India’s new 'Biologist' Principal Science Advisor – What could this mean? (A quick glance)

As a student of the living world, the prospect of a biologist taking over as the PSA is refreshing. While it is selfish to expect a reform bias towards biotech and related disciplines, there is no doubt expertise will unintentionally trickle down to the same result. Granted there is a lot of room for improvement in funding allocation, dispersal and screening processes, one of the major reforms on a lot of minds (although most don’t talk about it – chalk it to having become comfortable) is the way Science is done and communicated.

In a large country like India, attenuation in communication has always been a problem and Science communication faces no less of a challenge. In fact, I am certain that is the root cause behind the elitist and fuzzy image that Science and Technology has with the masses. Therefore, one of the focal points of moving forward should be simplifying communication and making information more accessible by exploiting social media and being more creative with public demonstrations and conferences. While this is done effectively by a few institutes such as IISC, the trend needs to be nation-wide. One of these highlights would be establishing Open Science Labs through the year with comprehensive hands on workshops, demos and talks to get the public excited. Given how much science contributes to our daily lives, everyday should be Science Day.

One of the other focal points is the way Science is done. While Science reviewing and publishing structures seem set, it is apparent that it is time consuming (more than it should be) and a heavy monetary burden for authors or representing institutes. It is time that overseeing authorities started experimenting with models of decentralizing science. One of the promises of the new PSA, Dr. Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan, is democratizing Science. Decentralization is something that will help to that end. Everything from the way papers are peer reviewed, to the way funding is allocated, and science is communicated, has scope for decentralization. What this really means is permeating the decision making to every individual involved in the process and allowing the same process to be transparent and recorded. With a lot of Blockchain based journals currently being developed, it may seem decentralization will truly be the future of Science.
Finally, there is a call that is being globally addressed today which is the "Reproducibility Crisis". There seems to be no incentive for researchers to undertake repeat experiments which often help reinforce current results. National organizations can go a long way in being a champion in establishing funding agencies for this very purpose. 

While only time will tell what changes the new PSA will bring forth, we can be sure it is a new era for Science in India. With his first tweets and robust replies as PSA, it seems that Dr. Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan really wants S&T infrastructure decision making to rest with the scientific community as much as possible. If you guys have pointers for our new PSA, don’t hesitate to tweet him at “@kvijayraghavan”. Lets help nurture science for the future!