'Basic science necessary for technological advancement'

R&D gaining importance across the world: Japanese professor

Professor of Advanced Life Science, Frontier Research Center for Post Genome Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan, Shin-Ichiro Nishimura, on Friday, said modern science or applied sciences would not stand upright without basic sciences, as they are the foundation for all modern and technical subjects.

He was delivering the third graduation day address of Yuvaraja’s College. He said the entire technological advances that had taken place were because of the researches in the basic sciences.

“If there is no basic science research, no technological advances are possible. Basic sciences are like foundation of a building or monument and without a proper foundation, no building will stand upright,” he said.

The recent scientific and technological developments have taken an unimaginable velocity. Inventions in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields have lead to production of new products. Consumer demands are also changing in a dynamic way. So, the technological world has become highly dynamic and is witnessing rapid and drastic changes in computers and mobile phones, he said.

Owing to growth, Research and Development (R&D) units are being strengthened in the industrial and corporate world. Different countries are spending between 0.13 and 4.5 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Japan has spent around 3.4 per cent of its GDP in 2014. Countries like Australia, UK and USA are spending 2 to 4 per cent of their GDP. Even though the countries, which are investing less now, are planning to increase the R&D budget and even private sector is spending more on the R&D, he added.

Highlighting drug designing and pharmaceutical research, Nishimura said, they have evolved rapidly. “New instruments developed for diagnosis have necessitated discovery of new medicines. As the requirement of drugs are in different forms, innovation for new drug discovery is strong, he observed. Congratulating the graduates, he asked them to take up research as there is a lot of scope for innovation.

University of Mysore (UoM) Vice Chancellor K S Rangappa presided over the event and principal H Nanje Gowda was present.

A total of 451 graduates from different streams were conferred with degrees. Six students were honoured with gold medals, 349 BSc graduates, 17 BBA, 46 BCA, 31 MSc (Chemistry) and eight MSc (Molecular Biology) students received degrees.