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President's Secretariat
05-February, 2018 20:08 IST
Rashtrapati Bhavan hosts Nobel Laureates Seminar; President says a creative schooling system is root of a Research and Innovation Culture
Rashtrapati Bhavan today (February 5, 2018) hosted a one-day Nobel Laureates Seminar, organised by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in association with the Nobel Foundation. This is part of the Nobel Prize Series, a regular and landmark engagement between the Indian scientific and policy community and the Nobel Foundation.
Addressing the inaugural session of the Seminar, the President said that in the 70 years since India became independent, belief in science has shaped our society and developmental process. From agriculture to harnessing the energy of the atom, from vaccine innovation to advances in space technology, science has helped us build our nation.
The President said that keeping pace with this investment in science, we have also invested in people through our institutions of higher education. We have recently created several central universities; Indian Institutes of Technology; All India Institutes of Medical Sciences; and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. These investments will create a huge pool of scientists, clinician researchers and technologists for a changing India. For these investments to bear fruit, these institutions and also our schools must be as good as the best in the world. This is a challenge but together we can accomplish it. Together we can make innovation not just a passion for our scientific elite, but the lifeline of our schooling system.
The President said that because the world is constantly changing and ideas flow from every side, our scientists must be connected to the latest advances in research and technology. Science is nothing if not a global enterprise. It is this that is our focus today. How do we build world class institutions and universities and how do these connect to our society – both within our national boundaries and beyond?
The Nobel Laureates who addressed the Seminar are Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Sir Richard John Roberts, Serge Haroche and Dr Tomas Robert Lindahl.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that without a strong, dynamic and creative education and schooling system, we cannot create a research and innovation culture. It is important to cultivate curiosity in our classrooms, and free science from the tyranny of jargon.
The President said that good researchers emerge in a system that values good teachers and good faculty. The linkage between research institutes and universities – and research and industry – is extremely important. These cannot exist in independent silos. It is also critical to link science to society. One of the reasons for the wide-spread support for our space programme, for instance, has been the ability of India’s space scientists to offer solutions to the lives of ordinary Indians – whether in mapping weather patterns that assist our farmers, or telemedicine that enhances access to healthcare.
***
President's Secretariat
05-February, 2018 20:05 IST
Address by the hon’ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of inauguration of the Nobel Laureates Seminar
1. I welcome you all to Rashtrapati Bhavan. I am glad to be here – and I am glad we all are here - for the Nobel Laureates Seminar. This is part of the Nobel Prize Series, a regular and landmark engagement between the Indian scientific and policy community and the Nobel Foundation.
2. The spirit of inquiry and the curiosity of discovery are at the root of science. These have a long tradition in India. As has been said in a lighter vein, India revolutionised science and mathematics by giving the world nothing – literally nothing. I refer of course to the concept of zero – which originated in India. From mathematics to astronomy, from the study of metals to the study of medicine, India has an age-old history of nurturing science and scientific thinking.
3. At the birth of the modern age, the centres of science and technology were in the West, in Europe and the United States. Like in international politics and economics, the power structure of science was also influenced by colonial equations. In the early 20th century, Indian scientists began to challenge this. With limited resources and using their own initiative, they did brilliant work right here in India.
4. There are so many examples that can be offered. J.C. Bose was an innovator and scientist of world-class distinction. He demonstrated wireless transmission of microwaves as far back as 1895. This was much ahead of the Italian engineer Marconi and his transmission of radio waves. He also founded the Bose Institute in Kolkata, a pioneering institution in our country that recently completed its centenary. In fact a few months ago, I was happy to be at the closing ceremony of its centenary celebrations. There were others too. C.V. Raman was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize for physics, in 1930. And if the Fields Medal had been instituted when he was alive, the extraordinary Srinivasa Ramanujan would certainly have been a strong contender.
5. In the 70 years since India became independent, belief in science has shaped our society and developmental process. From agriculture to harnessing the energy of the atom, from vaccine innovation to advances in space technology, science has helped us build our nation – brick by brick. Or should I say molecule by molecule!
6. Keeping pace with this investment in science, we have also invested in people through our institutions of higher education. We have recently created several central universities; Indian Institutes of Technology; All India Institutes of Medical Sciences; and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. These investments will create a huge pool of scientists, clinician researchers and technologists for a changing India.
7. For these investments to bear fruit, these institutions and also our schools must be as good as the best in the world. This is a challenge but together we can accomplish it. Together we can make innovation not just a passion for our scientific elite, but the lifeline of our schooling system.
8. Three things are needed for success. First, our scientists, from PhD students to senior technologists, must have a shared sense of purpose. They must address quality capacity building, participate in national missions, and take on frontier research. Fragmented, individual-driven approaches must move to building teams of the highest quality.
9. Second, our research institutes and universities must cooperate with intelligence and harmony to form research hubs. These hubs can set new standards of excellence not only for India but also for the world. The tech hub in Bengaluru is a case in point. We need many more.
