Institution Building: The Story of IISERs Institution Building: The Story of IISERs N Sathyamurthy Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. © Indian Academy of Sciences 2018 Published by Indian Academy of Sciences Production Team Sudarshana Dhar Srimathi M Jayalakshmi A S Cover Design Rajarshi Biswas Printed by Brilliant Printers Pvt Ltd. Bengaluru 562 123. Dedicated to the people of India Foreword It is with pride and satisfaction that I write this foreword to the book on the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs). The idea of having a national institution or a uni- versity dedicated to science was not completely new. Some years ago, in the National Committee for Science and Technology chaired by Shri C. Subramaniam, I had brought up the idea of establishing such institutions for science which would be equivalent to the IITs in engineering. For some reason, it could not happen. I kept repeating this in many places, and the idea was even included in a Planning Commission document during 1989–90. It took the right set of people and circumstances eventually to make this happen. When I was the Chairman of the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, I described the idea of IISERs to the Prime Minister. He thought that it was a very good idea and gladly endorsed establishing them. When I talked to the Education Minister, Shri Arjun Singh, he expressed complete support. Amazingly, within a few weeks after the initial discussions, an important meeting was arranged by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development to discuss this matter. The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia), Minister for HRD and so on. I was invited for this meeting. I assumed that the Minister of Education would make the presentation of the idea of IISERs to the Committee. Instead, Shri Arjun Singh asked me to make the presentation about IISERs. I had not formally prepared for such a thing to happen. I talked about the need for such IISERs and what they can do for science in India. Amazingly, at the end of the meeting, everyone present endorsed the idea of IISERs. Within a few weeks, the government decided to establish five IISERs. A small group was formed in the HRD ministry to make initial plans for the institutes. The government decided that they should be located in five different regions of India, north, south, east, west and central India. We have these five IISERs now. When I was asked to give an estimate of the costs required, I gave a rough estimate of ₹500 crores per institute for a period up to five years. A few more IISERs have been added recently. I should thank Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister, for having supported the idea of IISERs and let them come into being. The then HRD Minister Shri Arjun Singh gave full sup- port and Mr. Banerjee, Secretary of HRD, took personal interest in the project. I feel that IISERs have done remarkably well. They are becoming fountains of sci- ence in India. Many people tell me that IISERs are giving tough competition in science to vii Foreword well-established institutes in the country. I hope and pray that IISERs will excel in teaching as well as research in the years to come. They are indeed the hope for science in India. Long live IISERs! C N R Rao Linus Research Pauling Research Professor viii Preface Those of us who went to high school in the early 1960s grew up in the Sputnik era. Although we could not watch television in India at that time, we were excited about Neil Armstrong land- ing on moon. His famous statement, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” echoed all over the world. Physics was a romantic subject. The realisation of the energy stored in the nucleus of atoms was overwhelming. Many of us dreamed of becoming scientists, although we did not know what exactly that meant. We were excited to make soap at home, use carbon rods from old batteries as electrodes and do experiments of various kinds. We were thrilled to generate hydrogen gas by adding dilute hydrochloric acid to zinc powder and watch the gas catch fire with a pop. Bell jar experiments were simple, but exciting. National Science Talent Scholarship enabled many of us pursue studies in mathematics, phys- ics, chemistry, botany, zoology and geology in some of the best places in the country. We were not worried about getting a job. We were excited about becoming scientists. Summer schools organized by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) kindled the spirit of enquiry in us. We did not think about publications. It was curiosity-driven science, pursued with innocence and excitement. All that changed in the 1980s. The Information Technology (IT) revolution brought about major changes in the society. The salary that accompanied the IT jobs and the prospect of making millions by software development lured the bright minds, particularly from the middle class, into studying computer science and related subjects. The boom that followed ensured that less and less number of students went for higher studies in science. Policymakers and decision makers were a worried lot. Independent India was committed to its development through science. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, knew that science was the route to progress and the way to uplift the masses. He gave a free hand to Homi Bhabha and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar to do what was needed. While the former went about plan- ning the atomic energy programme, the latter went about building CSIR laboratories. Bhatnagar was also the first Chairman of the University Grants Commission of India. India had produced leading scientists like J. C. Bose, C. V. Raman, S. N. Bose, M. N. Saha and K. S. Krishnan before independence. It was time for India to produce leaders in science, who would stand shoulder to shoulder with the giants of global science. The university system that had produced scholars in various fields was not keeping with the times. The laboratories therein were becoming outdated. Modern equipment was costly and required valuable foreign exchange. Although, considerable amount of money was put into the ix Institution Building: The Story of IISERs system, the results were not commensurate. The burgeoning population demanded an increase in the number of universities and financial outlays. Several committees were set up to come up with ways and means to attract talent to science and retain them in science. Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) and National Science Olympiads could identify students interested in science, but most of them ended up pursuing engineering, technology or medicine. Also, the number of KVPY scholars selected each year was too small to make a difference to the country. Some recommendations were made to set up new institutes dedicated to science, within the boundaries of existing universities. But then, the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, in 2005, recommended setting up of two Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs); one in Kolkata and one in Pune, with a financial outlay of ₹500 crores each. The government accepted the recommenda- tions and IISERs were set up in Kolkata and Pune in 2006. Soon followed IISERs in Mohali (2007), Bhopal (2008) and Thiruvananthapuram (2008). A few years later, two more IISERs were set up, one in Tirupati (2015) and another in Berhampur (2016). This happened at a time when India was in a mood to expand. More IITs, NITs and Central Universities were set up. But the first five IISERs were different. They were on a mission mode. The first five IISERs were set up as registered societies. There was a Detailed Project Report (DPR), approved by the Planning Commission. There was a beautiful Memorandum of Association for each IISER. It was a progressive document, prepared by the government officials. There was a system of Board of Governors along the lines of the existing IITs and the Government of India rules. Yet, the Directors of IISERs were given a free hand to build IISERs the way they wanted. Bright students joined the IISERs. There were no buildings, but there was a vision. There were no roads, but the road to success was evident. What happened in the next ten years was unprec- edented in the history of modern India. It was as if the IISERs were self-assembling. Each IISER went about recruiting outstanding faculty and building state-of-the-art facilities. Nothing could stop them from realising their goal. Outstanding research publications followed and the country and the world took note of the IISERs. A brand name was built in (just) ten years! India showed what could be done, if it wanted to. Building IISERs was too important an experiment in institution building by India, to be simply forgotten. The need was felt to docu- ment how the five founding Directors and their successors went about building the IISERs and to document the lessons learned for posterity. A workshop was organized at IISER Mohali on 25 February 2017 to convey the agony and ecstasy of building the five IISERs by the seven men involved. What follows is a document that emerged. The preamble provides the background to the building of the IISERs. The five chapters that follow document how each IISER was built and the epilogue tries to summarise the problems faced and the lessons learned.