Now Reading: IISERs face leadership crisis with vacancies and non-scientist chairs
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IISERs face leadership crisis with vacancies and non-scientist chairs
Several Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) are operating under temporary or incomplete leadership, with many board chairs drawn from outside the scientific community, according to a report in The Hindu. The IISc director is an ex-officio member of most IISER boards, but some chairs simultaneously head multiple institutions, and several board positions remain vacant. At IISER Bhopal, the current director is listed as 'director-in-charge' after the previous director joined NITI Aayog in June.
The report notes that while there is no rule that the chairperson of a scientific institution must be a scientist, the government has dropped its earlier practice of appointing outstanding scientists to lead the IISERs. The current chairs include a retired IAS officer with a background in commerce and journalism (IISER Pune), a surgeon (IISER Thiruvananthapuram), and an executive in the footwear industry (IISER Berhampur). A senior scientist at one IISER said there is 'no vision or imagination and no sense of leadership' propelling the institutions toward their core goals of high-quality frontier research and teaching.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The IISERs were created to offer a research-focused alternative to IITs and NITs, with autonomy as a core principle. The NITSER Act 2007, however, mandates boards that include government nominees, creating a tension between accountability and scientific independence. The practice of appointing non-scientists to chair basic science boards is not illegal, but it breaks from the model used at institutions like the IISc and TIFR, where distinguished scientists have traditionally held top posts. With seven IISERs now operating under divided or interim leadership, the risk is that strategic decisions on research priorities and faculty hiring stall. The government's next round of board appointments, expected over the next six months, will signal whether it intends to restore scientific leadership or continue the current administrative approach.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
