Union Minister of State (Independent Representative) for Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Representative) for Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said the government aims to place India “among the top 5 in terms of quality of research output” by 2030.Answering a question in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the draft National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2022 (STIP 2022) envisaged India being ranked among the top 5 in terms of quality of research output by 2030. by building a robust science, technology and innovation ecosystem in the country.
The government has taken several steps in this direction and within the STIP 2022 proposal. In addition to strengthening and expanding the scope of ongoing R&D programs, some of the key elements of the policy proposal that aim to increase the quality of research results include:
•Creating a favorable deep research culture in institutions and industry with to promote breakthrough discoveries and inventions as well as translational research;
•”Research and Innovation Excellence Framework (RIEF)” to create benchmarking mechanisms for recognizing the results and impact of research and development with regard to its quality, relevance for meaningful impact on society and national needs;
•”engaged research” to support the development of products, processes and technologies that includes end-user engagement, testing and feedback from an early stage;
•creating platforms to attract top talent to the research ecosystem; developing mentoring programs and additional incentive mechanisms to guide and motivate early stage researchers and young scientists;
•proactive engagement in international S&T collaboration to make Indian science more globally relevant, visible and effective; establishment of the VTI National Observatory to facilitate open access to knowledge and data for all researchers and institutions.
The draft STIP 2022 envisages a 30% participation of women in science by 2030. Some of the key steps taken by the government include: specific DST schemes for women scientists to provide opportunities for women scientists and technologists, especially those who have had a career break under of its three components, namely:
- Women Scientists Scheme-A (WOS-A) for carrying out research in basic and applied sciences,
- Women Scientists Scheme-B (WOS-B) for research involving science and technology interventions for the benefit of society and
- Women Scientists Scheme-C (WOS-C) for Internship in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
The DST program “Consolidating University Research through Innovation and Excellence in Women’s Universities (CURIE)” provides support for the development of research infrastructure in women’s universities to encourage women’s participation in research and development activities. “Vigyan Jyoti” is a new program to encourage deserving female students in grades 9-12 to pursue education and careers in science and technology, especially in areas where women are underrepresented.
Another new initiative “Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI)” aims to transform institutions for a more gender-responsive approach and inclusiveness with the ultimate goal of improving gender equality in STEMM (Science, Technology Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine). The “Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM” program provides opportunities for women scientists and technologists to conduct international collaborative research at leading institutions in the US for a period of 3-6 months. Recently, a program called “SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)” was launched to reduce the gender gap in science and engineering research funding in various science and technology programs in Indian academic institutions and research and development (R&D) laboratories.
