Good teaching is necessary for good research and vice-versa

Indian academic corridors are standing between two atriums. On the one hand, some struggle with concerns on integrity in academic research (Whether in publications or corporate projects). On the other hand, some are driving front-runner work in drug-discovery, cancer imaging, clinical research, road safety and environmental impact. Let’s find out where India is heading as we enter the Sophomore level in AI.

- By Pratima H

Can faculties also generate funds? Can PPP models work in academic institutions? Can labs and academicians contribute to big projects that affect healthcare, safety and industrial leaps? Prof P.J. Narayanan, Director of IIIT Hyderabad, breaks these questions down like a good researcher always does, and makes one think, like a good teacher always does.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room first. What are your views on lack of integrity in academic research (with India coming under retraction spotlight for many papers, for citation manipulation, for low-quality work, peer-review gaming and plagiarism)?

It is very sad and unfortunate for India to get such notoriety with respect to academic honesty. We must establish models and incentives that promote honest work and just rewards. The regulatory mechanism insists on doctoral degrees for all faculty in all kinds of institutions. Good IIITH has developed the largest synthetic dataset for AI applications in drug design. Other data projects that we have been part of have shown to reduce road accidents and mortality by 40-50%.

Understanding and teaching abilities must suffice to do well in teaching institutions that form the bulk of our higher education institutions. Everyone wants a PhD despite own aspirations or guidance available. It is unfortunate some/several individuals try to take short cuts along the process. We must rethink the fundamental model here.

Any other factors that should be looked into?

Of late, institutions and individuals are ranked incessantly for multiple objectives. This also creates the pressure to do well on the metrics and the weak get forced into unethical means to boost ranking, including bogus publications and self-citation chains. The system should address this as a whole.