Big discoveries have small origins

Big discoveries have small origins

Context:

The Economic Survey 2017-2018 has called for doubling research and development expenditure from its current level of about ₹1 lakh crore, amounting to 0.8% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Economic Survey:  Transforming Science and Technology in India.

Key Highlights

• As per the Survey, investments in science in India – measured in terms of Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) – have shown a consistently increasing trend over the years.
• However, as a fraction of GDP, public expenditures on research have been stagnant over the past two decades. It is also well below that of major nations like US and China
• The Survey also states that private investments in research have severely lagged public investments in India.

The Problem:

• The issue of diminishing funds for exploratory small-scale science research has escaped amidst the debate based on comparative GDP figures.
• Seminal innovations often result from the efforts of scientists working alone or in small groups with a tight budget rather than in well-funded mega projects.
• In India, as elsewhere, a significant fraction of the science budget goes to mission-oriented projects in the areas of defence, space, nuclear and environmental sciences.
• The mission-oriented work in these areas need not be diluted to favour small research grants.
• The operational missions are important but so is the research ecosystem that provides human resources and feeds the innovation pipelines connected to these missions.

Way Forward:

• Enhanced competitive research grants for the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, and universities will help address the needs of a larger pool of scientific talent and will also bring in returns by way of publications, patents and innovations
• The Economic Survey has highlighted the issue. It has stated that India “gradually move to have a greater share of an investigator-driven model for funding science research”.
• The Report has also called for expansion through more resources and creative government structures.