Harnessing potential the IISc, ISRO way

Top organisations such as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have time and again shown the way to apply research benefits for the public at large.

For a hundred years now, the IISc has been at the forefront of research. Nearly 400 faculty members are engaged in guiding about 2,000 students climb up the research ladder. About 120 - 140 postgraduate degrees are awarded each year, while over 800 students are admitted annually. This year, 825 students were admitted to various departments, 457 of them taking up research.

The Institute’s 42 departments were instrumental in establishing several major industries in the State. Many leading scientists including Homi Jehangir Baba, Vikram Sarbhai, J C Ghosh, the founder of first IIT at Kharagpur, CNR Rao, and Rodham Narasimha hail from this prestigious institution.

The disconnect between institutions such as these and the myriad city colleges, where research is a forgotten word, appear stark. While stalwarts of science and technology make a beeline to IISc from around the globe, hundreds of city colleges find it tough to even maintain a basic laboratory!  

ISRO’s Institute of Space Science & Technology

The Indian Space Research Organisaton (ISRO) had a two-pronged problem. One, it was difficult to retain people who came to the organisation. For, people with valuable experience at ISRO were always moving to better paying pastures. The other was integrating fresh graduates into the often cutting-edge work and technology that marks India’s space agency.

Finally, it turned out to be a no brainer. ISRO went ahead and opened its own institute for young aspiring scientists and started training them in college. This is what the Institute of Space Science and Technology does. The four-year course packs what is needed for their studies in all the sciences and with a guarantee of job absorption at ISRO, provided they satisfy certain parameters. To ensure that no one loses, a selected student will also sign a clause stating that they will serve at ISRO for five years.

The syllabus is state-of-the-art and well grounded in fundamentals. Institute Director Dr B N Suresh says that the curriculum has a shelf life of at least three to four years. “Even though technology and requirements keep changing, it is important to have stability in the system as well.”