Venni V Krishna

Professorial Fellow, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia,

Editor-in-Chief, Science, Technology and Society (Sage)

Venni V. Krishna is currently Professorial Fellow, School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He has been elected as the Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Australia in December 2019. He was Professor in Science Policy and Chair, Centre for Studies in Science Policy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for more than 20 years. He held faculty positions at the National University of Singapore; McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Maison des Science De l Homme, Paris; United Nations University, Japan; Western Sydney University, Sydney and Tsinghua University, Beijing.

Over the years, he published over 40 papers and five books which include: Science, Technology and Diffusion of Knowledge: Innovation Systems in Asia-Pacific (Edward Elgar 2007); Scientific Communities in the Developing Countries, (Sage 1997). His latest book is on Chinese Universities in the National Innovation Systems (2021) co-authored with three Chinese scholars. Earlier to that he published, Universities in the National Innovation Systems: Experiences from Asia Pacific (Routledge 2017) He is Editor-in-Chief of a ranked international journal Science, Technology and Society (Sage). He was member of various expert committees and been consultant at UNESCO, OECD, ILO and other international agencies. He contributed to World Science Report 1998 and UNESCO Science Report 2005, and to the ILO in 2001 for its programme on the informal sector. He served as expert on European Research Council’s Grand Challenges and European Union, Brussels, based networks on research and innovation policies since the 1990s.

Click here to join the lecture on 8th March at 11:00 am

Prof. Maresi Nerad

Professor for Higher Education at the University of Washington,

Visiting Professor at DST-CPR, IISc.

Prof. Maresi Nerad is the founding director of the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education, Professor for Higher Education at the University of Washington and a Visiting Professor at the DST Centre for Policy Research at IISc, Bengaluru. Her work focuses on a broad range of issues in doctoral education and in early research careers worldwide. She has undertaken evaluation research for flagship interdisciplinary doctoral programs in the U.S., Germany and for the European Commission. She has written and edited 5 books and published numerous articles on doctoral education. 

For more details on her work, click here.

Click here to join the lecture on 15th February, 4:00PM

The pandemic for the past two years has brought the roles of science, scientists, and scientific research institutions into public debate. It has created a context where connections between science and society are needed to be anchored on a new framework of openness and mutuality.

As the policy brief of Open Science Beyond Open Access observes “There are three main dimensions of scientific openness: openness to publications and data, openness to society, and openness to excluded knowledge and epistemologies.” The final draft of the UNESCO Open Science Recommendation, which also incorporates these expanded meanings of ‘open science’, has now been adopted by the Member States this month in Paris. Similar ideas are adopted in the final draft of the 5th National Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy of the Government of India. The Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) policy of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, already makes mention of the need for engaging with diverse stakeholders to improve the impacts of science on society.

Likewise, the UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers adopted in 2017 has particular value today, especially in the Global South, in recognising the role of science in promoting “common good” and in emphasising the use of results of scientific research and development with a spirit of responsibility towards humankind and the environment.

Such testimonials create a space for science and technology systems and institutions to change and become more “open”. New conversations among scientists, science communicators, scientific researchers and civil society have begun to emerge as the need for a robust ecosystem to make science work with and for society is becoming more apparent. The experiences of the pandemic have also generated more significant public discourse about the accountability of science to society. In many regions of the world, new ways of promoting public engagement with and for science have been practised through an enabling policy framework. The European Union’s focus on Responsible Research & Innovations (RRI) has integrated several such features. There is now a growing recognition to synergise knowledge production and dissemination on such critical issues as the environment, health and food systems. A large portion of which is being carried out on the ground by a host of civil society actors in the country through community-based participatory research  with the partnerships of academics with local communities.

Prof. Sundar Sarukkai

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore our dependence on scientific research and technological innovation to develop quick and effective solutions. The timely need for vaccines is reflected in other global issues which have ticking clocks. The call for climate action is another such example that this month’s COP26 shone a light on. While each global issue requires unique scientific and technological developments they are undoubtedly aided by a structured plan of action. This is where the need for a well-oiled evidence-driven science-policy mechanism backed by robust scientific advice steps in. 

A sustainable recovery path requires scientists to play a significant role in educating policymakers and the public. Only through evidence-based research and its communication can comprehensive and effective policies be formulated. Therefore, bridging the gap that exists between these two parties is essential.

1. The policymakers who make key decisions on funding patterns and allocation of resources.

2. The researchers and academicians who work at the grassroots of the STI ecosystem.

We know the first one well. The second is what this workshop aims to empower.

Through open conversations on science policy and the tools of advocacy, workshop attendees will be equipped to contribute to the larger government science advice mechanism.  

The workshop will focus on how it was grassroots science advice that played an integral role in formulating two chapters of the STIP, ‘Open Science’ and ‘Science Communication and Public Engagement’. Through lectures, open conversations with experts and practical activities, attendees will understand the value of Science Advice for STEM stakeholders (scientists, researchers and academicians) in promoting effective policy change. Attendees will also be equipped with the various tools required to develop the skills needed to create evidence-based policy changes. Attendees would test their newfound knowledge through a concluding policy memo contest where the most effective memo would be awarded. Finally, the workshop would create a network of empowered young scientists and academicians to drive the science advice mechanism from the grassroots up.