Thread "The pandemic has led to a compact between scientists and people. Now we must not go back to the 2019 mindset" My op-ed in today's @htTweets
https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/covid-19-has-had-a-positive-effect-too/story-Xp4K16scQqF6ZMVAOZCx8M.html The conclusion:

2/n Investment in science must, and will, grow. This is an insurance policy for future crises, both foretold and unforeseen. Here, India must lead and increase our commitment to science and, very importantly, its ease of functioning.

3/n Our best institutions have been accused of being a short walk from India while attracting the best national talent. The pandemic has taught scientists that addressing the most complex of societal problems can and must take place now.

4/n This changed attitude must stay and not swing back into a disconnect between science and society. Similarly, industry and government departments have worked with scientists as never before. This attitude should also stay.

5/n The delay between investment in research and return to society can be bridged if we change our institutional functioning, to allow ease of collaboration with industry, government, ease of internal functioning, and accountability on outcomes rather than accounting for inputs.

6/n This will require working together to ensure flexibility for science and scientists and our institutions while, simultaneously, these institutions enhance connection with society and its goals.

7/n The optimism of humans, and our desire to move on, make us hide the scars and experience of disasters to corners of our collective brain; leaving it to historians to retrieve and document, decades later, as we move back to business as usual.

8/n Scientists, industry, and the government must not let us and our institutions go back to a 2019 mindset but must work together to invest for the future while delivering for the present.

9/n With introspection followed by action, the compact we now have between scientists and people must stay and grow.