So today I read an article about the state of Science in India written by Prof. G. R. Desiraju, a professor of chemistry from IISc. Here is the article.
The state of Science in India is in the doldrums and it is evident from the fact that despite the huge size of the country and the humongous Human Resource that we have, we have yet to get a Nobel since 1930!
1930??!!! 1930 is so ancient that it is frankly even beyond my comprehension! Sure a few scientists of "Indian Origin" did get Nobel Prizes, but by the time they got the prize, they were already citizens of other nations. In every case, the work done for which the Nobel was bagged was not done in an Indian Institute.
Is it that we do not have quality research institutions? I beg to differ. I have been lucky enough to have been in Institutions which had more than enough infrastructure for doing excellent science throughout my education. Yes my BSc college days were a bit cash cramped. But we never had to face shortage of materials for doing quality science. In my MSc at Bioinformatics Center Pune, we literally had gigantic servers lying unused. I cringe at the waste that place is seeing even now. Hell if we wanted we could have done mind blowing science there! And frankly we did want to, but didn't know how! Now that I am in IISc, I see that people are definitely not begging for money atleast. Sure there are a few labs where students are always crying out for this antibody and that fluorescent dye, but even the worst lab in MBU has a set-up that would put many many international labs to shame!
Even if the lab is not rich in terms of instruments, the central facilities in institutes are shared by everyone. Infact it hardly matters what instruments your lab has, for example, the lab in which I am currently working in, is FILTHY RICH in every sense of the word, the instruments we have are state-of-the-art and s*it costly. Still the best papers that we published last year had data derived from instruments in the central facility (like FACS, I don't even know how many millions it costs) or from collaborating with other labs for their instruments (like for an Illumina machine in IGIB - Delhi). We use the Mass Spec facility of NCBS even though we have a MS right in our own department, whenever we need to do a Hydrogen Exchange. The best crystallography papers come from using a National Facility in MBU, or else from Synchrotron data collected in other countries, with the trip being funded by the government. And these facilities are used by students from other State Universities as well.
So then is it the low salaries/stipends of students? I feel we deserve much much more than the paltry Rs16000/- a month we get for the work we do, considering what the private sector pays for the same kind of work. Frankly, the private sector pays thrice what we earn, for work which is so dumb, it shouldn't require even a bachelor's degree for it. The work we do as research students in our labs, has a starting salary of Rs75000/- a month in the private sector which is what we get after finishing our PhDs. But then I always knew there was no money early on in Science anyway. Hell when I decided to do a PhD, people were being paid Rs12000/-, and back when I had decided to do pure Science, people were being paid Rs6000/-. In a way these low salaries are good because they ensure that people do not enter pure Science solely for the money atleast. They would embrace Science either because of their love for it or because of the prestige that a PhD carries with it. And that is fine with me. Besides, with living in ultra cheap Hostels and eating subsidised mess food, Rs16000/- turns out to be more than enough. But make no mistake, it is a meagre existence as compared to what our friends with bachelor degrees in engineering working private jobs earn. Yet I am fine with it! And I cannot label low stipends as a reason Indian Science is doing bad.
I believe that money truly has nothing to do with it! Neither are we seriously lacking in funding at the institute level, nor at a personal level. Yes a little bit more money at both levels would be good, a little bit more money is anyway always good! But in no way are we now anywhere near the streets nor with any more money would be suddenly become super rich. And this holds for all levels.
So then why the abysmal state of affairs? The author in his article above believes this is because of faults in the leadership and the "Indian Mindset" of always being a servant. These reasons are elaborated superbly in the article and it is a must read. While these two reasons are bang on, I believe there are a two more reasons for the status quo.
