In this hi-tech era only those nations or societies will lead the competitive world who will show willingness to adapt to the new emerging demands. Needless to say we are the part of hi-tech society that is dominated by cutting edge innovations. However, there is still a major gap between developed and developing countries vis-à-vis technological and scientific progress partly due to paucity of productive human resource in less advanced countries. India has progressed immensely in different fields in last sixty years, but there are pressing issues that are related to our future progress. Among competing nations, India is still far behind in research and technological advancement. To aspire for high and continuous growth, India needs to take lead in research and innovation. Recently, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen also highlighted that India cannot become global power unless its human resource is well educated and productive.
Our state (J&K) is least developed state with reference to scientific innovation. We are still lagging behind in many key indicators of technological advancement due to fault in our lower and higher education system. Our education system is producing graduates with theory (or rote memory) based knowledge, but is unable to produce innovative human resource who will be compatible with the advanced societies. The establishment of new universities or institutions cannot fetch results if we don’t have clear vision about our future. The ambition of transforming the potential of youth for new challenge is possible only if our system slowly changes theoretical knowledge into practical or productive knowledge that will at least help the young aspirants to search their job opportunity anywhere in the globe. Attracting youngsters towards innovation and research should be one of the goals of the state policy in next 10-20 years. However, this task is not so easy as we are plagued with numerous hurdles to accomplish this overarching aim. I have highlighted some of the critical issues that are responsible for our dismal progress in research and innovation and have further provided some directions for future.
The Trivial Nature of our research
The great scientist, Einstein, once remarked, “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” Presently, the progress of any society is directly related to their research achievements. However, it is important to understand that it is quality research which ultimately matters. The quality research is possible if young researchers are able to take challenging problems of applied nature. Researchers in west have always shown their positive intention to test new ideas that look unusual in the initial stages. The main reason for our dismal performance in research has been that our research is still trivial; testing the research questions which have less significance. We still test the hypothesis of foreign origin and are unable to design our own.
The aim of quality research can be achieved if newcomers in research are exposed to new challenges. New outcomes in research are possible if researchers are able to work independently with the elite scientists of world. For this purpose there is dire need to sign MoU’s with the leading universities of our country and rest of the world. By integrating our research laboratories with the leading research institutions, there are ample chances that quality research output is possible and that will negate the junk research.
Innovation in research is necessary for avoiding the trivialization and stagnation of the real potential of young researchers in our state. The process of innovation includes sensitizing new researchers how to discover, create, and develop ideas; how to polish them into productive forms and finally how to use them to earn profit. However, it is important to understand that creating new inventions or ideas does not always mean the beginning of innovation; it is actually sustenance or transformation of these ideas into productive forms.
Another issue which hampers the progress in research is lack of professionalism and lack of acceptance by the society. As our society has not yet accepted research as a profession, young researchers resort to different shortcut methods to complete their research degrees. The outcome of such type of research is wastage of time. However, there are researchers who spent their precious time on research endeavor, but their brave efforts remain unrecognized until they start their research career in west. The above problem lies in the fact that we still are unable to accept research as noble profession. It is irony that there is still confusion in the minds of young researchers whether they are simply doing Ph D for obtaining a degree or they are doing it for the betterment of society. A true researcher is always driven by natural inquisitiveness and has the motivation to solve tedious problem in order to help humanity.
There is another side of story that shows how our society neglects and shows bias towards good researchers who spent bulk of their youth towards research. It is said that when a quality and passionate researcher submits his thesis, he actually submits his youth. It is important that our system at least encourages those who are willing to sacrifice their comforts of life for the betterment of society.
Change of gears in our education system
Research and innovation are central in any walk of life or knowledge for development, progress and enrichment. Progress of any country or society is directly or indirectly related to various research and innovative indicators. For instance, Israel – a tiny country (so small on the map that sometimes it overlaps with the map of other gulf country) with a population less than whole J&K – is leading country in all fronts as far as scientific innovation is concerned. The fundamental reason for the tremendous progress of some countries (like Israel and Great Britain) in various fields is well reflected by their innovative and research oriented education system where even a school kid can submit a patent for competition at global level. The practical example is before us in the form of 13 year old British young school boy (Jamie Edwards), who in 2014 successfully conducted nuclear reactor test in school science lab. It is important for us to understand that unproductive human resource is of no use in the present competitive hi-tech world. We still judge the ability of candidate for any job position on the basis of his/her theoretical knowledge (rote memory based knowledge) without caring about real problem solving potential. Immediate steps are needed to harness the real potential of our talented youth through creation of innovative centers (IC). These innovative centers will act as small laboratories where we can resolve our pressing issues through technological intervention.
