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Building a strong research base
A STRONG research base is a sin qua non for robust development. Countries that fail to pay emphasis on the foundations of their development visions, either do not achieve them or fail to sustain them in the longer run.
This realization has not been lost on the great nations of the world —starting from the earliest Greek and Muslim Empires to European super powers of the 19th century and the United States and Japan of today. Research, which in other words, is the creation of new knowledge, helps fuel and sustain a chain reaction of development not only by through its direct benefits—purported in Dr. Vannevar Bush’s “linear model” of research that suggested that an investment at the knowledge end of the the research and development continuum results in acheivement of goals like economic prosperity, health and national security at the other end—but also through its indirect benefits, namely, creating an educated citizenry that has the capacity to think critically and responsibly about society’s toughest problems. In fact, some might argue, that the latter—indirect benefit, through a host of different mechanisms, most notably the development of high quality faculty that can “educate” the nation—is more important in the long run than former, direct benefit. As they say: “give me a fish and I’ll eat today, teach me how to fish and I’ll eat for the rest of my life”. Research—like teaching a person how to fish—becomes the main engine on which other engines of economic development are built.
Research, both in social and basic/applied sciences—has for too long received a short shrift in our society. The most often cited “anecdote” in that regard is one about the Indian Instiutes of Technology (IIT). Rumor has it that when the American leaders approached the two new-born nations of South Asia about possible ways of collaboration and seeking to aid in their development, India’s far sighted Nehru requested them to help build Indian Institutes of Technology, a series of MIT-style institutes built in the 1950s onwards with the help of the Ford Foundation. Pakistan’s rulers, on the other hand, for reasons good or bad, preferred to choose military equipment. History has proven the wisdom of Nehru’s choice as today those very IITs propel India towards becoming a mini-superpower in the world. Those of us who have had an opportunity of working with graduates from IIT or for that matter other research-intensive schools of India (for example, Dehli School of Economics) can attest to the quality of their education, especially in mathematics—the mother of all sciences.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has repeatedly fumbled with the opportunity of making any worthwhile progress in the area of research, science and technology for far too long now. Research, science and technology has for too long been treated as the “neglected child” of the Pakistani nation. A 1966 report of a high ranking national commission on science and technology, headed by late Dr. Salimuzzaman Siddiqi, made the following prognosis:
“We are faced today with a crucial decision. In one direction are going those countries that use the knowledge and power that Science and Technology provides to bend nature to their will. The other way is going a sorry crowd, forever scanning the sky to see if the rain will fall, or looking at the ground to see if the grain will grow, or glancing back in fear to see which fresh calamity is going to overtake them this time. We cannot delay the choice; we must take one of these roads. If we take the wrong one, we may never be able to retrace our steps”.
While we did manage to avoid this damning irreversibility-our record in the realm of research, science and technology has been mixed, at best. The report’s prophetic predictions proved to be true, for as late as the last couple of years, Pakistan has gone through both a famine and a flood—the natural calamities that the report talked about—that we should by now have learnt to master had we paid attention to the recommendations made by the report. Similarly, while Pakistan calls itself an agricultural state, more than half of our population produces half as much grain as America—where only 5% of the population is engaged in agriculture. Everywhere, while more and more people die in Pakistan due to famines and children are born malnourished, Americans throw tons and tons of wheat in the oceans. Alas, if only we had paid more attention towards developing a social contract of science and research. Throughout most of our history, Research has remained a secondary priority of the government and a third-rate profession among professions. While Pakistan did manage to create localized successes in some areas with likes of Drs. Abdus Salam, Salimuzzaman Siddiqi, A.Q. Khan, Atta ur Rahman, Mahbub-ul-Haq and Samar Mubarak becoming widely respected names in the society, many more in the academic community found themselves languishing in inhospitable environments and deteriorating institutions of a nation that did not value their contributions. Others became a part of the so-called “brain drain” as they migrated to nations that were appreciative of their contribution and willing to receive them with open arms.
Things are now beginning to change for the better as continued apathy and indifference of successive governments has given way to a sincere desire to create the basic infrastructure and capacity to do research and build a knowledge-driven society. Through the efforts of Dr. Atta ur Rahman, the dynamic Federal S&T Minister during the first three years of President Musharraf’s government, research, science and technology has undergone an almost miraculous turnaround. The budget under Ministry of Science and Technology has reportedly increased by over 5000% over the last few years and higher-education reform has become a government priority with an almost proportional increase in its allocation too. Without going into the specifics of policies in higher education and science and technology—quite a few of which I personally don’t agree with—I would feel no qualms in acknowledging that the developments of the last few years have indeed been well-intentioned and might has a good chance of laying the foundations of a strong research base in Pakistan. What remains to be seen is whether or not this represents an temporary abberration or a permanent change of heart for a nation that still doesn’t see value in research at a more broader level. We must all play our part in the realization of this dream-through the creation and strengthening of a community of scholars, united to make a difference to our society and the world. One of the ways this can be acheived is by invoking a “social contract” between the government, research community and the society — a topic that I briefly discussed in my article last month. A social contract would create a partnership between these various stakeholders and clearly identify the value proposition for each (i.e. the government would provide funds for basic research and gain in terms of its ability to develop educated citizenry; the research community would deliver research that would make an impact on the lives of common people and in return would gain in terms of stature in the society and the appreciation of their contributions; and the society-at-large would provide both respect and resources for the research and would benefit from its fruits).
