Somak Raychaudhury

Dr. Somak Raychaudhury is Vice-Chancellor and professor of physics at Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana

Higher education institutions have a social obligation to communicate scientific knowledge to the broader public. Universities need to actively engage with schools and local communities

Scientific temper requires a mindset that leads to people making rational choices, relying on evidence-based thinking, and spirit of inquiry. It is a way of life that encourages individuals to question, analyze, and seek solutions to problems through scientific methodologies. The phrase was coined by Jawaharlal Nehru in Discovery of India, published on the eve of Indian independence, and it remains as relevant, if not more so, at the present time.

The journey towards developing scientific temper begins in the country’s classrooms where young minds should be shaped by encouraging curiosity, critical thinking, and passion for inquiry. Educators must embrace pedagogies that stimulate students to question, explore, and experiment, and solve problems through knowledge application and innovation. Independent India’s education institutions should have played a pivotal role in this mission through education, research, public engagement, and policy advocacy.

Science had to be brought out of the pages of textbooks. Academics should have designed curricula that bring science to life, emphasizing inquiry-based learning, problem-solving, hands-on experimentation, and designing projects that require students to apply scientific methodology to resolve real-world problems. Interdisciplinary approaches to deal with issues such as climate change, public health, and the ethics of technological choices, must now lead to a much deeper understanding of scientific principles and complex associated social issues. This model of education explains the global economic dominance of America, the West and latterly neighbouring China. Their academic institutions were developed into fertile grounds of research and innovation. This should be India’s path to building future-ready institutions of higher education.

Unfortunately for decades after independence, scientific research in India was limited to a few elite institutions, while public universities mostly focused on textbook-based pedagogy. However, it is noteworthy that some Indian scientists excelled despite a discouraging environment. The late Dr. Govind Swarup and his team designed and built a Giant Metrewave radio telescope at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) near Pune, which for a while was the largest radio-telescope in the world. Several other breakthrough innovations followed. Today, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is at the forefront of outer space exploration. India is also a key partner in ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), France which will soon demonstrate the production of energy by nuclear fusion. Moreover, LIGO-India will detect gravitational waves from merging stars billions of light-years away, and the Square Kilometre array, in South Africa and Australia, will investigate processes that led to the very existence of humankind, with key participation of Indian scientists and engineers.

These achievements need to be widely disseminated to inspire public confidence in science, and arouse the scientific temper of the younger generation. Simultaneously our universities need to reduce their focus on textbook pedagogy and switch to research-based learning, mandatory research projects, internships, and collaboration with industry and research organisations from earliest stage.

Moreover, higher education institutions and academics have a social obligation to communicate scientific knowledge through science outreach programs, public lectures, and workshops to the broader public. Universities and research institutions need to actively engage with schools, local communities, and the media to demystify science and make it exciting for all. Initiatives such as science festivals, citizen science projects, and outreach events can bridge the gap between scientists and the public. Even in the 21st century, prevalence of pseudoscience and superstition is one of the biggest barriers to developing scientific temper. Academics in schools, colleges and universities have a social obligation to take a proactive stance in debunking myths and promoting evidence-based thinking.

Finally, academia and academics can play a seminal role in shaping policies that promote scientific temper by collaborating with government agencies, think-tanks, and NGOs, to advocate evidence-based policy formulation. Inspiring and mentoring the next generation of scientists and thinkers, scholarships, awards, and recognition of young scientists will motivate them to pursue careers in science and technology. Science education has to become inclusive, equitable and accessible to all, regardless of gender, socio-economic background, or geographic location.

However, developing a national scientific temper is not only the responsibility of scientists and educators. It requires a collective effort and participation of a wide range of stakeholders including government, parents and teachers. But academia, with its unique position as the creator and disseminator of knowledge, has a central role to play in this essential national mission. Academics need to emerge from their ivory towers to play a leading role to power 21st century India’s belated surge towards the goal of a $30 trillion economy by 2047 when the nation will celebrate 100 years of liberation from foreign rule.