The Lab and the Nation: Rethinking India's Research Future

India has long been recognised as a global supplier of scientific and technical talent. Yet despite producing world-class researchers and an increasing volume of research, it has struggled to translate knowledge into innovation, industry, and societal impact at scale.

The launch of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) marks an effort to change that. Envisioned under the National Education Policy 2020, the Foundation seeks to reshape India's research ecosystem by strengthening collaboration across academia, industry, government, and civil society, while creating stronger pathways from discovery to application.

In the eighth episode of JETRI Dialogs, Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha spoke with Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, CEO of ANRF, about what this transformation means for India's institutions, researchers, and long-term development. The discussion ranged from the philosophy of research and the importance of original thinking to the practical opportunities ANRF offers universities, NGOs, think tanks, and individual researchers.

Research as the Foundation of a Developed India

Dr. Sinha opened the conversation by asking where India's research ecosystem stands today and what it must do to support the country's ambition of becoming a Viksit Bharat.

For Dr. Kalyanaraman, research is far more than an academic pursuit. It is a national capability that determines how economies create wealth, solve problems, and remain globally competitive. As countries develop, growth increasingly depends on technology, innovation, and institutions capable of generating new knowledge.

According to him,

"Research is the very long run of the nation's capability."

India's challenge, he argued, is not simply to produce more researchers, but to create an ecosystem where research consistently leads to technological advancement, economic growth, and societal benefit. That means strengthening research capacity across the country rather than concentrating excellence in a handful of institutions.

Research Begins with Curiosity

Referring to Dr. Kalyanaraman's view that research is "intrinsic to all of us," Dr. Sinha asked why research should be seen as a deeply human activity.

Dr. Kalyanaraman argued that research begins with curiosity rather than laboratories. At its heart it is first-principles thinking, the ability to question assumptions, understand root causes, and approach problems with an open mind. He connected this idea to the Sanskrit word Anusandhan, describing it as the pursuit of understanding through inquiry.

He also described,

"If you do meditation, you have the ability to do research. It is simply the ability to convert that into a sequence of thought—a sequence of first-principles thinking."

Drawing on his training in Carnatic music, he suggested that the same habit of questioning and disciplined inquiry underpins excellence across disciplines. Over time, however, people often replace original thinking with convention. Recovering that instinct to ask fundamental questions, he argued, is essential not only for researchers but for society itself.

Original Thinking in the Age of AI

Building on that idea, Dr. Sinha asked whether India also needs to become more original in the problems it chooses to solve instead of merely extending existing work.

Dr. Kalyanaraman agreed, arguing that meaningful research begins with identifying important questions. According to him, researchers should be encouraged to tackle problems rooted in India's own context while pursuing solutions with global relevance.

He added that the rise of artificial intelligence makes that even more important. As AI becomes increasingly effective at analysing and reproducing existing knowledge, the distinctly human qualities of curiosity, creativity, and judgement become even more valuable.

Dr. Kalyanaraman pointed out,‍

"In the world of AI, it is even more important for us to emphasise our humanness."

Moving from Volume to Impact

One of the most persistent questions in Indian higher education: why has India's growing volume of research not translated into comparable innovation?

Dr. Kalyanaraman argued that the issue is less about quantity than productivity. A growing research base is a positive sign, but the next stage requires improving the quality, relevance, and impact of research.

That, he suggested, depends on two things: collaboration and purpose. Transformative research increasingly comes from teams that combine diverse expertise, while successful projects are designed with real-world problems in mind rather than remaining confined within disciplinary boundaries.

Dr. Kalyanaraman said,

"Collaboration for success and collaboration for impact — these are the two things I keep in my mind."

He also challenged the common assumption that funding alone produces better research. Greater investment is important, but stronger research outcomes also encourage sustained investment, creating a reinforcing cycle between quality, collaboration, and funding.

Collaboration as a Competitive Advantage

Dr. Sinha was curious whether ANRF's emphasis on collaboration also extends to interdisciplinary work.

