By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 03, 2015: DR Harsh Vardhan Says - "Exciting Times Ahead for Fundamental Sciences Research in New Century."

Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Harsh Vardhan, announced in Kolkatta yesterday that the centenary of Bose Institute, a premier institution for multidisciplinary research in fundamental sciences, founded by Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose, will be marked by the unfurling of a Perspective Plan on R&D over the next few decades. The centenary falls in 2017.

The Minister said that the Narendra Modi Government is committed to nourish the legacy of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose as the new century has already set out a series of exciting challenges for those involved in fundamental research.

Bose Institute’s centenary is only two years away (2017). That in mind, Dr Harsh Vardhan instructed the Director and staff to prepare a perspective plan so that it could be fitted out with infrastructure to meet the challenges of the next few decades.

Dr Harsh Vardhan remarked, "Science is about change and young people are the ones that bring about change. There needs to be a paradigm shift, which gives more power and autonomy to young scientists. There are many good and sincere scientists in India whose interests are not motivated by awards and recognition. These people have served and will continue to serve as the mentors to future generations of Indian scientists. Science is the result of the efforts of these people, though limited resources have strained their efforts."

He noted that Bose Institute is one of the few multi-disciplinary institutions for scientific research in the country. The Acharya had built it up from scratch with minimal funds so that budding scientific talent of India could get the chance to carry out research.

"I will ensure that the name of Acharya Bose is preserved by making this institute founded by him the backbone for research and development in genetic engineering, biocrystallography, biocomputing, molecular modelling and related fields. These days genome analysis has become an exciting area of research and I wish to see this institute achieve prowess in it."