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India is pouring money into R&D. Now institutes must improve ease of doing science

Scientists must be granted financial autonomy without excessive bureaucratic or administrative oversight, and without the need for repeated approvals from the head of the institution.

Despite repeated calls to significantly increase public and private investment in R&D beyond the current 0.7 per cent of GDP, and some policy reforms, the ease of doing science and innovation in India’s institutions, especially in universities, has not improved. Why?

Improving science practice requires understanding how funds flow from government funding agencies to individual scientists. Scientific research depends on specialised chemicals, instruments, computers, and skilled manpower. The process starts with an individual or a group of scientists submitting grant proposals outlining aims, methods, deliverables, and budgets. Panels of experts evaluate these proposals and recommend whether they should be funded or not. Once approved, funds are released to institutions under specific budget heads after the required documentation is submitted.

However, the transition from funds being received to research being executed and innovation achieved is where significant delays occur.

The scientific ecosystem requires deep structural reforms at both funding agency and institutional levels to achieve speed and efficiency. At the government level, reforms should include transparent review processes for grant proposals with detailed feedback, reduced timelines (within six months) from submission to fund disbursement, online submission of all documents, including fund utilisation reports, and direct integration of institutional and funding agency finance systems. However, these measures address only part of the problem;........

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