7-Apr-2022: Government says, percentage of women in R&D is 16.6% among total number of scientists working in S&T organizations

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that percentage of women in R&D is 16.6% among total number of scientists working in S&T organizations.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, according to the latest report on ‘Research & Development Statistics’ of National Science & Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS), Department of Science and Technology, there are 56,747 women scientists directly engaged in R&D activities out of total 3.42 lakh R&D personnel at various Research & Development (R&D) establishments.

The total number of women working in the institutions of Ministry of Science & Technology are; 162 in the Department of Science & Technology (DST), 1477 in the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and 1875 women in Council of Scientific &Industrial Research (CSIR).

Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing a dedicated scheme ‘Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN)’ to ensure participation of women in the field of Science and Technology (S&T) through various gender enabling programmes. ‘Women Scientists Scheme (WOS)’ under WISE-KIRAN provides various opportunities to women scientists and technologists, especially those who had break in their career to pursue research. Further, Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine) encourages women scientists and technologists to undertake international collaborative research in premier institutions in USA. In addition to fellowship programmes, DST also provides support for development of research infrastructure and creation of state-of-the-art research laboratories under ‘Consolidation of University Research through Innovation and Excellence (CURIE) Programme’ in women institutions to enhance women’s participation in S&T domain. DST has also started a new programme “Vigyan Jyoti” for meritorious girl students of Class 9-12 to encourage them to pursue education and career in science and technology particularly in the areas where women are underrepresented. Another new programme, Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) aims to transform institutions for more gender sensitive approach and inclusiveness with ultimate goal to improve the gender equity in S&T.

Further, “SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)” scheme of Science and Engineering Research Board of DST aims to address lower participation of women scientists in research activities and to mitigate gender disparity in science and engineering. In addition to this, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is also implementing ‘Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation Programme (BioCARe)’ to enhance the participation of Women Scientists in Biotechnology research and also instituted Janaki Ammal National Women Bio-scientist Awards to recognize the contributions of senior and young women scientists in the country who are working in the areas of Biology and Biotechnology. Further, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is giving 5 years’ relaxation in upper age limit to women candidates to be eligible for award of Fellowships/Associateships to pursue doctoral and postdoctoral research to promote women in science & technology. Moreover, Ministry of Earth Sciences has initiated a special award called “National Award for Woman Scientist” since 2018 which is being conferred to one-woman scientist each year.

13-Feb-2021: SERB announces Women Excellence Award 2021 on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Four young women fellows of National Science Academies have been awarded for excelling in science and engineering on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2021.

The SERB Women Excellence Award that has been conferred on them provides a grant of Rs. 15 lakhs for a period of three years to the awardees to pursue their research ideas.

The award given by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) supporting basic research in the frontier areas of science and engineering, was launched in the year 2013. It is a one-time award given to women scientists below 40 years of age who have received recognition from any one or more of the National Academies such as Young Scientist Medal, Young Associateship, etc.

The for women scientists selected for the awards include Dr. Shobhna Kapoor, Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, working in the area of Chemical Biology with expertise in ‘Host-Pathogen Interactions and Membrane Biology, Chemical Biology and Biophysics’, Dr. Antara Banerjee, Scientist B National Institute For Research In Reproductive Health, Mumbai, Maharashtra from the Health Sciences area with expertise in Signal Transduction, Biology of Reproduction and Endocrinology, Dr. Sonu Gandhi Scientist D from National Institute Of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad from Bio-nanotechnology area focusing on Nano sensors, Design and Fabrication of Label-free Biosensors and Dr. Ritu Gupta, Assistant Professor at Indian Institute Of Technology Jodhpur, Rajasthan working on Nanotechnology with expertise in Materials Science, Nanodevices and Sensors, Health & Energy.

