Problems faced by Research Scholars & Changing Scenario in India

November 4, 2015

Author: Jack Jones

Lack of Scientific Training

The lack of a scientific training in research during under-graduation and post-graduation is a great impediment for students to pursue a career in Research. Many researchers take a leap in the dark without knowing the basic knowledge of research.
Before undertaking research projects, researchers should undergo scientific training during their college life through short-duration courses and workshops for training scholars in the field of research.

The Increasing Gap & Lack of Resources

There is insufficient interaction between the universities, research institutions on one side and industry & companies on the other side.
There is need to further develop mechanism of a university-industry interaction so that academia can get ideas from industry on what needs to be researched and they in turn can apply the research done by the academics.
Library resources are not satisfactory in many universities, lack of subscriptions of paid journals and websites like science direct is also a major issue.
Students in University research departments always face the shortage of Chemicals and Reagents, compared to students in Government Labs like CSIR, ICAR & ICMR who have all the necessary resources.
High end sophisticated instruments like HPLC, LCMS, GCMS, PCR, NMR, IR & Mass Spectrophotometer are generally not available in many universities in India.

There are so many funding sources of research scholars like CSIR- Junior Research Fellowship (JRF through NET Exam), Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), Research Associate (RA), GATE JRF, GPAT JRF (for Pharmacy students), Rajiv Gandhi National Scholarship (RGNF) conducted by University Grants Commission (UGC) for Scheduled caste and OBC students.
Indian Council of Medical Research, Department of Science & Technology, and Department of Biotechnology also provide great funding sources for Undergraduate, Post Graduate and Post- Doc Students in India.
Inspire Fellowship is also worth mentioning for meritorious students who are Rank Holders in their university departments.
There is a lack of knowledge regarding scholarships provided by State councils of Science & Technology in different states of India.
Apart from these Scholarships there are so many opportunities to enter National level Labs of CSIR, ICMR, ICAR and Universities in the funded research projects running in these labs, through Walk-In interviews.
Recently the government of India has raised the stipend of research scholars for promotion of Research and Development in country.