The two-day International Conference being organized by CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (NIScPR) on “Aligning Science-Technology-Innovation (STI) Indicators for Effective R&D Governance” (STIiG-2025) & commemoration of its 4^th Foundation Day was inaugurated on January 14^th 2025 at Vivekananda Hall of CSIR-NIScPR.

 

Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director, CSIR-NIScPR during her inaugural address welcomed all the delegates and dignitaries and thanked them for their presence for this two-day event. She gave the overview of the conference and highlighted the significance of the foundation day of NIScPR (earlier NISCAIR and NISTADS) which has a combined legacy of more than 100 years. She elucidated the history of NIScPR which was formed 4 years ago after merging of CSIR-NISTAD and CSIR-NISCAIR. Prof. Aggarwal mentioned CSIR-NIScPR as the youngest and one of the most dynamic labs of CSIR & its role as think tank of Science communication and STI policy research. She also discussed about divisions and missions of CSIR-NIScPR like SVASTIK, TRL, NETRA, Creating livelihood opportunities in rural areas, ISSN, journals Publication division etc. She also remembered the role of Prof. Ashutosh Sharma while he was secretary of DST in 2020 in formulating STI policy around the country.

The guest of honor Dr. Suman Kumari Mishra, Former Director, CSIR-CGCRI, Kolkata and Adjunct Professor, IIT Ropar in her address thanked the NIScPR family for organizing conference on this important topic of Science Technology Innovation (STI) indicators. She also highlighted the role of NIScPR in societal development in S&T and memorize the role of NIScPR’s popular science magazines ‘Vigyan Pragati’ and ‘Science Reporter’ in disseminating science information to public since decades. She also said that “We have ample room for innovation, and scientists are willing to take risks”.

Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, Research and Information System (RIS) for Developing Countries and Guest of Honor in the inaugural session of the conference, presented ‘Foundation Day Lecture’ under the theme “Reimagining Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators: Towards Development Agenda for Viksit Bharat at 2047”. He said that the world is changing, and new development priorities and targets are essential, so we must prepare for STI globalization. He also emphasized the role of Inclusion and Sustainability as key R&D indicators. Along with many aspects of STI, he said that the role of ethics, sustainable development goals, green growth, MSME connectivity, Wellbeing-related parameters, qualitative parameters and others should be included in indicators.

Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, President, INSA, Institute Chair Professor & C. V. Seshadri Chair Professor, IIT Kanpur and the Chief Guest of the conference during his address said, NIScPR's years of expertise have yielded excellent results in science communication and policy research. We need knowledge that impacts society through STI and it is not just about new technologies, but about cultural behavior towards science in society, therefore we require indicators to address this too. He added that the impact of AI and newer technologies is essential for future and in this regard, he highlighted the example of various multibillion industries that failed because they could not catch up with the advances of science like digital photography and personal computing. During his address, he also put key emphasis on translation of knowledge and wisdom into monetary terms or wealth and thus asked to add this parameter as an important indicator of evaluation. 

After the insightful addresses, the dignitaries on the dais released the conference souvenir, three books, one special issue of Science Diplomacy newsletter and a special issue of Journal of Intellectual Property Right, all published by NIScPR. During the closing remarks of inaugural address, Shri Mukesh Pund, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR and Co-Chairperson, STIiG 2025 thanked all the participants. Prof. Sujit Bhattacharya, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR & Chairperson, STIiG 2025 and other team members of core organizing team to make this event happen successfully.

As a memoir, tree plantation under "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" initiative was also organized in which national and international experts planted trees in CSIR-NIScPR campus.

