The State Government should encourage science among young students and act as a facilitator between scientists and students, said Mr Sriram Ramaswamy, Professor, Centre for Condensed Matter Theory , Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Speaking to Business Line after winning the Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences, Prof. Ramaswamy said, “After high school, students want to do a four-year engineering course and get a job.” To promote science, the State Government can arrange or host events that bring scientists and students together, he said. “Students need to understand that the life of a scientist is a happy one, it is financially viable, and you get paid for doing what you like,” he pointed out.

Role of Govt

Speaking about the role of the Government, Mr T.V. Mohandas Pai, President of the Board of Trustees, Infosys Science Foundation said, “Education should be made autonomous and research should be funded by public sources.” He said that society should recognise scientists as heroes.

The Infosys prize started in 2009 and is given from a corpus of Rs 100 crore, which was contributed by the Trustees and Infosys Ltd. The prize, said to be amongst the highest in terms of prize money for any award in India, includes a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh and a 22 karat gold medallion. The jury consists of luminaries like Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen and the prizes are given in five areas, namely Engineering and Computer Science, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences – Economics, and Social Sciences – Political Science and International Relations.

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