The Infosys Science Foundation has got a new office at Jayanagar in Bengaluru. The inauguration event on July 14 was attended by trustees of the foundation along with young researchers and students. In an exclusive interview with TNM, Kris Gopalakrishnan, who is the president of the Infosys Science Foundation and the Infosys co-founder, talked about the importance of research and how the Infosys Science Foundation is playing a role in fostering the research ecosystem.
The first area I'd look at is large research programs, for example, ISRO decided to land on the moon and Mars, these are large programs. So, we need to have some large research programs. It has to be interdisciplinary, multi-tier and it should have many people working towards a common goal in innovation-driven programs. The research that I support is about ageing and ageing-related neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinsons, and dementia. Now under that umbrella, a lot of work can be done with people from different disciplines. There is clinical research for understanding what changes happen as people age, and do they develop a disorder. There is also data that is being collected that has to be analysed, population-related studies where there is a difference between people in rural and urban areas, if there is, then why and what. Such large problems must be taken up which have relevance to Indian society.
Second, funding has to increase, especially private funding for research. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) rules also support research. I think that at least some of the businesses that support CSR activities must say that 50% of the money will go to solving today’s problems such as unaffordable education, poverty alleviation, and healthcare. The other 50% must go to solving problems for the long term, which is research. Helping somebody with their hospital expenses solves the problem for today but eliminating that disease itself is a long-term solution. The incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease is very high, can we understand the basic causes for that and eliminate them? So, research is very important when we have to solve our problems from a medium to long perspective and that’s why I believe 50% of CSR should be given to research.
Third, I strongly believe that India has a role to play even when it comes to global issues. India has the opportunity to develop a new 21st-century model for the world. Some of the youngsters also spoke about this. The 20th century model for development has created many issues such as the consumption-led development model, fossil fuel-led automotive industry, disparity of income, and affordability. When the vaccine was introduced, the per dose cost was 30 dollars and when India got involved, the cost came down to 3 dollars. There is a role for India to play in making sure that products and solutions are affordable to everyone. An inclusive model can be developed by the world and India should play a role in the 21st century.
When you have limited funding, you have to have a methodology to figure out which projects to fund. So whether it is publicly or privately funded, it has to go through a process of selection. Very similar to how someone just talked about higher studies in India where you have to go through several processes of selection. Many people want to do something but there’s limited funding. Most of our educational institutions are just that, they are not education and research institutes. Because earlier that was the need, the need was to educate our population so that they can get a job and take care of their families. Now that a large population of people is middle class, we can start thinking about research as a career. We need to increase access through many more educational institutions getting involved in research.
Infosys Science Foundation initially and even today wanted to create icons, and heroes from scientists and reward them very well so that it inspires youth to take careers in science. We want the Infosys Science Foundation to popularise science through lectures and interactions that we have with scientists. Now, the foundation is starting to expand and this physical space here is only a part of that expansion. Here in this space, we can now have workshops and collaborate with more research institutes. We are in a position to do more through the Infosys Science Foundation. Our goal is to make sure that the kind of research that happens in India is world-class and that more of it happens in India.
First of all, the nation now recognises the need for innovation and entrepreneurship and slowly I think it is also realising the need for knowledge creation, which is the research part of it. Over the last 8 years, from 2014 onwards, the change that has happened in the startup ecosystem is amazing. We have become the third best location for startups and have 100+ unicorns. Similarly, a transition needs to happen in the research ecosystem. It has to be about aspirational projects, impact on society, world-class, and rewarding (for the researchers). I think the transition is slowly happening now and it will increase the scale and rewards. The industry will also be looking to hire more people with PhDs. The Infosys Science Foundation is playing a small role in making it happen but it’s a wider transition that needs to happen from private to government participation.