The Central Government may soon have in place a string of incentives to woo back the research talent migrated from the country in a big way. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is in the process of working out elaborate strategies for this purpose, it is learnt.

The DBT on its part has proposed an increase in the number of postdoctoral fellowships offered by DBT from the current 50 to 200 per annum in order to attract talent. Outstanding young investigator grants in biotechnology is being planned to provide a package including salary support, research grant, equipment and opportunities for young scientists to attend national and international conferences. The salary support under the scheme is to be at par with that of entry-level faculty positions to retain the interest.

Plans to make information on availability of positions in education/research establishments and industries available online to facilitate employment of scientists with specific skills at appropriate positions is also there. The DBT will come out with a database of scientists working in different areas of biotechnology within and outside the country.

If the government's plans were materialized, there would be lateral mobility for scientists soon. This means scientists working at universities and research institutions are to be allowed to work in industries for commercialization of their research efforts. This could be in the form of consultancy with industry or by a sabbatical for three years during the working life of scientists. Another way of retaining scientific talent in the country is to offer researchers working in university/research institutions to hold positions in the industry and vice-versa. Joint salary support, rapid travel grants, institute innovation grants etc are some other ideas that are strongly being put up for official nod to ensure the presence of quality scientists in the country.

The plans are to allow the faculty employed in academic institutions to hold positions for a period of time in which their salary is contributed both by the industry and the academic institution on a mutually agreed basis. (Such an arrangement will work well only if the teaching requirements of the academic institutions are made obligatory). Similarly, rapid travel grant scheme would see approvals given within two weeks for young scientists to interact with mentors and industry collaborators. The Institute Innovation Grants planned by DBT is meant to fund academic researchers to develop their concepts into patentable and more importantly licensable technologies. Such grants may be utilized for the purpose of providing additional infrastructure and manpower, patenting costs as well as costs related to proof of concept studies.

It should be noted that the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, during his address at the inaugural of Indian Science Congress a couple of months ago had assured that the government would create exciting career opportunities for scientists in order to retain them at home. The PM had also noted that there was a need for more centres of excellence like the Indian Institute of Science, in various fields of science.