David J. Gross, Nobel laureate in physics (2014), on Tuesday said India should not wait to become a big economy like the USA to invest in the field of science. He was speaking at the 'Nobel Dialogue 2017' at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017 organised at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.
Gross was among eight other Nobel laureates, including Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who spoke on 'Basic and Applied Research—Fostering an Innovative Environment' and 'Local Research, Global Impact – Addressing Global Challenges'. They also answered questions from students and faculties across the country.
Replying to a question, Gross said it was incorrect to say that it takes money to do research in science. Noting that India is richer than China and North Korea, he said while these two countries have increased their investment in the field of science in the last 10 years, in India the investment remained the same.
He pointed out that while in the US 18 out of 10,000 people and in China 20 out of 10,000 people work in the field of science, the number is only 4 in 10,000 in India. If India waits to become a big economy like the US to increase investment in science, the country would be using things made elsewhere, he said.
On a question on coping with failures, he said you cannot fear failures when you are dreaming big and taking risks. He further said India should not limit itself to minor collaborations with other countries in the field of science, but should begin to play a major role.