10. And third, because the world is constantly changing and ideas flow from every side, our scientists must be connected to the latest advances in research and technology. Science is nothing if not a global enterprise. It is this last point which is our focus today. How do we build world class institutions and universities and how do these connect to our society – both within our national boundaries and beyond?
11. The Nobel Laureates and the Fields Medal winners assembled here will interact with the cream of India’s scientists and researchers, students and university leaders, to see how we can make our institutions among the best. And how these can transform our society.
12. As visitor to many of our universities and institutions of higher learning, I have a personal interest in the deliberations today. I wish all you an intellectually rich and valuable set of discussions over the course of the day. And this afternoon I look forward to actionable recommendations that India can use – and our world can use - and benefit from.
Thank you
Jai Hind!
***
President's Secretariat
05-February, 2018 20:05 IST
Concluding address by the hon’ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the Nobel Laureates Seminar
Thank you
Jai Hind!
***
05-February, 2018 20:08 IST
Rashtrapati Bhavan hosts Nobel Laureates Seminar; President says a creative schooling system is root of a Research and Innovation Culture
Rashtrapati Bhavan today (February 5, 2018) hosted a one-day Nobel Laureates Seminar, organised by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in association with the Nobel Foundation. This is part of the Nobel Prize Series, a regular and landmark engagement between the Indian scientific and policy community and the Nobel Foundation.
Addressing the inaugural session of the Seminar, the President said that in the 70 years since India became independent, belief in science has shaped our society and developmental process. From agriculture to harnessing the energy of the atom, from vaccine innovation to advances in space technology, science has helped us build our nation.
The President said that keeping pace with this investment in science, we have also invested in people through our institutions of higher education. We have recently created several central universities; Indian Institutes of Technology; All India Institutes of Medical Sciences; and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. These investments will create a huge pool of scientists, clinician researchers and technologists for a changing India. For these investments to bear fruit, these institutions and also our schools must be as good as the best in the world. This is a challenge but together we can accomplish it. Together we can make innovation not just a passion for our scientific elite, but the lifeline of our schooling system.
The President said that because the world is constantly changing and ideas flow from every side, our scientists must be connected to the latest advances in research and technology. Science is nothing if not a global enterprise. It is this that is our focus today. How do we build world class institutions and universities and how do these connect to our society – both within our national boundaries and beyond?
The Nobel Laureates who addressed the Seminar are Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Sir Richard John Roberts, Serge Haroche and Dr Tomas Robert Lindahl.
- Christiane Nusslein-Volhard is a German biologist renowned for her embryonic development of fruit flies. Her contribution earned her the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- Richard John Roberts is an English biochemist and molecular biologist who was felicitated with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the mechanism of gene-splicing.
- Serge Haroche is a French physicist who was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics for devising methods to study the quantum mechanical behaviour of individual photons.
- Tomas Robert Lindahl is a Swedish-born British scientist specialising in cancer research. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that without a strong, dynamic and creative education and schooling system, we cannot create a research and innovation culture. It is important to cultivate curiosity in our classrooms, and free science from the tyranny of jargon.
The President said that good researchers emerge in a system that values good teachers and good faculty. The linkage between research institutes and universities – and research and industry – is extremely important. These cannot exist in independent silos. It is also critical to link science to society. One of the reasons for the wide-spread support for our space programme, for instance, has been the ability of India’s space scientists to offer solutions to the lives of ordinary Indians – whether in mapping weather patterns that assist our farmers, or telemedicine that enhances access to healthcare.
***
President's Secretariat
05-February, 2018 20:05 IST
Address by the hon’ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of inauguration of the Nobel Laureates Seminar
1. I welcome you all to Rashtrapati Bhavan. I am glad to be here – and I am glad we all are here - for the Nobel Laureates Seminar. This is part of the Nobel Prize Series, a regular and landmark engagement between the Indian scientific and policy community and the Nobel Foundation.
2. The spirit of inquiry and the curiosity of discovery are at the root of science. These have a long tradition in India. As has been said in a lighter vein, India revolutionised science and mathematics by giving the world nothing – literally nothing. I refer of course to the concept of zero – which originated in India. From mathematics to astronomy, from the study of metals to the study of medicine, India has an age-old history of nurturing science and scientific thinking.
3. At the birth of the modern age, the centres of science and technology were in the West, in Europe and the United States. Like in international politics and economics, the power structure of science was also influenced by colonial equations. In the early 20th century, Indian scientists began to challenge this. With limited resources and using their own initiative, they did brilliant work right here in India.
4. There are so many examples that can be offered. J.C. Bose was an innovator and scientist of world-class distinction. He demonstrated wireless transmission of microwaves as far back as 1895. This was much ahead of the Italian engineer Marconi and his transmission of radio waves. He also founded the Bose Institute in Kolkata, a pioneering institution in our country that recently completed its centenary. In fact a few months ago, I was happy to be at the closing ceremony of its centenary celebrations. There were others too. C.V. Raman was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize for physics, in 1930. And if the Fields Medal had been instituted when he was alive, the extraordinary Srinivasa Ramanujan would certainly have been a strong contender.