While the government seems to be coming along towards playing its part—It is now imperative on the research community as well to organize itself to deliver. Not only do they owe it to themselves but also to the rest of the society. By building a strong and vibrant intellectual community of their own, they would be in a much better position to benefit from network synergies and critical mass effects that come through a larger community. By shedding their own disciplinary and internal divides, they would be better able to make a case for the value of their work towards the larger society. And by leveraging their resources and expertise and establishing critical linkages—for example, between expatriate researchers who have access to cutting edge research opportunities and ample research dollars and local (Pakistan-based) researchers who have best knowledge to local conditions—they can help create transform Pakistan into a knowledge-driven society. By joining hands, and building a “community”, we can get around some of the most endemic problems facing research in Pakistan. For example, many of us have often wondered:
• Why there are so few Pakistanis in positions of responsibility and visibility in foreign Universities, Research Centers, and Think Tanks?
• Why there are so few PhDs in Pakistan and yet there are so many opportunities for getting quality training in the research abroad?
• What is the quantity and quality of our collective research output as a nation?
• If Pakistan needs a vibrant intellectual community to not only do research but also generate dialogue of socio-technical issues?
Finally, what we, the research community, can do ourselves to help strengthen the culture and tradition of research, and create a first class research-base in Pakistan? There are several examples of this kind of cross-national organization and collaboration (between expatriate communities and local home-country research institutions) delivering useful results. In Armenia, for example, like in other ex-Soviet states after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the late 80s, the local research infrastructure went into a tailspin of disintegration due to lack of resources and trained researchers. Among these institutions was the Cosmic Ray Observatory—a respectable research institution—that suffered markedly and was at the risk of a total collapse. The Armenian Engineers and Scientists Association of America (AESA) and other groups came forward to provide the necessary resources and expertise to save and rebuild it and helped it, several years later, become one of world’s five finest organizations in its class. Several examples abound of the activism of Indian scientists and engineers that not only helped develop reputational capital on which younger professionals capitalized but also actively routed research money back home. It is no wonder that GE, Microsoft, Intel, MIT Media Lab and other giants have opened R&D Centers in India. Things are looking a lot better for our own Pakistan as well. Several examples in past, but also more recently, suggest no reason why similar iniatives cannot be undertaken in Pakistan as well. The examples of HEJ Institute of Chemistry is quite well-known. So are some recent success like NIIT’s collaboration with CERN and Caltech as well as the award of a research grant to a LUMS’ research team from Cisco in which several of Cisco’s Pakistani employees as well as LUMS faculty members played a central role point towards the fact that this can be done. The need and the question is whether the Pakistani research community can better organize itself to do it well enough and more consistently. One recent experiment should give us a ray of hope.
Pakistan Research Support Network ( PRSN) or Research-Network was launched last month by 20-odd members of the Virtual Think Tank Pakistan (www.VTTP.org)—a group of over 175 development-minded Pakistani Professionals from all across the world joined in their desire to create a “better” Pakistan through “careful collaborative thinking and well-reasoned local action”. VTTP is a “social and intellectual incubator” of sorts, created with a desire to spin-off activities and intitiatives that have the potential for contributing to Pakistan’s social and intellectual environment. Research-Network was initially conceived as a virtual platform to share research opportunities among Pakistanis engaged in research and academia abroad with those back home but also with perhaps a more important purpose to start building a community of Pakistani researchers, aspiring researchers, academic and research / administrators—a community that didn’t exist so far. Beyond the wildest imaginations of its founders, Research-Network struck a chord with its intended audience as an idea whose time had come. In the first month of its existence, Research-Network has attracted a very large and high-quality membership base—that as of the writing of this article exceeds 450 Pakistani researchers and aspiring researchers—from all across the world in virtually every discipline. What was even more striking was the willingness and desire among senior Pakistan researchers to join this nascent virtual organization and play their part in the mentoring of the younger minds. This group—as it continues to grow—includes a mix of young aspiring researchers and older experienced researchers, those having PhDs and those seeking one, those living in Pakistan and those living abroad, those working in public sector universities and research institutions in Pakistan and those working in the world’s finest research labs and organizations. As we move forward, and the community grows and gels together, Research-Network would have the potential to make a mark on Pakistan’s intellectual life through several of its objectives:
(a) Help identify and share Research Opportunities, Doctoral and Post-doc. Fellowships, Funding Opportunities etc.
(b) Build a wider comminity of Pakistani Researchers that could spur research collaboration among Pakistani resulting in better quality and quantity of output;
(c) Develop linkages between Expatriate and Pakistan-based Researchers;
(d) Help identify potential sources of Research $s in the developed countries, multi-national sources, foundations etc. and channel them towards researchers in Pakistan through joint-projects and grant-writing;
(e) Any other way that might support the goals of the Pakistan Research Support Network.
In many cases—although quite humbly—it already has begun to make an impact by providing an opportunity for the melding of younger and more experienced minds into stimulating discussions as well as considerable sharing of research and academic opportunities abroad. Although, it is already perhaps the largest intellectual community of Pakistanis in cyberspace, it must continue to grow and become more inclusive. Only by becoming a part of such professional communities and then beginning to put an organized effort can the Pakistani research community begin to change the fate of research in Pakistan. The challenge for us, the research community, is to take this organization (and others like it) forward and deliver value. We are hopeful that once motivated and organized, Pakistanis would not fall short of any other community of the world in terms of courage and dedication to make their dreams and those of its founder come true and, through their knowledge, make Pakistan a truly great nation of the world.
You can join Research-Network by sending an email to Research-Network-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visiting its website at
The writer is a doctoral fellow at the RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies, US with a specialization in science & technology policy
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