India continues to enjoy the No. 1 position as the leading information technology, business outsourcing and consulting destination of the past two decades. In fact, the other emerging powerhouses of the BRIC nations are all hot destinations for future investments.

But we cannot rest on our laurels. It is imperative that we strive to become the finest research hub the world has ever seen. We can achieve this distinction by investing in our schools – the places where future generations will develop the skills and resources that will drive our country’s economic growth.

The Royal Society’s seminal 2011 report, ‘Knowledge,  Networks and Nations: Global Scientific Collaboration in the 21st Century’, states that even in the difficult economic times we now face, national governments need to maintain investment in their science base “in order to secure economic prosperity, tap into new sources of innovation and growth, and sustain vital connections across the global research landscape.”

Currently, a mere 0.25% of India’s  GDP is spent on research & development. The government proposes to step this up to 2% of GDP, with half of that amount coming from private industry and half from the public sector. While admirable in its intentions, the goal falls short. Israel, for example, spends 6% of its GDP on scientific research. Switzerland and Sweden both spend 4% of their GDPs on research, and even China is approaching 2%.

India is in danger of falling behind other nations in the race to build an advanced, 21th century economy. True, the country has increased its expenditures on education as a percentage of GDP to 4% during the 2011-12 school year from 3.3% in 2004-05. But compared to the other BRIC countries, we need to do more. Brazil, for instance, spends some 5.7% of its GDP on education. Smaller developing nations like Ethiopia spend 4.7%, and even Botswana spends 7.8% of its GDP on education, according to the World Bank.

Make no mistake: India needs a sustainable pipeline of scientific research. To build this pipeline, it is imperative to have strong investments in education. A population grounded in the sciences will strengthen our industries and government. Our nation will have home-grown minds working on the myriad problems facing society and improving the lives of everyone. The responsibility for this task lies not just with government but with private industry, schools, families and individuals.

I encourage young scientists and students to consider careers in research – whether in corporate laboratories or academic institutions. In the private sector, my colleagues and i set up the Infosys Science Foundation (ISF), a not-for-profit trust, to promote scientific research in India. The ISF has set up a series of public lectures by the winners of the Infosys Prize that we hope will kindle a spark of interest in young minds. We hope also to make role models of the Infosys Prize winners – the Sachin Tendulkars of science, if you will – that youngsters will want to follow.

The high point of our year is when we award the Infosys Prize to honour the outstanding achievements of researchers and scientists in the fields of engineering and computer science, humanities, life sciences, mathematics, physical sciences and social sciences. The Infosys Prize highlights the impact research has had on areas important to India’s growth.

One of our recent winners, Professor Kalyanmoy Deb, was honoured for his work in engineering and computer science. His research has led to advances in the areas of non-linear cons-traints, decision uncertainty, programming and numerical methods, computational efficiency of large-scale problems and optimisation algorithms. His work has profound implications on a range of practical ideas – from how the financial markets operate to how we can find sources of fuel in the future. The winner of the Infosys Prize in life sciences, Dr Imran Siddiqui, worked on clonal seed formation in plants that has significant implications for agriculture, especially in the developing world. The work of our winners is meaningful, impactful and inspiring.

As you can see, my colleagues and i are doing what we can to help bring about this transformation in the corporate sector. But there are many steps that India’s universities can take that will focus our students on scientific research. First and foremost is to give top-notch researchers scholarships, grants and interest-free loans to make their work financially worthwhile.

Universities can also bridge the gap of communication and interaction between researchers here and abroad. Let’s make it known that scientific research is a global pursuit benefiting the global community. Plus, schools can ensure that the research conducted by their students is measured by and meets global standards. Finally, i call on the media to devote attention and airtime to profiling India’s top researchers and scientists, and their work. Can you imagine giving the same attention to our country’s great scientists as we do to our  sports and movie stars?

Scientific gains and a booming economy  go hand in hand. We’re at a crossroads in this country. How we move forward at this very moment in our history will determine the success of this nation and whether we lead the world well into the next century.

The writer is chairman emeritus, Infosys and trustee, Infosys Science Foundation.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Opinion> Edit Page / TOP ARTICLE / by N R Narayana Murthy / October 24th, 2012