India Plans to Boost R&D by Retaining Postdoctoral Researchers
Quick Look
- The Indian government is developing a plan to retain talented researchers by offering stronger financial and academic incentives for postdoctoral scholars.
- The initiative aims to significantly increase research positions and enhance stipends to match international standards, combating brain drain and strengthening the R&D ecosystem.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Indian government is developing a plan to retain postdoctoral researchers by offering stronger financial and academic incentives to combat brain drain and boost the R&D ecosystem.
New Delhi: The Centre is drawing up a road map to retain postdoctoral researchers in India by offering stronger financial and academic incentives, including internationally competitive stipends and more research positions, in a bid to stem brain drain and boost the R&D ecosystem.
Some of the options being considered include substantially increasing the number of seats for postdoctoral research to 10,000 initially and up to 25,000 over the next 10 years from 2,500 now while also enhancing the stipends to bring them on a par with international standards, a senior government official told ET.
"We are letting go of the best of brains and highly qualified candidates which is a great loss to the nation," the official said, adding there is a need for a blueprint to retain this talent in India.
The ideas is to also develop education and innovation hubs across the country on public-private-partnership (PPP) mode to promote interdisciplinary research and build a complete ecosystem which even attracts global talent not just Indian.
Internal estimates show 95% of candidates go abroad for post doctorates to the US, the UK and Germany for research and a majority of them never return to India.
An inter-ministerial consultation will begin under the NITI Aayog to firm up the measures needed to make research more attractive in the country.
Raise number of seats, raise stipends to global levels
Monthly stipends for fellowships, under various government programmes, are highly standardised in India with junior research fellows (JRF) receiving over ₹35,000 per month, senior research fellows (SRF) receiving over ₹40,000 while fellowship under premium programs like the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) ranging between ₹70,000 and ₹80,000. This is significantly lower compared to annual postdoctoral stipends of $61,000 in the US or GBP35,000 to 46,000 in the UK and between 50,000 and 65,400 euros in Germany.
Postdoctoral research in India ranges from one-three years and key fellowships include the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), National Post-Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF), as well as grants from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Increase in postdoctoral research seats to 10,000 initially, then up to 25,000 over 10 years.
Likely
Open Questions
- What specific funding mechanisms will be employed?
- How will public-private partnerships be structured?
- What are the long-term economic benefits expected?