New Delhi, Nov 07: “From the educated unemployed of the past, we are now seeking to usher in an era of educated employable ‘science entrepreneurs’ with the introduction of i-PhD which would, in other words, be an industry-linked degree in science,” said Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday.
Addressing the 7th Convocation of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) here, Dr Jitendra said this academy is a unique academic platform which awards a degree in science that is employable and includes a curriculum underlined by the nuances of entrepreneurship.
He said that in the short span of 12 years since its inception in the year 2011, the AcSIR has emerged as the largest institution providing Doctoral education in India. “The academy is rich not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, maintaining standards of excellence as well as innovation, and at the same time covering a wide range of science streams, – it’s excellent, innovative and also versatile,” he said.
AcSIR is the largest Academic Institution for doctoral research in India having awarded 577 PhD degrees in 2022 and with more than 7,000 students currently registered for PhD. Presently, AcSIR is ranked 3rd by “Scimago Institutions Ranking” (2022), 11th by “Nature Index” (2021-22) and 12th by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) (2023) in the Research Category among the academic institutions in India.
Calling for institutionalizing the linkage of the industry with scientific endeavours, Dr Singh said this will help create sustainable Startups. He said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided an enabling milieu with his initiatives such as the Aroma Mission & Lavender Cultivation and opening up the Space sector.
With the unlocking of Space Technology, Dr Jitendra said the common masses of the country have been able to witness the launch of mega space events like Chandrayaan-3 or Aditya, some 10,000 students and common people came to see the Aditya launch and some 1,000 media persons were there during the Chandrayaan-3 landing on the moon.
Advocating synergy of Science, Research, Academia, Startups and Industry, he said the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and the new National Education Policy (NEP-2020) will create the right ecosystem to realise PM Modi’s Vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.
The Union Minister said the NRF will bridge the demarcation between the public and private sector and there will be integration. The NEP-2020, he said, will set free India’s youth as they will no longer be “prisoners of their aspiration” as the policy now empowers them to choose or change subjects freely depending on their aptitude, skill, interest and other factors.
