It’s time for brain gain, says Indian scientists in US

About 50 young Indian scientists have gathered here to discuss ways to catalyse brain drain to brain gain for India by getting the best of minds back to the country.

“One, there no constraint of money (in India) if you have a good science project. Secondly there are better research opportunities in India and the environment to do scientific research has improved tremendously,” Mallikharjuna Rao Komarneni from Guntur said.

Komarneni came to the US in 2008 to do his <g data-gr-id="20">PhD</g> at the North Dakota University. Seven years later, Komarneni is now a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Oklahoma and has two patents in his name. But now he aspires to go back to his home country to do basic research in surface science and heterogeneous catalysis.

Komarneni and other like-minded scientists gathered here over the weekend to attend a three-day Young Investigators Meeting at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

To help them take a decision and tap into this impressive pool, officials from over a dozen India academic institutes, including from IITs, gave presentations and held meetings with these Indian scientists who want to go back to India.

“This is an effort to convert brain drain into brain gain,” Ajikumar Parayil, president & director of Young Investigator Meeting in Boston organiser of the event said.