers and teachers of premier higher educational institutions on Wednesday marched in central Kolkata demanding robust funding for education and scientific research and formulation of policies on the part of Centre for evidence-based science. The ‘India March for Science’ was organised by the scientific community in protest against alleged attempts to inculcate belief-based and myth-based thinkings in modern …

Science governance in India must be energised
2 years, 8 months ago

Science governance in India must be energised

Hindustan Times  

Covid-19 unleashed unprecedented turmoil and disruption within the global power structure. A country as diverse as India, with a suboptimal health care system, sluggish research and development ecosystem, red tape, a lethargic bureaucracy, and 1.3 billion people, could easily have collapsed. The National Science Foundation was set up by the United States after World War II to explore “how the …

Funding woes haunt Indian science
2 years, 10 months ago

Funding woes haunt Indian science

The Hindu  

Far back in time, science, like monasticism, attracted people who were singularly driven by a passion for seeking the truth. Much of the total of the funding available goes to DRDO, Department of Space and Atomic Energy, leaving only 30 to 40% for agencies such as Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Science …

Girls deserve equal access to tech and STEM education
3 years, 1 month ago

Girls deserve equal access to tech and STEM education

Hindustan Times  

The ed-tech sector, rightly so, has been celebrated for quickly and efficiently making education accessible through technology in a highly disruptive education environment caused by the pandemic. Ed-tech also has the promise of helping traditionally underserved girls and women of India pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education, leading to far better career options for them. We need to understand …

Imparting direction to science in India
4 years, 1 month ago

Imparting direction to science in India

The Hindu  

National Science Day, on February 28, is a moment to celebrate the progress that India has made in science and technology research, thanks to its science policies. India’s first science policy adopted in 1958, Scientific Policy Resolution, aimed to develop scientific enterprise and lay the foundation for scientific temper. In 2013, India’s science policy included Innovation in its scope and …

India's research and development sector funding for science, technology is stagnant: Quō vādis?
4 years, 4 months ago

India's research and development sector funding for science, technology is stagnant: Quō vādis?

Firstpost  

Looking at India’s problems of farm productivity, public health, renewable energy, something isnt’ right if the departments involved are contributing only a quarter of the already low GERD. Even in the Central Government GERD, 93 percent GERD contribution of Central government was incurred by 12 major scientific agencies_,_ of which the Defence Research and Development Organization accounted for the biggest …

Closing the gender gap in science
5 years ago

Closing the gender gap in science

The Hindu  

India celebrates National Science Day on February 28 every year to mark C.V. Raman’s discovery of the scattering of light. For some time, this prejudice meant that women candidates were refused admission to the Indian Institute of Science in the 1930s, during Raman’s tenure as director. The cultural and gender norms that engendered discrimination even during a renaissance of sorts …

STEM careers in India continue to experience gender gap: Survey
5 years, 7 months ago

STEM careers in India continue to experience gender gap: Survey

India Today  

As the world faces a skilled workforce gap, the careers in STEM continue to face a gender gap in India, a survey said on Wednesday. While nearly 84 percent Indians believe STEM jobs are important to the country's future, fewer Gen Z respondents said they felt encouraged to pursue a STEM-based career than millennial respondents, said the survey by global …

Women's Day 2019: Indian science is inching towards #BalanceForBetter despite the none-too-easy path
6 years ago

Women's Day 2019: Indian science is inching towards #BalanceForBetter despite the none-too-easy path

Firstpost  

In recent years, one of the more iconic images in Indian science are those of the women scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation’s mission control centre, cheering India’s successful injection of Mangalyaan spacecraft into the Mars orbit in 2014. “As many as 35 percent of the total Ph D awardees in science are women,” and yet, “the number of …

Women in Science: Biochemist Sandhya Visweswariah’s gusto for research and affirmative action
6 years, 6 months ago

Women in Science: Biochemist Sandhya Visweswariah’s gusto for research and affirmative action

Firstpost  

Sandhya Visweswariah is internationally recognised as a world expert in gut disease. *** By Aashima Dogra Sandhya Visweswariah | Biochemist | Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru “In a higher administration in the country, there is still an old boys’ club. They don’t see us in their boys’ club,” said Sandhya Visweswariah, one of the few women on top in Indian …

STEM the gender gap
6 years, 9 months ago

STEM the gender gap

Deccan Chronicle  

Women comprise a minority of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce across the world. Here is what the World Bank Report states: 'Ingrained biases start at an early age and become even more pronounced as girls move through school and enter into the world of work.” A survey conducted in 2010 on 568 women and 226 men scientists by …

Women in Science: Sucharita Sambashivaiah on her prevention plan for Type 2 diabetes
6 years, 11 months ago

Women in Science: Sucharita Sambashivaiah on her prevention plan for Type 2 diabetes

Firstpost  

Sucharita Sambashivaiah and her team of researchers are looking into an unconventional aspect of Type 2 Diabetes, and studying how the disease can be better managed in Indians Editor’s note: Starting National Science Day 2018, The Life of Science and Firstpost bring you a series profiling Indian women in Science. This series honours those who beat the odds and serve …