2-Feb-2021: Government has taken several corrective steps to encourage women scientists in research activities

The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India has launched a Scheme titled “SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)”.   The Scheme is aimed to mitigate gender disparity in science and engineering research funding in various S&T programs in Indian academic institutions and research and development (R&D) laboratories, address comparatively lower participation of women scientists in research activities and to identify and support competitive women researchers in the country. SERB – POWER provides structured support in research to ensure equal access and weighted opportunities for Indian women scientists engaged in R&D activities. The R&D support to women scientists is provided through two components, namely: SERB POWER Fellowships & SERB POWER Research Grants.

As per latest "Research and Development Statistics, 2019-20" of DST, India has 16.6% women researchers directly engaged in R&D activities. There are several reasons for lower participation of women in R&D. This includes familial issues like marriage, family responsibility, relocation due to transferable job of spouse etc. These reasons attribute to dropout from higher studies, career break, overage for scientific jobs and prolonged absence from place of work or even resignation from the job. Government has taken several corrective steps to encourage women scientists in research activities. The “Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN)” Scheme of DST had been instituted to encourage women scientists through various programmes in the field of Science and Technology (S&T). ‘Women Scientist Scheme (WOS)’ under KIRAN provides career opportunities including fellowships to unemployed women scientists and technologists, especially those who had a break in career, for pursuing research in frontier areas of science and engineering. Under ‘Consolidation of University Research through Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE)’ Programme only women Universities are being supported for development of research infrastructure and creation of state-of-the-art research laboratories to enhance women’s participation in S&T domain. Mobility Scheme under KIRAN addresses relocation issues of working women scientists and provides support in project mode for 2-5 years. Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine) encourages Indian women scientists and technologists to undertake international collaborative research in premier institutions in USA for duration of 3-6 months. Recently launched “Vigyan Jyoti” Scheme encourages girl students of Class 9 to 12 to pursue education and career in S&T particularly in the areas where women are underrepresented. The SERB Women Excellence Award recognizes women Academy Awardees to expand their research horizon to higher levels. In addition, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is also implementing ‘Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation Programme (BioCARe)’ to encourage women scientists in Biotechnology research. Further, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) provides upper age relaxation of five years to women researchers to pursue doctoral and postdoctoral research for award of Fellowships/Associateships. To recognize the contribution of women scientists in the field of Earth System Sciences, Ministry of Earth Sciences has initiated a special award called “National Award for woman scientist” and is being conferred to one-woman scientist each year on the Foundation day.

Multifaceted initiatives have been launched by DST to encourage women entrepreneurship under Start-up India-Stand up India. The details of initiatives and the achievements made so far are as given below:

Women Entrepreneur’s Quest (WEQ) Programme was initiated by DST in partnership with Anita Borg Institute, USA for scouting and supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Technology. A total of 42 start-ups have been supported so far and 21 start-ups have grown to next level. A few of the WEQ start-ups have setup offices in US as a result of this programme.  Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Foundation (WEE) is India’s first of its kind initiative by IIT Delhi supported and sponsored by DST to strengthen women eco - system. The WEE cohort initiative helps women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to take up entrepreneurship as a viable, fulfilling career option. 170 start-ups have been trained so far under WEE program. emPower was positioned as the India’s first accelerator program for women start-ups in Technology. It is implemented by Zone start-ups, a DST supported Incubator hosted at Bombay Stock Exchange. The programme includes mentor-ship support, workshops, case studies, peer networking, industry connect and equity free seed fund. Support is provided to total 30 women each year under ‘technology for businesses’ and ‘technology for social impact tracks’ and concludes through a demo day. Top 3 start-ups are provided exposure to Canadian ecosystem fully funded by the Govt. of Canada. Women Start-up Program (WSP) of DST in partnership with Goldman Sachs aims to support ambitious and innovative women entrepreneurs by enabling them to transform their idea into a business venture. WSP reached out to 6200 women across the country through Massive Open Online Course program. A total of 97 women entrepreneurs were supported through boot camp, fellowship and prototype support, exchange visit to Israel for building partnership and market access cementing. A few WSP start-ups have led to cementing tie-ups in the cyber security and edu-tech domain.

