![\"520px-Black_hole_-_Messier_87_crop_max_res\"](\"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/06\/520px-black_hole_-_messier_87_crop_max_res.jpg?w=139&h=139\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWe\n live in interesting times. Some would say too interesting given that \nthe pace of advancement in the sciences appears ever to accelerate, but \nstill. In the past few months alone we have seen wonderful things \u2013 an \nimage of a black hole, news of possible room-temperature \nsuperconductivity\u2026 and further back, gravitational waves, the Higgs \nboson, gene editing through CRISPR-Cas9, stem cells, cancer \nimmunotherapy, treatments for Parkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s, finding water\n on the moon, on Mars, AI, \u2026 any number of advances in all the different\n branches of science. The excitement is real, and for all of you \ngraduating today particularly, these lines from Wordsworth apply so \nwell,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBliss it was in that dawn to be alive,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But to be young was very Heaven! \u201c<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bliss indeed to be alive in this age, and\n to be young! To be sure, there is so much happening in the world of \nscience it is a very good time to be a young scientist. Many of you \nwill choose a life in science. Some of you will have already committed \nto a life in research. Given your initial conditions, though, it is \ndoubtless that science will, in some form or the other, be central to \nyour way of thinking in your future. Even if your passions take you \nthrough different paths, what you have imbibed over the past few years \nwill stay with you and shape your approach to life. There are so many \ndiscoveries to be made, so much more to learn\u2026 This is just the \nbeginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A commitment to a scientific way of life \nis vital. You would have heard more than once that ours is the only \ncountry to have it enshrined in our Constitution that there is a need to\n have a scientific temper. A scientific temperament is a great asset, \nregardless of what one does, but doing science is of value. We have seen\n that our lives have, on average, been immeasurably improved by science,\n and more to the point, by an overall commitment to science. On occasion\n some people may profess otherwise, but the average Indian believes very\n strongly in the transformative power of science and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The widespread support for the IITs and \nIISERs is part of this belief: we need to have more of you, more that \ncan contribute to the development of science in the country. Your \ninstitute is young and very special, and that is a great advantage. The\n idea of your institute is also young, so it can rise to new challenges,\n and can adapt to the changes that these times require, with the agility\n that only the young possess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My own academic career has been largely \nspent in a very different kind of institution \u2013 a central University, \nwhere the sciences had to learn to coexist with the humanities, \nlanguage, and a range of other disciplines. There is some advantage in \nsuch an environment, not least of which is the respect one learns for \nvery different modes of thought. Speaking from personal experience, the \ndiversity that is inherent in such an institution is very instructive. \nMuch of my own thinking about academia has been moulded by the \nuniqueness of that experience and the opportunities that it provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But to speak of change, and the \nchallenges that changes bring. There is a saying that the more things \nchange, the more they stay the same, but that was said long ago and in \nanother tongue. In the past two decades (a period that spans the life of\n this institution) alone, the academic workplace has changed very \nfundamentally, both the laboratory, and the classroom. Part of this has \nbeen because of the way in which our country has evolved, but another \nand more important part has been because of the way in which our world \nhas changed. The role of the teacher has changed drastically in the past\n few years mainly due to the internet, and the emphasis in educational \ninstitutions is slowly shifting, from the passing of examinations to the\n acquisition of skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How\n science is done today has slowly but surely changed with the changes in\n communication and increased mobility. Collaborative science has enabled\n the pursuit of bigger problems: the solitary scientist, working on an \nindividual problem, is rare outside a few disciplines, and large \nmultidisciplinary groups working on some ambitious projects, are the \nnorm in others. Papers co-authored across national boundaries are \ncommonplace, and those with over a thousand authors are not just \nconfined to particle physics, these days one can even find them in \nbiology!<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in other ways, we are connected in a \nmanner that is global in its essence, and international institutions are\n fond of articulating grand challenges to highlight the global nature of\n several problems. Climate change is not restricted to a few nations. \nGlobal warming is not only real, it will affect all of us regardless of \nour individual carbon footprints. The damaged environment \u2013 pollution \u2013 \naffects all of us, rich and poor alike. Water scarcity will recognise no\n national boundaries\u2026. Tackling such issues is going to require our \ncollective efforts and our collective resources, and while we can \nanticipate that many of these problems will be addressed, the how and \nwhen is not clear, and it will need a multiplicity of institutions to \nshow the way forward. Our graduates must be seen as part of a global \ncohort and must be prepared as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An institution such as \nIISER-K can play a leadership role in this context. Many of the \nproblems can be addressed mainly through basic research that integrates \nboth the natural sciences as well as the social sciences and the \nhumanities, with each other and within themselves. And this needs to be \ndone proactively; tomorrow cannot wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking\n of which, are we still hidebound to a classic ideal, that of narrow \ncategories of disciplines within which teaching happens? This needs to \nbe debated since there really are no easy answers. What are the \nexciting areas of the future and what are the skills that students will \nneed in order to tackle the important questions therein? Do we teach too\n much? And do we permit a student the option to explore what she or he \nmay want to learn as opposed to what they are required to learn? The \nchanging boundaries of subjects are kind only to those who are prepared \nand willing to take a plunge. A spectacular cross-disciplinarian of \nrecent times, a Nobel laureate in Chemistry, had his degrees in physics \nand his work was in biology. More by accident than by design, perhaps, \nbut we need more such happy accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are other changes that we need to \nrecognise at the same time. The reality of the India of tomorrow and the\n changing demography needs to be addressed. India has the largest \nproportion of young people, those that need and want skills and \nlearning. Increasing numbers of those seeking higher education will \nnecessarily be first generation learners, and the manner in which our \nclassrooms adapt to this change will determine how well we prepare \nourselves for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\n today is mainly about those that are graduating, those on the brink of a\n new tomorrow. It is traditional in commencement addresses to give some \nmeaningful advice, some inspiration\u2026. let me do that by drawing from \nCavafy\u2019s great poem, Ithaka<\/em> that captures so well the essence of the many journeys we undertake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [\u2026]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [\u2026]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Have Ithaka always in your mind.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Your arrival there<\/strong> is what you are destined for.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But don\u2019t in the least hurry the journey.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Better it last for years,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n so that when you reach the island you are old,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n rich with all you have gained on the way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [\u2026]<\/p>\n\n\n\n So do choose goals that are ambitious- \nask questions for which the answers are worth knowing, and spend the \ntime needed in order to resolve them. There will be distractions \naplenty, and distractions everywhere. Disregard them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take it slow. The goal is the thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was more than a little pleased when I got an invitation from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohanpur to deliver this year\u2019s commencement address at their convocation on the 11th June. And more than a bit nervous. After the first set of my reactions had passed, and in the absence of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paG6mN-XJ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3704,"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3703\/revisions\/3704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Untitled\"](\"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/06\/untitled-1.png?w=246&h=197\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"51ce5fE3dzL\"](\"https:\/\/ramramaswamy.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/06\/51ce5fe3dzl.jpg?w=115&h=178\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you set out for Ithaka<\/em>
ask that your way be long,<\/em>
full of adventure, full of instruction.<\/em>
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,<\/em>
angry Poseidon \u2013 do not fear them:<\/em>
such as these you will never find<\/em>
as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare<\/em>
emotion touch your spirit and your body.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAsk that your way be long.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
At many a Summer dawn to enter<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
with what gratitude, what joy \u2013<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
ports seen for the first time<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n