5. In the 70 years since India became independent, belief in science has shaped our society and developmental process. From agriculture to harnessing the energy of the atom, from vaccine innovation to advances in space technology, science has helped us build our nation – brick by brick. Or should I say molecule by molecule!
6. Keeping pace with this investment in science, we have also invested in people through our institutions of higher education. We have recently created several central universities; Indian Institutes of Technology; All India Institutes of Medical Sciences; and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. These investments will create a huge pool of scientists, clinician researchers and technologists for a changing India.
7. For these investments to bear fruit, these institutions and also our schools must be as good as the best in the world. This is a challenge but together we can accomplish it. Together we can make innovation not just a passion for our scientific elite, but the lifeline of our schooling system.
8. Three things are needed for success. First, our scientists, from PhD students to senior technologists, must have a shared sense of purpose. They must address quality capacity building, participate in national missions, and take on frontier research. Fragmented, individual-driven approaches must move to building teams of the highest quality.
9. Second, our research institutes and universities must cooperate with intelligence and harmony to form research hubs. These hubs can set new standards of excellence not only for India but also for the world. The tech hub in Bengaluru is a case in point. We need many more.
10. And third, because the world is constantly changing and ideas flow from every side, our scientists must be connected to the latest advances in research and technology. Science is nothing if not a global enterprise. It is this last point which is our focus today. How do we build world class institutions and universities and how do these connect to our society – both within our national boundaries and beyond?
11. The Nobel Laureates and the Fields Medal winners assembled here will interact with the cream of India’s scientists and researchers, students and university leaders, to see how we can make our institutions among the best. And how these can transform our society.
12. As visitor to many of our universities and institutions of higher learning, I have a personal interest in the deliberations today. I wish all you an intellectually rich and valuable set of discussions over the course of the day. And this afternoon I look forward to actionable recommendations that India can use – and our world can use - and benefit from.
Thank you
Jai Hind!
***
President's Secretariat
05-February, 2018 20:05 IST
Concluding address by the hon’ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the Nobel Laureates Seminar
- I am happy to meet you again at the concluding event of what I understand has been a very productive and intellectually stimulating day. In my opening address this morning, I had referred to the ancient Indian tradition of science and scientific inquiry. Another ancient Indian tradition is that of samvaad or dialogue or conversation – a two-way interaction, rather than a one-sided lecture.
- I am glad to know that in its structure, today’s event was true to the concept of samvaad. A one-hour panel discussion among the Nobel Laureates and scientific administrators was followed by an hour of questions and answers. An hour where researchers, young scientists and some of the finest emerging minds of our country were able to engage directly with distinguished leaders in their field!
- I must appreciate the Nobel Laureates who are here today for sparing the time to answer questions in such detail, and for agreeing to such a satisfying format. You have shared your knowledge and scholarship in a manner that has been inspiring. Your presence in India – and indeed the very fact that the Nobel Foundation and the Ministry of Science and Technology have come together for this interaction – is an indicator of how raising the bar for research and development and for innovation in India is a shared aspiration. Every Indian is thankful for such sincere and well-meaning friends.
- Our aspirations are similar, and so is our roadmap. Some of the themes that emerged today would evoke hardly any differences. As was emphasised by one of the speakers, education is the base of the pyramid, the apex of which is scientific research. Without a strong, dynamic and creative education and schooling system, we cannot create a research and innovation culture. It is important to cultivate curiosity in our classrooms, and free science from the tyranny of jargon.
- To take this further, as was also said today, good researchers emerge in a system that values good teachers and good faculty. The linkage between research institutes and universities – and research and industry, I would add – is extremely important. These cannot exist in independent silos.
- It is also critical to link science to society. One of the reasons for the wide-spread support for our space programme, for instance, has been the ability of India’s space scientists to offer solutions to the lives of ordinary Indians – whether in mapping weather patterns that assist our farmers, or telemedicine that enhances access to healthcare.
- Another point that was discussed was the need to develop leadership and administrative capacities – as well as public communication capacities – of our scientists. It takes great skill to lead a technically capable research team of 15 or 20 people. It takes great skill to communicate with such a team of qualified scientists. It takes related but different capacities to lead an institution of a few thousands. And it takes great patience for our learned scientists to explain the intricacies of science and technology to ordinary people. And yet, our scientists have to do this for the benefit of society. By communicating science, you will further the cause of science.
- Today, we have seen a similar generosity of spirit here from our Nobel friends. I hope your visit to India has gone well, and I wish you and all the others here the very best for your future efforts. And I look forward to the delegation from the Nobel Foundation visiting our country again next year. I don’t need to add that the doors of Rashtrapati Bhavan are always open to all of you.
Thank you
Jai Hind!
***
