Recently, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research introduced the winners of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) awards for 2022. The announcement was extremely anticipated not solely attributable to the almost year-long delay in declaring the outcomes, but additionally as a result of it got here amid the authorities’s plans for a significant revamp of the construction of science and medication awards.
In September 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology discontinued almost 300 current science awards – with the exception of the SSB awards – whereas reviews emerged of a draft plan to interchange them with a smaller set of “highly deserving” awards.
A brand new system of awards
The new system, known as the ‘Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar’ (RVP), features a bouquet of awards: Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, Vigyan Team, and Vigyan Ratna. The authorities has expressed an intention to maintain the RVP at par with the Padma and different nationwide awards.
The new awards shall be open to an expanded group of “scientists, technologists and innovators (or teams) working in government, private sector organisations or individuals working outside any organisation”. The RVP shall be given throughout 13 scientific domains, together with primary sciences, utilized sciences, medication, and engineering. The award announcement acknowledged that “representation from each domain/field, including gender parity will be ensured”.
Like the Padma awards, the RVP awards will invite nominations for a while, and be evaluated by a RVP Committee comprising “the Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India and … Secretaries of Science Departments, members of Science and Engineering Academies” and famous science/know-how students.
Differences from older awards
The newly proposed RVP construction is critical for a lot of causes. In a welcome step to maneuver past recognitions largely restricted to scientists with common positions in academia, the new awards are additionally open to innovators and technologists, together with these in business, and with numerous, non-regular affiliations.
The new awards may also have expanded eligibility standards, together with technology-led improvements or merchandise, along with discovery-based analysis. The RVP additionally features a set of group awards (Vigyan Team), to acknowledge the more and more collaborative, cross-disciplinary, translational and intersectional nature of scientific analysis.
Importantly, with the exception of the Vigyan Yuva-SSB award – for scientists as much as the age of 45 years – the different RVP awards don’t have an age restrict, whereas explicitly committing to make sure equitable gender illustration. This is notable vis-à-vis long-term conversations calling for reforms of the ageism and gender bias pervading science in India.
The RVP awards may also be open to Persons of Indian Origin overseas, which is related given India’s giant and completed scientific, engineering, and know-how diaspora, and the more and more international footprint of recent science.
Finally, the new award system has eradicated money prizes, and will as a substitute embrace certificates and medals.
Giving to and taking from the awards
As India revamps the means it recognises good science, it is an opportune time to replicate on the intent, the implementation, and the choice and analysis processes. This is in order that the new system represents each the aspirations of scientists and the nature of up to date science apply in India and ensures that the challenges that beset the older crop of awards aren’t carried ahead.
First: to make sure that the RVP system recognises solely actually “notable and inspiring contributions”, the awards’ descriptions should embrace a press release that the contributions are over and above the customary job description of a scientist/technologist, not merely incremental work or work integral to their appointment.
Second: since the awards are nationwide recognitions for exemplary work, devoted citations for instructing, mentoring, science communication, public engagement and outreach, and management and administration are conspicuous by absence. (Some of those awards have been beforehand conferred by the science academies.) Scientists engaged in these initiatives usually achieve this along with their main tasks, so these contributions have to be included in the new award construction – ideally as separate classes or not less than weighed upon at the time of choice.
Third: The age restrict of 45 years for the Vigyan Yuva-SSB for younger scientists is a severe problem to the new system’s personal dedication to make sure gender parity. In their erstwhile model (with the identical age restrict), the SSB awards have been infamous for his or her lack of gender illustration, and the age restrict – which works in opposition to girls with relocation, childcare tasks, and profession breaks – was a giant motive why.
So, the Vigyan Yuva-SSB award’s definition of a ‘young scientist’ have to be reconsidered primarily based on, say, the variety of years since a candidate held an unbiased place or it should provide eligibility extensions primarily based on private concerns (as the EMBO Gold Medal does). Otherwise, it may erect its personal systemic limitations to making sure gender parity.
A possible blueprint
Fourth: When the RVP award course of is applied, the choice course of should adhere to the predetermined timelines, present a public checklist of shortlisted candidates, and embrace gender-balanced and numerous choice committees, worldwide jury members, and a non-partisan jury member – a non-scientist, ideally – to ensure the choice is honest.
Fifth: The new award system should pledge to consciously search to make sure, along with gender parity, the correct socioeconomic and demographic illustration amongst awardees, and account for contributions made in the face of significant systemic social challenges and/or constraints and concerns associated to the office.
Finally: While some have questioned the want for awards for scientists in any respect, we in India lack the information to make this resolution. In any case, repeatedly evaluating the affect of the new award system on subsequent scientific work, the development of subjects and fields, the results of function fashions on variety and inclusivity in science in India, and scientific mood of the nation at giant shall be helpful.
With these features in place, this is a chance for the RVP awards to change into a blueprint for an expansive, inclusive, and clear award system that can be adopted by scientific ecosystems in different international locations as nicely.
Karishma Kaushik is the Executive Director of IndiaBioscience.
- ‘Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar’ (RVP), features a bouquet of awards: Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, Vigyan Team, and Vigyan Ratna. The authorities has expressed an intention to maintain the RVP at par with the Padma and different nationwide awards.
- The new awards shall be open to an expanded group of “scientists, technologists and innovators (or teams) working in government, private sector organisations or individuals working outside any organisation”. The RVP shall be given throughout 13 scientific domains, together with primary sciences, utilized sciences, medication, and engineering.
- Like the Padma awards, the RVP awards will invite nominations for a while, and be evaluated by a RVP Committee comprising “the Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India and … Secretaries of Science Departments, members of Science and Engineering Academies” and famous science/know-how students.
