Leading Science and Technology: India Next?

Varun Aggarwal is a researcher and an entrepreneur. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree at the University of Delhi and later dropped out of a PhD program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after having obtained his master’s degree. He cofounded Aspiring Minds, an employability assessment company, in 2008 to drive meritocracy in labor markets. He heads research at Aspiring Minds. His work has led to the world’s first machine-learning-based assessment of coding skills and the world’s first automated motor skills assessment. He has published more than 30 research papers and takes pride in the fact that the fruits of his research have improved millions of lives. Varun is also a promoter and an advocate of data science. In conjunction with colleagues, he runs ML India to build India’s data science ecosystem, and has also organized world’s first data science camp for schoolchildren. Varun’s work has been covered in The Economist, MIT Technology Review, The Wall Street Journal, HT Mint, The Economic Times, and IEEE Spectrum. He has a passion for writing about science. His earliest works include an evaluation of Jagadish Chandra Bose’s contribution to the invention of radio, which won him the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) award. He also writes poems and stories.

Varun Aggarwal offers a compelling, data-driven, and analytical march through India’s science landscape. While we might not get science to the stature of cricket or Bollywood in the Indian imagination, at least we have to try to make it much more discussed. There is no substitute for a laser focus on science to foster social and economic change.

• Foreword by Desh DeshpandePrefaceAcknowledgmentsScience, Technology, and Innovation: An IntroductionLeading Science and Technology: A ‘Must-Do’ for IndiaResearch in India: The Past, Present, and FutureResearchers: Attracting Our Best MindsResources for Research: Speed, Accessibility, and MeritResearch Environment: Connecting, Collaborating, and CompetingResearch, Industry, and Science EntrepreneurshipQuestioning the Existing: Research Questions That MatterBuilding World Class Universities: Policy and Institutional StructuresLeading Science and Technology: Vision for the FutureNotes and ReferencesIndex