This one-day workshop was organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) with the participation of scientific administrators from the Department of Biotechnology, CSIR India, SERB and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Dr S Chandrasekhar and Dr Akhilesh Gupta steered the conversation and emphasized the need for an India-centric research evaluation framework that integrates the disciplinary contexts. 

In a day-long discussion on the research assessment process by India’s national funding agencies with DST Centre for Policy Research - IISc Bangalore Policy Fellows Suchiradipta B. and Moumita Koley, PhD, it was evident that India’s leading funding agencies have definitely adopted some of the best practices like peer review, qualitative review, evolving assessment framework, and so on. But the challenges within are also many - an overburdened system, high dependency on quantitative metrics at initial screening, loopholes that can be misused by applicants, and so on. 

This two-day joint workshop was jointly organized by the DST-CPR, IISc and the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) with INYAS members and Alumni as participants. In this two-day-long discussion on research assessment practices within the Indian research ecosystem. The participants deliberated on the strengths and weaknesses of the current research assessment practices in India. They also suggested ways to make the Indian research assessment system equitable, responsible, and at par with the best global standards. This exercise was a part of the project funded with Community Engagement Grant awarded by DORA to Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee and Moumita Koley.