5/24/2015

InIndia,AbundantOpportunities|ScienceCareers

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ScienceCareersinIndia,Part1

InIndia,AbundantOpportunities
CREDIT:SuneelMadhekar,
distributedunderaCCBYSA2.0,
Flickr

ByG.B.S.N.P.Varma
October28,2013

Thisisthefirstarticleinamultipartserieson
sciencecareersinIndia.InPart1,wedocumentthe

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improvedcareeropportunities,especiallyforIndian

"AnyonewantingtoreturnandworkinIndia

StatesandEurope,thathaveresultedfromIndia's

cangetajobinoneoftheinstitutesand
universitiesbecausetherearemanynew

DiscussinForum

increasedinvestmentinscienceandtechnology

openings."L.S.Shashidhara

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research.InPart2wewilllookatthechallengesof

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nationalsreturningfromtrainingstintsintheUnited

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doingresearchinIndia.
SeatedinhisofficeonthethirdfloorofthenewlyconstructedbiologicalsciencesbuildingattheIndianInstituteof
Science(IISc),Bangalore,theoreticalecologistandassistantprofessorVishweshaGuttalexpressesquiet
satisfactionaboutthewayhiscareerisdeveloping."Ihavegottheinfrastructure,labspace,computers,andhighly
motivatedpeopleworkingwithandaroundme,"hesays.
Muchlikethesystemshestudies,Guttal'scareerhassofarbeennonlinear.Heearnedhismaster'sdegreeatthe
IndianInstituteofTechnology(IIT),Kanpur,specializingincondensedmatterandstatisticalphysics.Hisinclination
towardbiologywasevidentinhismaster'sproject:thestatisticalphysicsofselforganizedtrafficflowinant
colonies.Afterthat,hewenttotheUnitedStates,enrollinginaPh.D.programattheOhioStateUniversityin
Columbusandworkingforawhileonmagnetoresistanceindisorderedmaterials.Midwaythroughthesecondyear
ofhisPh.D.,however,hetradeddisorderedchunksofmatterforlakesandothercomplexecosystems,studying
theirnonlineardynamicswithCiriyamJayaprakashaspartofaNationalScienceFoundationfunded
biocomplexityproject.Forhispostdoc,GuttalmovedtothelaboratoryofIainCouzinintheDepartmentofEcology
andEvolutionaryBiologyatPrincetonUniversitytostudyselforganizedmovementinanimalgroups,returningto
theinterestthathaddrawnhimtoresearchyearsbefore.
"ItwasnevermyintentiontostayintheU.S.,"Guttalsaysso
afterthepostdoc,heappliedforassistantprofessorship
positionsatseveralinstitutionsinIndia,receivedoffersfrom
three,andselectedIIScforaresearchenvironmentthathe
describesasrich,diverse,andfriendlytointerdisciplinary
worklikehis.

Adestinationofchoice
Guttal'ssuccessfulreturnwasmadepossiblebytherecent,
dramaticexpansionofIndia'sresearchinfrastructure.About15
CourtesyofVishweshaGuttal

VishweshaGuttal

yearsagotheIndiangovernmentbeganexpandingresearch
institutionsandcreatingnewones,boostingemployment
opportunitiesforscientists,andcreatingarangeofnew
fellowshipoptions.

