Research Must Translate Into Real-World Technologies, Says Prof V Ramgopal Rao

India has made notable progress in higher education, scientific research, patent filings and innovation, but it needs a stronger institutional framework to convert research into market-ready technologies, noted scientist and academician Prof V Ramgopal Rao has said.

Rao, Group Vice Chancellor of BITS Pilani, was delivering a lecture titled “Unleashing India's Scientific Potential: Breaking Barriers and Igniting Innovations” at IISER Pune on Thursday. He said India's performance on several global academic and research parameters was encouraging, but the country continued to face a critical gap between scientific research and technology development.

“India leads globally in several parameters related to higher education, student enrolment, research publications, patent filings and citations. However, when it comes to actual technology development, there is a critical gap,” Rao said. He stressed the need for mechanisms that would enable researchers to move beyond publications and patents and translate scientific discoveries into products and technologies addressing real-world challenges.

Rao highlighted commercially developed products created by his teams, including a heart-attack monitoring device, an explosive detection system and specialised sensors for agriculture, to demonstrate the potential of research-driven innovation. He said multidisciplinary collaboration was essential for taking research from laboratories to the market. Bringing together experts from different fields, he added, could help transform promising research into successful products and startups.

Rao also called for stronger academia-industry collaboration and greater emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship within research institutions. The lecture was organised jointly against the backdrop of the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences (MASc) completing 50 years since its establishment in 1976 and IISER Pune completing two decades.

MASc President Dr Dinesh Amalnerkar outlined the academy's journey and reiterated its mission of popularising science across society. Senior scientists, researchers, MASc office-bearers and fellows, along with graduate and research students, attended the programme. During the event, Amalnerkar presented copies of Dr K C Mohite's book Serendipity to senior researchers. The book was published to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of MASc.