Dr. Kalyanaraman's answer was unequivocal. Collaboration must happen across departments, institutions, laboratories, startups, and industry. Many of today's most important scientific advances emerge at the intersection of disciplines rather than within traditional academic silos.

Such partnerships also improve the chances that discoveries move beyond laboratories into technologies, enterprises, and societal impact.

For ANRF, this reflects a broader shift in thinking. Building India's research capacity is not only about funding individual projects. It is about creating networks through which knowledge, expertise, and ideas can flow more freely.

How ANRF is Broadening Access to Research

Having explored the broader philosophy behind ANRF, Dr. Sinha shifted the discussion to a practical question: how can institutions and researchers engage with the Foundation?

Dr. Kalyanaraman described ANRF as more than a grant-making body. Created under the National Education Policy 2020, it aims to address longstanding structural challenges in India's research ecosystem by making funding more coherent, collaborative, and accessible.

Historically, research funding has been fragmented across multiple agencies, interdisciplinary work has often struggled to find support, and many programs have operated on short funding cycles. ANRF seeks to address these gaps through longer-term programs and stronger institutional coordination.

A Level Playing Field

One of the strongest messages during the discussion was that ANRF is designed to broaden participation.

Faculty from public universities, state universities, private universities, recognised national laboratories, and several not-for-profit research organisations are all eligible under different schemes.

Dr. Kalyanaraman assured,

"We have a level playing field between public as well as private institutions."

Dr. Sinha noted that this addresses a long-standing perception that competitive research funding has largely favoured established public institutions.

Dr. Kalyanaraman agreed that such perceptions have existed and explained that ANRF is consciously diversifying its review committees across institution types, sectors, and geographies so proposals are evaluated on merit rather than institutional legacy.

Beyond Universities

The conversation also clarified that ANRF's vision extends well beyond universities.

Depending on the program, recognised national laboratories, Section 8 companies, NGOs, and other not-for-profit research organisations can also participate. As research increasingly happens outside traditional academic settings, ANRF wants to encourage collaborations that bring together universities, healthcare organisations, think tanks, and civil society.

While Principal Investigators are generally expected to be full-time members of their institutions and hold a PhD, these requirements are intended to ensure institutional accountability rather than restrict participation.

Institutions as Enablers

Dr. Sinha argued that institutions themselves have an important responsibility in making researchers aware of ANRF opportunities.

Drawing on his own experience, he suggested that research offices and Deans of Research should act as connectors between funding agencies and faculty, helping researchers identify opportunities and prepare competitive proposals.

Dr. Kalyanaraman agreed, adding that institutions should support researchers throughout the grant lifecycle rather than leaving them to manage administrative processes alone.

To strengthen this ecosystem, ANRF has begun creating networks of Deans of Research, institutional nodal officers, and research administrators.

He also highlighted a familiar challenge in Indian academia: Principal Investigators often spend significant time on compliance and paperwork. ANRF is encouraging institutions to create empowered research offices that can handle administrative responsibilities, allowing faculty to focus on research itself.

Research Beyond STEM

Dr. Sinha also addressed a common misconception that ANRF primarily supports science and engineering.

Dr. Kalyanaraman clarified that humanities and social sciences are very much part of the Foundation's vision, particularly where they intersect with science, technology, and public policy.

Programs such as the Advanced Research Grant (ARG) and Early Career Research Grant (ECRG) include dedicated tracks for Quantitative Social Sciences, while the Convergence Centres of Excellence bring together expertise from STEM, humanities, management, and public policy to address complex societal challenges.

Mission-oriented programs similarly encourage interdisciplinary teams rather than discipline-specific projects. Interestingly, he noted that applications from quantitative social sciences remain fewer than expected — a gap he hopes institutions will help address.

Understanding How ANRF Funding Works

A practical question followed: do researchers need to wait for ANRF to announce funding calls, or can they submit proposals whenever they identify a suitable opportunity?

