Come up with out-of-the-box solutions: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu

Bengaluru: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday called on the scientific community to strive to excel and innovate for improving the lives of the people, by coming up with out-of-the-box solutions to address various challenges faced by mankind.

Advocating for the greater enrolment of women in the higher educational and research institutions, he also said that the that the research conducted by any institution should be relevant to society.

"Every scientist should strive to excel and innovate for improving the lives of the people. In other words, scientists should come up with out-of-the-box solutions to address various challenges faced by mankind from climate change to agriculture to health and medicine, among others," Naidu said.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the "Innovation & Development Centre" at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) here, he said, he firmly believes that the research conducted by any institution should be relevant to society—be it academic or industrial.

"In this context, translational research assumes importance and I am glad to note that this institution has generated over 300 patents and promoted establishment of a few startups based on indigenous inventions," he added.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Bharat Ratna Professor C N R Rao were among the others present at the event.

Complementing Prof Rao, who was nominated to the prestigious International Eni Award, 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and storage, the Vice President said, "I believe he will receive the award from the President of Italy in a few months from now. Congratulations Prof. Rao! You continue to inspire young scientists not only in India but all over the globe."

Pointing out that JNCASR is known for conducting cutting-edge research in a wide range of areas, Naidu suggested the scientists and researchers there undertake research in new emerging areas of science like synthetic biology, computational biology, high performance engineering materials and Artificial Intelligence.

"If we talk about the global scenario, I find that this institute has made an excellent impact on the international arena by positioning itself among the top institutions in its areas of expertise. I hope it will continue to maintain its standing and continue on its quest for excellence making it one of the best Universities in the World," he said, as he noted that it was ranked 4th among Universities and 11th in overall category for 2017 in NIRF rankings.

Stating that he was happy to know from the Director of the JNCASR that 40 per cent of the students are women, Naidu termed it a very positive trend.

"It should be encouraged further. I would like to see in all educational institutions more than 50 per cent of the students are women.....to my happiness that in every institute that I have visited more than 65 percent of the medal winners are girls. I'm very happy about it," he said.

Highlighting that science is the backbone for the progress and technological advancement of any country, Naidu said, India is uniquely blessed with a huge demographic dividend with a young population.

The need of the hour is to inculcate scientific temper from a young age and promote world class scientific research that addresses societal problems, he said. Noting that the 'National Education Policy 2020' will ensure that students have access to new teaching and learning strategies across all segments, the Vice President said, this will create the right educational ecosystem and enrich their knowledge base, while also honing their skill sets.

A number of new IITs, IIMs, Central Universities and Skill Development Centres have come up across the length and breadth of the country in the last few years to achieve this objective, he said, adding that "I understand that the Government of India proposes to set up a National Science & Technology Research University bringing DST's R&D institutes under its umbrella."