Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3 (Inditop.com) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday assured young scientists and research scholars that his government would revise the value of doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships.
“The government is considering the revision of the value of doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships. New schemes will be formulated to cover all research scholars with some funding support,” Manmohan Singh said at the inaugural of the Indian Science Congress (ISC2010) here.
The prime minister also announced that the government was planning special packages in other regions of the country like Bihar to bridge asymmetries and make science education outreach inclusive and affordable.
“Under the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scheme, we will soon be announcing the name of at least one science awardee per school in the age group of 10-15 across the country,” he said in his 25-minute speech, which evoked cheers and claps from about 3,000 students participating in the five-day premier science event.
Noting that under-representation of women was causing imbalance in the scientific resource pool, the prime minister called upon the stakeholders to attract talented young women to take up careers in science.
In this context, Manmohan Singh referred to the Consolidation of University Research, Innovation and Excellence (CURIE) scheme available for women’s universities.
“The CURIE scheme provides financial help for complete upgradation of facilities in women’s universities,” he pointed out.
Singh also declared that the National Science and Engineering Research Board would start functioning by March.
“Similarly, the Protection of Intellectual Property (IP) bill, focused on sharing revenue from intellectual properties with researchers, will be taken for discussion in parliament soon,” he added.