Dr. Kalyanaraman explained that most flagship programs operate through scheduled calls. ANRF publishes an annual calendar for its recurring schemes, giving researchers adequate time to prepare proposals before submission windows open.

Alongside these, the Foundation also launches mission-mode and sector-specific calls as new priorities emerge.

Importantly, missing one deadline does not mean losing the opportunity altogether. Dr. Kalyanaraman informed,

"The bread-and-butter programs are all recurring."

Researchers, he advised, should simply monitor ANRF's announcements and prepare proposals in advance.

Interdisciplinary Research in Practice

Dr. Sinha concluded this segment by asking whether interdisciplinary teams, for example, a humanities researcher collaborating with an engineer or computer scientist, would be viewed favourably.

Dr. Kalyanaraman encouraged such partnerships, provided they are built around clearly defined roles and shared research objectives rather than formed simply to satisfy eligibility requirements.

He pointed to the Foundation's own funding data as evidence. While the first cycle of the Advanced Research Grant supported around 270 projects, those projects involved more than 2,000 Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators, reflecting the collaborative model ANRF hopes to strengthen across India's research ecosystem.

Supporting Research Beyond Universities

The first audience question came from Gouri Divan, who highlighted a challenge faced by many non-profit research organisations. Existing grant structures, she noted, often assume that Principal Investigators hold full-time university or government positions, making it difficult for independent organisations to attract and retain research talent. She also asked whether ANRF-supported projects could fund PhD scholars working jointly with universities.

Dr. Kalyanaraman acknowledged that research today increasingly happens outside traditional academic institutions. While Principal Investigators are generally expected to be full-time employees of the applicant institution, eligible NGOs, Section 8 organisations, and recognised research institutions can apply under relevant schemes.

He also clarified that although ANRF does not fund the salaries of Principal Investigators, grant budgets provide flexibility to recruit project associates, postdoctoral researchers, Junior and Senior Research Fellows, and other research personnel. Collaborative proposals with universities can also include doctoral researchers, creating opportunities for talent to move more freely between academia and civil society.

The broader objective, he explained, is to maintain institutional accountability while supporting the increasingly collaborative nature of research.

Why India Needs More Private Investment in R&D

Referring to a question from Rajat Ger, Dr. Sinha asked why India continues to rely so heavily on government funding for research and why private industry has been relatively hesitant to invest in R&D.

Dr. Kalyanaraman explained that the newly announced Research, Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF) has been created precisely to address this gap. He explained,

"The goal is to catalyse much larger co-investments from the financial ecosystem and catalyse research, development and innovation in the private sector."

Unlike ANRF's grant programs, RDIF is designed for private-sector innovation. Rather than replacing private investment, it aims to reduce risk and encourage larger flows of capital into deep technology and other research-intensive sectors where commercial returns may take years to materialise.

Bridging the "Valley of Death"

Dr. Sinha sought to clarify how RDIF fits within ANRF's broader funding architecture. Is it intended for technologies that are already approaching commercialisation?

Dr. Kalyanaraman confirmed that this is exactly its role.

"RDIF is a capital fund; it is not a grant program."

The fund supports technologies at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 and above projects that have progressed beyond basic research into validated prototypes. ANRF's grants support discovery science and early-stage research, while RDIF helps promising technologies cross the difficult phase between laboratory validation and commercial deployment.

He also mentioned,

"We use grants for the lower levels of technology maturity. Then, at some point, the technology has to pivot from the academic, not-for-profit enterprise into a for-profit enterprise and scale up."

Rather than functioning as separate programs, the two funding streams are intended to create a continuous innovation pipeline from research to market.

Strengthening Industry–Academia Collaboration

Returning to the broader issue of innovation, Dr. Sinha asked why Indian industry has historically played a limited role in research.

Dr. Kalyanaraman argued that industry participation reflects the maturity of an innovation ecosystem. Countries that consistently generate breakthrough technologies are supported by dense networks of universities, startups, investors, research institutions, and companies that collaborate closely.

