From the educated unemployed of the past, we are now seeking to move on into an era of educated employable Science entrepreneurs with the introduction of i-PhD which would in other words be an Industry linked degree in PhD.

Addressing the 7^th Convocation of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) in New Delhi today, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said, this Academy is a unique academic platform which awards a Degree in Science that is employable and includes a curriculum underlined by the nuances of entrepreneurship.

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space said that in the short span of 12 years since its inception in the year 2011, the AcSIR has emerged as the largest institution providing Doctoral education in India.

“The Academy is rich not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, maintaining standards of excellence as well as innovation, and at the same time covering  a wide range of science streams, - it’s excellent, innovative and also versatile,” he said.

AcSIR is the largest Academic Institution for doctoral research in India having awarded 577 PhD degrees in 2022 and with more than 7,000 students currently registered for PhD. Presently, AcSIR is ranked 3^rd by “Scimago Institutions Ranking” (2022), 11^th by “Nature index” (2021-22) and 12^th by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) (2023) in the Research Category among the academic institutions in India.

Calling for institutionalizing the linkage of Industry with our scientific endeavours, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this will help create sustainable Startups.

“We have to sustain this Startup movement in the country that we are witnessing, we have to have a very strong Industry to sustain the more than 1 lakh Startups in the country,” he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has provided an enabling milieu with his initiatives such as the Aroma Mission & Lavender Cultivation and opening up the Space sector.

“Right from the beginning, we need to have Industry as a stakeholder… And wherever the StartUp outcomes were found lucrative, it was noticed that many youngsters from the Corporate sector quit their jobs and joined them. And I am glad that i-PhD and similar courses introduced at AcSIR are a step in that direction, of institutionalizing the integration of scientific research and innovation with Industry,” he said.

With the unlocking of Space Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the common masses of the country have been able to witness the launch of the mega space events like Chandrayaan-3 or Aditya-L1. About 10,000 students and common people came to see the Aditya launch and some 1,000 media persons witnessed the Chandrayaan-3 landing on the moon.

Advocating synergy of Science, Research, Academia, Startups and Industry, Dr Jitendra Singh said the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF) and the new National Education Policy (NEP-2020) will create the right ecosystem to realise PM Modi’s Vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, the NRF will bridge the demarcation between the Public and Private sector and there will be integration. The NEP-2020, he said, will set free India’s youth as they will no longer be “prisoners of their aspiration" as the Policy now empowers them to choose or change subjects freely depending on their aptitude, skill, interest and other factors.

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