Chennai: Eminent scientist C.N.R. Rao on Wednesday lamented that Indian scientists do 'routine' research and IIÂTs don’t spend time to solÂve people’s problem.
Delivering the first institute lecture “Celebration of Science” at IIT-Madras on Wednesday, Prof Rao said, Indian scientists get upset when they don’t get recognised.
“Why do you want to do routine research as sciÂenÂce keeps changing so thÂere is no point doing routiÂne research,” he said.
Professor Rao urged IndÂian scientists to pick up a good societal problem and solve it.
“Indian scientists are very good but they are not interested in solving prÂoÂblems. You (IITians) shÂould think of a right prÂobÂlem. You should take the path less traversed by others, if you do it you will beÂcome successful,” the 80-yeÂar-old Bharat Ratna-designate said.
Pointing out that he had undertaken research on hyÂdrogen, fuel cells, solar, batteries for the past one and a half years, Prof Rao said that top institutes in the country like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras should take problems in society and address them.
Quoting Jules Verne from The Mysterious Island, Rao said water would be the coal of the future. Listing out the reasons why scientists in India don’t get a Nobel prize, Prof Rao said that the country does not have large computers to do complex computational prÂoblems which hampered their research.
“You have to understand the developments in your field. Don’t expect prizes all the time. Because resÂearc is exciting and doing it is exciting,” he added. Prof Rao opined that scientist Michael Faraday, who contributed to electromagnetism and electrochemistry, was the greatest of all scientists.