The first, according to me, is the attitude that students themselves have. Most students that I know have the same ambition. To do a postdoc in a good lab in US. Or any other first world nation. Including me by the way. Why, you ask? Because that way, we would get good papers published in our postdocs, come to India, open a Lab in a government institution and then lead a settled life! But also because, Indian Institutions accept only those scientists who have done postdocs from outside and have a couple of Natures or Sciences. If you want to open a Lab in a govt institution but still want a postdoc from India, then you will have to do it under a very prominent scientist who is estabilished, probably emeritus, very old, has a powerful position in administration, has a large enough clout and thus will be able to pull enough strings/influence enough people so that you get you your own Lab.
The second reason, which is quite related to the first one, is that once the person has opened their Lab in an Indian Institute, it is now time to retire! Because that position is permanent! Even if you do bad science/do not do science at all, no one can remove you from that place! As a results so many labs are simply non-productive.
The solution to both these problems is simple! Accountability! Who says that just because it is a government job, it should be permanent! If one PI is not good enough and is wasting the taxpayer's money then another should get a chance in his/her place! Heaven knows there are enough deserving applicants out there! This system is in place in NCBS and as far as I know, only in NCBS. And it works beautifully. Almost every lab in NCBS is more productive than the national average. Sure there are dud labs there as well. But they get closed if they remain dud for a long time. On the other hand, a dud lab in IISc remains dud till the PI retires. The lab remains unproductive for an average of 30 YEARS!!! Such labs are a cancer for the whole department, since as that PI ages, s/he starts getting more and more important positions in administration and that leads to even worse things! Good, productive labs will mean that a postdoc will be able to publish equally good papers from within India only, would get to open his/her own Lab and then will have to fight to keep the Lab afloat! This would in turn ensure that the Lab itself is productive!
Sure before these policy changes take effect, the current batch of old people holding the reins of power, the ones who make the policy, will need to die off. Because, unfortunately, that is the only way it works in India. And then the next batch that comes in should have the insight to make proper policy changes. Too many things are stuck in India in a vicious cycle and this nation as a whole is trying to break free of that vicious cycle but is still trapped. Hopefully the process has started, but seeing how things work, it will take a long time if it ever finishes. The only thing that we can do as students and individuals is do good Science inspite of the system we are in. Be adventurous and try and get a Nobel rather than the Indian Academy of Sciences Best Scientist of the Year Award!
The state of Science in India is in the doldrums and it is evident from the fact that despite the huge size of the country and the humongous Human Resource that we have, we have yet to get a Nobel since 1930!
1930??!!! 1930 is so ancient that it is frankly even beyond my comprehension! Sure a few scientists of "Indian Origin" did get Nobel Prizes, but by the time they got the prize, they were already citizens of other nations. In every case, the work done for which the Nobel was bagged was not done in an Indian Institute.
Is it that we do not have quality research institutions? I beg to differ. I have been lucky enough to have been in Institutions which had more than enough infrastructure for doing excellent science throughout my education. Yes my BSc college days were a bit cash cramped. But we never had to face shortage of materials for doing quality science. In my MSc at Bioinformatics Center Pune, we literally had gigantic servers lying unused. I cringe at the waste that place is seeing even now. Hell if we wanted we could have done mind blowing science there! And frankly we did want to, but didn't know how! Now that I am in IISc, I see that people are definitely not begging for money atleast. Sure there are a few labs where students are always crying out for this antibody and that fluorescent dye, but even the worst lab in MBU has a set-up that would put many many international labs to shame!
Even if the lab is not rich in terms of instruments, the central facilities in institutes are shared by everyone. Infact it hardly matters what instruments your lab has, for example, the lab in which I am currently working in, is FILTHY RICH in every sense of the word, the instruments we have are state-of-the-art and s*it costly. Still the best papers that we published last year had data derived from instruments in the central facility (like FACS, I don't even know how many millions it costs) or from collaborating with other labs for their instruments (like for an Illumina machine in IGIB - Delhi). We use the Mass Spec facility of NCBS even though we have a MS right in our own department, whenever we need to do a Hydrogen Exchange. The best crystallography papers come from using a National Facility in MBU, or else from Synchrotron data collected in other countries, with the trip being funded by the government. And these facilities are used by students from other State Universities as well.
