Aryabhatta! The man behind the mathematics was born in India, so India is a place where talent, is never a problem, in fact we are a country where talent is found almost in every corner. But due to economic drawbacks, science and development had taken a back seat until recently, but our government has taken initiative to improve the infrastructures and other facilities to stop the brain drains from India. Our government has initiated multibillion dollar investments to give a boost to all kinds of research, education, and innovations.
In early 2013, The Indian government announced an ambitious science, technology, and innovation funding protocol: in the next five years, it is expected to double its investment in science and technology and, by 2020, drive India’s output of scientific publications to be among the top five nations globally. “The government is going to inject $5 billion into science and technology over the next five years,” says C.N.R. Rao, the founder of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and chairman of the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Government has created many new institutions and universities, therefore now a days there are no dearth of opportunities for independent leadership training and it is encouraging to young researchers to take up science and mathematics for their higher studies in India and they are enthusiastic for new inventions and innovations in both these fields.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are among India’s most prestigious academic institutions. These autonomous institutes were established in the early 1960s, and the government has since expanded their number from the original five—Kharagpur, Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai), Kanpur, and Delhi—to a total of 16. This increase has surely created hopes for the brilliant and talented students of our country and students from almost every back ground now can dream of studying in these prestigious institutes. Government has not only started new institutes but it has facilitates lot of benefits to the families of poor back ground to study because there are various grants, educational loans, etc have been introduced for the benefits of the students.
Sudhir Chandra, a professor at the Centre for Applied Research in Electronics at IIT Delhi, has witnessed dramatic changes during his 32 years as an academic. “In the early days, the IITs concentrated on education,” says Chandra. “Then, a decade or so ago, we started to place a greater emphasis on research. Perhaps the most dramatic recent change has been that there is no shortage of funding for research.”
With the increases in funding and rapidly expanding institutions, opportunities are becoming more readily available for scientists who want to work in India. “We currently have about 300 vacancies for faculty,” says Shiban K. Koul, deputy director of strategy and planning at IIT Delhi. “Our faculty search committee operates all year round, interviewing candidates overseas, and when necessary, offering positions on the spot—this is unprecedented.” |