Women in Science: Sandhya Vishweswariah talks about her research, the gender gap
6 years, 11 months ago

Women in Science: Sandhya Vishweswariah talks about her research, the gender gap

Firstpost  

Sandhya Vishweswariah says that not much can be done about the gender gap unless leadership at institutes insists on ensuring equal representation of women | #FirstCulture Editor’s note: Starting National Science Day 2018, The Life of Science and Firstpost bring you a series profiling Indian women in Science. *** By Aashima Dogra Sandhya Vishweswariah | 61 | Professor | Indian …

It's time to democratise science in India
7 years, 5 months ago

It's time to democratise science in India

Deccan Chronicle  

One of my great disappointments with science in India has been with the role of the national academies. In fact, the BJP regime’s confusion of science and technology, and its attempt to create big science as a state spectacle destroys the little autonomies and diversities of science, which accounts for its many-sided creativity. One has been lucky in recent decades …

Centre plans ₹2,000-crore push for women engineers
7 years, 11 months ago

Centre plans ₹2,000-crore push for women engineers

The Hindu  

The Department of Science and Technology will be leading a ₹2,000-crore initiative to encourage more girls and women to take up careers in the domain of science and engineering, where they are under-represented. “We hope to be able to raise the percentage of women working in the Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Science Education …

The day isn't far when India may have to import scientists: Vijnana Bharati's A Jayakumar
8 years, 4 months ago

The day isn't far when India may have to import scientists: Vijnana Bharati's A Jayakumar

Firstpost  

“We should not be ashamed of talking about India’s indigenous contributions in science,” says A Jayakumar, secretary general, Vijnana Bharati, the science and technology wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, adding, “There had been deliberate attempts by the past governments to ignore our contributions. The truth should come up.” Previously known as Swadeshi Science Movement, VIBHA wants the Narendra Modi-led …

Science education, research: India should embark on new adventure
9 years, 5 months ago

Science education, research: India should embark on new adventure

Hindustan Times  

When the former premier of the People’s Republic of China Wen Jiabao visited the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore in 2010, he spoke about his country’s rise in the world of science. Despite successes — our average lifespan today is much higher than it was in 1974, many diseases have moved from being lethal to treatable and some have …

What ails science in India?
9 years, 10 months ago

What ails science in India?

The Hindu  

Unlike other countries, India successfully sent a spacecraft to Mars in its first attempt. “Indian science suffers, today more than ever, from government apathy,” writes Raghavendra Gadagkar, Professor of ecology at IISc, Bengaluru in Nature ’s special issue published today. Besides the 40 CSIR laboratories, a few premier research institutions like the IISc, Bengaluru, TIFR, Mumbai, 16 IITs and five …

'Politics and religious ideology should not intrude into science'
10 years ago

'Politics and religious ideology should not intrude into science'

The Hindu  

“There is no room for political, personal or religious ideologies in science,” Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, President Elect of the Royal Society, told The Hindu. Articulating some of his concerns about the future of science in India, the Nobel Laureate said that that above all science needs stable funding and scientists need to be properly remunerated. They belong to separate spheres …

India to make science, technology a national priority, facilitate research: PM Modi
10 years, 2 months ago

India to make science, technology a national priority, facilitate research: PM Modi

India TV News  

Mumbai: Ease of doing research is as important as ease of doing business, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said as he reached out to the scientific community promising to cut red tape and sought their cooperation in "transforming" the country. When I speak of ease of doing business in India, I also want to pay equal attention to the ease …

More private investment needed in Indian science, according to PM
12 years, 6 months ago

More private investment needed in Indian science, according to PM

Firstpost  

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday called for greater private investment in science and technology to raise India’s share of research and development output in the world and economic growth. “As a nation, we have not succeeded in mobilizing enough private investment in science to raise our investment in scientific research to two percent of GDP,” said the prime minister in …

Benefits of science must accrue to people: Pratibha
15 years, 3 months ago

Benefits of science must accrue to people: Pratibha

The Hindu  

Expressing confidence that India would make much progress in science and technology President Pratibha Patil said here on Monday that this alone would not do. What can our scientific fraternity do to help this?” she asked at a function to mark the conclusion of platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian National Science Academy at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics. “The …

For more women in science
19 years, 3 months ago

For more women in science

The Hindu  

There is an overwhelming body of evidence to suggest that a strong gender bias pervades institutions of science in India. For example, as part of a recent international conference held by the Third World Organisation for Women in Science in Bangalore, entitled "Women's Impact on Science and Technology in the New Millennium", a special panel discussion on "Gender issues in …

Is India a science superpower?
19 years, 6 months ago

Is India a science superpower?

The Hindu  

On the radical disconnect between the dreams of becoming a science superpower and the grim reality of mind-numbing superstitions and life-threatening pseudo-sciences that pervade all levels of society. capturing all its glory which it had in millennia gone by," declared Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, Director General of India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in Science earlier this year. At a …

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