The annual list of Fellows announced by the 90-year-old Indian National Science Academy, among the country’s most prestigious assembly of scientists, sticks out this year for its deviation from the academy’s traditional practice. The list features a phalanx of famous Indians who aren’t professional scientists.
These include Sudha Murthy, Rajya Sabha MP, author and a former Chair of the Infosys Foundation; her spouse N.R. Narayanamurthy; two of his Infosys co-founders, Nandan Nilekani and Krish Gopalakrishnan; and Rajendra Singh, water conservationist and founder of the Tarun Bharat Sangh.
“While the majority of our fellows are those associated with the creation of science, we must have at least 20% of them associated with the consumption and the use of science to create opportunities,” Ashutosh Sharma, President, INSA, told The Hindu. The move to introduce new categories of Fellows was part of a larger thrust to address a “lack of diversity.” This included not only improving representation of women and youth but also the various stakeholders who contributed to science in India, beyond traditional academic scientists, he added.
The presence of Ms. Murthy, Mr. Sharma explained, was in her capacity as a former chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, which funded scientific research. He also cited the inclusion of Mr. Gopalakrishnan, who has invested in multiple streams of basic research. “The people who show commitment towards funding basic science research must be recognised. If we want more private funding for R&D, we must bring these people in the fold as they are stakeholders of science,” said Mr. Sharma.
While several notable industrialists were now included, this would set the template of recognising future contributors in the areas of deep-tech and space entrepreneurs, Mr. Sharma added.
India’s science academies, which are steeped in tradition, normally have a process where scientist Fellows nominate their peers – usually from the universities or research institutions – following an evaluation of their publications and contribution to their respective fields of science.
In fact, the demarcation between “scientist” and “non-scientist” in the past was so strict that Satish Dhawan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 1972 and 1984, was only elected as a ‘Honorary Fellow’ in a special category along with Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and J.R.D. Tata.
To accommodate the non-scientist entrants, the INSA introduced two new categories of fellows this year: “Science in Translation” and “Science in Society”.
For being eligible in the “Translation” category, the candidate should have demonstrated scientific leadership in “Science-Based Innovation; Industrial Research and Development; Technology Missions of National importance; and in the Management of Scientific Institutions”.
For the “Society” category, the candidate should have applied science to address energy, water and health issues, or should have done work to popularise science or used science to deliver on societal impact, says an explanatory note on the INSA website.
The view that science academies must only consist of those who “create” science and not recognise those who “use” it was “an outdated one,” Mr. Sharma underlined. The inclusion this year of S. Somanath, former Chairperson, ISRO and V.K. Saraswat, former head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and NITI Ayog Member, was on the basis of their leadership of scientific institutions, Mr. Sharma added.
P. Balaram, INSA member and a former Director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) said while he wasn’t actively involved with the INSA, the problem of recognising those who contributed immensely to Indian science but without enough scientific publications was an old one. “Many years ago there was the problem of including [former President] A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Satish Dhawan because they hadn’t published research papers for many years during their tenure,” he told The Hindu. The INSA’s latest move of awarding fellowships to non-scientists “en masse” didn’t look very “sensible” as they were all “very rich” and their connections to science “tenuous.” “Maybe I’m being conservative, but I would worry about this,” he noted.
Published – January 15, 2025 10:59 pm IST
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