Last month we tried to understand ‘Why to be a scientist’ & mentioned some advantages. Let’s know in-depth perspective about becoming a researcher.
First and foremost mention must be made about the Ph.Ds. It is not at all a degree as most think…same is about M.Phil…however in every educational institutes for the teaching purposes M.Phil and Ph.Ds are required qualifications to teach either at Senior Colleges or at University Departments. In a lighter note I always say that if you don’t have Ph.D, don’t even knock the doors of any Educational Institute to become a Professor or Principal….
Research
As seen, if you don’t have Ph.D never try to enter any University Campus. So you will understand obviously these are the qualifications required for teaching purposes…but not for the research needed for society or industry or for the entire humanity.
To maintain the academic ratings of the Universities all Professors are required to write and publish research work periodically and it is now made almost mandetory…but accept that such publications are coming out to be just a peripheral documentation of work done by various students who are pursuing Ph.D’s under the guidance of Professor. Take it with the pinch of salt as it may hurt many in the teaching profession…and same is the situation in the Agricultural field too.
Research Institutes
In India the major research work is done in Research Institutions like TIFR, IISC, ISRO, IISER, NCL, Virology Institute, IIUCA, BARC, APL, ICT Mumbai etc. These are just a few names known to the common man. There are many institutions which are unknown to many that include various industrial R&D departments of particularly Pharma Industry. About the Pharma research I would like to bring out the fact that huge fund is necessary to come out with a new molecules useful for treating diseases. Cost incurred for such research is usually in multiples of crores. You must have heard the vaccine stories all over the world and also the success stories of Serum Institute of India & Bharat Biotech.
Skills Required
To be a Researcher, just Studying & getting in depth knowledge of your subject is not sufficient to be a good researcher. One must be acquainted with other necessary skill like Maths & Statistics. Handling of big data, knowledge of basic languages of computer programming and continuous updating of global trends in research, as well as the technology evolving in various fields should be the inherent part of the daily ritual of a researcher.
The continuous learning ability is the right way of life of a scientist. In the process some proud moments are always in waiting. In India for young scientists, several encouraging awards like Bhatnagar prize is a very prestigious encouragement for the further development career. International recognition comes when your research paper is published in International Journals of repute, like Nature. The aptitude and hard work results in recognition…
Research – the way of life
There is always a misconception in the minds of even senior learned executives, managers, or even CEO’s of various companies that to be a scientist is only to deal with research and development . Obviously most think that a scientists are needed only for the purpose of developing production process or Industrial Technology…
Research is an entirely different process. Very logical, very creative, in technical terms it is called lateral thinking or divergent thinking…That is the reason for all over the world research labs are Independently working entities but funded by Industries.
In most of the advanced countries a genuine researcher starts his own lab. maybe in the campus of a University or outside the University…associated with industrial environment…establishing Industry-Academic Interface…Developing the Technology…That is the global trend setting in the Research Arena
-Dr.Shreeram Geet.
Career Counselor.
