The IISERs have a leadership problem
The Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) are facing leadership challenges due to administrative vacancies and the consolidation of board positions. Critics argue that top-down government control and suboptimal appointments are hindering the autonomy necessary for high-quality scientific research.
Why it matters
The governance of premier research institutions directly impacts the quality of scientific output and the development of the next generation of researchers in India.
T he Indian government created the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) to offer students an intellectually vibrant research environment and to bring them into research at a relatively — vis-à-vis the Indian milieu — early stage.
The institutions prize autonomy as an essential ingredient of good science, including in the form of scientists being able to decide which questions are worth pursuing and with what resources. Top-down control is inimical to this vision. That said, the government also brought the IISERs within the statutory framework of the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research Act 2007, which required each IISER to have a Board of Governors that included senior government officials and other government nominees. The IISER statutes specify, among others, the secretary of higher education and the director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru too.
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