So then is it the low salaries/stipends of students? I feel we deserve much much more than the paltry Rs16000/- a month we get for the work we do, considering what the private sector pays for the same kind of work. Frankly, the private sector pays thrice what we earn, for work which is so dumb, it shouldn't require even a bachelor's degree for it. The work we do as research students in our labs, has a starting salary of Rs75000/- a month in the private sector which is what we get after finishing our PhDs. But then I always knew there was no money early on in Science anyway. Hell when I decided to do a PhD, people were being paid Rs12000/-, and back when I had decided to do pure Science, people were being paid Rs6000/-. In a way these low salaries are good because they ensure that people do not enter pure Science solely for the money atleast. They would embrace Science either because of their love for it or because of the prestige that a PhD carries with it. And that is fine with me. Besides, with living in ultra cheap Hostels and eating subsidised mess food, Rs16000/- turns out to be more than enough. But make no mistake, it is a meagre existence as compared to what our friends with bachelor degrees in engineering working private jobs earn. Yet I am fine with it! And I cannot label low stipends as a reason Indian Science is doing bad.
I believe that money truly has nothing to do with it! Neither are we seriously lacking in funding at the institute level, nor at a personal level. Yes a little bit more money at both levels would be good, a little bit more money is anyway always good! But in no way are we now anywhere near the streets nor with any more money would be suddenly become super rich. And this holds for all levels.
So then why the abysmal state of affairs? The author in his article above believes this is because of faults in the leadership and the "Indian Mindset" of always being a servant. These reasons are elaborated superbly in the article and it is a must read. While these two reasons are bang on, I believe there are a two more reasons for the status quo.
The first, according to me, is the attitude that students themselves have. Most students that I know have the same ambition. To do a postdoc in a good lab in US. Or any other first world nation. Including me by the way. Why, you ask? Because that way, we would get good papers published in our postdocs, come to India, open a Lab in a government institution and then lead a settled life! But also because, Indian Institutions accept only those scientists who have done postdocs from outside and have a couple of Natures or Sciences. If you want to open a Lab in a govt institution but still want a postdoc from India, then you will have to do it under a very prominent scientist who is estabilished, probably emeritus, very old, has a powerful position in administration, has a large enough clout and thus will be able to pull enough strings/influence enough people so that you get you your own Lab.
The second reason, which is quite related to the first one, is that once the person has opened their Lab in an Indian Institute, it is now time to retire! Because that position is permanent! Even if you do bad science/do not do science at all, no one can remove you from that place! As a results so many labs are simply non-productive.
The solution to both these problems is simple! Accountability! Who says that just because it is a government job, it should be permanent! If one PI is not good enough and is wasting the taxpayer's money then another should get a chance in his/her place! Heaven knows there are enough deserving applicants out there! This system is in place in NCBS and as far as I know, only in NCBS. And it works beautifully. Almost every lab in NCBS is more productive than the national average. Sure there are dud labs there as well. But they get closed if they remain dud for a long time. On the other hand, a dud lab in IISc remains dud till the PI retires. The lab remains unproductive for an average of 30 YEARS!!! Such labs are a cancer for the whole department, since as that PI ages, s/he starts getting more and more important positions in administration and that leads to even worse things! Good, productive labs will mean that a postdoc will be able to publish equally good papers from within India only, would get to open his/her own Lab and then will have to fight to keep the Lab afloat! This would in turn ensure that the Lab itself is productive!
Sure before these policy changes take effect, the current batch of old people holding the reins of power, the ones who make the policy, will need to die off. Because, unfortunately, that is the only way it works in India. And then the next batch that comes in should have the insight to make proper policy changes. Too many things are stuck in India in a vicious cycle and this nation as a whole is trying to break free of that vicious cycle but is still trapped. Hopefully the process has started, but seeing how things work, it will take a long time if it ever finishes. The only thing that we can do as students and individuals is do good Science inspite of the system we are in. Be adventurous and try and get a Nobel rather than the Indian Academy of Sciences Best Scientist of the Year Award!
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