Policy Update
Akanksha Baronia
INTRODUCTION
The scientific institutions are critical cradle of innovation and knowledge creation and the development of scientific infrastructure is crucial for advancement of a nation with ease of access and greater emphasis for optimal utilisationThe FIST scheme was introduced to cater the growing demand for skilled manpower and to decentralise scientific development beyond premier institutions like IITs and IISc.
BACKGROUND
The scheme entitled “Fund for Improvement of Science and Technology Infrastructure” in Universities and Higher Educational Institution was launched in the year 2000 to strengthen Science and Technology Infrastructure with adequate funding and associated flexibility. It is a central sector scheme entirely funded and implemented by the Department of Science and Technology.
It is considered as complimentary support for enabling departments/centres/schools/colleges to pursue research activities more effectively and efficiently. DST is restructuring the FIST programme to orient it towards the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat by creating R&D infrastructure not only for R&D activities in academic organisations but also for use by the startups/manufacturing industries/MSMEs.
FUNCTIONING
The FIST scheme provides grants-in-aid to eligible institutions under competitive and merit based selection.
Proposals are invited in categories such as:
Level 0: PG Colleges(Govt./Govt-aided/private) shall be considered for a maximum support of up to INR 1.50 crores for establishing research facilities for the S&T for a 5 year duration
Level 1: University departments and proposals from relatively small but active postgraduate S&T from different universities 3.0 crores for a 5 year duration.
Level 2: National labs and central institutions and support upto 5.0 crores for a 5 year duration.
Level 3: Internationally competitive S&T departments from state/central universities and support upto 10 crores for a 5 year duration.
Key components funded under FIST include:
- Scientific equipment
- Networking and computational facilities
- Infrastructure for postgraduate and doctoral research
Institutions must submit research output records(number of citations, number of publicationspatents faculty quality and previous grants). Proposals undergo peer review and expert committee srutiny and selected institutions receive funds ranging from 50 lakh to 10 crore.
IMPACT
The impact of research funding is generally measured using research publications international collaborations, number of citations. Mentioned below are some of the impacts of the FIST programme:
Source: iitpkd.ac.in/news/first-dst-fist-grant-me-department-iit-pkd
- As per DST Annual Reportsover 2500 institutions have been funded since 2000.
- Contributed India’s rising research output, and therefore India became the third largest publisher of scientific articles by 2022.
- The Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D in India has been consistently increasing over the years as per R&D Statistics,2023.
-Research Output Gains, the compound annual growth rate in publications is 45.9%. Chemistry alone contributes 47% of output.
The percentage change in publications of original articles paper presentations,conferences, book chapters, case reports and monograph as reported by DST-FIST funded institutions was more than 100%.
There a tremendous increase in the number of citations over the years.
The University of Calcutta,The University of Madras, University of Hyderabad and Bharathidasan University are the top five influential institutes actively involved in scientific research.
– The programme has fostered both intramural (within the institution) and extramural (with external entities) collaborations,including increased interaction with startups, manufacturing industries and MSME.
– The restructured FIST programme and industry collaboration, promoting a more inclusive and innovationdriven research ecosystem.
– Four new universities in underserved regions were added under a special Promotion of University Research &Scientific- FIST window in 2024, signalling efforts to correct geographic skew.
-In the coming year, the FIST programme aims to identify 100 departments, including postgraduate colleges.
Source: www.ijpce.org, International journal of Physics and chemistry education
EMERGING ISSUES
-Optimising infrastructure utilisation While FIST aims to create research infrastructure, there’s a need to ensure it’s accessible and efficiently utilised by startups, manufacturing industries, and MSMEs in addition to academic institutions.
– While DST-FST scheme provides for purchase of euipments and tools but there is no provisional mechanism after 5 year duration regarding any issue.
-Regional Imbalance in Funding Distribution: Despite national coverage, a majority of FIST funding is concentrated in a few high performing states(like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Delhi), while Northeastern states, Central India, and rural institutions receive limited support.
-Challenges in patenting and commercialisation: Despite the increase in research output, the scheme hasn’t been as effective in translating research into patents and commercial products.
Source: dst.gov.in , DST
-Scientific Social Responsibility compliance is weak: After 2021, DST mandated grantee departments to undertake SSR activities such as school visits, etc but actual implementation varies.
WAY FORWARD
Despite of funding, resources and infrastructure complexities, India’s biggest strengths are the quality of it’s most scientific institutions committed by researchers to address India’s social and economic challenges.The scientific research is the most powerful means for achieving excellence in almost every aspect of life.
In future, the R&D facilities developed in various departments can be shared among researchers working at nearby institutions along with industries. A sustainable plan will be developed wherein short term National and International courses and workshops on various aspects of procured equipment shall be conducted for the skill enhancement of the individuals.These facilities and activities will certainly boost up the collaborative research work to be taken up that will result in publications in high impact journals and patents.
Finally, in the way forward ongoing policy measures pertaining to augmenting R&D in India can be done. The Science, Technology & Innovation Policy along with Scientific Social Responsibility Policy can be done to leverage the contribution of the private sector and encourage the states to invest in R&D. This can lead to promote a more decentralised approach to R&D and innovation in the country.
The India Innovation Index developed by NITI Aayog can be used to promote states’ expenditure in R&D through competitive federalism. The inclusion of the R&D institutions into the policy and programme implementation is instrumental to India’s endeavour under the “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” to transform itself into a self-dependent and self-sufficient welfare state.
References:
International Journal of Physics and Chemistry, www.ijpce.org
Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology https://dst.gov.in/document/reports/annual-report-2023-24
Journal of Scientometric Research https://jscires.org/article/428
Department of Science and Technology Year End Review 2024 https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2087506
The Economic Times https://m.economictimes.com/tech/startups/dst-restructures-fist-programme-to-cater-to-high-end-science-tech-needs-of-startups/articleshow/78721608.cms
Niti Aayog Data
About the Contributor: Akanksha Baronia, a postgraduate student at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Research intern at Impact and Policy Research Institute(IMPRI)
Acknowledgement: The author sincerely thanks Ms Aasthaba Jadeja and the IMPRI team for their valuable support.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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