This is India’s moment, and we must make the best of it, said Governor R.N. Ravi at the distribution of awards to researchers at the first All India Research Scholars Summit-2024 on Thursday.
The summit, first of its kind, was hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM). Mr. Ravi urged researchers to be audacious and dream big. The target of Atmanirbhar and Vikasit Bharat@2047 is achievable. The need is to keep raising the bar, he said, adding that the mantra is research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
He lauded the institute for getting 366 patents in a year, and urged the institution to make it at least two patents a day. IITM could set up an Institute of Advanced Study like the one by Abraham Flexner at Princeton University in the early 20th century, he said.
Murugaiyan Amirthalingam, associate professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the institute, said over 150 papers and poster presentations were received from PhD scholars across the country. The summit’s aim is to promote academic research in industrial development excellence, he explained.
Institute Director V. Kamakoti said, “This year alone we have 366 patents that have been granted. We are also heading towards 366 filing of patents. This is the spirit in which we must protect our ideas, have the V-C build trust in our startups, and quickly grow into a unicorn. Every year, we wish that every academic institution in the county has one unicorn.”