India certainly needs globally competitive universities, he said, but excellence must also become more widely distributed across the higher education system. Equally important is a shift in industry — from viewing research simply as something to acquire to becoming an active partner in creating new knowledge.

ANRF, he suggested, is designed to strengthen precisely these connections.

Opening India's Research Ecosystem

Another audience question focused on eligibility for foreign researchers working in India.

Dr. Kalyanaraman clarified that Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) holding full-time academic appointments are eligible under many programs. Foreign nationals without OCI status currently require additional approvals, although ANRF has already supported such researchers in specific cases.

More broadly, he argued that India should aspire to become a destination for global research talent. Alongside encouraging Indian researchers to return, the country must also attract international scholars who see India as a place to build long-term research careers.

Building Public Goods Through Open Science

Responding to a question from Saket Choudhuri on open-access data, particularly for AI and life sciences, Dr. Kalyanaraman said ANRF sees open science as an important public good while recognising the need to balance openness with privacy, governance, and intellectual property.

Under the AI for Science and Engineering program, datasets and models developed through ANRF-funded projects will be released under an open licence modelled on the MIT licence. Similar principles are being adopted in programs such as drone technologies. ANRF is also working with agencies including ICMR and DBT to improve access to Indian research datasets, recognising their importance for future scientific discovery and AI.

Measuring What Matters

Mona Achari asked whether ANRF intends to evaluate the societal impact of research rather than relying primarily on publications.

Dr. Kalyanaraman explained that the Foundation has already released an Impact Assessment Framework for public consultation. Instead of depending on a single metric, it considers scientific, technological, educational, economic, and societal outcomes while recognising that meaningful impact often takes years to emerge.

ANRF is also making publicly funded research more accessible through its PRISM portal, where project information is available, while AI-based tools are being used to convert research abstracts into videos and visual summaries for wider audiences.

Making Research Easier to Do

Dr. Sinha asked how the research community has responded to ANRF and what institutions can do better.

Dr. Kalyanaraman described the response as encouraging but emphasised that ANRF's biggest responsibility is execution. He said,

"The biggest service that I can do is get money out of the door fast."

That means simplifying processes, digitising workflows, and reducing administrative delays that often distract researchers from their core work. India, he noted, has no shortage of capable researchers. However, the challenge is creating systems that allow them to focus on research rather than bureaucracy.

Learning from the Past

Sonali Gupta raised a question many in the audience were thinking: several research initiatives have begun with similar ambition but failed to achieve lasting impact. What makes ANRF different?

Dr. Kalyanaraman welcomed the scepticism.

"The past is important to learn from, but not to be constrained by."

He pointed to ANRF's long-term institutional mandate, transparent review processes, evolving impact assessment framework, and emphasis on collaboration across academia, industry, philanthropy, and government. 

Just as importantly, he said, the Foundation is focused on execution — moving programs quickly from announcement to implementation and ensuring funding reaches researchers without unnecessary delay.

Looking Ahead

In his final question, Dr. Sinha asked Dr. Kalyanaraman to imagine India's research ecosystem five or ten years from now.

His vision was of an India where universities, industry, startups, and research institutions collaborate seamlessly; where discoveries move efficiently from laboratories into society; and where Indian research earns global recognition for both excellence and impact.

Dr. Kalyanaraman asserted,

"India has the potential to be a research and innovation powerhouse."

Success, he argued, will be reflected not only in stronger universities and globally competitive deep-tech companies, but also in breakthrough discoveries, internationally respected research institutions, and a culture that rewards curiosity, originality, and long-term thinking.

Final thoughts

Closing the session, Dr. Sinha described ANRF as more than a new funding agency. It represents an opportunity to rethink how India connects research with national development by strengthening ties between universities, industry, government, and society.

Whether that vision is realised, however, will depend on more than ANRF itself. Universities, researchers, industry, philanthropies, and governments all have a role to play. If they seize the opportunity, India can move beyond being primarily a supplier of global talent to becoming a globally recognised centre of research, innovation, and knowledge creation.