6PURSUING CAREER IN SCIENCE
We are the students of a science institute namely “ Indian Institute Of Science Education and Research†.We are addressing this mail to the teachers ,parents and students of all classes with an aim of familiarizing them with the current level of science in India and various options available for pursuing science in India.
After being a part of this institute for six months, we realized that India is lacking far behind in science in spite of having some of the world's best brains. Our own professors are very good in their respective fields and we consider them as dedicated scientists of India.
However this problem is much more serious than it seems. India is considered backward in science in spite of the fact that many of the scientists working in the labs of big brands like Avon, General Electrics etc. are Indians.
The main problem is that we have the resources, but we don't know how to use them. We have the brains worth millions, but we don't know how to apply them.
Science and technology go hand in hand; either of them is incomplete without the other. But considering the trend for the past few years, students taking science stream in 11th either want to become a doctor or an engineer. Very few of them want to become a scientist or a researcher. Why so??? Why the students who opt for career in science do not want to pursue pure sciences???
Students have only one aim in their mind- cracking IITJEE, AIEEE or CBSE PMT. The ones who don't get admission anywhere go to science colleges … where the brainiest people are required; thus there we are getting the people with lower performances in the world class science institutes.
What a shame!!! Why so??? It is because of these reasons that India is lagging behind!!! Even the pens which all of us use every now and then have inks manufactured in Germany, France, or Japan!!! India is not even making that!!! Even the traffic lights used in our country are imported from other countries.
Now is the time to change. What should have been done years back will be done now!! We want to motivate the students to pursue science and opt for research as their career option because this can not only change the picture of science in India but also enable the students to grow as bright young scientists of India. Let science come and stand equivalent to engineering and then feel the difference in progress of our country.
There are many positive aspects of this field.
Firstly, this field will always be unaffected by recession as supply of good and highly motivated researchers is less than their demand. Moreover, a person feels the originality and creativity in terms of science, while the pleasure of doing research can't be defined in words. The respect and fame you get is again a big thing since you will be scientists working for your country.
The reason we have written this mail is that we know there are plenty of bright students who are interested in pure and applied sciences, but due to lack of guidance and knowledge, they decide to move on technology based road called engineering; as a result of which science suffers. We want to stop this!!! We want to show them the way to get into the field of science.
Indian government has taken plenty of steps to take science in India to a new level, but without the support of students, it is just worthless. The government has launched a program called KVPY i.e. Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana, to bring those people to sciences who are really interested in it. But very few people in our country know about this!!! Another step is establishment of 5 IISERs throughout the country to give the kind of undergraduate training that students interested in science require. IISERs have famous scientists as their faculty, and we are really lucky to be students of them.
Thus we have given you an overview about the prospects of science in India and the options for pursuing science in India. Now it is for you to decide whether you are motivated enough to take science as your career and do it for the rest of your life; whether you want to do something different or flow with the tide and continue the trend which has been followed for years. We are not the promoters of any particular institute but students like you .We faced the same problems at our school level and thus we want to help you. In case of any confusion feel free to contact us.
wakeupforscience@gmail.com
