A science policy-focused unit has been set up at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India.

The “Policy Analytics and Insights Unit” will provide data analysis and policy support for the various initiatives of the PSA’s Office — the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC), Empowered Technology Group (ETG), National Research Foundation (NRF), as well as international initiatives such as the G20, United Nations Climate Change — Conference of the Parties (COP), and on the science and technology matters of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD).

The PSA’s Office was set up in November 1999 with the aim to advise the Prime Minister and Cabinet on matters of science and technology. It’s been operating under the Cabinet Secretariat since August 2018.

Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, an Honorary Professor in the Department of Physics at IISc, is currently serving as the PSA.

The Policy Analytics and Insights Unit set up by the PSA’s Office will come under the DST-Centre for Policy Research (DST-CPR) at IISc. (“DST” is short for the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.)

The idea for DST-CPR came up in the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy, 2013. The idea was to create and strengthen the institutionalisation of the policy research mechanism in India. 

The centre was materialised a year later, in 2014. Its mandate has been to help widen India’s research impact through the study of relevant policies and mechanisms and, thereby, improve the position of Indian institutions in global rankings.

The new science policy unit at DST-CPR is now on the lookout for a Chief Policy Adviser and three Policy Fellows. Both positions will be based in IISc, Bengaluru, and will work towards evidence-based science advice and policymaking.

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