Indian industry should support, collaborate and invest in basic sciences, professor G.D. Yadav, a globally renowned chemical engineer, academic, and recipient of the Padma Shri, said at the 40th foundation day of Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS) on Saturday.
The SNBNCBS is an autonomous research institute engaged in basic and applied science research. It was founded in 1986 under the department of science and technology.
“Indian industry does not realise that investment in basic sciences means development of tomorrow’s technology,” Yadav, a former vice chancellor of the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, said on the sidelines of the event.
He cited IBM’s example, which has invested in basic sciences and produced Nobel laureates.
Yadav urged Indian industry to invest in basic science and help nurture scientific talent.
Scientists need not be cultivated only in government institutions and universities. Industry can do it too. Basic research leads to innovation when engineers and scientists collaborate. Industry must invest, he told Metro.
Yadav was the guest of honour at the institute’s 40th foundation day and inauguration of its archive.
One of the objectives of SNBNCBS is to have translational research, he said. Translational research means that a particular activity done as a scientific curiosity is converted into a product or technology.
Yadav said he would try to mobilise industry support for the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, stressing that greater industry participation was essential for strengthening research.
Our industry should support the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences so that India can grow at a much faster pace. By 2047, when the country completes 100 years of Independence, our scientific institutions should be excelling and bringing laurels to the nation, he said at the inaugural ceremony.
Collaborations with institutions across the world should bring more knowledge, scientist exchange visits, and government support to such centres, Yadav said.
“What we find is that sometimes good projects are abandoned after a period of time when it does not look good,
because many ideas take a lot of time. That is particularly true if you want to develop technology from basic idea to the development and deployment of technology...” he
said.
Yadav later told Metro that out-of-the-box, disruptive ideas require experimentation and there can be failures.
“Those scientists who are tenacious and don’t quit easily are the ones who succeed. Unfortunately, we want instant success, but in science, there are years of hard work, not instant success. It is here that the government needs to support,” he told Metro.
As part of the 40-year celebration, the centre inaugurated an archive on the campus to pay tribute to the visionaries and members of the centre; collective efforts have shaped the centre into an institute of international repute.
“The centre has attracted generations of students, post-doctoral researchers and visiting scientists, sustaining a culture where deep questions remain at the heart of scientific progress,” said Tanusri Saha Dasgupta, director, SNBNCBS.
“For forty years, the SN Bose Centre has carried forward a powerful vision to pursue fundamental questions with depth, to build advanced scientific capability, to train future generations and to connect knowledge with society,” she said.
Sukanta Majumdar, Union minister of state for education, sent a virtual message.
IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty delivered a lecture on “research in an ever-transforming landscape: from lab to the living world”.
IIT BHU professor Sreerup Raychaudhuri spoke on the beginnings and evolution of modern science in India.