29-Oct-2020: Dr Harsh Vardhan Launches DST initiative SERB – POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare today launched a Scheme titled “SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)”, designed exclusively for women scientists, in a function today on an e-platform. The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has been contemplating to institute a scheme to mitigate gender disparity in science and engineering research  in various S&T programs in Indian academic institutions and R&D laboratories.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister emphasized the significance of empowering the women researchers in our S&T landscape.  He said, “Integration of the gender dimension in research design has gained considerable attention in the global scenario. Enhancement of participation and promotion of women in the research workforce is one of the prime priorities of our Government”. He appreciated that DST through the Women Fellowship Scheme had introduced some significant women empowering policies and supported thousands of women researchers in the past.

SERB – POWER Scheme will have two components namely (i) SERB-POWER Fellowship (ii) SERB- POWER Research Grants. The salient features of each of these are as follows:

1. Salient features of the SERB-POWER Fellowship:-
   1. Target: Women researchers in 35-55 years of age. Up-to 25 Fellowships per year and not more than 75 at any point in time.
   2. Components of support: Fellowship of Rs. 15,000/- per month in addition to regular income; Research grant of Rs. 10 lakh per annum; and Overhead of Rs. 90,000/- per annum.
   3. Duration: Three years, without the possibility of extension. Once in a career.
2. Salient features of the SERB – POWER Research Grants :
   1. POWER Grants will empower women researchers by funding them under following two categories:
      1. Level I (Applicants from IITs, IISERs, IISc, NITs, Central Universities, and National Labs of Central Government Institutions): The scale of funding is up to 60 lakhs for three years.
      2. Level II (Applicants from State Universities / Colleges and Private Academic Institutions): The scale of funding is up to 30 lakhs for three years.
   2. POWER Grant will be regulated through terms of reference conforming to SERB-CRG(Science and Engineering Research Board-Core Research Grant) guidelines.

While a Search-cum-Selection Committee constituted for the purpose will help in identifying the POWER Fellowship, the existing Programme Advisory Committee (PAC) mechanism will be used to select the POWER Research Grants.

It is proposed to institute 25 POWER Fellowships annually. A total of 50 Power Grants each will be sanctioned in Level I & Level II per annum.

It was felt that  SERB-POWER Fellowships and Grants will also serve as a benchmark of recognition in the national scenario. These Schemes of the Government will definitely empower women scientists and cultivate women friendly culture in our academic and research institutions and ensure more women in leadership positions in decision making bodies.

The launch which was attended by Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Chairman, SERB & Secretary, DST, Professor Sandeep Verma, Secretary, SERB and Scientists from Ministry of Science and Technology echoed the intent of the government to bring more numbers of women scientists in the R&D ecosystem.

1-Nov-2022: Young researchers selected for support under SERB-N-PDF to work in frontier areas of science and engineering

A total of 301 young researchers have been selected for support under SERB-National Post-Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF), to work for 2 years in frontier areas of science and engineering.

The fellows will work under a mentor who is in a regular academic/​research position in a recognized institution in India and this training will provide them a platform to develop as an independent researcher.

Applications were received from 3,833 researchers against the invitations for proposals. The applications were reviewed by the designated expert committees and Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body, working under the umbrella of Department of Science and Technology (DST) announced the names of 301 awardees.

The support which includes a monthly fellowship, an annual research grant and overheads for the host institution is broadly given in five thematic areas, namely Chemical Sciences, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Life Sciences, and Physical & Mathematical Sciences. Candidates within the upper age limit of 35 years, with Ph.D./M.D/M.S degree from a recognized University and also those who have submitted their PhD/M.D/M.S thesis and are awaiting award of the degree, are eligible to apply.

The fellowship, initiated in 2015 to tap the young budding researchers and support them to graduate to an independent scientist, has received around 23000 applications in last eight years, out of which around 3500 fellows have been benefitted so far. N-PDF 2022 fellows will bring this number to 3800.

Applicants can log on to www.serbonline.in for further details.