Research must rest on curiosity and evidence, says CSIRO scientist Anantanarayanan Raman at SRM University-AP

Scientific research must be driven by curiosity, rational thinking, evidence and a willingness to question established assumptions, said Anantanarayanan Raman, Senior Scientist (Health and Biosecurity) at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Perth, Australia.

Delivering the 26th University Distinguished Lecture at SRM University-AP, Amaravati, on Tuesday (September 22, 2026), Mr. Raman spoke on “From Curiosity to Discovery: The Power of Scientific Inquiry” and said systematic observation, questioning, reasoning and evidence transformed curiosity into scientific knowledge.

“Research must be grounded in rationality, reasoning and evidence,” he said, stressing that intellectual openness did not mean accepting every new idea uncritically. Rather, he said, researchers should examine new possibilities objectively and be prepared to revise their understanding when evidence warranted it.