This article stems from various aspects of research that has caught my attention, while being a graduate student at IIT Bombay. Although, India is a country with diverse culture and ancient history (dating back to vedic era), its involvement in research is still in the nascent stages. In recent years, there has been a series of strong reforms in the direction of lifting India's research output. The manifold increase in the budgetary allocation for science and technology is a fitting example to this fact. However, scientific research cannot be progressive unless a research culture is introduced.
The Oxford Learner's dictionary defines the word culture as the beliefs and attitudes about something that people in a particular group or organization share. In a scientific context, research culture would mean a value system that is shared by the research community. It is a scenario where individuals work single-minded towards achieving a collective goal. ISRO's Mangalyan mission is an excellent instance where this has been demonstrated.The emphasis here was on collaborative exploration by setting aside social, regional and language differences. No scientific advancement is possible without a sense of collective commitment and responsibility. Each scientist in that sense is accountable for the millions of taxpayers, to whom her/his services are to be delivered.
The culture of research is supported on three pillars - viz. academic institutions, industry and government agencies. Academic institutions have a major role in fostering scientific temperament through active engagement of its student community - UG, PG and PhD. Faculty members should facilitate exchange of ideas within the hierarchy of students as well as across departments. The academic environment needs to be shaped such that it encourages risk taking, allows experimentation, and accommodates failures. For instance, there can be provisions where the student is free to start a venture after completing a minimum number of credit.
Innovation is a constant companion to research. Especially this is very much true in engineering. Being an applied science, engineers try to find solutions to various problems that is of concern to the world around. In present times, it is further possible to convert the innovation to a venture and collaborate with other innovators in the area. A simple scheme to instil an innovation mindset is to encourage open discussions and pitching avenues. Apart from core subjects, engineers need to develop an open mindset to other subjects. Soft skills will be key for building successful research collaborations in the future. These include inter-personal skills as well as self management principles.
The foundations of research culture should be laid on integrity as well as social-responsibility. Ethics and values are pivotal to inculcate a holistic education, and this is more so important in research. In fact, the current educational culture of just accumulating information, needs to change.
The Oxford Learner's dictionary defines the word culture as the beliefs and attitudes about something that people in a particular group or organization share. In a scientific context, research culture would mean a value system that is shared by the research community. It is a scenario where individuals work single-minded towards achieving a collective goal. ISRO's Mangalyan mission is an excellent instance where this has been demonstrated.The emphasis here was on collaborative exploration by setting aside social, regional and language differences. No scientific advancement is possible without a sense of collective commitment and responsibility. Each scientist in that sense is accountable for the millions of taxpayers, to whom her/his services are to be delivered.
The culture of research is supported on three pillars - viz. academic institutions, industry and government agencies. Academic institutions have a major role in fostering scientific temperament through active engagement of its student community - UG, PG and PhD. Faculty members should facilitate exchange of ideas within the hierarchy of students as well as across departments. The academic environment needs to be shaped such that it encourages risk taking, allows experimentation, and accommodates failures. For instance, there can be provisions where the student is free to start a venture after completing a minimum number of credit.
Innovation is a constant companion to research. Especially this is very much true in engineering. Being an applied science, engineers try to find solutions to various problems that is of concern to the world around. In present times, it is further possible to convert the innovation to a venture and collaborate with other innovators in the area. A simple scheme to instil an innovation mindset is to encourage open discussions and pitching avenues. Apart from core subjects, engineers need to develop an open mindset to other subjects. Soft skills will be key for building successful research collaborations in the future. These include inter-personal skills as well as self management principles.
The foundations of research culture should be laid on integrity as well as social-responsibility. Ethics and values are pivotal to inculcate a holistic education, and this is more so important in research. In fact, the current educational culture of just accumulating information, needs to change.