There were eight different sessions on the day one of the conference, some of which were parallelly organized in Vivekanand Hall and committee room. Session Chair, Prof. Akhilesh Gupta, Former Secretary of Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and Senior Advisor at Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, featured an engaging thematic overview of the session 1 on STI Indicators for R&D Governance. Insightful keynote address from distinguished speaker like Prof. Sujit Bhattacharya, Chief Scientist at CSIR-NIScPR, highlighted the critical need to align STI indicators with foresight and governance mechanisms and Prof. Oleg G. Golichenko, from CEMI Russian Academy of Sciences and Department of Industrial Organisation, Russia presented his keynote address on "Mesotrajectories of Technological Development: Aligning Science-Technology-Innovation Indicators”. Prof. Vivek Kumar Singh, Senior Advisor (Science and Technology) at NITI Aayog, Government of India, delivered a talk on "Towards Performance-Based Research Funding: Institutional Expertise and Diversity Assessment." Prof. Singh emphasized the importance of robust STI indicators in driving performance-based funding models, which leverage institutional strengths and embrace diversity to enhance research output.

The 2^nd session of Poster Presentations chaired by Dr. Charu Verma, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR and total 17 posters were presented in the session.  

The 3^rd session was on the theme “Measuring the Social Impact of R&D”. It was Chaired by Prof. Brajesh Pandey, Executive Director, INSA in which Dr. Ismael Rafols, Senior Researcher, Leiden University gave invited talk and paper presentations were given by Dr Shiv Narayan Nishad and others integrating with the theme of session.

A 4^th panel discussion session on the theme” STI Indicators for R&D and Society” took place in which the scientists like Dr. Nadia Asheulova from Russian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Naresh Kumar, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR and others had discussion on the proposed theme. The session was chaired by Prof. Vivek Kumar, Head, CRDT, IIT Delhi and moderated by Ms. Sandhya Wakdikar, CSIR-NIScPR & Dr. N K Sahoo, Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR. The panelists discussed the implementation of new protocols for research evaluation, need to evaluate individual scientists, rather than just organizational units and the need for careful consideration of SCI indicators at the international and national levels, especially with the emergence of new technologies like AI among others.

In the 5^th session which has the theme Connecting R&D and social media, an invited talk by Dr. Pit Pichhapan, Digital Information Research Labs, Chennai, India was given on “The impact of measuring large vs small aggregate of research units” and papers were presented which were followed by questions and answers. The session was chaired by Prof. Madhav Govind, CSSP, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Another 6^th session, panel discussion was arranged on the theme STI Indicators for R&D and social media. The discussion was chaired by Prof. Ki-Seok Kwon, Hanbat National University, South Korea and moderated by Dr. Yogesh Suman, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR. During the panel discussion the panelist like Dr. Jagvir Singh, Head, Outreach & SAGE-NCS Ministry of Earth Sciences; Dr. Nisha Mendiratta, Executive Director, IUSSTF; Dr. (Mrs) Rama Swami Bansal, Head, ISTAD, CSIR-HQ; Dr. Geeta Vani Rayasam, Head, CSIR-HRDG; Dr. Rashmi Sharma, Head, NCSTC Division, DST; Dr. Hemant Kumar, DSSTIP, Central University of Gujarat; Dr. G. Mahesh, Head, DGED, CSIR-HQ; Dr. Anukrati Sharma Director, Skill Development Center, University of Kota, Rajasthan discussed the pros and cons of Altmetrics in research, funding decisions, societal development and other important aspects of policy making. They concluded that social media is important aspect and efficient way to connect, research should be evaluated based on local needs and language-based science policy should be made to broaden access to research activities.

The last two sessions (session 7 and 8) were both based on the theme Methods, Approaches and Practices in Performance Evaluation. They were parallel sessions which were chaired by Dr. Arvind C Ranade, Director, National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and Dr. Vipan Kumar, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR. During the sessions, around 13 presentations were made where leading experts discussed cutting-edge strategies and metrics on how social media and R&D together can impact the society in various ways. Overall, the 1^st day of the conference witnessed high enthusiasm and excitement among the participants, which was evident by their active participation and involvement with the speakers and panelists.

 

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NKR/PSM

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