It is unfortunate that we have not been able to integrate teaching with research in our higher education system as some of our educationists find it unsuitable for our system. However, past experience in west has shown that complementing theoretical knowledge with practical knowledge has succeeded in achieving the set goals. There is need for adopting research based or inquiry based learning at undergraduate and graduate level so that inquisitive talent of youth is polished. Several scholars have suggested numerous ways in which research can be integrated into teaching and learning environment. However, it is important to understand that traditional scheme of learning must not be ignored, but efforts should be made to compliment it with the so called “teaching-research nexus”.
Lack of infrastructure
The goal of quality research can be achieved through establishment of quality research infrastructure. It can be observed that most of laboratories in different research institutions of state are still lacking modern infrastructure. How can one expect research output from these outdated labs which don’t have even 24 hour electric facility? Even with such limited infrastructure facilities, some of our researchers have made great contribution. It is pertinent to mention that cutting edge research is possible if universities provide best research laboratories equipped with latest instruments. So, first and foremost thing is to improve the infrastructure of research in colleges and universities.
The paucity of funds and lack of attention by the authorities who are at the helm are the main reasons for the bad infrastructure in our research laboratories. Our graduate and undergraduate students are unable to learn basic lab tests due to lack of basic instruments in the labs. In contrast, high school level students in west are able to make breakthrough research. Even our scholars don’t have excess to advanced techniques for carrying out cutting edge research. Many of them have to visit outside state or have to send their samples to the foreign experts for analysis. It is has been suggested by various scholars that major impediment to innovation and technological progress in India is the lack of infrastructure.
The transformation of our schools, colleges and universities into innovative hubs is possible if proper scientific infrastructure facility is put in place that will at least increase motivation towards new discoveries and inventions.
Future course of action
The quality research comes from quality research brains. It is true that research in our universities is still considered as a degree and there is hardly any introspection on the research achievement. This is partially related to current higher education system, which is more theoretical and gives less weight-age to the research. To improve quality of research in our universities, Professors need to take lead in research so that young researchers follow their path. The research achievement of young scholar is directly proportion to the achievements made by the advisor, though there are some exceptions. It is also important that candidate with good research credentials should be given chance while making faculty appointments so that research is improved in our varsities. New appointees in universities should keep in mind that their primary aim is to make breakthrough research in their respective fields. It is the duty of faculty heads in different departments to sensitize Professors and research students about the importance of quality research and bring professionalism in research.
There is no dearth of research talent among young researchers which is evident from the fact that some scholars from this region have brought laurels in their respective research field. The achievement of young scientist, Dr Raiees Andrabi (who made breakthrough research in immunology) and Dr. Rouf Banday (who made a path breaking research of deciphering the genetic link to cancer risk) are prime examples that research is in our DNA, but there is something wrong in our system. There is urgent need to understand the root cause of poor performance in scientific research and find ways to bring research back on track.
Undue criticism or bashing of researchers will not help the cause of improving research in this region. One thing I have observed that research community here do not acknowledge or appreciate each other’s contribution. Even they do not accept each other’s viewpoint which is a major concern for the development of healthy research environment. Those thinking that new discoveries or inventions can be done in a day are wrong because research is a slow endeavor and takes decades together to make breakthrough contribution. It took west almost 300 years to dominate in science and technology.
Young researchers also need direction from the best achievers in the field of research. Top research brains of state should also submit their recommendations to the heads of Universities and higher authorities based on their assessment, so that it is clear where the fault lies. The faulty appointments, lack of proper assessment and paucity of funds does not allow our universities to innovate. Government should also come forward and take different initiatives for improving the quality of research.
In conclusion, tough reforms are needed to revive the scientific research in our colleges and universities. Let us hope that our state achieves great heights in innovation and research in coming years. As is rightly said by Edward Counsel, “Hope is the beacon which points to prosperity”
REFERENCE:
Dec 25 2016.Revamping Research and Innovation in Jammu and Kashmir.Greater Kashmir.retrieved from
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/opinion/story/237030.html