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InIndia,AbundantOpportunities|ScienceCareers
Veryrecently,India'ssciencebudgethasbeenlesshealthy,butthisrecentdownturnfollowsaperiodofintense
growth.AccordingtoIndia'splanningcommission,thescienceallocationinthe12th5yearplan,whichcovers
2012to2017,isnearlythreetimesaslargeasthatinthe11thplan,whichcovered2007to2012.Thisnew
spendinghasallowedtheIndiangovernmenttoestablishmanynewscientificinstitutions,includingfivenew
IndianInstitutesofEducationandResearch(IISERs),anewNationalInstituteofScienceEducationandResearch,
ninenewIITs(thereweresevenbefore),and28newCentralUniversities.(Previouslytherewere25).Old,
establishedinstitutessuchastheIITs,theTataInstituteofFundamentalResearch(TIFR),andtheIISchave
expandedbyabout30%overall.Manyothernewresearchandteachinginstitutesareplanned,andtheseshould
provideevenmoreopportunitiesforwelltrained,competentscientistsworkinginawidevarietyofdisciplines.
ThenewvitalityofIndianscienceisapparentatorganizedgatheringsliketheannualYoungInvestigatorMeeting.
Startedin2009byRonaldValeoftheUniversityofCalifornia,SanFranciscoandfundedinpartbytheWellcome
Trust/DBTIndiaAlliance,themeetingbringstogether"aneclecticmixofIndia'sbestyounglifescience
researchers,postdoctoralfellows,renownedIndianandinternationalscientists,representativesofvariousgrant
fundingagenciesandsciencepolicymakers,"accordingtoIndiaBioscience.org,anonprofitoutreachinitiativethat
grewoutofthemeeting.
"Indiaisnotjustaviableoption,butadestinationofchoice,"says
ProfessorSriramRamaswamy,whoisthedirectorofthenewTIFR
CentreforInterdisciplinarySciencesinHyderabad.Ramaswamy,
whoreturnedtoIndiain1986afterdoingaPh.D.andpostdocat
theUniversityofPennsylvania,worksonsoftmatter,
nonequilbriumstatisticalphysics,andthemechanicsofliving
matter."ThereismoreresearchfundingavailableinIndiathan
therehaseverbeen.Thisisthereforetheidealtimetostarta
researchcareerinIndia,"hesays.
"IthinkthisisaverygoodtimeforresearchersreturningtoIndia,"
saysKrishnaJagannathan,anassistantprofessoratIIT,Madras,
hisalmamater,sinceNovember2011.Jagannathanearneda
mastersdegreeandaPh.D.inelectricalengineeringand
computerscienceattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
(MIT).Afterthat,hewasavisitingpostdoctoralscholarin

CourtesyofKrishnaJagannathan

KrishnaJagannathan

computingandmathematicalsciencesatCaltechandalsoanoff
campuspostdoctoralfellowatMIT.Hisspecializationisthe
stochasticmodelingandanalysisofcommunicationnetworks,networkcontrol,andqueuingtheory."Generally,it
seemstomethattheresearchatmosphereisonanupwardcusp,asenoughcriticalmasscontinuestobuildin
severaldisciplines,"hesays.

Competition
HiringatIndianinstitutionstendstoworkdifferentlythanitdoeselsewhere,saysMariaThaker,whoisabehavioral
ecologistandanassistantprofessorattheIIScCentreforEcologicalSciencesinBangalore.Insteadofseeking
scientiststomeetaspecific,narrowscientificneed,Indianinstitutesoftenhirescientistsastheybecomeavailable,
onarollingbasis."[T]hephilosophyistolookforthebestscientists,irrespectiveoftheirspecificfieldofresearch.If
IwereintheU.S.,I'dbelookingforajobopeningwithmyspecificexpertise,andthosearefewandfarbetween."
InIndiaaselsewhere,therearemoretraineesthanjob
opportunities,buttherapidgrowthinIndia'sinfrastructuremakes
foradynamicjobmarket."Therearestillmanyresearchnichesthat
areunfilledinIndiaandbothacademicandnonacademicinstitutes
areinterestedinbuildingthecapacityofthefacultyandresearch
base,"Thakersays.
"AnyonewantingtoreturnandworkinIndiacangetajobinoneof
theinstitutesanduniversitiesbecausetherearemanynew
openings,"saysL.S.Shashidhara,whoisabiologyprofessorat
IISER,Pune,whoreturnedtoIndiaafterPh.D.andpostdocworkat
theUniversityofCambridge.
Amongthenewcropofinstitutesanduniversities,thequality
varies."Thisisduetodisadvantageofthelocationandordelayin
appointingseniorscientists,andnotduetofunding,"Shashidhara
CourtesyofMariaThaker

MariaThaker

says."Westartedtoomanynewinstitutesanduniversitiesinvery
shorttime.Whiletherearesufficientapplicantstofillallthese
places,[the]countrydoesn'thavesufficientnumberofscience
leaderswhoarewillingtogotothesenewinstitutesand

universitiesandmentoryoungfaculty."
Jobsatthemoreprestigiousinstitutesremain"verycompetitive.Itrequireshighqualificationandhighskill,"

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InIndia,AbundantOpportunities|ScienceCareers
Shashidharaadds."Youhavetoassessyourself,yourskills,andseewhereyoufitin,andthenapply."
"Manyofthebestinstitutionsarealsobeginningtoattractoverseasscientists,bothlongtermvisitingfaculty
andpostdoctoralfellows,"Ramaswamysays.Prevailingrulesdon'tallowIndianinstitutestohirenonIndiansas
permanentfaculty.We'llhavemoreonforeignscientistsworkinginIndiainafuturearticle.
G.B.S.N.P.VarmaisafreelancejournalistbasedinIndia.
10.1126/science.caredit.a1300237

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