Sir

To arrest the decline of Indian science, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promises to double funding for science in the next five years, as you report on your News pages (Nature 445, 134–135; 2007). But there is still a need to make Indian science more attractive to talented young people, in terms of professional opportunities and financial incentives, free from academic feudalism.

Indian science has suffered a lot from an inward-looking crab mentality, a reluctance to share infrastructure, a disregard for scientific ethics, and the lack of a new generation of science leaders. Expensive instruments can be seen gathering dust in national institutes and universities, in the absence of coordinated planning. Mediocre bosses who grab credit from genuine researchers for their personal glorification are in no position to attract young talent to science. A system that rewards frivolous patents more than peer-reviewed publications has diluted its own quality.

Excessive pressure on scientists to generate income for their labs has forced researchers to deviate from their core competence to cater to the requirements of funding agencies. Self-financing courses have mushroomed, but they lack proper faculty and generate poorly educated graduates. This is good for statistics but bad for quality.

Singh's warning that increased funding requires better quality science may arouse those who are conscientious and capable, while causing panic among those who do not deserve their high profile. It could pave the way for a science renaissance.

For this to happen, however, certain immediate measures need to be taken. Universities' core infrastructure needs to be overhauled, with a primary focus on high-quality education. Synergy and collaboration must be promoted between national institutes and centres of excellence in the universities, free from bureaucratic obstacles. Project leaders must have total freedom from unnecessary red tape, in order to attract contract research and competitive grants. Only accomplished, mature scientists must be put in the leadership role of science managers. And a statutory model code of scientific values and ethics must be created.