Every year Nobel prizes are announced. An we Indians appreciate the winners in science as if an uncle in an Indian society appreciates the family of his colleague whose child has bagged a job in a top firm in America. Something they wish their child had too, but unfortunately never will.

Why don’t we produce winners in science, top class scientists who make a mark in their field? Scientists who change the field for the better. Work that when you read it, it runs down to your heart that says ah! People who are widely respected in their field all over the world. People who are heard and whose opinion carry weight in the world. Most Indian scientists we hear about are those who have shifted to the western world early in their lives and have been trained there. Our country has so many institutes, Universities. Why can’t I recall one biologist, one economist, one physicist worth following in this country?

It’s a tough question to answer. Like any complicated questions, the answer has many strands like a hydra. We may not have a scientific aptitude. We lack funds. All our good students go to the west. There is little academic freedom in this country to pursue your work. There is little appreciation for good work unless someone from the west puts a pat on the back. Indians don’t have an original eye. The list goes on. It will require more than a thesis to get to the answer.

But there is something I want to say. It’s about the Indian PhD system. In the west, if one looks at most of the successful scientists, their love and aptitude for science evolved during their PhD. One cannot do good research unless one loves science. Loves problems. Love to apply scientific methods to problems. Doing research without the love for science is like sitting in a boat without a row, there is hardly any chance you will move forward.

I can safely say that the Indian PhD system crushes your love for science. I remember I was very excited once during the early days of my PhD, I thought I had discovered an interesting research question. I went to some of the professors at the Institute with the problem. I let my advisor's know that I wanted to work on this problem. The issue was close to my heart and the work was against corruption in India. Instead of encouraging me, my advisor's almost shut me down. I was made to feel that I was doing something that was totally worthless. The message was to work on something which the adviser wanted. My interests had no weight.

Fortunately, I have had the good fortune to spend some time with the PhD students of the US. There is a sense of camaraderie when you work there. Advisor's give a chance to explore your interests. They are more professional in behavior. And this was for my internship, I am sure PhD’s are more inclusive too and have academic freedom. It is a terrible experience to do a PhD in India. How can you expect someone to win Nobel Prizes if you don’t even allow them to explore their interests? Filling a student with a passion for research is absolutely essential in a PhD system. But the idea here is to just produce papers on the topics which are trending. Passion is like a ghost, it is to be shooed away. Compliance is the mantra. It might work in some systems, but in the PhD system, compliance is like a hammer that breaks the back of the scholar. And we hear in Indian are breaking their backs. So unless their is an exception, the rule is that every year we will have to hear the news of Nobel Prize winner like our society Uncle.